I got into an argument today with one of my cousins about the best way to lose weight.  At first it was a discussion and then it turned a little heated.

She is several years younger than I am and she is obese just as I am.  At one time she had gotten up to around 350 lbs. I nearly got there at 345 lbs.   She tried losing weight by taking pills, drinking shakes and these weird diets and she lost weight but she quickly gained it all back once she quit her diet.  About two years ago she had Gastric Bypass Surgery and for a while afterwards she did great.  So much so that I was even thinking about having it done.  I’ve known four people that have had the surgery.  Out of those four, one has kept the weight off.  The other three has gained all the weight back plus an extra twenty or thirty pounds.  My point is this.  Losing weight is not a diet, it’s a lifestyle change.  My cousin has yet to understand this.  She’s gained not all but a lot of her weight back only because she does not exercise, she does not eat right; she’s convinced that all she needs to eat are weight loss shakes.

I am in no way a diet expert but I have been doing it long enough to know what will for my body.  I have found that if I don’t eat right ALL THE TIME and exercise ALL THE TiME I will gain all the weight back that I had previously lost.  The fact is that you have to find a “lifestyle” that is right for you.  It just so happens that shakes and diet pills do not work for me.

My cousin is back on these diet shakes which I think is only a money making scheme.  Sort of like those pyramids that were popular back a few years ago.  She’s got my brother hooked and is trying to get me hooked but I refuse to listen to her sales pitch in which this is where this whole argument got started.

I know I can loose the weight by doing exactly what I’m doing now.  By eating right and exercising on a regular basis I had lost down to 265 two years ago.  But, like I said, once I quit eating right and exercising I gained a lot of the weight back.  This morning I weighed in at 294, down six pounds from last week, so I know I can do this.  Just a little will power and a little help from the good Lord.

“Life Goes On!”