The experts tell us that losing weight is basic maths.
Calories in < calories out = weight loss.
Really? That's the whole of it?
A calorie is a calorie is a calorie.
I call bullshit!
That's not to say this simple formula doesn't work. It does. I've used it dozen's of times and I've lost weight with it dozens of times: for a while. And then...it stops working.
In dieting circles it's called a plateau. Suddenly the maths stops adding up (or in this case down). Every time I've lost weight I get to a certain point where my body stops responding and I start trying to make it fall back into line. I've followed advice such as eat more, eat less, eat different foods, exercise more, exercise less, exercise differently, get more sleep, focus the mind. On and on it goes. But nothing I've ever done has gotten the weight much lower than this "set point".
It's beyond frustrating-it's infuriating. I'm doing all the "right"things month after month and the results aren't forthcoming. There is no reward for all the effort.
If the maths worked I'd have been back at my prepregnancy weight well before my children hit their teens. And my guess is I'm not alone there.
I've been tempted lately to just give up and accept that I'm a fat, unfit, middle aged housewife and let myself slide into menopause and age gracefully if chubbily. But part of me refuses to accept that fate and a larger part of me knows with my caring responsibilities it's not an option anyway.
Losing weight and gaining fitness is a long, hard and, let's be honest, self indulgent, process. I wish I had the unlimited time to focus on nothing but my own needs. But I can't keep at it indefinitely, particularly if there is little progress to be seen. I find it discouraging and the support of those around me wanes as nothing seems to change-which must be due to my lack of effort: after all it's simple maths and I'm an intelligent woman.
There's got to be more to it than basic maths, experience tells me it's not that simple.
