I’m lucky in a lot of ways.

Here’s a brief list of advantages I have when I’m battling the weight loss devil:

Technology: My wife has an iPad, and that allowed me to buy a $3 program to count calories eaten and expended. I seriously could not have managed this without it. More detail later when I talk in depth about Livestrong.

Time: Not everyone can take an hour or two out of their day to take long walks.

Tastebuds: People often admonish fat people (like me) to eat more vegetables. Well, I’m lucky in that veggies taste good to me. It’s taken a long time for people to acknowledge (even a little bit) that we experience things in different ways. For people that experience greens as extremely bitter, eat your vegetables is terrible advice.

My wife: She’s going to turn up in the disadvantages post, too, but she’s been incredibly supportive of the efforts I’m making. For example, I’m happy to do the dishes after dinner, but I need her to put the leftovers away first. Also, she’s the one who’s almost obsessive about putting salads on the table. She helps a ton.

Lack of money: Mostly, it sucks to be short on cash, but when it comes to losing weight, adding “Do I want to spend money on pizza/beer/fries?” to “Do I want to spend calories on pizza/beer/fries?” adds some extra fortitude to my decision making.

Denial: Yes, I’m strong in the ways of pretending shit isn’t a problem when really it is. In most aspects of my life, it’s a problem. When it comes to hunger pangs, it makes it easy for me to put off a meal while I finish a chapter.

Body chemistry: So far, at least. My body really wanted to lose that first 10-15 pounds and they came off fairly easily. The pounds since then have been slower, but so far I haven’t been completely sabotaged by my physical need for food.

edited to add: (I knew I would forget some stuff)

Neighborhood: I’m lucky to live in a walkable neighborhood with access to healthy foods.

No sweet tooth: I have many food cravings, but I don’t crave sweets. That’s lucky for me, since the calories I do crave are more filling and (somewhat) nutritious.