This is the time of year when we're all motivated to get into shape, start eating more healthfully, lose weight, etc. So I thought I'd share my brief history of this ongoing struggle most of us share, and what insights I've discovered.

I'm one of those who have always been skinny, and could eat whatever I wanted, due to my fast metabolism. Then, in my mid-thirties, I met a senior couple who swore by the Blood Type Diet. It had healed them of some medical problems such as arthritis. It sounded so good I thought I'd try it, for health reasons.

Now I wish I hadn't done that. Because after I started on the diet wheel, my body got out of balance and I eventually ended up going through a period of six months of steady and constant weight gain, even though I was exercising. I finally realized that I was consuming large amount of cream and cream products, and as soon as I cut those out, my weight levelled off. By then I had gained twenty pounds, and was so close to the obesity line (for my height & age), that whenever a vacation came up or a holiday, I'd slip over that line.

Now, the Blood Type Diet did take away all my heartburn, and when followed closely, I lost some pounds. But it is an imbalanced diet (the Type O one), where you're not supposed to eat grain products, and eat meat or protein at every meal. For the first time, I was consuming lots of red meats. But a healthy diet consists of a balance of not too much red meat, and some grains. It took me a while to realize that the Type O diet really isn't natural or balanced. And as long as I was following it very closely, I was fine, but as soon as I started adding cream products to this, then my body got out of balance and I gained weight. Since then it's been almost impossible to find balance again, and to lose the weight I gained.