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I'm about to go on Medicare. Any crowdsourced wisdom on that topic from my Fat Secret buddies?
Personally, I'm beginning to find that calorie restriction is the easier end of the health equation than exercise. Calorie restriction requires me to do nothing or do less (eating). I'm good at doing nothing. Whereas exercise requires effort. Not that you shouldn't be doing exercise but it's a lot easier to engage in calorie restriction, portion control, pushing away from the table, etc. than it is to hit the gym. I've been losing weight and gaining weight for years. Factors in finally losing and keeping weight off: first, accepting the reality that my metabolism has slowed and I don't have to eat as much as I used to. I continue to be surprised at how little I need to eat to maintain or gain weight.
One possible reason for my long-term overeating is that I've always liked to think of myself as having a medium frame and ate that way. Possibly defensive thinking on my part - hey, I'm a guy. In reality, with a 6.6 inch wrist, I'm close to the line between small and medium frame. Another change in awareness resulted from tracking my weight and peaking at 173.4. I realized I was headed for serious health problems if I kept going down that road. Another factor was that I was eating bar food at stand-up comedy open mics to support them. I suppose bar food is marginally better for you than fast food but I wonder. Once I cut down on going to open mics, that helped. I've been counting calories and tracking my weight but what finally put me on the path to losing almost 20 pounds was the 4:3 diet.
Another day with one cup of tea as well as a can of chicken consomme mixed with a can of water, and the rest water. One half cup of Planter's Heart Healthy nuts. A cup of Dole mandarin oranges. Today is my cheat day so four slices of Spam Lite. Five days of carefully watching calories and I'm losing weight, even weighing myself with shorts and belt. It will be interesting to see what's underneath all that flab - probably not a six-pack - maybe a two-liter bottle.
Humidity is 54. I've got the medium-sized dehumidifier running in the front room and I'm going to find a place for the small dehumidifier in the bedroom. It's 93 degrees and sticky. As far as I'm concerned, only six more weeks until the end of summer. (September can get wicked hot in Richmond but it's a comfort to think that way.)
Resting today as per the recommendations of "Weights for 50+." Got a solid eight hours of sleep despite the heat and humidity. Had a half-hour nap this afternoon. Watching the Sunday morning news shows while playing around with tablets and the laptop.
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