Lots of excuses available

Judging from the packed gym after the holidays, I assume it is due to
New Year's resolutions to get in shape and lose weight....the
phenomenon lasts about 6 weeks. 6 weeks as I recall is a kind of
golden interval of time. Basic training is 6 weeks for a reason.
Behavior psychologists determined years ago that for difficult,
concentrated effort such as PE or intense learning, 6 weeks is about
max for most of us, after which we tend to drop out. This might
explain why the gym stays busy for about 6 weeks, then it is back to
normal as far as volume is concerned.

Another phenomenon of course is the celebration of the holidays....and
here I am talking about over eating. Many people allow themselves to
gorge themselves at certain times. Unfortunately, those times can
become more like a routine. I often hear about Christmas,
Thanksgiving, birthdays, anniversaries, reunions, any holiday,
weekends, after a hard-days work, when feeling blue or bored, while
watching TV, cruises, dinners out, not wanting to "waste" food. Hey,
this can become a really long list...its not really a list though, but
an excuse/justification for overeating.

What's the answer? If someone really only overeats a very few times a
year, then there obviously isn't a problem, because you can make up
for that with a little exercise here or a little less food there. But
if overeating is a chronic condition which of course it is for most
overweight people, the solution is more along the lines of Alcoholics
Anonymous, but with a twist. Alcoholics can't really ever drink
alcohol again for the most part, yet people must eat....so the way you
control this problem is to NEVER overeat. Get to your allotted
calories and STOP. It is that simple. Well, of course this isn't
simple, but it can and must be done. Of course the "trick" is to find
ways to make this happen. Things like planning for dinners out by
undereating at other times, limiting yourself to token amounts of no-
no foods, tasting rather than binging, or better yet eat a salad when
dining out instead of everything on the menu. It might make eating out
a little less fun, but hey, that's the idea if eating out is your
excuse to get fat and unhealty. Find other activities to (pre)occupy
your mind. dkw