Thoughts on keeping weight off--and feeling good, if not great

It's January, right? At least at the beginning of the year and month, people are supposed to be working on ideas to lose weight or get in shape.

Well, I've noticed a few good ideas (rules?) for living, day to day, I think, that help keep off weight and excess pounds.

Herewith are a few of them:

1) Don't keep cookies in the house. Ever. Unless they're for a specific party or something, they too frequently get people in trouble. Too many people don't eat just one, I think. They just march right through the bag. Bad idea. Bad habit;

2) Same with potato chips. Don't ever buy and keep chips--of any kind--in the house. Face it--they're not good for us. They are horribly empty calories, for one. They're loaded with fat. And oil--the bad oils. And sodium/salt, which is awful for blood pressure, at minimum. The same goes for these--chances are, we just march right through the bag, instead of eating just a few. Making matters worse, as bad as these things are for us, they don't fill us up quickly, either, so we keep downing more and more of these destructive buggers. Really. Think about it. Keep all those chips out of the house for all but parties. Get low-fat, tasty, low-salt crackers, instead;

3) The same, here, for candy. Just don't even keep it around--unless you've got terrific willpower and/or candy's not an issue for you. If you can ration yourself a little bit and be done with it for the day, good for you. Then keep it around. If, however, you are like most people and can't begin a bag without, for the most part, if not completely, wiping out the entire container, then keep it out of the house completely. You'll be much better for it. Then, have it at special occasions, preferably family or social gatherings where you'll be in front of other people and (hopefully) won't go overboard on it and have way too much;

4) Soda pop. Don't. Ever. See numbers 1, 2 and 3, above. They're not worth it. There is nothing redeeming to or about them. There's nothing good in them. Again, don't;

5) Eat more fruits. Eat lots of fruits. Eat your favorites. Discover new ones. Then, always eat them plain. Don't add sugar or anything else bad, to them. Have them be your desserts. Enjoy;

6) Eat more vegetables. Seriously. We've heard it before. It's true. Do it. They are vital to our good health. If they fill you up, it's with good calories and vitamins and nutrients, to boot. And the fact is,they won't "fill you up" like the fatty stuff will. You'll feel better after you eat. That gross, really full, "heavy" feeling you sometimes get after some meals? It's not good for you. It means you've eaten wrong. It means you either eaten too much or that you've eaten the wrong stuff. Or worse, it means you've done both. More on this in the next note, too:

7) That "full" feeling we used to (or, God forbid, still do) associate with a "good meal"? It's bad for you. That is not a good sign--or way to live. Stop it. Quit associating that full feeling with a good meal. It means (see no. 4, above) that you've either eaten too much or you've eaten badly, with gross, fattening, fatty, salt-laden foods--or, as I said above, in the worst case, it means you've done both. Eat like that and it's no wonder we'd get fat. And unhealthy. And heart attacks;

8) If you drink beer, keep it to a minimum. One a day, at most. On a special night or occasion? Maybe 2? Just don't over do. They're loaded with calories, as you likely know. (I know, I know--you love 'em. Well, just keep it down. In moderation. To repeat--don't overdo. Beside, it will keep you from getting drunk and that's a good thing, too. Just ask your wife, partner, family or friends. Or that cop on the street, waiting for you to drive by;

9) Don't eat that much red meat. You can still have it, just keep it to about 3 to 4 ounces per meal, at most, if that. It's fatty, usually always and too much really is bad for us;

10) Season your food. Do it healthily. Do it a lot. Explore. Discover. Rosemary isn't just the name of an old girlfriend. Thyme? Sure. There are loads of these natural flavors and couple things come from them. First, they make the food taste better, period. Second, they keep the food interesting. Keep this in mind---EATING HEALTHY DOES NOT/SHOULD NOT BE BORING. Far from it. Want an example? Put your favorite green vegetable(s) (broccoli, asparagus, brussels sprouts, whatever) on some aluminum foil, sprinkly lightly with olive oil--don't drench it--then sprinkle on your favorite hopefully-fresh seasoning. Wrap it up in the foil then put it in the oven (or on the grill, without the foil, if you can and/or want to) at 350 degrees on each side for 10 minutes. Voila'. Easy, tasty, delicious vegetables that you'll love and that are good for you. It just isn't that tough;

11) Walk. Walk daily. Or do some not-that-difficult-an-excercise daily. This isn't tough, either. Walk the dog. Walk yourself--whatever. Walk. Do some exercise. And get this, too--IT DOES NOT--in fact, should not--HAVE TO HURT. The whole notion that if you're not hurting, you're not helping your body is only true for weightlifters that are trying to literally build muscles. Most of us on the planet are not trying to do that and that's more than okay. But we need to move. We need to stretch ourselves--and our muscles. Do it. The kicker is, you'll feel better, even if you just do this. But if you combine it wth good food, good eating and drinking habits and common sense, you'll feel a great deal better in short order;

12) Don't over do. Don't overeat. Don't over exercise. Don't drink too much. Modration really is a great thing. If you're questioning that next bite of food, it's probably too much (unless you're anorexic but that's a whole other set of problems);

13) The next one is an important one. Here it is: YOU DON'T NEED PROBABLY THREE QUARTERS OF THE THINGS THAT ARE IN THE GROCERY STORE. Deal with it. Here's what we really need there: the produce section (for fruits and vegetables, obviously), maybe, maybe the meats department, if you're not a vegetarian, the canned beans that are there and seasoning, though if you can get these fresh (which usually means somewhere other than the grocery store), fresh is far, far better. That's it. That's all we need at the grocery store. And a rule to keep in mind to make it easy for shopping is this: IF IT'S PACKAGED, IT'S LIKELY NOT GOOD FOR YOU (with the exception of some canned vegetables but, again, I'd go for fresh there, at virtually all time, if and when possible which, really , with modern distribution, is nearly all the time;

14) Someone in your household needs to cook, at least a bit. And this, too, is not that tough. We don't have to be chefs, either. Keep it simple. The old idea of having one meat portion (remember, 3 to 4 ounces per meal, maximum), a starch (potato--don't load it with too much butter and use very little sour cream, if at all--rice, noodle, coucous or some such) and a vegetable, and you're done. Dessert, if any, would be, again, some fruit. Then, mix these up. Keep it fresh. It's like sex--don't do the same things again and again so it doesn't get stale. Or dull;

15) In the summer, if you can, when it's hot, eat lots of salads with fresh greens and vegetables. Load it with things you like. These also happen to be very good for you, of course, they don't require a lot of preparation time and, again, you can mix them up a lot so they're never the same twice unless you want them to be. It won't get dull this way. Just again, don't overdo quantity. Moderation;

16) And in winter at least, eat a lot of soups. Same things here--you can do all kinds of different ones and use only the favorite things you like. Also, do them with broth, not cream-based. Use chicken or beef broth, use tomato-based soups, this kind. The cream-based ones will get you in trouble as they're loaded with fats. An additional, organizational benefit is that you can make a big, favorite pot on the weekend and serve it a few--maybe even several--times through the following week. It helps with busy schedules. If you eat canned soups--and they're still good for you, though likely not as good as homemade soups--make sure you don't get the ones that have 800 to 900 milligrams of sodium (salt) in them. Your blood pressure will go off the charts;

17) Finally, don't eat dinner after 8 pm, as much as possible. Don't sleep on your food--it will digest much better and you'll feel much better, too.

I think that does it.

It's not that long a list and it's fairly simple and straightforward.

The fact is, folks, we're all "bodybuiders". We're all shaping the kind of body we have. It's just that a tiny minority of us--the ones we usually label "bodybuilders"--are doing it positively and with a great deal of thought and discipline. If we follow the above ideas, we'll be building our own good body.

And feeling and maybe even looking great, in the meantime.