Who is that fat lady?

So far, in a week and a half, I’ve unofficially lost about 8 pounds. Instead of “Desperately Seeking Susan,” I’m desperately seeking myself. I’m in here somewhere trying to get out.

When I could no longer do tai chi chuan without my bulging stomach getting in the way, I got annoyed with my weight, but I wasn’t willing to stop eating all the yummy foods available to me.

When I started really having trouble getting my pants to close, I wasn’t yet willing to stop eating.

When I found out that my nagging, hacking cough is the result of GER (Gastroesophageal Reflux—I don’t think it’s GERD yet) because partially digested food/vapors backing up into my esophagus were triggering nerves shared with my trachea, causing my trachea to think I couldn’t breathe, well, I decided I really had to do something about it. Too much fat in the gut area leaves too little room in the abdomen for those important things, like organs.

So, I’m using the Calorie Counter app on my cell phone (I could just as easily use the little calorie/carb book I found at home under a stack of other things) to count calories, carbs, fat, sodium, and fiber. I’m trying to stay below 1500 calories (succeeded all but one day), 15 grams of fat (I have yet to come anywhere close to that amount—no Alli for me), and 2400 mg of sodium (I missed that mark twice but I’m out of Jolly Time Better Butter popcorn now) per day.

To keep me on track, all I have to do is look at the videos David took of Sifu and me doing the 2-person form. I don’t really recognize that fat lady in the movies. She isn’t someone I want to be.

Check back next month (or sooner) for an update.

All shapes and sizes

As I sit here on the deck of our park-model trailer at the co-op campground we belong to, I marvel and the variety of shapes and sizes in this small community.

Very few have "perfect" shapes; some are thin; some are not. A few have had bariatric surgery, and some of them have defeated it and gained back all the weight they had the surgery to lose. Some of them have lost the weight and kept it off by whatever methods they chose. One went on a severe calorie-counting plan and lost over 100 pounds. A couple years later, it looks like he's gained back about half of it.

Weight loss is definitely not an easy project. Our bodies have been hard-wired since we started walking upright (and probably before that) to eat when we can because you never know when there won't be any food available. Now that we live in an era of abundant food, much of it not even especially good for us, we still eat as if there's no tomorrow. To not eat excess calories takes effort. It is effort so many of us are not willing to make.

Last January I reached my own milestone in weight. We got back from a lovely week in Jamaica, the Christmas and New Year's holidays came and went, and I climbed onto my scale and was within a pound of 200 pounds! That was a shock.

I'm happy to say that I now weight 185 and have held it for the last couple weeks. My weight loss plan is simple. Fewer cookies, fewer cakes and pies, smaller portions, take some home if I eat out and eat it tomorrow. Yes, it has taken 8 months to lose 15 pounds, roughly 1.8 pounds per month. It could be faster but think of how easy it has been!

I know the times when I'm likely to eat extra sugary foods or foods with butter slathered on. So I've found other things to eat instead that are equally appealing to me. At my age I've learned the necessity of F-I-B-E-R. Fiber One (no they are not paying for this entry, but they should) has a lot of foods that taste good and have more fiber per serving than any other so-called healthy, whole-grain foods. I like their caramel cereal. It has the consistency of a Chex-like cereal but fewer calories. Their granola bars have only 140 calories but 9 grams of fiber. Yes, there's a fair amount of sugar, but that satisfies my sweet tooth and still there are only 140 calories.

I guess I just want to say that I'm serious about losing weight and gaining some stamina. I'm appalled that I can't walk as far as I used to and find it so difficult to climb stairs. Yes, I'm older, but I have a few older friends who have far less trouble than I. Yes, arthritis seems to run in my family, but I don't want to force myself to get new knees and hips. I've already got two bionic shoulders. If I can avoid getting anything else replaced, I really want to do that.

Let's see, my goal is to lose 50 pounds at least. I've lost 15 so that leaves 35. Hmmm. 35 lbs. / 1.8 lbs./mo. = 19.4 months. I can speed that up. I don't know if I will. But I won't stop.

Wish me luck

There's nothing like an up-coming medical procedure to create a period of introspection.

For those who don't know, in less than a week I'm having a total shoulder replacement. There are several websites that discuss the procedure, like this one, and this one has an annimation. There are others out there but you'll get the idea.

Anyway, I decided, after working late this evening on the huge project we are in the middle of (and will be for a few months), that I should take myself out to dinner. I haven't done that in a couple months (or more) and have discovered increased savings. (I have also discovered that not buying fiber [yarn] also increases one's monetary holdings.) Ironically, I was also reading a book called Half-Assed, a weight-loss memoir, by Jennette Fulda. She also has a very nice blog.

Her book is incredibly easy-to-read and thought-provoking. A friend had told me about Jennette's blog months ago when we were discussing our mutual weight problems. I looked at the blog a couple times but wasn't that interested in it. It was a slow-motion study of Jennette's weight-loss program. I mean, I don't expect many people to be interested in my blog. I certainly can't be expected to read everyone else's blogs religiously. (Well, there is the yarn harlot. But that's different.)

I teach tai chi chuan at Chinatown Tai Chi Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, and at first it was a weight-loss program of sorts. I lost a little and gained a lot of muscles. But then I figured out how to eat enough to make up for it. Then a couple months ago, the most wonderful young woman started taking classes. She bicycles 20 miles every day (or something like that) and we got to talking about weight loss. She's lost 50+ pounds since January. I mentioned Jennette's website and the book I knew Jennette had written. Turns out my student bought the book and read it in 2 days! And, she let me borrow it.

I'm inspired. I don't know how well I'll do at weight loss. I have no idea how much extra weight a stainless steel arm bone will add. But I've been eating more healthy food for some time and now it's time to pick up my feet and get moving. Wish me luck.

But first, the surgery.