What is all this diet crap?

Obesity is endemic in the US. We are fat. We are Super Sizing and wanting fries with "that." You could order fries and still get fries with that - and a Coke.

Obesity does more than just look bad. It strains your heart and joints. It increases the risk of stroke and diabetes. It is all around unhealthy.

I have heard people saying they are fat but in good shape. I'm not sure what measure this statement is based on, but I can't say that I even remotely understand it. After many years of working in surgery and seeing what fat looks like from the inside, it is NOT healthy. It is greasy. It is like tallow and it is slippery and disgusting.

I am not fat. I have never been fat. I have never weighed more than the charts say I should weigh. But I'm on a diet. Why? Because my pants are tight.

I should be on a diet because it is healthier to be thin rather than fat. It is unhealthy to be anorexic. I am not anorexic. I used to be thin. I want to be thin again. So I diet. And exercise.

I am grateful, I think, when people tell me that I don't need to diet. I don't know what measure they are using, but apparently is has nothing to do with my closets. I know that I need to diet. I know that two years ago my clothes fit differently than they do now. I liked the way they fit then. I want them to fit like that again. So I diet.

I did not wait for the weight to be astronomical. I do not need to lose 200 pounds. I didn't even need to lose 20 pounds. But why should I wait to lose? It is far easier to lose 12 pounds than 120 pounds. I could have kept eating and buying larger clothes. But why?

It may be vanity. It may be denial of age. It may be that my clothes didn't fit. But ... I want to get into my pants.

Those are my reasons for dieting.