Body Weight

When I was 40 years old I felt I was in fair shape, although I smoked rather heavily (up to two packs a day).  At that time I spent little time thinking about health, much less cared about what I weighed, but I maintained about 165 pounds.  At 5’ 10 ½” I certainly did not consider myself fat, much less obese.

Time passed as it always does, and while I was 41 years old, I spent ten days in an intensive care unit after suffering a heart attack.  The day I was transferred from there to a bed on a regular floor I asked Doctor Loinaz if it was okay for me to smoke now that I was no longer in a room containing an oxygen supply.  Stating the exact right thing at the exact right time he spoke, “Yes, but your children will miss you.”  With that he left the room, and left me contemplating what he had said.  I reasoned that firstly he was absolutely correct, and further I had just gone 10 days without a cigarette, maybe I could go one more.  That one more day has currently become nearly 32 years.

I often say that everyone always has to pay for everything, it is just a matter of in what manner the payment is subtracted.  In this case, to pay for a probable better lifestyle, the payment was in body weight gain.  I began to slowly add pounds until when I was forced to quit working about 16 years later I weighed about 175, a gain of about 10 pounds.  Then, with a decided drop in exercise, over the next 16 years I have added an additional 45 pounds, for a total of 220.

Now that I am 73 years old it has become bothersome for me to walk more than a very short distance at a time.  Knowing I was carrying about 55 pounds more than I did back in my former days, I wondered if that might have a lot to do with my walking inability.  In line with this I decided to attempt losing weight.  Although I know practically nothing about food health, diet, carbohydrates, vitamins, protein, or other related subjects, I do know how to lose weight even if it is not the recommended method.  My method of losing weight was to place a normal serving on my dinner plate, put half back where it came from, and proceed to eat the remainder.  I did this twice a day and skipped the third meal.  I eat breakfast at noon, dinner at five, and nothing the remainder of the day.  Breakfast is now one egg and one toast, versus two of each with bacon, ham, or sausage.

May 1 I weighed 219; June 1, 209; July 1, 202; and today 194.  It may not be scientific, but it is working.  I yet get very little exercise.  This is merely a restricted amount of food intake, I am eating everything that I previously did.  Only quantity has lessened.