Maintaining a healthy weight is so hard that I don’t understand how others do it.

I went from this:

To this:

I am pretty skinny now. I’m in my early forties.

Because I run. It was during the pandemic year when I started to run a lot more and became a very good runner. I can run a sub-three-hour marathon pretty much any weekend of the year if I’m not injured.

I don’t run to lose weight. Running is my passion. But I can’t run as fast with extra pounds so I’m very conscious of maintaining my weight.

So I run 60–70 miles a week. Last week I reinjured my right foot so I’ve paused my running. Today I biked in the gym instead, for over an hour. I did intervals (10 minutes fast with a lot of resistance, 5 min recovery) and I was soaking wet by the end of my 65-minute exercise.

60–70 miles a week?! Consistently every week of the year. I’m not complimenting myself but this level of exercise is extraordinary. Not for professional runners of course but for most people who run or exercise, let alone for those who are not into fitness. And like I said when if I can’t run, I still exercise for at least forty minutes.

I eat in moderation. I’d never have junk food. I can’t remember the last time I had a burger. I barely eat any red meat. Always vegetables in the evening, sometimes only vegetables. I probably eat less than most people who exercise very little or not at all. My only weakness is … alcohol. Not the most advanced electrolyte drink in the world can bring as much pleasure after my run in the evening as cold beer. I also like a glass of cold Chardonnay.

I currently weigh about 158 pounds. I’ve put on a few pounds in the last couple of months but I’m still very lean.

So sometimes I look at someone who’s about my height and who weighs, say, over 200 pounds and I think: yeah sure, this person is a bit overweight. I’m all fit and sporty. But I also think that the fifty-pound difference between us is disproportionately lower than the difference in our fitness routines. I ran 82 miles the other week. That’s almost…