Will these small changes to my diet make me healthier?

kbanas — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 08:14:51 -0800

I'm not fat, I'm just kind of.. fat. Are these choices making me healthier? So, I'm 6'4" and I weigh around 250 pounds. When I was a kid people used to tease me about being a string bean. They do not do this anymore. Instead of being a string bean, I guess I now resemble an oak tree - I'm a little thick in the middle. I'm not obese, but I'm not at a weight I'm proud of, either - I'm kind of...a little round. My pants are a little tight. My thighs rub together when I walk. My breasts kind of bounce a little bit when I go up and down stairs, and I'm a guy, so that's not as sexy as it sounds.

Why? Well, a couple things. I'm taking some anxiety medication that my doctor tells me isn't doing my weight any favors. I'm also not so active (I spend a lot of time in front of the computer), and that's not doing me any favors either. The big one, however, is how I eat. Any time you're stopping at Taco Bell and Burger King in the same week, you're probably not going to be rocking a six pack.

Well, look, I'm a reasonable guy - I realize that my best chance to drop some of the weight around my midsection is to take small, measured steps. I notice that when I undertake huge, drastic life changes, I have a tendency to not stick to them.

So, I've started exercising a couple a couple days out of the week. I've started taking the stairs instead of the elevator. And I've tried to improve my diet.

So what am I asking?

Well, this question is chiefly about my diet. I eat out a lot, which is another strike right there - but that's something that's not going to change over night, so just humor me and accept it as one of the basic premises of this question.

Normally, let's say I go out to eat for lunch at work - I'd order, maybe, depending on the place, two coney dogs, an order of fries and a greek salad. Or a bacon cheeseburger, and order of fries, and a greek salad. Yuk, right?

Let's say that, as a place to start, I try to force myself to order things that have, say, turkey!

Turkey is healthy, right?

Let's say I order a turkey club, or a turkey rueben, or a turkey roll-up? Or instead of getting a lamb gyro I order a chicken gyro?

I mean, I know these things still have cheese, and dressing, and things - but are these choices actually improving my general well-being at all, or am I just fooling myself?

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Will these small changes to my diet make me healthier?