Personally, I've been significantly overweight several times in my life, though I didn't even notice it as being overweight until I suddenly forced myself to be realistic.  I weigh 168 pounds right now, which is in the "high healthy" range for a man of my height and age, but I've been over 200 twice, and I weighed over 180 for many, many years.

What happened to change that?  Simply this:  a decision, or a series of decisions.  My first decision was to admit that there was a problem--by being overweight, I was putting extra strain on my heart, my lungs, my knees, my ankles. . . on many parts of my body.  That extra strain, while not immediately obvious, could have led to pretty severe problems later in life.

My second decision was to research and find out what would be a healthy weight level for me, and then to get there and stay there.  I read up on calories--how many of them cause us to gain weight, and how many we burn off through different types of exercise.  

When I started to lose weight (I've never used the word "diet"!), I made sure that I was burning more calories than I was taking in so that my weight would regularly decrease.  I made sure that I was physically active every day (I don't use the word "exercise," either), even if it meant being on the treadmill in the winter, and I hate treadmills.  But they serve an important purpose when it's five degrees and icy and windy outside.

The third decision was to maintain the new weight.  I switched to foods that were lower in calories, such as light yogurt instead of regular (a difference of more than 100 calories a carton, or more than 10 pounds a year!).  I always check calories now, and if there are too many in a certain food, I either decrease my serving size or eat something else, instead.  As you can see, this step involves a constant series of decisions, every single day--do I eat this or not?  Do I partake in a physical activity, or do I sit on the couch and eat some potato chips?  Do I drive to the store or do I walk?  Do I take the elevator or do I take the steps.

The math is very basic, and though it varies with individuals, it's pretty standard.  3500 calories equals one pound.  If you burn 100 calories a day more than you eat, you'll lose a pound in 35 days.  If you burn 500 calories more, you'll lose a pound every seven days.

But if you walk five miles and burn five hundred calories and then come home and have a soda and a candy bar that add up to 500 calories, guess what?  All other factors being the same, you've just destroyed the effects of the walk on your weight (though your heart and lungs will appreciate it).  And if your snack equals 800 calories (after all, I deserve it after walking five miles!) and you do that every day, you'll actually gain a pound in 12 days, even though you've walked sixty miles!  So you see how the idea of rewarding ourselves can be pretty damaging and lead to a lot of frustration.

Personally, I decided to hit a certain weight and stay there because I felt that it was important to take good care of this body that has been given to me.  I wouldn't buy a car and then not maintain it well, and I wouldn't buy a house and let it fall apart.  Why, then, would I treat my body poorly by allowing it to stay in an unhealthy state?  I didn't decide to lose weight because of what other people thought of me or because I felt I was wrong to weigh what I did--I decided to lose weight because it would help my body to function well, it would improve my health, and it would help to prevent many different types of disease and sickness later in life.

For many people, weight problems are a medical issue, and any weight loss should be undertaken in consultation with a medical professional.

So what's your ideal weight?  It's easier and more effective to tell yourself "I want to weigh 155 pounds," which is a positive goal, than it is to say "I want to lose 20 pounds," which is a negative goal.  Focus on where you want to be, then make the decisions in your lifestyle and eating habits that will allow you to get there.  And be patient--sometimes I'd go six or seven days without seeing a change on the scales, or I'd even see that I gained some weight, but as long as I stuck to what I was doing, the weight did come off consistently.  Don't judge yourself, and don't be harsh with yourself--just do what you need to do to make your goals.  And if you slip and eat that bowl of ice cream tonight that will add a lot of calories that you hadn't planned on, don't beat yourself up--just walk a couple of extra miles tomorrow or over the next few days.

And if you're looking to gain weight, be patient, too.  The human body is an extraordinary machine that tries to maintain itself as it is, and it will take time for it to metabolize food differently, allowing us to gain or lose weight.  Choose a plan, know what you're doing, and stick to it.

It's not easy, but it's something that millions of people have been able to do.  Learn from them and share their success, and the benefits will be greater than you can imagine!

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