What just happened?

One year ago I joined a competition and lost a bunch of weight!  I was very successful!  In the end I had lost 31lbs. but a year later I have gained 24 of those pounds back.  Why does this seem to be the natural cycle of things?  Why have I lost weight, and lots of it on multiple occasions, but I always seem to gain it back.

For too long I have sought to reset my normal weight set point.  But time and time again I have failed.  I have tried severe calorie restriction, and while this does allow me to lose weight quickly, it does not last.  I have tried low glycemic index, and I lost lots of weight that way also it did not last either.  Both of these were based on limiting components of nutrition like carbs or fat or protein.  And this has always seemed so artificial.  My grandparents were not heavy, and neither were their parents!!  They didn't worry about fat, carbs or anythings else, but instead worried about feeding their families with food!!!

So why is it so hard for us to maintain a normal weight?  I have talked to my father and my grandmother and have found that they ate multiple servings of food, and lots of different kinds of food, and curiously, they ate things cooked in lard, ate lots of fatty meats, and lots and lots of veggies, and lots of different kinds of veggies prepared in lots of different ways.  They ate baked goods, but they were made at home with fresh farm raised ingredients, and they never got fat!

So what was different?  They DID NOT eat processed crap!  They ate bread as a side of the meal, not as the basis of the meal.  They ate meat at every meal, they were pig farmers, and crop farmers.  They ate a diet that today takes a fair amount of planning and work!  It is a marked departure with what we are told we are supposed to eat, and not supposed to eat.  So as of now I will be relearning how to eat, because I am clearly not eating incorrectly.

I am committed to learning what food is, and what food is not!  I am committed to working hard to plan and shop for real food, and creating a new way of eating that is really an old way of eating.

I should mention that I have read Tim Ferriss' "4-hour Body", and Loren Courdain's "Paleo Diet", so I understand the basis for not eating crap, and the fact that calorie restriction is a fallacy.  So I am now reading Jonathan Bailor's book "The Calorie Myth."  I am developing a more well rounded understanding of what we need to be eating and why.

So let my journey begin! (again)