Not fighting it, exactly, but keeping a pretty close eye on it.

Today I weigh 10 pounds more than I did when I was in college 45 years ago (168 lbs then, 178 pounds now). I'm six feet tall, and if I could hold my weight at 175 I'd be happy. All of the extra weight is around my belly, it seems.

I have never given thought to the so called fad diets, I think they are ridiculous, and the theories change about once a month it seems. You know, eat only protein. No, eat only carbohydrates. No, don't eat carbohydrates. Eat grapefruit because it metabolizes fat. It's all bullshit. There is one way, and only one way to lose weight, and that is to consume fewer calories than you burn. Well, actually, there is an exception to that. Every Spring when the bicycle racing season starts up and I get serious about riding, I gain weight because I am adding muscle mass at the same time I am losing fat, and muscles are heavier. I'm only talking maybe five pounds here, nothing significant.

One reason I have been able to pretty much maintain my weight for 40-odd years is because I am fortunate in that I am not driven by food the way a lot of people are. You've probably been around people that, when they haven't eaten in a while, become surly and crabby, focused almost exclusively on getting food in their belly to the point that you don't want to be around them. There are many times that I will realize in the late afternoon that I am hungry, and figure out that I haven't eaten anything that day but am too busy to worry about it. I will be hungry, recognize that I am hungry and should eat, but it doesn't bother me.

FWIW, I believe there is some truth to the theory that eating breakfast is important for weight loss. Supposedly it "jump-starts" your metabolism. Sounds bogus to me, but when I moved from Alaska to California I was at my maximum ever weight, 195 pounds, and SWMBO started making me eat breakfast, and in a short time (6 weeks or so) I was down to 175. I believe that a balanced diet with at least three meals a day (including breakfast!) coupled with portion control and exercise commensurate with calorie intake is the key to weight loss, or at least weight maintenance.

tanstaafl.