I am going on 59 yrs old. My doctors over the years told me that I had to cut down on My cholesterol and my weight. I have been told that for 15 years. I half-heartedly tried tou Cut the weight and failed. I weighed 241.5 as of Sept 5, 2005. I am 5 ft 9 inches tall; thus, I am 55 lbs overweight. I live a rather sedentary lifestyle and I love to eat ice cream, other sweets and pasta. I also WILL NOT go to a gym nor join the weight losing groups. I also will not count my calories like a nut job. My Asiatic physician, a VERY nice but THIN gent, very politely reminded me many times; yo will need to be on medication until you successfully lose 55 lbs. I am on blood thinning medicine, plus aspirin and cholesterol reducing meds. Every day. I hate it. But it allows me to sleep easier. For 4 yrs, I half heartedly cut down on my intake of this and that. I did a bit of walking [I used to be a speed walker]. NOTHING worked. Nothing. My very nice physician reminded me EVER so politely that AS LONG as a person consumes fewer calories than He burns off, he will lose weight; it is a medical fact. I almost yelled at him 3 times. Nothing is working. I only drink 6 sodas a day and chips 3 times a day and I stop eating at 11 pm. NOTHING is working. And I walk 2 miles a day. HIS advice was not working. OR, as Dr. Phil would say, are you being honest? NO. I was not. NOW it just so happens that I live across the street from a gentleman who is 6 yrs older than myself and he has less than 1% fat on his body. He looks like he weighs 250 lbs. I challenged him POLITELY 4 months ago. HE got on a scale and it read 205. I got on; 240. Damn. NOT possible. HE was bigger than me and had a pot too. And he did not walk long distances like I do. Whoops, Dr. Phil time again; Honesty; my friend easily advised me that he ate a fair sized breakfast and he pigged out at lunch. At dinner, he had a glass of milk. Period. HE never had a weight problem, his weight varied by at most, 10 lbs in a year. I was so mad in August 2005 that I would scream at myself. MY stomach actually made me look pregnant! THAT was absurd. I again talked to my neighbor and reviewed my own determination and my exercise program. Something I was doing had to change. I demanded of myself to lose 55 lbs. I did not want to wait 5 yrs. I wanted it off by next Spring, at the latest. I would have to increase my exercise and cut my calories. PURE and simple. So, on about Sept 4, 2005, when it came time for dinner, I accepted my new rule and had only water. I kept up my same exercise program. Within one week, I went from 241.5 to 238. I would get hunger pangs that would not stop and I realized that something had to give from my old program, so, if hunger pangs were part of the new program, I would accept them. End of week 2, down to 236. NO dinner, no snack of any type and 2 casual miles a day. I wanted more action. I had to alter something; I chose to increase my exercises; to 4 miles a day, with 2 of them done at a time. End of week 3, down to 234. Week 4, 232. IT is now 8 weeks and I was at 218.5 naked, this morning after my first walk [I walk attired]. Before breakfast. I have two scales and these unique things have popped up. First, my two scales, even after being evened out with a 1 gallon water container being placed on each, each scale shows 8 lbs, the weight of 1 gallon of water. But thereafter, the one scale, older yet adjustable, often shows a 6 lb reduction in weight compared to the digital readout newer scale. Phooey. IT appears that my walking shorts, and tennis shoes and T shirt weigh 3 lbs. I usually lose lb after a walk. HOWEVER, I eat out every Saturday morning and such meal seems to stick 2-4 lbs on me. I have not been able to figure that out, as I eat fewer than 1,000 calories and the food weighs under 1 lb. OH well. I am also learning that the body SETTLES in at a certain weight for a while. That means That sometimes, when mathematically, I weigh 218 in the morning and I do all my Exercises to burn off what I have eaten, I may be 220 at night. The next morning, sometimes I am down 1 lb and sometimes, I am up one pound. It is said we grow an inch Each night and shirk during the day. Go figure. IT is now the day after Thanksgiving. I told my lady that I am a bit flexible; as to when we eat and what I eat during holidays. I know with my regimen, I will cut the pounds As I have been; 1.5 to 2 per week. The additional frustrating part is, after an arbitrary Amount of exercising, I am gaining muscle and muscle weighs more than fat does. So, AS I drop, I lose and I then get stronger and I gain. But the program is working. And the experts tell me, the more muscle I have, it aids in my fat burning [I cant seem to figure that one out]. According to experts, I am on a fast track to losing. Good for me. I deserve it. I now get friends who try to get me to eat extra or snack and I say NO. NO thanks. By Christmas, was at 215, by the new year, 210 and by July 2006, 188. I am finding too that as I add more muscle, the weight gaining is growing so I have To work a bit harder. I will gladly volunteer this; when I went to the movies last weekend to see Harry Potter, We got to the theatre complex early and I went outside to check things out. I frequently saw myself in shop windows and I was pleasantly surprised! My tummy bulge was gone! I am not skinny at all at 191 but [dressed] LOOK way skinnier than 241 ever did. I am proud of myself. YOU can do it too. NO cost!! NO gym, no memberships and no special food to buy. Just honesty. |
