Today I picked up a "surprise bag" from my local 7/11 store. For $2.98 HBD (roughly 1400 Naira) this is what I got:

Actually there were a few more but they wouldn't fit on the plates!

I weighed them and it totalled over 3kg worth of doughnuts. That's crazy! That's enough calories for about 9 days worth of food. 35 cents for a days worth of calories!

_{3000g of food * 6 Cal/g = 18,000 calories. 2000 Calories/day. 9 Days supply}

Initial thoughts.

That got me thinking about something that I heard either from the TV series "Reaper" or from the Piers Anthony Book "For Love of Evil". Not an exact quote but the general idea of it is:

In the rich countries of the world people are getting sick and dying from too much food. In the poor countries of the world people are getting sick and dying from too little food

Overweight of underweight

Now if I ate all those muffins and doughnuts I would gain roughly 3kg (7lbs) almost overnight. Since I'm trying to watch my weight I think that would be a very bad idea.

That got me thinking about the whole idea of over and under weight. Those terms are thrown around so freely but they can be so misleading. Indeed I seriously dislike those thems. Here's a story about my father to tell you why.

In his prime (late teens/early 20s) my father was very powerful and athletic. He told me about how he was offered a spot on the BC Lions Football team* He decided not to pursue football and instead became a cattle rancher. He was still very fit though. He could run 1.6km (1mile) in under 5 minutes and when a pony threw my sister while riding he got angry and picked up and threw the pony** (roughly 225kg/500lbs). He was about 1.83m (6') tall and weighed about 113kg (250lbs)

At 113kg he would be considered OVERWEIGHT .... but he was healthy

_{* my father says he turned down the position to be a father. My mother said he didn't make the cut. As my father has died I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Also that's American style football, not european soccer}

_{** My mom used the word threw. She probably meant picked up and toppled it over...but still...pretty strong}

If you look at my father 30 years later, when he was my age, his weight was only about 76kg (169lbs) which is an ideal weight. Unfortunately he lost the weight because he was riddled with bone cancer. He had lost much of his muscle due to extreme pain, broken bones, and inability to move. At this time he was given 6 months to live.

At 76kg he would be considered an IDEAL WEIGHT.... but he was unhealthy and near death!

My take as a Pharmacist

I hear so much talk these days about body positivity and loving yourself no matter what your weight. There is both truth and lies to that statement.

YES people should love themselves for who they are regardless of their weight. They should love the body they have been given. Big frame/small frame. Muscular and athletic or weak and un co-ordinated. You only get one so love the one you get.

BUT

NO people should not get complacent if their body is unhealthy because of their weight!

• If you are too thin and unhealthy then PLEASE gain weight.
• If you are too fat and unhealthy then PLEASE lose weight!

It's about more than the weight!

People should also realize that it is about more than the number given to you by the scale!

As my father showed. It is possible to be the perfect weight and be seriously unhealthy!

Look at those doughnuts and muffins I showed you earlier. IF I was to eat those exclusively: 2000 calories worth per day-- then at the end of a week and a half my weight would not have changed. I would have enough energy to function throughout the day. I would have something to eat every day.

BUT

While I would be fed the right number of calories, I would still be malnourished.

You see the body needs a BALANCED diet. A proper diet requires:

• The proper number of calories
• Enough Carbohydrate to burn for energy
• Enough unsaturated fats to make hormones, steroids and other things such as prostaglandins
• Enough protein with the right mix of amino acids to repair body tissue, make enzymes and muscles, as well as many other body items.
• It needs enough Vitamins of EVERY type to keep its functions going smoothly.
• It needs enough Minerals to give the body what it needs for nerve transmission, blood composition, bone composition and much more.
• It needs enough fiber to keep the body feeling full and for proper excretion of waste
• It needs enough water to keep hydrated and keep the body functioning.

In short, a balanced diet needs far more than just doughnuts and muffins!

The problem with marketing

In today's world much of the food is provided by corporations who make nicely prepacked food. Just grab and go for convenience. Or it is purchased from restaurants which make food hot and tasty for you to eat.

However, the company's main goal is more sales NOT the proper nutrition of those people who are eating the food. Indeed the most nutritious food isn't always the best tasting! In that regard its in the company's best interest to give you food that tastes the best so you buy more and not the most nutritious food that keeps you healthy!

I love my burgers, fries, and soda. I love cookies, muffins, doughnuts and cakes. I also know that those are only for small quantities or I will pay with my health later.

My weight journey.

Sad to say but getting to a healthy weight for me is a constant battle.

I enjoy saving money....and the cheapest food in Canada is often the least nutritious. Just look at how cheap those doughnuts were!

The tastiest food is also amazingly cheap and available.... $4 HBD for two burgers, onion rings and a coca cola at Burger King. Ready in minutes and available only a 5min drive away almost anytime! So convenient for a frazzled Dad tired after looking after two energetic sons.

What's a Dad to do?

Well, I was almost 105kg (230lbs) and as a Pharmacist I knew what the future held for me if I stayed at that weight.

I'd have joint pain from too much weight on the joints. Bad hips, bad knees, bad back and more. I'd get diabetes so I'd be at risk of losing feeling in my fingers and toes. Impotence from lack of blood flow. Early death from heart disease. Possibly kidney damage. Possible vision loss. The inability to take long walks through the park. The inability to play with my grandchildren in the future (if my kids ever get married and have children).

In short.....if I didn't lose the weight I'd lose out on so much of the rest of my life!

My weight loss plan

Now the most important part of a diet is NOT the food. It's the desire for change. If your brain doesn't want to say NO to food then you will not be able to fight temptation. My first step was to WANT to lose weight and WANT to change my diet.

After that I worked out Exactly 1800 calories with all the vitamins, minerals and nutrients my body needed for a day. It worked out to: One fruit parfait daily. One meat and cheese sandwich. One big bowl of split pea soup with vegetables. Half a dozen crackers with hummus. One large salad with oil and vinegar dressing. One bottle of coca cola with a few snacks ... like apples, bananas, oranges, dry popcorn and so on.

I found that FOR ME the best way to get the diet to work was to eat all my food ONE time per day in the evening.

I found that FOR ME it helped to prepare all the food in advance so that it was ready immediately when I wanted in the evening.

Why?

Well, if I ate all the food in the evening I was guaranteed to be very full one time per day. Sure the rest of the day I was hungry but at dinnertime I was always full. At bedtime I was never hungry. Then when I woke up in the morning I had so many things to do during the day that I was distracted from thinking about food.

However, it was important that in the evening the food was available right away. That's why I prepared it in advance. I knew that if the food wasn't ready I'd give in to eat something convenient and not nutritious. It is very easy for a hungry mind to rationalize: I haven't eaten all day...I deserve something fast and tasty (even not nutritious).

...and it worked. I lost over 20kg that way. I was a good healthy weight for the first time in many years! Yes there are other tricks that I needed to use in order to maintain my diet but that was the majority of it.

Unfortunately I went on a 7 days cruise where there was unlimited tasty food all day and all night. That totally ruined my diet and my willpower.

I've been fighting to gain it back ever since!

It's important to remember.

A healthy weight is a journey and not a destination.

I will stumble along the way. When I do its time to get back up and continue on.

I need to adjust to things in life. Right now I'm dealing with dental pain which affected what I can eat. I need to be flexible.

I need to always look for healthy alternatives. I ate the same thing every day for almost 11 months. I knew it was nutritious because I calculated for every vitamin, mineral, and macronutrient but it also got pretty boring.

Finding good alternatives is important. Unfortunately I'm a terrible cook so finding good alternatives isn't easy.

Final thoughts.

If you are on your own weight loss journey a few things to remember.

• It is YOUR journey not someone elses. Find the path that works for you.
• There are no shortcuts or quick fixes. I've seen so many bogus diets come and go in my time as a Pharmacist. THERE IS NO MIRACLE PILL
• Ozempic is a hormone injectable that tells the body "it's full" so there may be a miracle shot. But you are far better off just eating a proper diet and using self control.
• Love who you are but also love who you can be not for others opinions but for what you can do better in a healthy body! A healthy body is more capable and has less pain. It allows you to do and experience more!

You only get one body. Take care of it. Enjoy it. Feed it well!

Thanks for reading.