Friday, January 19, 2018

Annual physicals

My annual physical is scheduled for the middle of next week.

I had my blood work done ahead of time so the information will be available for the doctor at the time of my physical.  The numbers are about what you would expect from an overweight guy who is almost sixty.

I was moaning about the timing of the physical.  Can there be a worse time to have your blood work done than after the gluttony of the holiday season?  Cheese logs, generous libations, ham, sweet taters, mashed taters, gravy, breakfasts out with company, desserts...oh the desserts!

The other thing that conspires against favorable "numbers" is that it takes a great deal of discipline to exercise.  For one thing, there is less time for exercise when entertaining.  For another, the weather outside is discouraging.  It is hard to walk outside when the roads are covered in slush or ice. 

Another factor is that dieting makes the temperature seem 15 degrees colder.  We are genetically programed to eat when it is cold.

Mrs ERJ's take on the situation is a little different.  "Deal with it.  December and January are 1/6th of your life.  The numbers are real.  If you don't like the numbers than do something about it."

I don't like the numbers and told Mrs ERJ so.

The last few weeks Mrs ERJ has made a project out of me.  She drags me out walking every other day regardless of the weather.  She feeds me leafy greens.  Fried foods are now forbidden.  I get the impression that she wants to keep me around for a while.

For my part I am doing portion control and gave up my nightly tipple.  I also bought a bathroom scale because our last scale disappeared.

Weighing myself weekly has been disappointing.  According to the scale I had gained weight after the first week.  This morning was the end of the second week and I am a bit below my starting weight.


I started at 213 and this morning's weight was 210.  And for the Canadians who are reading, that is pounds, not kilograms.

3 comments:

  1. Last Summer I had two life events. I turned 60 and...at a wedding dance...a great nephew aged 2 asked if I had a baby in my tummy. Sigh, Went on a " Keto" diet. ( Very low carbs! Almost no sugar, Fat and protein preferred ! So, no bread, yes bacon, no candy or cookies or potatos,yes steak, real butter , cheese or cream. ) Anyway, from first week of June until Dec 15th I lost 45 pounds. Then I went off diet as planned for the Holidays...Cause I'm not turning down Christmas cookies, fudge, etc ! Not happening. Gained back several pounds..which I knew I would. As of Jan 8th, back on diet. This morning finds me within 2 pounds of where I was on Dec. 15th. The point is this. Like you I discovered my wife wants to keep me around. Couldn't do it without her. ( She has dropped over 50 pds). Like you my numbers ( health wise) weren't good. My blood pressure has come down a lot. Still not where I want it but getting closer. May be able to throw away meds when I finish this diet. Or at least get very low amounts. Jeans went from 44 waist to 38 waist. By Summer...possibly as early as Easter will have me at target weight ( 75 pds off). At that time I can go back to potatos and such...just have to watch portion size and continue the walks etc. I need to eat like a 60 yr old male-NOT like a 16 yr old male. Good Luck with whatever you do Joe !!

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  2. Congrats at getting started, and for having a motivator to keep you going in the right direction!!

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  3. Good luck, dieting is hard. Breaking old habits is hard. Last winter I took off 20 lbs. in around 2 months just by counting calories (tried to keep the count to 1500-1600 a day). When I could, I also tried to eliminate one meal a day. Hint: it helps if you go to bed hungry.

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