Statistics vary, but you may have noticed by looking around that many Americans are overweight; even obese. You may even be one of us. You may find yourself getting heavier and heavier each year and you may have even given up on trying to do anything about it. Maybe you’ve told yourself that it’s your lot in life. You may have rationalized that it’s your DNA, your family history, your lifestyle, or anything else.
Once the waist size starts creeping up, there does not seem to be much that you can do about it. And yet, something needs to be done. We’re putting more stress on our hearts, lungs, circulatory systems, knees, backs, and pretty much everything else when we’re obese. It’s not good. We’re also shortening our lifespans.
So what can we do about it? Maybe you’ve tried every diet out there, but you can’t find one that has the staying power.
I have spent the better part of my life fighting this battle myself. I’ve been there, and done that. I’ve learned practically everything I should need to know to win this battle, and yet I can’t seem to.
Before I go any farther, I will add the disclaimer that I’m not a doctor and nothing I say should be taken as medical advice. However, though our society certainly needs doctors, I don’t believe that all medical knowledge belongs in the hands of white smocked “priests”, who like in pagan religions must make intercession with health for us. We must bear a responsibility for our own health. That means that we must do our own homework. It won’t be easy either. You can’t exactly trust the mainstream or entertainment media. They’re often poorly informed and have their own agenda anyway. We’ve been fed the benefits of the low fat diet for decades, and yet there is evidence now that it was based on bad science. However, though there is a lot of good information regarding alternative medicine, there is also a lot of quackery. It’s up to YOU to sort it out. Nobody can do it for you. But we as consumers can start educating ourselves and demanding truth in reporting and beneficial products.
Doctors have to spend a long time in school. And yet, often they really only know what they’re told by their instructors and medical journals. Many doctors know little about nutrition or about supplements. I had a doctor tell me that there’s no credible evidence that Vitamin C has any effect on coughs. Actually, there are plenty of case studies, but nobody has paid for the “double blind” study without which the orthodox medical community won’t take anything seriously.
Our bodies are equipped with the ability to repair and heal themselves. Often, phamecuetical intervention can actually cause more harm than good. It is sometimes needed; I’m not disparaging that. However, though our bodies are equipped to heal and maintain themselves, unless we provide the materials and environment, we’re fighting an uphill battle. To borrow terminology from my time in the Navy, if the repair locker isn’t stocked you can’t repair the breech in the hull.
As I write, I’m at 240 pounds on a medium build male’s 5’9″ frame. My ideal weight is calculated at around 165. I’m really pushing the limits here. I admit, I do bear a lot of responsibility. I sit at a desk all day. I don’t exercise. I eat way too many carbs and sugars. I would rather have a bowl of pasta than a chicken breast and vegetables. But I also realize that way is counter productive.
I’ve spent time doing research. As I’ve always battled weight, I’ve been throught quite a few programs. In the Navy, I was constantly bouncing off the top of the weight standards. I would weigh in out of standards, be placed on mandatory PT (Physical Training), get my weight back down, then end up right back as, what we used to call, a “Mando Commando”.
So far, I’ve had my best success on the Atkins Diet, which is now referred to as the “Atkins Nutritional Approach”. I have a lot of admiration for Dr. Atkins. He went against the mainstream for decades, constantly scoffed at and charged with all kinds of medical heresies, yet he kept getting results with his patients and so charged ahead knowing he was right. I have several of his books, and I have grown quite an admiration for the man. His death was a great loss to us all.
The problem I’ve had with Atkins is that, soon after starting, I will cave in to sweets or pizza or a Chinese buffet and not get back on again.
But, recently I’m starting to face my own mortality. I’ve had high cholesterol for years. It’s not even worth getting checked again. I know it’s high, and my weight has climbed since then. The last few months I’ve been getting frequent headaches. I couldn’t figure out why, until a friend mentioned that my blood pressure could be too high. Oh, boy, now it’s time to do something. I also noticed that I don’t have much energy and I’ve been walking especially sluggish lately.
And so, once again, I have embarked on the Atkins journey. I have not yet started a formal “Induction”, but I’ve been sticking to low carb foods such as meats and salads. We’ve had a couple of low carb wraps this week. My wife doesn’t care for low carb pasta, but I don’t mind it. After only three days, my headaches have stopped and I have a marginal amount of energy.
I will continue to report on my progress for those interested. In the meantime, do your homework. If you’ve battled obesity, don’t despair. It is possible to do it without starving yourself, hence the title of this blog entry, “Eat Yourself Thin”. You have to eat, you just have to learn how to eat right. I’ll add more thoughts in the days to come.
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The Stand-up Philosopher 
For Those Who Have Packed My Parachutes
As a veteran of 6 years in the Navy and 3 in the Navy Reserves, I feel a sentimental attachment to things like this. The following is an email I received today, and I am posting it in it’s unedited entirity as a thank you for those who have packed my "parachutes" that I have not known.
Thank you all.
Charles Plumb was a US Navy jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that experience!
One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, "You’re Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!"
"How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb.
"I packed your parachute," the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked !" Plumb assured him, "It sure did. If your chute hadn’t worked, I wouldn’t be here today."
Plumb couldn’t sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, "I kept wondering what he had looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat; a bib in the back; and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said ‘Good morning, how are you?’ or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor." Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent at a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn’t know.
Now, Plumb asks his audience, "Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day." He also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy territory — he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute. He called on all these supports before reaching safety.
Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important. We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you, congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment, or just do something nice for no reason As you go through this week, this month, this year, people who pack your parachutes.
I am sending you this as my way of thanking you for your part in packing my parachute. And I hope you will send it on to those who have helped pack yours!
Sometimes, we wonder why friends keep forwarding jokes to us without writing a word. Maybe this could explain it: When you are very busy, but still want to keep in touch, guess what you do — you forward jokes. And to let you know that you are still remembered, you are still important, you are still loved, you are still cared for, guess what you get? A forwarded joke.
So my friend, next time when you get a joke, don’t think that you’ve been sent just another forwarded joke, but that you’ve been thought of today and your friend on the other end of your computer wanted to send you a smile, just helping you pack your parachute.
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