A Common Problem

Originally posted by member in a weight-loss forum

"After looking over my data for the past 9 months,
I conclude that I need to be eating about 1200 calories a day
and exercising the equivalent of 200 calories a day.
Otherwise, I am going to stay right where I am.

Now, can accomplish this behavior???
I am not sure.
I know I don't like being stuck where I am.

So, it is my choice.

I realize that due to injuries my daily movement
has been curtailed and conserved.
My "need" for food stays the same, however."

This is an excellent statement about the problem that many of us have in common,
especially older "reduced obese" women.  After carefully recording our food-intake
and weight data in computer software journals, our data reveals a rather unpleasant truth. 

The calorie needs of our older bodies is far, far less than our appetites;
many of our aging bodies simply will not tolerate heavy exercise;
and our true calorie need is a number far, far lower
than what the "expert" charts indicate is correct for us.

We have to ask ourselves:
"Are we willing to trade the food to be a "normal" size?"
and
"Can we get ourselves to eat in that manner?"

There's a lot currently written about what our bodies required in Paleolithic times,
and I've been thinking about elderly women in that time.
First...there weren't very many post-menopausal women around...
and I imagine that those who did survive to become old, 
had to "earn their keep". 

Since the women were past childbearing years;
the ability to do a lot of physically hard work reduces with age;
and age doesn't necessarily come with increased wisdom,
it would be reasonable to assume that they had less value for their "tribe"
so probably it would have been an important asset 
to have a body that required less food to survive.

What does this mean currently?
I don't know, but I find it interesting to consider.