The three keys to losing

The three keys to losing

EDITOR:

One of the first signs of spring is the arrival of the neighborhood joggers, seeking the warmth of the sun to melt away their excess pounds. To all those fair-weather, flub-averse enthusiasts, I offer this bit of advice: If you want to lose weight, throw away your bathroom scale and buy a kitchen scale.

Losing weight requires just three elements: knowledge, discipline and will power. You need to know food and your body. In this regard, a pocket-sized simple calorie counting book will do. It will list the most common foods and their calorie content for a given portion. Always be aware of portion size. A bowl of cereal is not a bowl of cereal. It is an ounce of cereal in a bowl.

A pound of fat is 3,500 calories. If your weight is stable, keep track of your calorie intake for a few weeks. Once you know how many calories you are eating, reduce it by 500 hundred a day. At that level, you will lose one pound a week — 52 pounds in a year. No need to rush.

Of course, there is a lot more knowledge than this. You need to learn about the impact of fiber, exercise, saturated fats and vitamins on your diet and health. Also, a visit to the doctor can help you determine if your weight is a function of your health or your appetite. All these bits of information will help you formulate a reasonable approach to weight loss.

The next element is discipline. You want to be in control of your diet. You don’t want your diet controlling you. So control what you can control, which is your calorie intake, not your weight. With knowledge, you will set your calorie intake target, transfer it to a piece of graph paper, and then stick that graph to the refrigerator door. At the end of each day, plot the number of calories you had on the graph, which compares it to your target and allows you to make any necessary corrections.

Of course you can weigh yourself — once a month or once a year. If you haven’t lost a reasonable amount, simply lower the target on your graph.

The last element of our dieting trio is will power. There will be days that you fail to meet your target. Will power won’t prevent that. What it will prevent is turning that one failure into a string of failures. Each day is a new diet. Never say I’ll get back on it Monday or Tuesday or next week. Have the will power to get back on it today.

So let’s summarize. The keys to a successful diet are knowledge, discipline and will power. The tools you’ll need are a kitchen scale, a calorie book, a piece of graph paper and a refrigerator door. Assuming you have a refrigerator door, the whole package will cost about $20. You’ll save that much on food in the first week. By focusing on what’s controllable, you will reduce your calorie intake, your grocery bill and your waistline.

THOMAS MASKELL

Poland

Banish the V8, save gas

EDITOR:

I am tired of hearing the politician give lip service to the cost of gasoline. As usual, they must introduce all kinds of ifs, ands or buts to generate hundreds of pages of politico babble.

As far as I can see from personal experience I can unequivocally state that the age of the V8 muscle car must come to an end. My two full-size cars are V6s and are easily and quickly able to hit 85 mph if and when needed for passing. Also both on a trip to Annapolis, Md., can average 32 miles per gallon.

Who needs a V8? Get rid of them except for the after market to the “machomen” to satisfy their ego. Maybe an investment into a V4 might also be wise for midsize and lower autos. Get rid of the V8 and get rid of super high test fuel. I don’t know any normal people who need or use it.

Along with that EPA should re-evaluate their multi-flavors for multi-areas and shrink down the selection to two or three year-round blends. This will simplify refining and transmission problems, reduce cost at the pump and reduce pressure on the aging refineries.

DANIEL VICTOR BIENKO

Canfield