Return to ONE-derland

Okay, so I know that you're probably tired of reading about diet, health and weight loss.
If that's the case, move along, there's nothing to see here.

At the age of 26, I hit 197 pounds. I said that I wasn't going to go over 200 pounds. I quit drinking regular sodas and started eating five or six smaller meals per day. That's it. I hadn't read anything about metabolism. I hadn't learned anything about weight management. I just did a couple of things that seemed to make sense to me. In a few months I was back down to 174 pounds.

I don't remember how long it took me to top the 200 pound mark, maybe a year or so. The event passed with little fanfare and the last time that I actually remember weighing less than 200 was I weighed that 174...

...until yesterday.

Yesterday (and again today) the scale puts me at less than 200 pounds! Yesterday 198.6. This morning 199.4.
Back in the land of the one hundreds...ONE-derland.

I know that I've said I generally wait three days to claim a weight, but I'm just too pleased with this to wait another day! I know that I may drift above 200 as my weight loss does vary on its general downward trend, but for today, I am well pleased.

Friday, the 13th I'll turn 54. I can't say that I'm in the best shape of my life, but I am in better shape than I've been in for a very long time. I feel great and would encourage anybody that is struggling with weight or just being badly out of shape to do something...anything. Eat a little less, move a little more. Just get started.

I know, I know... it took me a decade or two of poor habits to get my head right and get back on the right track. It's like that for all of us. I just want to encourage you to start much sooner than I did. You will sleep better, have more energy and feel better. You will spend fewer days sick and more days doing the things that you wish to do.

And you'll spend less money on health care!

You don't need any special equipjment (other than a decent pair of shoes) to walk. You don't need any special training (you're already an experienced walker) and you can usually manage to find a few minutes (30 or so) for a walk.

You also don't really need any special diet advice. Just eat more fruits and vegetables and less crap foods. I've only been to a fast food place a handful of times in the past year and try to make the best choices when forced to eat away from home. We eat very few "boxed" foods now and much less fried stuff.

I do watch what I eat and know what foods will do to my metabolism but I also indulge in "bad" foods from time to time. I have the occasional soft serve ice cream cone, still enjoy a ballpark hot dog or brat and will be making a White Castle stop on my trip to St. Louis this weekend. I love fried hot wings but know that the calories add up more more quickly than I fill up on them.

I'm thinking about starting a different blog to deal with health and diet and letting Out of My Hat get back to the posts that you're more familiar with...or maybe not. We'll see.

John <><