Diet Redo

Apparently, only 5% of people who lose weight manage to keep it off. No surprise there. We are surrounded by convenient, calorie laden food. We have traded in taste for larger portions. We circle parking lots in our cars looking for a space just twenty feet closer to the restaurant.
What does surprise me is the medical community’s response to our ever increasing waist lines.
After losing ten pounds, I told a nutritionist that my goal was to reach the number for my height on an actuary table. She abruptly said, ‘no, no’as though I had proposed doing something stupid. When I asked her why I shouldn’t try for that weight, she said ‘it’s unrealistic.’
Unrealistic to weigh the most healthy weight for my height? Very puzzling. She suggested that I stop fifteen pounds sooner. Then my doctor, after I had lost twenty pounds, told me I should only lose ten more pounds before quitting- once again, a number short of my goal.
I know that there are dozens of illnesses caused by fat, but none caused by being slender. Insurance actuary tables are based on the best bet for living longest. So why I am getting advised to stop short of that goal?
Most people gain back what they have lost, and maybe a few pounds more. Life-time eating habits and making exercise a priority require a permanent life change, not just giving up favorite foods for a few months. Doctors and nutritionists know that. They know that although it is difficult, it is worth it. They also know that being just a little overweight is unhealthy. Every person has to decide how well they want to live, and how long they want to live.
It just seems to me that instead of just giving up, the medical community should be nagging even more. Heart disease, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, and so many more reasons motivate me to find a way to lose weight and keep it off.
Nancy Sherer