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There’s been a lot of talk about Spot reduction in losing weight. That is I want to lose some weight right over here but not over here. But the interesting thing is, that the body is going to follow a pattern that is dependent on its own genetics on sex and age and things other than what I may think I want it to do. Overall body fat is going to be reduced in a manner that will fit my particular mold. I was born into a body.

And that body is unique to me, so I am going to expect my body to keep following that pattern. What I need to do is to work with the pattern I have and not necessarily try to change my pattern. A pattern doesn’t have to be overweight. But it will contain the structure for a certain shape and size. Now if I can work within those parameters, I can come to a place where I can be happy with what I want. But when I try to change the pattern, I run into all sorts of problems, and I’ll usually end up not being happy because it won’t work. Sure my pattern may be a little overweight, that is the part I want to change, not me.

Quite a few years ago I started jogging as an exercise. For some reason it was something I really enjoyed and it turned into a running hobby. Then I started to do races just for the fun of it to meet people and to enjoy the camaraderie of a runners community. It was fun to race against some of the people I knew, and to race against complete strangers. At first it didn’t matter if I won or lost, but after I won a few races, I think I became a competitive and I wanted to win. But that was okay, what I really was enjoying was the freedom that might help the body allowed me to experience because it was in shape.

There aren’t a lot of overweight individuals who enjoy running as a hobby. I’m not saying that overweight people need to run, but I am saying that if there is a part of life that you really want to do that because you may be overweight and can’t do it, then you may want to consider getting into shape. Getting into shape, can be whatever you call it, whatever you want to do with it. It can be easy, or you can make it a real challenge, it just depends on what makes you happy.

The last time I went on vacation, it was a cruise down the Baja coast. The big thing on cruises seems to always be the food. For some reason, people always talk about how many pounds they put on. Well, duh, I guess that is a given because the food is so great and it’s already paid for, so what keeps you from eating. So the only thing I can say about cruising and dieting is that you better not do at the same time. The old saying of there is a time and season for everything. These two are just different seasons. Maybe cruises are the autumn and dieting is winter.

As I think about it they fall into line this way too. Autumn is first and winter comes next. The cruise brings the pounds and the dieting tries to take them off. I think we should allow our self to enjoy life, and if a cruise is something we want to do, and we want to eat all that great food, well then perhaps allowing it to happen will let off the steam for awhile, let go of the obsession and life will be more agreeable. Just take the 3 day cruise not the 12 day one.

Perhaps the last thing we want to talk about when we are trying to lose weight is food. Food seems to be the big culprit in this quest to lose weight. But food is a wonderful thing in our life, unless maybe we eat too much or the wrong thing. Food is of course necessary, so let’s get it straight that food is our friend. Good healthy food is a great part of enjoying life and if we have been putting on too many pounds for the last few years then we shouldn’t stop enjoying food. We should only pay more attention to how we enjoy it.

Eating a balanced diet with reasonable amounts should be enjoyed and not the source of our dismay or grief about being over weight. The longer we stat in a mind set of we can’t do what we want to do, the longer we will remain in a place where few things work out for us. Unless we are living a life that is happy and fun we are probably resisting doing the things that we want to do. Life will only turn out to be what we want if we are willing to give our selves what we want. Sounds simple I know, but it is true and it is the only way we will get what we want. Everything is tied together, and when we are not getting one thing it affects a lot more. Start by eating again the things we want, but in moderation and in the reality you now is true.

There is a lot of stress in today’s world. The economy is putting a lot of people out of work. Money is getting harder to hold onto and the uncertainty of what the future holds makes a lot of people stressed. It is interesting that when a person is stressed serotonin levels fall way down and cortisol jumps way up from high stress living. Carbohydrates can be like opiates when one is on these stressful levels because eating carbs will increase the serotonin levels the body needs.

So we start looking for the foods that have lots of carbohydrates in them and as a result we are loading our system with the stuff that makes fat too. When you get stressed and crave something to eat, remember that carbs won’t change the stress, it will only help the symptoms. To cure the problem you need to see what the stress producer is and address it. Food won’t do it, I twill only mask it at best and then you don’t do anything about it. Eat things like greens and foods high in fiber and that will release its glucose slowly. Spinach and green beans are good examples. But the key to solving the problem is to find out what is the stress coming from and do something to change that. Without a different stress level, the same craving is going to come back time after time. Cure it, don’t just stuff it.

Just a few decades ago we lived a very different life style. The internet was just getting going and people communicated by telephone or letter, today there are hundreds of social networking sites available and most of the young people are doing it. The age is gradually spreading to the rest of the population and we are becoming a connected society. Talking and communicating with others literally around the world. We have access to so much more information and we get to decide what new thing we want to try today. Things are constantly popping up and saying “try me, try me”. This can be a great thing if we are able to choose what is really good for me.

When it comes to weight loss, there are hundreds of sites popping up and so the choosing becomes a nightmare unless I really stop and get my priorities straight. If I know what I want, then I can find it. If I don’t know what I want, then how will I know when I find it? I may pass right by it, but I don’t know what it is, I go right on. Decide first what it is I want then it will be easy to find.

As we all know, there are many examples of how to loss weight. I think the most common idea is to just not eat so much. But hey, that is probably the least fun. So we look at other ways that will give us a way to eat like a pig and still have a body like a movie star. Probably won’t work but trying to make it work is fun. I mean eating like a pig is well, eating like a pig. Get in there and root away.

But all kidding aside, losing weight isn’t fun for most people. It seems we bring with us from our ancient past the old thought of if I suffer and sacrifice I will somehow miraculously be given the wish of my heart from the Gods of whatever. No, that is so old school and not going to work today, so let’s find a way that will. Finding a way that makes us happy somehow is going to be the way that we will stick with.

It will be the way that will last long enough to let change happen. And if we like something, we will continue to do it, and by doing it again and again we will make that into a lasting creation. I will become and stay the new me I want, all because I found a pleasant way to do it. The best path to take in life is the one that I like, not the others that I resist.

It is getting close to midnight and the moon is still up in the night sky, making a silvery haze all over everything. It is such a beautiful color; the night seems to be magical. Maybe it’s magical because it isn’t as bright and clear as the day time. In the day we can see everything and it leaves no question in our minds as to what is there or what is happening. At night we don’t see everything but it still seems to happen and so it is a kind of magic of sorts. The unseen is why magicians get paid to perform, we can’t see what they are doing, but are surprised at what results.

My body is magical too, I don’t know why or how it does some of the things it does. It beats a heart 24/7, it digests food and balances itself without thinking. But it also puts on weight or has acne or something I don’t want. So if it is doing something that I don’t know, how it is doing it, how can I change it? Well maybe we do know some more than we are letting on. Maybe we could fess up to the extra portion of mashed potatoes we ate, or all the chocolate and we didn’t wash our face at bed time because it is so hard because we are tired. Maybe we just need to look a little closer.

I went to the park with some neighbor friends and they brought their little kids along to play. Kids are so present and able to just have fun with whatever is there and available. All the swings and tricky bar stuff was so crowded that the group of kids decided to just start their own game of something. I don’t know what they were dong but it wasn’t long before some the busy crowd had made their way over to this little new activity that was happening.

I think we should all be more like little kids and when we want to do something we just go over and ask if we can play too. Most of the time they say ye, and it’s fun to play together. It’s fun to work together and its fun to lost weight together too. Friends can be the difference between staying on course in a weight losing adventure and not. Friends can encourage us when we are down because we can’t; it’s so hard to encourage our self if we are down, so find  some good friends and ask each other if we can all play together.