Hey! goincrazyinky, :welcome2:

It's hard to figure out what to do in retirement--or so I've heard. I'm not retired yet, but I have friends who are. The biggest problem seems to be coming up with a structure for the day--would you others say so?

Spinymouse, that's a great observation--that you don't have to eat it just because you paid for it!

I have been amazed to find that I don't "have" to eat anything. Bogus reasons have included: (1) Someone offers me something, so I'd better eat it so they don't feel bad. I believe I gained about 20 pounds thanks to that one. (2) I must clean my plate because children are starving. (As though my eating can help them.) (3) I ordered it, so to avoid wasting money, I have to eat it. All of it.

Even if I love, crave, and adore a food, I do not have to eat it! Last weekend we went to a community function where there were trays of donuts and other pastries, all for free. Some were my favorites. I passed! It wasn't worth the hit!

And, I don't feel deprived. I'd rather have a big slice of ripe honeydew melon than a donut anytime. Yum! :drool:

Jay

Hi to goincrazyinky! That's so wonderful that you started to exercise again and you did a mile walk! Great start! This is the hardest part, overcoming that inertia!

Yes, Gail, the retreat was an exercise in my comfort zone. I do like breaking the routine, especially since my routine is nothing remarkable. The retreat was good overall, really.

Jay, I just thought of an analogy when I read about the bogus reason of how if you bought it, you have to eat it - all of it: That would be like, if you bought a gym membership, you had to be at the gym all day, everyday!
Gawd, I have been guilty of buying gym memberships and never going at all! (Not this time though. I'm going, a moderate amount.)

Yeah, 'mouse, that's a good one too. Buying a gym membership is giving yourself access to something--it's not getting married to it! :lol: Although, during my first round of weight loss, I went to the gym 6 days out of 7... I didn't HAVE to!

Jay

Morning gang . . .

I too have done the 'bought membership' but 'didn't go' routine with the Gym. I'm still trying to get over the 'food must be eaten' stuff. For some reason that is much, much more difficult for me.

Nothing big on my list of must do stuff for today -- Laundry, good eating, spend some time with Gadzella -- that's about it.

See you all later . . . keep things moving and shaking . . . :carrot:

I try to put just what I want on my plate, and eat it all. I don't like the idea of leaving something on my plate and my DH is a charter member of the "clean your plate, waste not want not" club!

Eating and food are part of our social/cultural heritage. Considering the current overweight state of the population, we need to make some changes. Like not equating food with love and comfort. And not eating to please someone. How many years of psychoanalysis will that take? :loL:

Yes. I think it can/will happen too. So many other things have changed. Remember when it seemed like everybody smoked, indoors, even at work? Remember when there was no such term as "designated driver?" I'm sure that culturally we can turn some things around regarding food and eating customs as well. Although I can't imagine McDonald's refusing to serve someone because it looks like they've had a few too many burgers! :)

I think the dangerous words there are "looks like." Go down that road, and some ignorant people could think we should just forbid overweight people to eat in public... I can imagine having something like those height marks on amusement park rides, where you have to be above a certain height to go on a ride. Only, it would be a door width, and you'd have to fit through the door to eat in the restaurant... :yikes: That is a terrible scenario! :eek: Let's hope no one is planning that!

So... things that work with alcohol or smoking may not be translatable for the obesity problem. :)

I don't know the answer.

Jay

I know what you mean about forbidding people to eat in public. Having said that, the idea of McDonalds turning down an overweight customer cracks me up :lol:.

Comparing food with alcohol and tobacco: I am both a recovering alcoholic and a recovering smoker. Statistically, life-time recovery from alcoholism is rare. So is life-time weight maintenance. I don't know about smoking. I can't abstain from eating, but I think I can transfer the abstinence attitude to my food habits. I have to eat, but I can abstain from bingeing, I can abstain from McDonalds, I can abstain from eating food that I don't really want. Realize, of course, that I only speak for myself, but I feel like my saying weight loss is more difficult because you can't give eating up completely, is a cop-out.

It is all hard and requires lots committment and dedication. Personally, I belive you can not drink and not indulge in bad eating habits and still have a wonderful life. Just because you abstain from something, doesn't mean deprivation, either. There are wonderful compensations.

As it happens, I have quit smoking and lost weight lots of times. Fortunately, so far, I have only had to quit drinking once (18 years ago!). I think I have the smoking licked - quit in 1994, but I don't know what the future holds as far as the alcohol and food/weight management goes.

No, we don't want to go there (I was joking) about not letting people over a certain size have ____________ (whatever.) But seriously, I could envision some cultural changes. I could see the default food that places serve with sandwiches change from fries to....??? something else anyway. I could see portion sizes decreasing. Also a lot of corporations are paying or sharing costs of fitness memberships....it's happening, slowly.

Such changes take place very, very slowly . . . most Fast Food joints are now offering a choice of sides with your combo (even MacDonalds) and one of those choices is a skimpy, slightly bedraggled, salad . . . we must be thankful for even small forward movements.

Let's face it . . . things MUST change. One of the most telling signs that things are really bad is a current advert (promoting activity for children) on a local TV station that mentions that for the first time in quite a few decades, children in the toddler stage today face a SHORTER life expectancy than their parents. I don't think it's only my actuarial background that makes that an absolutely terrifying pronouncement.

Gail, you are really to be commended. I have never had a drinking problem (I can count the number of drinks I have in any given year on one hand - don't like either the taste or the feeling, I guess); but I certainly had a very serious smoking problem. Forty to fifty cigarettes a day for the better part of 25 years. My last cigarette was smoked on October 26, 1986. Is it licked :dunno: I don't have craviongs for cigarettes any more, but I'd be afraid to ever smoke one to test it out. :D

Although I can definitely see where you are coming from about the cop-out aspects, I must admit I would really like to see some kind of nutrition pill that I could have and never have to eat again. That would be the only hope for a true "magic" diet pill. Unlike the one everybody is always looking for that will let you eat everything you want and still be a perfect weight at all times.:o

Plus, think of all the dishes you would NOT have to wash!:lol:

I have been messing around with the free version of fit-day. It is pretty interesting. It gives so much information - for instance, I can see that I am not getting enough calcium, and I can see where I could make some changes and get more.

Yes, FitDay opened my eyes to that! I'm not getting the RDA, even though I drink milk and eat other dairy products. Now I take a calcium/magnesium supplement to push up my numbers.

Jay

Good Morning . . . :wave:

Yep . . . I take the calcium/magnesium supplement too. BTW, on my agenda for today is getting my annual FLU SHOT . . . particularly recdommended for those of us with any kind of chronic disease that tends to compromise the immune system (like my Diabetes) . . . how about the rest of you?????

See you later . . . keep things moving and shaking . . . :carrot:

I don't believe in flu shots. :)

Jay

Chronic disease
 

meowee - particularly recommended for those of us with any kind of chronic disease

I'm to get a flu shot due to my chronic disease called: Over 50 :(

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