Obesity Pandemic. In the WSJ today there is an article by a pediatrician about how the "obesity pandemic", as he calls it, is affecting his young patients. That brought to mind my visit to Starbucks this morning. Two good looking young men were in the line ahead of me. They were probably not yet in their thirties. One bought a "chocalate chip" latte of some sort in the largest size. The other bought a "butter croissant" with his coffee. I suppose this was "breakfast". (I also wondered about the redundancy of the label "butter croissant".) Those guys are on their way to carrying around at least 10 extra pounts, if they are not there yet.

I used to think that my dad was "big", as in "husky". I realized that he was just overweight but carried it very well and was well tailored. What did the extra 10 - 20 pounds do to him? He died of heart disease and was virtually disabled for the last five years of his life. We never thought of him as "fat", but he was.

One day, take a sturdy bag and put a ten pound weight lifting "plate" in it, and then just walk around with it from the time you get up until the time you go to bed. See what that means to your energy.

You cannot deal with the calorie problem with exercise. Exercise is important to your overall good health, of course, but it is definitely not the answer to being heedless of calories. Of the 24 to 26 WW points I should limit myself to each day, my two mile walk each morning gives me just one (1) point more to use. That's it. You have to deal with what you are eating.

Maybe I have said this before, but I have found that keeping the pounds off is just about the most difficult challenge that I have from day to day. It is a relentless battle. One day I gain a little territory, the next day I lose ground. I am often ambushed by "special" events, business lunches, parties, church meals. Last week I got to the point where I was ready not ever to go to another church meal. I have such a difficult time at those things, because I lose my focus amidst all the wonderful fellowship. It is very, very difficult.

But not impossible. Just do it.

UPDATE: Making my point.