Is diet and fitness important to you

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At the moment, I dont really exercise other than the fact that I walk everywhere. I used to do a combination of yoga, pilates and aerobics 5 days a week but recently I havent done so. I didnt exercise to make myself slim as I am naturally quite slender anyway, I did it in order to feel fit and toned and good about myself. Then, to cut a long story short, I got a job, I didnt settle in the area, I got pissed off, so I didnt exercise and did a lot of comfort eating. I eat a lot anyway, usually of the right things as I believe in nourishing myself properly, but on top of that I would snack on burgers, chocolate (I can get through one of those really big bars in a day!) and all sorts of other crap that I shouldnt eat on a regular basis.

Since leaving my job I am temporarily living with relatives and they dont allow me to snack on bad stuff as much whereas left to my own devices I probably would. I need to find a job and cheer up before leaving home so that I have such foods as treats rather than as necessities. However, whether Im happy or not I have this one vice. I can easily consume 2 litres of Coca-cola in a day and cant go a day without it as this upsets me. This may sound extreme but to take that one pleasure away from me would be like cutting off my left arm (I say this because Im left handed).

Believe it or not, diet and fitness is important to me but its difficult getting back into the swing of it when you've been knocked back or let yourself go, but I know I must and am taking steps to do so. I know that, at the moment, Im not one to talk but I believe that there are people out there who dont take diet and fitness seriously enough at all and, as a result, are endangering their own lives and, in some cases, the lives of their children (if they have any). I know that there are fad diets out there and popular exercise regimes advertised everywhere but why do people really do it? Because everyone else is or because they genuinely realise that they have to take better care of themselves? And some diets, such as the Atkins diet, are extreme and dont really do anything for you at all, I mean how does the Atkins diet teach you how to eat sensibly when it promotes the consumption of fatty foods? High cholesterol levels anyone?

When I read things in the papers or mags that I get about the increasing population of morbidly obese people due to lack of exercise and poor diet, or the increased incidence of obese children and children developing type 2 diabetes, this really concerns me. Do these people not realise that they are killing themselves and if they do realise it does it not worry them?

I really hope Im not offending anyone here, its just that I dont understand how people can abuse themselves to the point where they are endangering their own lives. I know Im not taking 100% care of myself at the moment but my life is in not endangered by my current lifestyle choices. Im just having a general rant about something I believe in and I believe that you only live once and, whilst we should all enjoy life (including what we eat and drink) we should also take care of ourselves as we only get one body. And I aim to treat mine a bit better than I have been doing.

Well, when I used to overeat, it was a combination of stress overeating, hedonism, lack of knowledge about nutrition, and lack of ability to get proper nutrition that did me in- not to mention the Zyprexa I'm ont that keeps me from being psycho (or psychotic, ha ha) but kills my metabolism. I woulnd't judge all people who look like they don't take care fo themselves by the same ruler. High-calrie, quick and easy foods liek hamburger helper have a certain appeal over either more expensive foods which cook just as fast (ex. lean cuisine, those things cost TONS, again, ha ha) or foods which take longer to prepare whwther or not they are of comparable price. Some people do not have the meansd or the time to eat properly. Some people do not have the means or the time to exercise. Some people are so messed up they don't know how to properly control their compulsion to eat. Some people just don't realize how many damn calories/how much friggin' fat in in some foods (and I wouldnt' underestimate the size of this last group of people either!)

Health and fitness to me are imperative. I grew up as the fat geeky kid, and was terrorized for that. Naturally my self esteem was quite low. However the last 5 years or so I've always made a conscious effort to stay fit, through exercise and proper nutrition.

I've had my peaks and valleys, like right now I'm just starting a new exercise program and diet because I've gotten a bit heavier than I'd like to be. But generally I find if I am fit, I am happy. I would like to think that if I have nothing else going for me in life, I would at least have my health.

I make an effort to stay fit and eat healthy. I was the fat kid in school and through the parts of college where I *wasn't* struggling with an eating disorder, and my life was hell because of it.

I like being thin and I attract a lot less negative attention now. Plus, I feel better when I eat healthy, and exercise makes me less anxious overall.

I do make an effort to eat more healthful.
Little processed food or meats, minimal hydrogenated oils, and lots of fresh whole grains, fruits nuts and lean meats.

Recently started lifting weights again.

Fiz original post : I do 'comfor eating' a lot, but sometimes I remind myself that I should eat healthy, even if many times I eat out of stress.

Serissa : I think I can calculate the amount of calories, I learnt it from "howstuffworks".

If you eat 20g (I'm not sure if grams is international value) butter and for some strange
reason it contains 60%fat 20%carbohydrates and 20%protein, we can calculate the amount of calories which are:
1.for fat=9calories/g
2.carbohydrates=4calories/g
3.protein=4calories/g

fat 60% of 20g is hmm...... 0.60*20=12g which hmm.. 12*9=108calories
carbohydrates 20% of 20g= 4*4=16 calories
protein 20% of 20g= 4*4=16 calories

sum up: 20grams of butter (in this case) equals 108+16+16 calories
20grams of butter equals 140 calories.

Is it right, have you looked into this?

From what I have read, you seem to be near enough with the butter thing. I'm going to assume that you were talking about proper butter and not including margarines. Apparently, 1 tablespoon of butter is equivalent to 14g and in that there is a total of 110 calories or thereabouts.

It was an example of if a certain food contains a(amount of) fat, b carbohydrates and c protein.

I've found it hard to get back into the swing of things with diet and fitness as well. No excuses, just laziness I guess.

I'm thinking that *right now* this very minute, I should be going to the gym, but I'm really tired and stayed up way too late last night. Ah well. I'll try to get there anyways sometime today.
Anna