One of the gravest of concerns I had prior to retiring was whether my belly and bank account would each meander in an inverse direction from the other. Just to be clear, I am speaking of a fat belly and a thin bank balance. It therefore came as somewhat of a surprise yesterday to learn that I have actually lost weight in recent months. How this actually happened is a bit of a mystery.
Prior to moving from Oregon last September, we had quit our gym and began eating lots of take-out food instead of the amazing meals that Gorgeous usually makes. We really had no choice because each area of our Portland loft, including the kitchen, needed to be packed-up and the contents sold or donated. When I started the process of finishing my long career, I realize now that my caloric intake increased as I pondered all of the new changes I was about to face.
The later meals and snacks on our cross-country drive to Florida can be charitably described as “fuel.” When we finally arrived to our new home, it was clear that I had put on some pounds. For the classic rock lovers out there, I was more David Crosby than Mick Jagger.
I have been fortunate for most of my life not to struggle with any weight issues. As a boy I was always skinny, and even during my college years with the starchy dorm food followed by the de rigueur 11:00pm nightly pizza, I was still quite trim. I recall being naively bewildered by other people who got full and couldn’t or wouldn’t eat again till the following day. I saw food intake as an evolutionary process that existed outside the established rules of biology or nutrition. Information on the food pyramid merely served to make me want to consume all of the recommendations rather than follow its dictum.
When I hit my mid-forties, I developed the first actual onset of a middle age spread. Suddenly I wasn’t able to inform calories that they were allowed only overnight visits — they seemed to be enjoying extended vacations. I began having a personal relationship with the tailor at my neighborhood dry cleaners; his children in turn sent me thank you notes for the school tuition that was paid for from my many visits to have pants altered at the waist.
By age 50 I reached a critical mass and declared actual war on my belly. It was a battle in which I never lost complete control, but there were periods of hand-to-hand, shock and awe combat. I became a permanent gym rat.
Since settling in our new Florida home, my struggle has continued unabated. Although daily walks are a part of my routine, so is night-time eating in front of the TV. Our snacks of choice are popcorn, chocolate, crackers, and glasses of wine to wash it all down. Each morning I do recall putting on a belt, but for some reason it’s not been visible as I look down to my shoes. I blame Perry Mason and Jon Stewart and their late night cajolery to my cravings.
As recently posted, we joined a local gym early last month. Our start was earnest and disciplined– for exactly one week. Then, sadly, Gorgeous caught a very bad cold followed by an unfortunate-timed colonoscopy procedure. She understandably lost her mojo for about three weeks, and we didn’t return to the gym till just a couple of days ago. I am happy to announce that we’re back on the proverbial wagon again with both of us agreeing to a near-daily commitment.
I haven’t stepped on a scale since our move here. I just have not been interested in knowing just how bad the damage is. Our new gym doesn’t even offer a scale, which I think is the kindest act of benevolence on their part.
Recently, however, someone whom I had previously thought of as a friend, guilt-tripped me into downloading an app for my phone called “My Fitness Pal” (Hi, D.). The purpose of the app as best as I can tell is to allow peer pressure to determine your success or failure in staying fit. Each time you work out, you are required to enter the type of exercise (i.e. elliptical, stationary bike, etc.), calories burned, and mileage achieved. Your friends who also use the app can monitor your activities. Once again I am not pleased with the advent of social networking — to hell with all of these nosy bastards.
In addition to entering aerobic information on this app, I am also encouraged to post my weight. I did this initially by not even bothering to get on the scale because I just didn’t want to know. I put in an estimate instead. Today, however, I finally got on our scale at home. It’s a new scale, a top of the line model that cost a pretty penny at Target shortly after we moved here. I was shocked when I saw that I am only three pounds over a long-established baseline from my California days. Only three pounds????!! I was baffled enough to want a second opinion, so I drove over to the local supermarket and got on what I’ve always assumed is most likely a faulty scale. Nope… same weight. I am apparently not overweight after all. I’m no Jack LaLanne (which comes as some relief since he’s six feet under these days), but I am pleased to be in a familiar looking place again without even knowing it. It turns out ignorance truly can be bliss.
Clearly our nighttime eating habits need to be improved. Study after study show that people really shouldn’t be eating much after dinner. A scoop of ice cream? Okay. A cookie with a hot beverage? Fine. But my late-evening “Gorging with Gorgeous” should be altered a bit for the sake of smarter eating habits. It would be nice to shed those three pounds and get back precisely to my baseline. Or even — GASP! — a pound or two under.
Anyone seen my belt?
Snakes in the Grass 
Good luck! I have been blessed with a good metabolism (thank you parents!). Weight is never an issue although I had a 10 lb. increase while on some meds a while back. Those pounds were very hard to lose but I did. I do keep an eye on the scale though. It’s always a pleasure to hop on after a gorge and find that the gain is miniscule and will go away in a day or so.
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I just hope Hazel isn’t resentful for my stealing her thunder!
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Hazel is in hiding until she sheds some poundage. She (or me!) has been good all week. I’m hoping it was just a blip.
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Yes, watching reruns of Perry Mason always makes me gain weight! Gotta blame somebody… But I have found a handful of nuts, like almonds, for instance, keeps the evening hunger pangs at bay…
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It’s funny and frustrating that when I get into shape (get into a regular gym and exercise routine and eat healthier meals), I feel absolutely great! – I love seeing the waist decrease – but invariably, I will somehow easily get thrown off my schedule for some reason – sickness, work, vacations, holidays, etc. – and I find my self right back to square one again several weeks later, a stone or less heavier, and back to eating more junk. The lure of eating/snacking in front of the TV sounds familiar, especially after a long stressful day. For some reason, working out in the winter, when the days are short, is especially a problem for me. My body registers nighttime and starts shutting down at the end of the work day. Working out earlier in the day is near impossible due to the work schedule. Summer comes along and I’m right back to working out at the end of the day. I start all over again and get back into a reasonable shape and keep trying to find a normality to working in exercise each week throughout the year. I’ve accepted this back and forth process for me so far. Perhaps, when I am retired and, hopefully, less stressed, I’ll be in a permanent workout schedule mode all year. As Confucius famously said when he retired from Oregon to Florida: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” (Confucius XXII, St. Augustine, 1908). Connie, you were right. I just wish I didn’t have to start the journey all over every three or so months.
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A pinpoint citation and all! Yep, the ebb and flow of motivation keeps us on our toes… or our asses as the case may also be. We seem to have the mojo at the moment, so as long as we can make the gym visits regular we should be okay. I’ll even be satisfied with three times a week, really. “Never end a regular discipline without first enjoying a fine Cabernet.” (T. Howell III, Malibu, 1966).
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Congrats on the weight loss and getting down to your goal !!!
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The My Fitness Pal app is a good one. I like its ability to track calories and exercise.
I kind of like the idea of chocolate, popcorn and a glass of wine to wash it all down. Gee… I wish you hadn’t mentioned that… 😉
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I agree… dammit me anyway! Just for that I’m going to ignore my last paragraph as punishment.
My friend who suggested the app texted me earlier and said “you can make it private, you know!” I had to assure her I was just kidding. 😉
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Congrats! Funny! I’ve got a post on this very topic in queue for next week.
It’s always a nice surprise to find we’ve lost weight. Then the mind starts playing funny tricks — thinking it’s okay to eat a couple extra cookies, extra chips etc — after all you lost weight without doing anything fantastically special. Then you gain a pound for that faulty thinking. We humans are hilarious!
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Agreed! I look forward to your own post; mine was inspired by another blogger (Kate). I love the inter-connectedness.
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Yes… I’ve only started blogging this past Nov and already I’ve found it to be a treasure chest of ideas – – even though our circumstances force us to be alone or live isolated lives, we were not made to be alone!
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Hi there. From Oregon to Florida – whoa, that’s a bit change. Post retirement my hubby and I eat less but we eat the things we like. I have too many low carb, no sweet friends and they have to eat twice as much to be satisfied. Okay, well, nice blog – enjoy Florida!
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Thanks for reading!
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You’ve certainly been on the typical weight roller coaster, and that whole realization that we aren’t who we were in college is hefty–which seems to only add to our physical weight. Having grown up in Wisconsin, I remember seeing friends and neighbors pack on the pounds and say it was a necessity in order to make it thru the 8 or 9 brutal months where everyone would benefit from an extra layer. The problem with that though was that no one really had time to take it all off come the two weeks of summer we were given.
Congrats on the gym joining. Hope it goes well for you and the wife!
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Ah, yes. The ‘ol “let’s use the local climate” excuse for how we eat. Any port in a storm!
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Can relate to this situation all too well. Am about to get back into the gym as Autumn is officially here (for us down under). Great writing 🙂
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Good for you! Good luck!
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Rather like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, my body (as far as my weight is concerned) has done it all backwards. When I was in my late teens and early twenties, I had a real problem controlling my weight (I am refusing to believe that my excessive intake of alcohol had anything to do with it.)
Perhaps it was the fear of hitting 30, but the weight began to drop off me and I have never been able to get back to the size I was in my ‘fat’ days, no matter how much junk I eat.
I’m not complaining though, it’s nice to be able to eat junk sometimes and know that you can get away with it… 🙂
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Indeed!
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