Why should I lose weight?

"Reduce the amount you eat just a little each year!"  That advice from Gardner Mulloy on how to prolong fitness into later years was given out around the time he won the Wimbledon Men's Doubles Title in 1957 at the age of 44.  I've never forgotten him saying it...obviously! And I can't remember how many times I've quoted it to others....
...and also illustrating the point about how we eat more when we're younger with my personal anectdote of a hungry 16 year old with 6 cheese rolls in my pack up lunch! 
A photograph of me taken during the recent World Cup shows that lately I possibly haven't been telling the story quite so much! 



But now 4 weeks on....I'm 12 pounds lighter, feeling decidely fitter and also a little bit self-satisfied...especially after reading an article in Thursday's Daily Mail  
Dealing with the worryingly accepted issue of obesity in this country, the article reports on a study carried out by Lighterlife on our eating habits.
It seems that when it comes to over-eating we all blame everyone but ourselves. We blame our parents for telling us to finish what's put in front of us.....yes I can relate to that.
Us fellas blame our partners for putting too much on our plates...yes I've used that one.
The ladies blame us, in that they serve themselves the same size portions as we get  ...heard that too!

We blame food manufacturers for stealthily upsizing food. Apparently a hot cross bun is now typically 40% larger.
The confectionery guys are at it too so we can blame them. Have you seen the huge bag of M&M's on promotion at £2...a nice round price!!
And finally we blame the catering industry who from coffee to burgers are incentivising us with clever pricing to trade up in size...in more ways than one?

And of course blaming everyone else is a lot easier than blaming ourselves.  I've found that three things work for me to keep weight down:
1) Recognise that sugar is an addictive substance that is put in food to make it more'ish.  Which is why I will finish a pack of Digestive biscuits in a day. And why if I "quit" ...after a week the craving stops.
2) Understand that unpleasant "hunger pangs" encourage me to eat so they'll go away, and so I eat plenty to be sure. When in fact the pangs are simply the digestive acid my belly has been "trained" to create in anticipation of the amount of food I'm eating. Eat less and the pangs reduce!
3) Accept that if we really want to remain fit and active and keep our weight down to a healthy level then we have to start by shifting the blame for over-eating back to ourselves.
Gardnar Mulloy is still lean and fit and playing tennis in his 90's ...and probably glad he never listened to his mother!