Setting the wrong goals

Not long ago while reading the paper, or perhaps seeing a clip on television, I saw that two extremely well known women had lost battles with weight loss. This struck me because it concerns many, many people on an ongoing basis. Both Oprah Winfrey and Kirstie Alley, publicly and with great fanfare, had lost significant amounts of weight only to gain it back again.

I don't remember the details now, but I believe Ms. Winfrey wanted to reach a certain size and Ms. Alley wanted to reach a certain goal weight. They both had the wrong goals. It is almost predictable to see the result. Once the goal is achieved, another goal becomes their focus (or obsession) with the resultant weight gain predictable as their previous goal is no longer in front of them. In fact, Ms. Alley removed her exercise equipment and placed it in the garage, pleased to be rid of it.

A better goal in both instances would have been to live a healthier life. A consequence of living a healthy lifestyle would be loss of weight, if one is overweight. Also, the goal of living a healthy life is ongoing. There is no final achievement. There is no point where one stops exercising. Moderation in diet means just that. That doesn't mean that you can never splurge anywhere along the way. It just means that your goal is to be a healthy human being.

As an "advanced paternal age" father (I had my first child when I was 42 and the twins came when I was 45) I have a very strong desire to live a long and healthy life so that I will be around when my kids have kids - even if they decide to also be "advanced maternal/paternal age" parents.

So my goal is not to achieve a certain weight. Or fit into a certain waist size pair of pants. My goal is to live a healthy life, so that I will enjoy a long one, and be able to enjoy that life in good health.

I think I'll skip dessert tonight.