I'm Hungry

Because so many people, events, and possibilities fill these days, finding one suitable for a blog entry is pretty easy. Said otherwise, it's often hard to choose. In selecting each topic, I think for a moment about which among the day's swirling ideas are most vivid. I ask myself, as I sometimes ask Stephanie (but only half-seriously): "What's your dominant reality?" For me, right now, the dominant reality is hunger. I'm two-thirds of the way though a planned 15 pound weight reduction, and I would like to lose the additional five pounds before the end of the month. Weight loss is not for sissies—it hurts! Excess weight is a big deal to most adults. Its implicated in health risks and problems, and it limits a person's range of activities. Maybe the most pressing effect is the threat to self-esteem. Overweight and obesity are caused by a ratio of calorie consumption to calorie expenditure of greater than 1. A perfect match, a ratio of exactly 1, results in weight stability. Averaged over time, overweight people have only a slight consumption error of maybe 1.01, but the error accumulates. Common experience tells us that us that a calorie ratio of .99, .98, or lower is tough sledding, especially if it's to be sustained. So, if I start fantasizing about my next meal during a conversation, please forgive me.