The weight loss journey will officially begin on December 6th, 2021. That is the Monday after I move into my new apartment. I chose that day because between now and then eating will be catch as catch can while I move to my new home starting on the 16th of this month. Things are happening fast.
The first step in my weight loss journey has been accomplished. I saw my primary care physician this past week to see what his recommendations would be and to see if he would be part of holding me to whatever I do.
He was great about the whole thing. First, he asked if I would be interested in weight loss surgery? He got a resounding no on that thought. I went to a surgeon once, for a consultation on weight loss surgery and it scared me. Weight loss surgery is a big deal. It involves sewing up part of your stomach to make it smaller so you won’t eat as much. That’s all well and good, but because of the surgery, there are certain food that you can no longer eat and those foods could kill you. That seemed extreme to me. The other part that has to be taken into consideration is the reasons I overeat. My food issues are not hunger but sadness and depression or high levels of anxiety or other emotional factors. Sewing up my stomach will not alter those and so it’s not an answer for me.
My doctor then discussed the new fasting diet. This diet consists of eating dinner and then fasting for 18 hours after that so basically no food from 6 pm to 12 pm. Then eating during those 6 hours after the noon hour. This might work but we did not discuss what to eat during those 6 hours. I could do a lot of damage in that short period. I need to do an internet search to see exactly how this diet is supposed to work.
The next thing we discussed is how I had lost weight in the past. This was easy. I always used Slim Fast. Two shakes a day and a salad with meat on it, usually chicken. I have lost a lot of weight doing this at different periods in my life. The problem is I always gained it back. I also would do half an hour of aerobic exercise every day. This was done with a stationary bike, My legs and feet being how they are this is no longer possible. There are, however, YouTube videos for seated exercises that I could do now that my television will be in my living room.
After a lengthy discussion, we decided that the Slimfast route was probably the best way to go with my doctor actively monitoring me. He had me set up three appointments before I left the office each in the early day of January, February, and March so he can track my progress. Ultimately, he will have my back, but it will be tough getting thru the Christmas season this year. The words no thank you are going to have to be a big part of my vocabulary and my own favorite Christmas treats are going to need to be forgotten this year.
Food for me is a security blanket and it is as much a part of me as Linus’ attachment to that blue blanket. It’s not all food, of course, it’s the food that is the absolute worst food for you. I am addicted to McDonald’s. If I’m having a bad day or am in a general bad temper a McDonald’s triple cheeseburger, medium fries, a Hi-C Orange drink and an apple pie is essential to my survival. If it’s a really bad day I will buy two triple cheeseburgers. I don’t eat to live, I live to eat and it is slowly and methodically killing me.
One truth is clear, there are no fat old people. My grandmother, my aunt, and my dad all lived well into their 90s. My father is still alive and though he has some old age issues, he is in generally good health. My mother God Rest Her Soul died at 80 but she had complications from surgery and what age she may have lived to is pretty much undetermined. I’d like to live a good long life, but it won’t happen if I stay at this weight.
I have to go through a radical lifestyle change and stick to it regardless of the mental consequences that lifestyle may have. I have to find a way to live without McDonald’s and find other ways to comfort myself other than food.
I’m not blaming my behavior with food on anyone else but me. Still looking at my early childhood I was sort of conditioned to enjoy high-fat content food. I think many of us born as part of the baby boom generation were. I am the youngest of four kids. There is a five-year gap between my closest sister and myself. That means that right after I was born my brother and sisters were all in school. Leaving me home alone with mom for five whole years. Back then mom liked to eat. She was an amazing cook and baker, so if a pie went into the oven there would be scraps of pie crust dough rolled out and buttered and then sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and then rolled up and baked just for me. There would be homemade frosting bowls to lick and sometimes an open-faced sandwich made with mayonnaise and relish as an after-lunch snack. My mother made amazing dinners every night and there was rarely a night that dessert was not part of the meal. These were my formative years and I loved them.
Mom changed. I don’t remember when, but it may have been about the time my sisters got married. She had put on more than a few pounds and she wanted to get them off and she did. She joined Weight Watchers and a ladies-only gym and she achieved her goals. She went back and forth with gaining and losing for a few years but eventually dropped ten pounds below her goal weight and never gained again. She kept a good healthy diet for the rest of her life. That’s not to say that she didn’t enjoy occasional or even regular treats. She and my father would split a pizza every Saturday night after Mass and enjoyed a bottle of wine with it while watching Lawrence Welk on PBS. Desserts were regulated to Sundays and holidays and she rarely snacked on anything more than fruit. I can’t imagine the amount of emotional strength it took to accomplish what she did, but I’m about to find out.
I did try Weight Watcher some time ago and adhering to their program I did not lose a pound. I also tried Noom and though it initially worked well eventually, no matter what I did I couldn’t lose another pound. After that, I gave up. It seemed hopeless and I drowned my sorrows in eating everything I could get my hands on and then I turned sixty.
Sixty is a magical number. It speaks. It even yells. Do you what it says? “No matter what you don’t have much time left on earth. Even if I live to be one hundred I am past the halfway point. I’m not young anymore. I’m not ancient either, but I’m not young. If I want to see a change in my life now is time and this is the moment.
So, here’s the plan. Slimfast and some fruit in the morning. Slimfast for Lunch. A salad with roasted chicken pieces for dinner and that will be it. I will allow myself one dessert on Sundays and Holidays but that’s it. I have a set of free-standing pedals I can put on a tabletop and use my arms and hands to do some aerobic exercise. I can also use YouTube sitting-down workouts as I will have plenty of space in my new living room. As I mentioned earlier. All of this will begin on December 6th. A lot has to happen between now and then. But I believe that this is possible. Join me in believing.
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