Even though we all dread the thought, we all must think about our bodies at some point in our lifetime. I know for many years I either pushed it aside or felt uncomfortable thinking about it. It isn't always an easy thing. I have never been uncomfortable with my appearance per se. I guess you could say the problem was that to identify my body, meant I had some responsibilities. Not only that, but sometimes things go wrong. When we live in a fast paced world the last thing we can afford is to have something go wrong with our bodies. The car is one thing, but our bodies are another. I don't know at what age that I began to realize that my body was important.

I would say that it was probably latter on in life than what most people do. I have never really been the active type of person. Sure, I loved to go hiking and stuff like that, but I would never hit the gym. Well, some things never change.

Maybe it is because of age or maybe it is because of all the people around me are fat. Maybe it was a combination of those two things that made me start to think of my diet and my health. When you are young, you can eat fast food three meals a day and not feel it. When you start to get older, you begin to feel it more. I would like to think that my progression towards a healthy lifestyle was to make myself more healthy. On the other hand, I think it was because I was tired of feeling like shit. I am sure that you know exactly what I am talking about.

When your diet goes down hill, the rest of you goes along with it. Your sleeping patterns go to hell, your hair doesn't look as good, and your skin looks like leather. I had always wondered why some people's skin looked like a pair of old combat boots. Now I know why. So, what do you do? You are starting to feel over the hill but yet you don't know how to change things. Change is the hardest thing to do in life. You should know, its not impossible. If you are a married man or have been in a long term relationship this will be easy for you. Chances are the old lady would like to shed a few pounds and firm up that once tight heart shaped ass that she once had.

You will be more successful if both of you do it. I'm not saying that you should expect perfection in this venture. Though if both of you are doing it, there won't be those tubs of ice cream laying around to tempt you.

Where do you start? First I would suggest that you go to your doctor for a physical. Have some blood work taken and see how you are. If you haven't done anything like this before, it is a good thing to do. He will check your cholesterol and all that stuff. Also if you have a health condition, you will want to talk about your diet and exercise plans with him before you do anything. You want to do this so that you don't screw yourself up. If you have diabetes and you start a new diet, if not done right you can cause a lot of problems.

So, after you have things squared away with the doctor. I would suggest that you figure out what kind of diet you want to go on. I would suggest that you focus on a diet that is high in veggies and fruit. Cut back on the meat and the carbs and stick with as many fresh items as you can. This will help you loose weight. I would also suggest that you look into some type of exercise program. I would start out with walking or jogging and work your way from there. You and your old lady can do this together. Get a dog, they love to go on walks. This will give you motivation when it comes to taking your walks.

After you get used to walking, I would hit the gym. If you can afford a personal trainer, I would go that route. If you can't, then I would start off by doing some swimming and doing the exercise bikes. You can also start out with the treadmill as well. I would continue to do your walks. Not only is this good exercise, but this is quality time with your old lady. You will come to enjoy the talks that you have during your walks. If you are over 40, I'm not sure how much I would push doing weight lifting. It might be something that you might want to look into. On the other hand, it will take your body some time to get used to lifting weights. For the first few weeks, you will feel like someone beat you to a pulp.

Personally, I hate lifting weights. I think it is a bit, well, boring. I think it is boring to stand or sit and just lift things for hours on end. If there is some hot chicks doing squats or something in front of me, that is another story all together. The main thing to understand is, change your diet, get more exercise, and listen to your doctor. If he gives you the green light to go ahead, then go ahead. If he gives any warnings, make sure that you listen to them.

Break the Bingeing Cycle

One of the biggest enemies of a healthy weight, a clear mind and a lifestyle free of guilt is bingeing. Every once in a while some people seem unable to stop themselves from eating or drinking to excess. At the end of the bingeing period, they fall into the other extreme and go on a purge phase that is just as bad as the initial bingeing. The feelings of guilt and shame that characterize the purging period fuel the next binge and so everything becomes a cycle of self-destruction as the individual vacillates between extremes instead of living a normal life.

Bingeing means eating and drinking not because one feels hungry or thirsty, but because some unpleasant feelings that cannot be repressed force the mind to seek comfort. Self-indulgent overeating and drinking is usually a way of trying to bury emotional problems even deeper, but this kind of quick fix doesn’t work. The problems don’t go away and the bingeing – purging cycle goes on as long as the person in question can keep doing it. Punishing yourself with a purge does not stop future binges. It just reinforces a cycle of indulgence and punishment that grows stronger and stronger.

The most important thing is to find out what is it that pushes you to binge. It’s not hunger that prompts people to eat enough food for a whole party of twelve, which means that it must be something else. Some basic dissatisfaction with life or some stressful situations push us into doing a thing that we usually end up regretting later. It takes courage to look into that matter and see what is wrong. It takes willpower to put an end to this behavior and breaking the cycle. But it all starts with the question “Why?” and goes on from there to find a solution.

Resorting to professional help should not be seen as a sign of weakness. If the bingeing – purging cycle has gone on for some time, then it’s pretty clear that the person in question cannot stop it by him or herself. Therefore professional help may be required to get to the bottom of the problem and changing the harmful behavior. There are also books dealing with bingeing and how to stop it by understanding the reasons behind the compulsion. So, if going to a psychologist may seem like too big a step to take at once, then reading a book written by a professional is a good alternative. Actually, anything that puts an end to denial is a good alternative.

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