There are times I feel that I am pushing hard in an sisyphean uphill struggle without moving forward an inch. Each succeeding step is an almighty effort & surviving the ordeal itself represents progress. It's probably unfair to complain though since treadmills are supposed to work that way.
One among many sick cosmic jokes is that not too long ago I used to eat 2-3 times as much & used to weigh about 2/3rd of what I do now. I can only surmise that all that I ate then took the guerrilla option of hiding out till a day the most damage could be inflicted on my system & evidently the decision has been reached that the time is now. Every day I grow as a person - unfortunately most of it is sideways. The mirror does not lie but I wish it would be a tad more diplomatic & it's hard to escape the conclusion that it's time for some downsizing. Its apparent that the only way left is up - all the way to the society gym on the 8th floor.
My affair with regular exercise is now just over a year old & it's seen more ups than down. This is a matter of some slight concern as the objective was for the reverse to be true as far as my weight was concerned. Three days a week a trainer coaxes & cajoles me through a series of muscle wrenching contortions involving lifting, pushing & pulling weights of various shapes & sizes attached to machines, bars & all by themselves. Despite the obviously enervating nature of the effort this is ironically called "Strength training". The theory being that this builds muscle which in turn does away with fat. I am inclined to believe that the muscle building part of this is working as evidenced by the aches & pains I feel in muscles that I clearly did not posses before. As far as I can see the fat seems to have found a way to peacefully co-exist with the muscle though. This may mean that I need to rejig my thrice weekly leisurely stroll around the area while taking in the early morning sights or what I call "Cardio". I have tried this on the treadmill but somehow I seem to prefer the scenery moving when I do.
In the end though what seems to be most difficult to do & yet the most effective is controlling the food intake. Over time I have wound my way through many of the fad diets of the day General Motors, Modified Atkins, South Beach & the like & most seem to work for me. This is obviously a tragedy for someone who loves to eat out as much as I do. Things have come to such a pass that I dread the moment when I will see an item in the menu & my brain will supply the amount of exercise I will need to do to work that off (a single 50 gm samosa = approx. 120 cals = 15 mins on the treadmill).
The options, thus, are either eat less or exercise more. In either case the outlook is bleak. Obviously the fat's in the fire but it's not burning.
