<a href="mailto:gordandk@aol.com">By GORDIE LITTLE</a>
Small Talk
April 13, 2008 05:22 am
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This is a good time of the year to walk it off.
That's an old phrase that has been used in myriad contexts; but for me, it means shedding lard, blubber, winter weight, excess baggage and many additional euphemisms for fat.
My weight loss and gain saga goes back for many years. Putting on the pounds is far different than putting on the Ritz, and I began the roller coaster way back in 1975.
Actually, it was Feb. 8 of that year when I was finally ready to give up my three-and-a-half-pack-a-day cigarette habit. With great trepidation and no small amount of self-doubt, I left for work at the radio station that morning with no cigarettes in my pocket.
Everything I did at the time seemed to rely on breathing in that smoke.
Sometimes, I would have three cigarettes burning in three ashtrays in three different rooms.
Kaye was the same way. She claims that she didn't really smoke that many cigarettes each day, and she could be right. She was always a frenetic worker here at the house or at the local bowling alley where she managed the bar and restaurant. Most of her cigarettes no doubt just burned out in the ashtrays while she was running around doing what she did so well.
MARVELOUS MARRIAGE
Then there were our many children, some of whom would pilfer cigarettes from our packs and cartons, hiding them in various nooks and crannies.
In any case, I came home that February night, kissed Kaye and said, "Guess what? I haven't had a cigarette today."
She smiled and replied, "Guess what? Neither have I."
That was the last drag we ever took on a cigarette. Our long and marvelous marriage has been one of orchestrated harmony on every level. We finish each other's sentences and often pick identical letter tiles out of the Scrabble bag to start our nightly games.
Thank goodness we don't try to keep secrets from each other. It would neither be fun nor even possible.
But we didn't do everything together. From the day I stopped smoking, I began to gain weight, slowly but surely. She did not.
Look at her. In spite of birthing 12 babies with no caesarian sections, she has maintained her tiny and trim figure for all these years.
On the other hand, my figure was never tiny nor very trim. In spite of fairly regular exercise, I had to buy new clothes and much larger belts to fit around my burgeoning body.
GLUTTONY GENES
By the time I reached 301 pounds and the bathroom scales began to groan loudly, I decided to try the Atkins plan. As most readers recall, it seemed to work, and the carbohydrate cutback led to a loss of some 80 pounds over time.
But then, my obsessive gluttony genes moved to the forefront, and I began to gain some of it back.
By the end of 2007, the scales revealed that my opulent corpus had grown to 278.5 pounds
I had a doctor's physical and although my vitals were within accepted parameters, a stress test was prescribed, just to make sure everything was okay.
It wasn't. I looked on the paper the doctor had written for me. The word OBESITY stabbed my psyche. Even though I have mirrors and knew that I was grossly overweight, that word struck me like a brick.
Kaye and I began walking for 40 minutes every morning at the local mall, and I began truncating my caloric intake by thousands every day.
A simple breakfast of cereal and fruit, lunch consisting of a special weight-loss beverage and a reasonable dinner have done the trick for me so far.
The doctor suggested that I only weigh myself once a week and that I forego all desserts except for one on Sunday. I have followed that regimen, except that I found it easy to give up the desserts all together, except for birthday parties and special occasions.
MAKING PROGRESS
Kaye is my conscience, and as of two weeks ago, I had lost a total of 26 pounds. By the time you read this, I hope it will be close to 30.
I haven't set any goals, but it is satisfying to put new holes in the belts and to bring down smaller-sized jeans from the closet.
Can I persist? Perhaps. In the meantime, my well-used knees feel better already, and I can't wait to get the old bike tuned up and ready for long, spring rides around our beautiful area.
We enjoy meeting and exchanging hellos with all of our fellow mall walkers each morning and, at least for now, are committed to walking briskly down our road of life.
I'd love to part with another 50 pounds and perhaps this time, Lord willing and if the Saranac River doesn't rise much more, I can reach that milestone for another two or three decades of good health.
Thank you for your support. Have a great day and please, drive carefully.
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