Stay off of HFC syrup and really any high glycemic carb.  Eat more fruit.  Get rid of all sugars and most of the fake sugars.  Honey, molasses, and stevia are the only sweets you should eat.  Get exercise everyday, if possible.  Sometimes weather screws things up, better just to adjust clothing and go do it.

Great topic that effects alot of people and some great advice. Glad to read that you are down from those scale busting weights Carl.

Good thing that you quit smoking years ago.

I competed bodybuilding for numerous years, so you can imagine what I looked like. Finished in 2nd place in one contest.

If you want to be lean for life and happy with your eating/diet.............you need the right Mommy and Daddy. I say that because I have been able to eat whatever I want(mostly healthy) and not gain weight. At 62, I still have trouble keeping my weight up at times. 

I don't have a magical secret. My parents were not big boned or fat people and could/can eat alot and burn it up. I got their genetics. 

Also, one of the things that you can use to burn the most fat...........even while you sleep is to acquire more muscle.

Get it with strength training.  You will burn calories while doing the strength training, then your body responds by adding muscle. Muscle requires more calories to feed/sustain. This is speeding up your metabolism..............even while you are sleeping. 

Cardio is great for your entire body, heart, lungs endocrine system etc and it burns calories but don't neglect strength training. It also increases bone density.

So I just happen be lucky with regards to being able to eat alot and not gain weight in this modern age...........an age where there is an over abundance of food and over attraction to eat it.

But if I lived more than 100 years ago or lived in a country today, that does not have food everywhere, all the time,  I would be cursed to have this metabolism. 

For thousands and thousands of years, you people that gain weight easy today, were the ones that survived best in famines. Your bodies are actually MUCH more efficient at extracting all the nutrients and calories from the food that you eat. Guys like me would be the first to starve. I need 2,000+ calories a day just to stay above 150. If I have less than that and drop lower in weight, it takes a toll on my energy level.

If this were the world of motor vehicles, you would be living in a Mack Truck that gets 50 miles per gallon(but the gas is what feeds your size), while my body is a compact car that gets 10 mpg.

My wife eats less than half the calories but had different parents and really struggles to keep her weight down.   I don't like it when she diets too much. Interestingly, I have always really liked big women(she was little when we married by I loved her because we were/are soul mates) but sometimes, people become obsessed with dieting and it consumes them. 

This is really easy for me to say, so I'm not judging but I think that many people should just accept the fact that they were born to be FAT because Mommy and Daddy and great Mommy and Daddy were fat ..........as long as it's not counterproductive to your health.  You can still be quite plump, enjoy food but EXERCISE and do STRENGTH TRAINING and your body will be healthy........not 200lbs overweight but plump from eating good nutrition. 

But everybody is different. I could use my body as an example and tell people to do exactly like me...............and this might work for some folks but most would not have the same results. 

If you want to eat ALOT of food, get used to eating food that is not calorie dense. Fats have 9 calories/gram(protein/carbs 4 calories/gram)..........eat foods with less fat. Yeah, they taste good...........for a reason. 

I eat 2 huge bowls of toasted, hot air popcorn every night because I like to eat for an hour but I need more calories so I eat 64 ounces of fat free yogurt cheese every night too. Its actually made by straining 64 ounces of yogart for a day to get out much of the liquids, then I add half a box of chocolate pudding mix and 2 heaping table spoons of cocoa and a package of sugar substitute.

Better than any chocolate ice cream I ever ate!

Sorry to get carried away but have to add that the previous post read like I'm boasting about my body and weight...........so here's a reality check.

I also have a serious autoimmune issue, have had 15 surgeries, eroded most of my cartilage/tendons, lost much of the vision in my right eye, take a high dose of prednisone/NSAIDS and lots of other stuff every day.

But we live with the body that we have, adapt best we can if needed and accept it.

Mike, I was hospitalized last year after a fall and had a concussion. Nothing broken, but I couldn't stand, let alone walk, and had to use a transfer board to get from wheelchair to bed.

After extensive physical  therapy, I now have found muscles that had been on vacation most of my life. I have to use a walker ( prior to the fall as well ) since I have no balance and I'm trying like hell not to lose what I worked so hard to get. All I do is walking for the legs and rubber exorcize bands for the arms. That seems to be enough to maintain. I'm not looking to show off at Muscle Beach.

Carl,

I apologize that my response was not appropriate for your situation. I was probably being insensitive and am sorry about that. 

I was thinking later that you mentioned being on a feeding tube and thought, "wait a second, anybody on a feeding tube probably has some severe limitations and is not interested in trying Mike's popcorn and yogart diet."

Hang in there Carl. It stinks to have pain and serious physical problems and especially when you are old.

However, one thing that we should be enormously grateful for is that we live in the best age imagineable......whether healthy or sick.......if you are reading this.

If you are starving to death in a 3rd world country, it's a different story but most Americans, even poor Americans have a life much better than Kings and Queens had it..........even just a century ago.

You are old Carl and your body worn out but your medical care level was  never imagined 100 years ago. The advances in technology allow you to spend 24 hours a day entertaining yourself on the internet if you so desire. All you need is functioning brain, eyes that can see and hands that can type. 

Your generation had to learn some new tricks to jump on board and hats off to you for doing so. 

My Dad is 93 years old.......older than you. Very sharp but never got tuned into the internet unfortunately. I consider his generation to be the last one to know what life was really like before science, technology and medicine made things so much better and created unlimited opportunities for entertainment, education, socializing and so much more. 

The internet is wonderful for fostering friendships between complete strangers............like you and me would be outside of MarketForum. 

You can learn everything there is to know about everything known from the smartest people on the planet(and some that aren't so smart) by doing the right searches on the internet. 

 I can tell that you are somebody that embraces this.

" Hang in there Carl. It stinks to have pain and serious physical problems and especially when you are old. "

Can't complain about the pain, Mike, and I take Meds for the rest … including Market Forum.

Glad to hear that Carl and glad to have you here.

This is my Dad BTW:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mg5a2DYyXQ

http://www.pressandguide.com/news/checkmate-nonagenarian-chess-whiz-influences-generations-of-players/article_82494772-e57a-5f15-a0ed-b57ed9c33555.html