Walking Works

I went to see a surgeon the other day to arrange to have a hernia repair.  Yep, I have a small hernia which will require surgery to fix.  I got it from all the friggin' work that I do around the house and on my rental properties.  I have to face it, I'm not getting any younger.  Oh well, it's small, doesn't hurt, and for the moment, it's a good thing because it releases me from the ongoing, perpetual, long list of projects that never cease to end around our house.

While I was there, the doc remarked about my significant weight loss.  I was last weighed at the health plan office back in May.  On October 12, my weight had dropped by 30 pounds.  I knew I needed to lose weight, and the diet-and-exercise recommendation that we always hear is what did it.

When I took my "summer vacation," (that is, when I was laid off my job this summer before being offered a new one), I vowed that I wasn't going to pile on the pounds, snacking away whilst whiling away the hours on a computer.  I made a promise to myself to work at weight-loss with some of my "free" time.

That's hard for me to do, because I'm not a gym rat.  I hate gyms.  Ever since grade school where the gym teacher and classmates teased me incessantly for being a klutzy runt, I hated working out.  But I knew, deep down, that's what I needed to do.  My twin brother-the-jock gently reminded me and encouraged me on this matter.

I can't stand to use weights or machines or whatnot related to workouts and weight loss.  Call me cheap, but I will NOT pay for a gym membership.  Fortunately, the benefits of being a life member of the alumni association of the university from which I graduated, I am able to use all of their recreation facilities for free.  So I go swimming once a week.  Unfortunately, that's not enough, and I am not a runner, so running on the track was out.  Unfortunately, I can't get there during the week (open swim time for alumni is only in the evenings... too late for me.)

So I began walking.  At first, I would walk around my neighborhood.  Then I began changing it up, and walking further down the road.  I walked to my Aunt's home, three miles away.  I walked ... and walked ... and walked.  My partner bought me a pedometer so I could count my steps.  I "upped" my steps from an average of 5,000 per day to, now, an average of 20,000.  That's ten miles, more or less.  I walk up and down stairs instead of using an elevator.  Each morning at home, I walk the full length up and down three flights of stairs in my home for about 20 to 30 times.  (No "stairclimber" for me!  I do it for real, and make good use of the steps by carrying stuff, like rearranging my boots from my upstairs closet to my basement storage room.)

Diet-wise, that's always a challenge because of my severely restricted diet due to chronic conditions I must live with.  I can't eat most vegetables, salads, beans, tofu, tuna fish, yogurt, or such.  Facing multiple "runs" to the bathroom when I eat such things, I decided to forgo eating lunch instead of eating "healthy" crap that would make me sick.  I now have a small breakfast composed of a plain (home-made) roll w/o butter or margarine, and orange juice.  I drink about six large glasses of water throughout the day -- on hot days and when working strenuously, I double that.  Then I prepare a regular, but sensible dinner for my partner and me.  Dinner isn't diet junk -- it is real food, such as chicken, beef, or home-made, light pasta.  But I limited my portion sizes and left off the condiments, such as mayo (a weakness), since I can't use mustard or ketchup, relish, or anything else.  Salt & pepper add to taste, and I even keep those in moderation.

Most folks, including me, need a caffeine shot in the morning.  Not being a coffee or tea drinker, I might have gone for a soda.  I was finding that diet sodas, even Coke Zero, gave me the trots--must be the artificial sweetener.  So I just went "cold turkey" and when I really "needed" caffeine, I drank caffeinated water that my partner found for me in the store.  I don't like to use bottled water, but in this case, one-half of a bottle of caffeinated water in the morning would stave off the caffeine withdrawal headache.

All-in-all, this worked for me.  I dropped 30 "real" pounds.  I think I finally found a weight-loss plan that works for me, and I intend to keep it up, because it's part of my regular routine now.  When I get a craving, I drink water.  It fills me up and I lose my hunger pangs. 

Life is short:  manage yourself in ways that work for you.