Alas...

OK, I guess it had to happen. My dear wife commented on my gut. My gut...

So ... Deep breath, set the ego aside and try to take it in the supportive concerned spirit that it was (hopefully) meant. Admittedly it does seem harder to keep the belly padding off.

There is an enlightening article called Why are We So Fat? in the August 2004 National Geographic. They say the "slow metabolism" excuse is out. It is simply a matter of calories in, calories out and we are challenged from both sides. The foods and portions we face have gotten larger, higher in calories and easier for the body to convert to fat. Then our lifestyle and modern conveniences make less demands on those calories.

Portions. We eat too much, plain and simple. The ways that foods are sold in restaurants and stores makes it more economical to buy larger portions. But bigger is not better. Once the body has what it needs, it is easy to keep eating. "The First Law of Fat says that anything you eat beyond your immediate need for energy, from avocados to ziti, converts to fat." So that adult sized meal can be a bigger culprit than it appears.

The low-fat message has backfired. By leaving out fats, a normal appetite led to filling the void with other foods. Mostly carbohydrates and easy calories! And now the pendulum has swung the other way with the Atkins diet to avoid carbohydrates and load up on fats and proteins again. Atkins is right about us eating too many simple carbohydrates, but replacing them with fatty foods increases heart disease and other associated health problems. And the real answer; eating the more complex carbohydrates instead of the simple ones becomes elusive because they are harder to find and tend to be more expensive.

Then there's the calories-out side of the equation. Public health officials recommend exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes a day but acknowledge that one in every four Americans doesn't get any exercise at all. And apparently I have a higher measure of what constitutes exercise than they do. To me, exercise means getting the heart rate up, working the muscles, sweating, and aspiring for a higher level of fitness. Things like walking, climbing a flight of stairs, simple stretches count as activity, not exercise. But even replacing an activity with a convenience such as going to the carwash instead of hand washing your car can mean 100+ calories less burned. Riding instead of walking, escalators instead of stairs, and the availablility of more and more conveniences makes it harder to use up the energy our appetite tells us to ingest.

OK, so I understand the challenge. I am the keeper of my gut and more attention is needed. Another facet of the discipline needed in life to stay fit.