Quote Originally Posted by SOLDIER #819 View Post

It's the same with quitting smoking now that you mention it... so I also can understand it being difficult despite never having done it. People who have never experienced it can make it seem so easy... and I really wish it was, but that isn't how it is (for me).

But you're right, for most people it really is a matter of discipline. But I think that condensing the process into one word trivializes it and the numerous variables involved with it. I remember explaining calorie counting to a friend who simply went and said, "You don't have to count! Just get some exercise every once in a while and eat less!"

Losing weight is nothing like trying to give up smoking. At all. When you don't have cigarettes it takes over your mind; nicotine's as addictive as heroin.

I'm on a diet and exercise regime just now, and I know it's not easy. I dream of toast, but I eat my bran crackers. I want to sit around and relax, but I make myself go to the gym or do my stupid exercise DVD. The going is really, really slow; but it makes you feel better as you go. I get the impression that my thighs just really like being huge. But when my jeans start hanging off, I feel I've done a good thing and it encourages me to do more. I am fully aware of the science, and I like to know how my body works and why it is responding to changes I'm making.

In a way, it is like giving up smoking, kind of; healthy eating and working out are a lifestyle. It pisses me off that some people can eat whatever they like and stay slim, but I'm not one of those people. Sucks, but what am I meant to do about it? Complain? Get fatter?

The thing with eating healthy is that you should never deprive yourself. I've taken to making my own recipes that are low on size, but big on flavour. Salad for me is like tapas. It's not a pile of leaves with some balsamic. It's leaves, yeah, but with tuna and egg, or pesto chicken, or...

It's about self-respect. If a friend says they want to get lunch at Burger King, that's fine. I'll get something else on the way and munch it there, or maybe even have a burger as a treat; I get one every two weeks. It's annoying that my friends can eat whatever they like, whenever they like; but that's not me. Oh well.