Thursday blues

After two weeks of strict dieting and exercise, I've concluded once again that it doesn't matter what or how much I eat or don't eat (other than bread and pasta and cookies and chips and such) or how much or what kind of exercise I get, the weight either increases or stays the same. And that the way I generally eat (aside from occasional forays into said bread, pasta and cookies) is just fine.

Week one, I kept it under 1500 calories, all healthy calories. Week two, kept it around 1200 (as low as one should go). I generally ate more than I wanted and felt stuffed, just to reach those lofty caloric heights with said healthy food. Result? No changes in weight or the reliable old tape measure. I'm still fat, and nothing seems to budge that. Once again, I'm at a total loss.

I suppose I could strap on a little backpack laden with nourishment and water and try walking aimlessly all day. I've lived in places where I've noticed people doing that, and they were indeed thin, although seemingly driven by something unseen lurking in their minds. I'd see them walking studiously away, all over town and in various parts of town on different days. Actually, I remember one man in Corvallis who did this for years, and there was a guy in Georgia with a long beard and hair who talked to himself or shouted to the world as he walked, often about sin and religion.  I saw him everywhere too, every day, although he seemed a bit paranoid and unpredictable so I tried to avoid close encounters, after the first few.

Surely, enough exercise would trigger the old metabolism and set it and all the erring hormones back to normal. Or not. The likelihood of me actually trying similar all-day walks is fairly slim. This place is too far from business centers to walk for groceries or the gym. There is, however, a lovely and well-used wood-chipped running/walking trail that begins near the bus stop, just down the hill, and goes probably two or three miles into town, and that might be a good place to try some walking. Level, good footing, people and places to watch, no bicycles, benches to sit if needed. Now that sounds like a plan, although I'm probably not good for more than an hour or so at the moment. All day will have to wait awhile.  Ironically, taking the trail to the end would take me near either the supermarket or the gym, contrary to what I just wrote. However -- walking back with food or after a hard exercise is a bit different from just hauling my fat ass back home. That's enough, for the moment, all by itself. And again, I'm not even good for that far right now.

I fully understand that my hour or less at the gym 3x per week is inadequate, considering how little I generally do the rest of the day. I walk up and down the stairs here multiple times each day -- does that count? Not enough. Some drastic energy expenditure is needed. Each time I spent weeks (or months) at the hermitage in California, with all its mountainous glory, I came away much slimmer even though I was no doubt consuming more calories.

There must be an answer. I've heard of a new book about resetting hormones to help with weight loss, but I'm not sure I want to try it, and I'm very sure I don't want to spend $30 to buy it.