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FINALLY…131.6!!!!!!!!

I guess it pays to not eat at all for 2 days…JUST KIDDING!!!!!  Last night, I had the best homemade roast beef with au jus…aka fat…on top and mashed potatoes  with brown gravy for dinner.  Also asparagus slathered (love that word) in butter and one half can of 3.2 beer.  Three half popsicles for dessert and 4 buttery crackers as my bedtime snack.  And yes…I did have lunch.

And no…I didn’t exercise yesterday…I had to go shopping:) …. To buy a pair of jeans…one size smaller!!!!!!!!!  YAY!!!!

Patience pays…

Have a nice day…

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It really is amazing how quickly you can amass over 5,000 steps in a single day…which is my goal…not always achieved…but nevertheless…my goal.

  • As I have said, I am 75 and recently bought one of those walkers with all the bells and whistles.  I use this when I go walking distances or if I am going to walk for more than 30 minutes or if I am going to walk to the grocery store.  
  • I especially like the seat feature in that I can always find shade in the summer and warm sun in the winter.  The little basket is a great place to put small purchases and toss in water, a sandwich your cell, etc.
  • I always walk down to the lobby to get the mail and packages.
  • I sometimes just walk down to the lobby…for no reason…not even the reason that “it is good for me”.  Hmmm…I think there’s a story there…
  • When I shop at a large grocery store, I always take a cart even if I am not buying a lot of items because I feel more comfortable…and then I can also walk down a couple of extra aisles…browsing as I go.
  • I always park a small distance away from the store entrance when I am out shopping.  Those few extra steps really make a difference.
  • I am not trying to impress anyone with my walking…distance matters nothing to me other than the simple calculation of how far I have walked on a particular day.  I never talk about my walking…or ‘not walking’ for that matter.
  • We live on the ground floor and I always walk up the stairs from our parking spot in the underground garage after I have been out.
  • If I have a couple of light bags, I will carry them up with me.  Skinny husband will bring up the heavier bags with a grocery cart and use the elevator.
  • I take naps 2 or 3 times a week.  I have lunch in bed, read my  book and then sleep for an hour or so.  Pure pleasure.
  • I never do Yoga nor will I.  Too old…no matter what they say…75 is 75.  Walking is the best.  I did Tai Chi for a year a long time ago…but that was enough.
  • I got a Fitbit for my husband but I use it mostly and I average about 5,000 steps a day.  I have done 11,000 on some days and I have also done 700.  It’s no big deal.  It’s like a watch that does a little bit more…there for my convenience to see what’s up.
  • I DO NO FORMAL EXERCISING!  Don’t even ask if I swim…
  • But I am very active and I can feel it if I have sat too long…maybe pouring over the morning newspaper…and it feels crummy.  That old adage, “Use it or lose it” really does apply to us oldies…and to everyone…actually.

Nike says, “Just do it.”  I say…”Just move it…”  It’s the best thing anyone can do at any age.

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A note before I begin: 

 I’ve been poking around “weight-loss” and “dieting” blogs and I found out that a lot of people suggest that “just eating less” won’t do it…you have to do a lot of other stuff to lose weight…plus you are going to be hungry and not feel satisfied.  Here is what I say:  Do you want to lose weight or not?  Okay, I’m done.

  • I love to cook, so I wasn’t going to stop cooking my fantastic food and buy crap  “diet food”.  So…I just put a little less of everything on my plate…every single night…except when I made pizza…or we had pizza delivered.  For every rule there should be one exception and this is the one I’m making.  I think this equals god mental health…I think.  I also think I really love pizza.
  • I love sugar with my coffee…so I just put a little less in my cup.
  • When my beloved furry friend, LuLu the Cat, died in 2015…I started to have a whole Hershey bar…every night after dinner for dessert.  I stopped doing that.
  • I have 1/2 to 1 whole can of 3.2 beer with my dinner every night.  (NOT Lite.)
  • I stopped making popcorn with butter every night.  Now I have it once a week. At first it was really hard but then I discovered popsicles!  I have 2 (halves) after dinner every night.
  • I really look at my plate when I am putting food on it.  I mean…really look at it.  I now know exactly when I should stop ladling the gravy over my mashed potatoes…about 2 ladles does it.
  • If we are eating a food that has pieces…like French toast for example…skinny husband will get 10 little squares…and I will get 6…plus butter, of course and maple syrup.
  • I still bake cookies and cakes and buy all sorts of delicious baked goods because my husband weighs 122 pounds…yes, that is exactly right…
  • Occasionally, if I want…I will take a bite out of whatever I am giving him…and then get a popsicle out of the freezer.
  • Christmas was hard this past year.  But instead of eating 3 or 4 warm cookies right out of the oven…I had a half of a cookie.  I had lost almost 3 pounds by then and I didn’t want to screw up…I knew I was on to something.
  • I kept thinking of that children’s book, “If You Give A Mouse A Cookie.”  I felt like, “If You Give Tina Half Of A Cookie…she’ll be happy!”  And I was.
  • I still go to Dairy Queen once a week and get a small chocolate sundae.
  • I try to get to White Castle once a week where I order 2 sliders and a small REGULAR Coke…or McDonalds for a Filet-O-Fish sandwich and a small REGULAR Coke.
  • That Coke is the only pop/soda I drink all week.
  • I have never drank diet pop/soda…I tasted it once…
  • I cook with butter.  I cook with whole milk.  I love meat…red, lovely meat.  AND I LOVE GRAVY…as previously mentioned.  I like chicken too…in case you wondered…with barbecue sauce or gravy, of course.
  • I never eat anything labeled “lite” “diet” “fat-free” or my favorite…”tastes awful but it only has 3 calories”…kidding on the last one.
  • I love potatoes in any form.
  • I seldom eat breakfast.  I just have coffee with sugar, no cream
  • But…I almost always have a good lunch.  Sandwiches made with ONE slice of white bread…tuna, chicken, ham, egg salad or peanut butter. I always use Mayo.  I love Mayo…full strength…not lite.  There is always cheese on my lunch plate because I love cheese.  Grapes and strawberries are also there.  And then I add 3 crackers.  My current favorites are Breton Originals…and Better Cheddars.
  • If I do feel like breakfast, I will have a small can of tomato juice or an egg fried in butter.
  • We do not eat out a lot but when we do…I just leave food on my plate if the portion is too large.
  • IMPORTANT!  Do not go to bed hungry!  Every night I read before I go to sleep so I have 3 or 4 crackers and 5 potato chips…and 3 LUDEN’S  cough drops.
  • Odd little observation:  Before I began this bedtime snack ritual, I used to have a little acid reflux.  It was really bothersome.  But now I never have it…go figure.
  • I NEVER deny myself anything because with this plan…I don’t have to.  Except excess…I deny myself excess…that’s fair to say.
  • I eat everything and anything…I just eat less.

So…that’s the “eating” part of my weight-loss process.

I know it is pretty simple but it really worked and obviously is still working since I just lost more weight yesterday!

P.S.  I am never hungry (except before dinner and, really, who isn’t) and I am so very satisfied…

The “Walk A Little Every Day” part  comes tomorrow.

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 BULLETIN:  Weight today #133.6..”Woo-hoo”!!!

  • The metabolic rate is much slower when you pass 55 or 60…even slower in your 70’s.
  • After menopause, God is basically done with you and you will gain 5 pounds just by looking at a chocolate cake with buttercream frosting.  No.  Don’t argue with me.  It’s true.
  • If you smoke (like I did) the pounds will appear after you quit, but it’s still worth quitting.
  • Retirement means less structured work.  You have more time now for socializing…more opportunities for eating out…perhaps even having extra glasses of wine…or chocolate malts.
  • Living the good, retired life; sleeping late and lovely naps in the afternoon…all can equal weight gain…but so slowly…you hardy notice…until you do!
  • If you should move from a house to an apartment…there is generally less work to do.  And that means less routine burning of calories just by maintaining a certain “house-owning” lifestyle…like gardening, mowing, snow, leaf and twig removal…you know the drill if you have ever owned a house.
  • Question:  Do you really want to pay money to stop eating the foods you love and eat special food that tastes like crap?  Really?
  • Question:  Do you really want to help the U.S.  $68.2  (update)…$70.3  (NEW update…) $72 BILLION  weight-loss market increase their net worth?  Really?
  • Question:  Do you really want to take some probably unsafe/useless, non-FDA approved drug so you can lose 50 pounds in one week? (I’m exaggerating a little here..)  Really?
  • Do you really want to exercise a LOT and even sweat?  Do you really want to lift weights…and…you know…sweat?  Do you really want to pull on those resistance bands until one day you accidentally let go of one end and it snaps your eye out?  Really?
  • Do you want to pay good money (is there bad money??) to a fitness center to have some weight-loss/fitness expert who is probably 12…just kidding…give you a look…when you tell her you gained a pound or eaten half of a doughnut  that morning?  Really?

Yup…I totally agree and am impressed with everything I just said…SO, HERE IS WHAT I DID.

To find out, send $25.00 in unmarked bills to…

HAH!!!! GOTCHA!!!  I’m just kidding….

The Eating Part…Post #4 of “I just ate less…” comes tomorrow!!!!!

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  • I am 5’3″ tall and as previously stated…I am 75.
  • I have never been overweight until now.
  • I have mostly weighed around 110-115 pounds…less in my teens and early twenties.
  • I have never dieted.
  • I have one child.
  • I am Caucasian and of Swedish descent.
  • I am in good health for being 75…whatever that means…
  • I am not Type 2 diabetic.  (Although it appears that most of the world is…)
  • WEIGHT LAST OCT. 2018:  147.8 (And yes…I had a big belly…sigh…)
  • CURRENT WEIGHT:  134.2 as of June 7, 2019
  • NOTE:  LOSS OF 13.6 POUNDS…YAY, ME!!!!  ALSO THERE IS BELLY SHRINKAGE.
  • GOAL:  To weigh 125 pounds by November 1, 2019
  • PROCESS:  Lose 1/2 pound per week or 2 pounds per month.  (Did not seem like a big deal, right?  HAH!!!  I was so wrong.)

In the very beginning, I couldn’t lose any weight at all…WE ARE TALKING ZERO POUNDS.

I even skipped meals.  Not a good idea…ever…okay…once in while we all do it.

I spent over a month trying to figure out what I was doing wrong because it was painfully obvious I was doing absolutely nothing right…when I gained 2 pounds!

And, of course, having a metabolism of dry paint (which is what you have when you reach age 75) doesn’t help.

Plus…when I was skipping breakfast and lunch in a wild attempt to lose SOMETHING…ANYTHING…my body thought I was stranded on a desert (not dessert) island and in danger of starving to death…so it decided to store my fat.  Thanks a lot, body.

I tried counting calories.   I used the “Lose It” app.  It was fine and good but I really did have better things to do with my dwindling years.

Plus…everyone knows 10 barbecued chicken wings have more calories than one stalk of celery…UNLESS you dip the celery in lard.

I clearly had no idea what I was doing…but I wasn’t giving up.  There had to be a way…and there was…BUT it wasn’t easy.

It was just plain simple.

P.S.  I’ve looked at other weight-loss blogs and they have very pretty pictures and really great recipes.  I apologize in advance (in case you hadn’t already noticed)…there are no pics and no recipes.  (But I did put this notice in green…so there’s that.)