There was a lot of noise on the net the other day about a new study that concluded that food does not satisfy obese people. I'm not making any excuses for how I demolish a box of Little Debbies, but I can completely understand this.

Based on the findings, which appeared in the Oct. 17 issue of the journal Science, researchers concluded that overweight or obese people don’t get more satisfaction from food than slim people do. It is the reduced level of pleasure they get from eating that makes them overindulge. And while trying to compensate for the reward deficit, they opt for more high-calorie food.

I would add that, just like with drugs, your body builds up a resistance so that you need more to satisfy you the more junk food you eat (in my unprofessional opinion).

They mention people's predisposition to being obese based on the genetics in the study. While I believe genetics do play a role in your body composition, I firmly believe that it is personal responsibility that plays a larger role. I could be lazy and say I (possibly) have this Taq1A1 gene and just live with the consequences. Instead, I chose to work at living a healthy lifestyle and not pointing the finger at anything (or anyone) but me.

Welcome to the Fitness Roller Coaster Ride, please enter the ride quickly, secure all lose articles and carry ons and fasten your seat belt tightly. During the ride you will experience ups and downs and a few dreaded plateaus along the way.

And so it goes with weight loss and fitness. There will be days when you hit a personal best and you feel like a million bucks. There will also be days when you just don't feel like going to the gym or the scale goes up and you feel like all the hard work you've put in has been for naught.

Today, I just experienced one of those down moments after my weekly weigh-in. Despite having what I thought was a good week, I didn't lose any weight. I stepped on and off the scale at least 6 times, hoping to see at least 1 pound come off but each time the scale stopped, it still read 194.

Stepping off the scale for the last time I felt dejected and wasn't looking forward to my morning workout at all, what was the point? But even as I wallowed in my self-pity, I knew that going to the gym was exactly what I needed to do. The scale may not show the progress I was expecting, but I know I'm getting back into shape and can feel the tone of my muscles getting firm again.

This is the part of the roller coaster ride where it's almost too easy to get off, when you don't see the progress you expect. But, with a little mental toughness, this is also the point of the ride where you can cinch your seatbelt a little tighter and say to yourself "I'm going to make it through this." And when you do get through it, you'll experience the exhilaration of reaching a new personal best or weight loss goal and the ride will be fun again.

I tightened my seat belt and made it to the gym. The workout wasn't my best, I still was thinking of my weigh-in. But, I still made it to the gym and that's the important thing. I didn't give up and I've re-focused my energies on working hard and eating right. I know that this ride isn't automatic, I have to do my part to pull out of the lows in order to reach new highs.

So this week, my personal roller coaster is starting a new climb. When I weigh-in next week I plan on being higher up that hill than when I started. Between my personal motivation, and that of my family and friends in the Turbulence Training community I have all the support and encouragement I need to reach my next peak.