I had 3 pair of pants, for work, delivered to me last week. Tried them on at the end of the week, all in my size or at the size I wore for the past several years. They did not fit. Now that is perplexing because even when I weighed more than I do currently, that size pants fit. These new ones sure do not fit now, although I will say my old pants still fit and they are both in the same sized waist. I measured the pants, they are indeed 36 waist but when I tried to close them they were about 4 to 6 inches shy of comfortable and at least 2 -3 inches shy of closing at all. I will readily admit some of my old pants are tight but they close all the way pretty easily an I can breath, move and wear them all day comfortably. These new ones just won't even close. I will also readily admit that I have been sucking in junk food like a vacuum cleaner set on high as of late (past few months at least) and I have been laying on the couch watching TV when I do most of it, often right before hitting the hay for the night. That's not good for anything but my girth expanding.
What this means is that I have gained weight and I need to diet and hit the gym. So far - a whole day - the diet has been somewhat successful. I have not eaten one bit of junk food loaded with sugary or other carbs. No cookies, pretzels, cakes, ice cream, cheesy crackers (Goldfish are a favorite), no peanut butter and raspberry jam sandwiches (although once I am off pure junk they will be okay once or twice per week), no potato or corn chips, no candy, no bread smeared with honey, and so on. Now mind you, I am not and will not be eating only celery and carrots. In fact, I kind of shy away from that stuff even when I diet. What I will be doing is a sort of modified Atkins' Diet of my own making. So, Ill be cutting out lots of carbs but nowhere near all of them although sugary ones will be just about completely out of the question for me.
In fact, you might think I would be overdoing it if you saw what I will be eating such as: pizza, bagels, toast with butter, baked potatoes with butter, buttered corn and so forth. I'll also be eating a lot of salad and meat and probably a bit more of other vegetables and fruit too. For snacks, I'll be eating things like: peanuts, almonds, macadamia nuts, bacon, salami, fruit (limited mostly to bananas, pineapple, apples and berries, citrus fruit - all just out of preference), bacon, chicken wings, bacon, OJ and whatever else that strikes my fancy that is pretty low carb. I'll eat just about anything for my regular meals eating either 3 or 4 a day but making sure to limit carb intake with meals to maybe one slice of bread per meal (maybe one per day for the first few weeks). On the sad side, I will be cutting out beer. Now, that does not mean I will cut out alcohol. I'll be able to drink wine and booze when I want - maybe twice or three times per week - just no beer - at least not for a couple to few weeks. I will miss my beers and ales - that is for sure.
I can eat almost any crappy food out there, short of sweets and super-heavy carb junk foods, and lose weight. I have proven that in the past. Working out is going to help with that - but all I am planning is walking on the treadmill at a decent incline. I have done it before and I can do it again. I have a bit of extra incentive to get this done besides getting down myself to a waistline where size 36 or maybe even a 34" pants from any maker readily fit me again. That added incentive is lowering my blood sugar which has been high seemingly for well over a few years now almost any time it is tested. It's not high enough for me to be diabetic but is getting close. After what I have been through, with the cancer and other shit like Lyme disease, I imagine I don't need to help another illness debilitate me, especially in light of the fact that I got lots of life in me after kicking cancer's ass. Besides that, who needs a disease they brought onto themselves by their own lack of discipline. Time to grow up a bit in the eats department.
The only tough other thing about this, besides cutting out some loved food and my beers & ales, is that I have to curtail things I love to do - such as be lazy watching TV too much. That is tougher to get done when I am at home than when away from it for an extended time. For instance in 2009, when I was in AZ for 4 months for work, I lost about 30 pounds in less than two and a half months and kept it off for almost a year after I got home. Then some run of the mill home type shit came up and I started to eat too much crap again and gained most of the weight back but not all of it. After the battle with cancer, I had lost some again, but think I recently gained almost all of that back by being in the doldrums at home.
Now, I am reticent to get on a scale. Numbers on scales don't matter much though, pants size does and with that goal and my blood sugar level in mind, I am hoping to reduce my stomach's tonnage of carbs and thus see the pounds fall away. If I were to do it by the numbers, I would be happy losing 25, very happy to shed 40 and ecstatic to lose 50 pounds. Time will tell. Sorry to bore you with it here but I am betting my blogging about it now and again may be of some help to me in my quest to find the missing thinner me of yesteryear.
I am off to the gym...
All the best,
Glenn B
What this means is that I have gained weight and I need to diet and hit the gym. So far - a whole day - the diet has been somewhat successful. I have not eaten one bit of junk food loaded with sugary or other carbs. No cookies, pretzels, cakes, ice cream, cheesy crackers (Goldfish are a favorite), no peanut butter and raspberry jam sandwiches (although once I am off pure junk they will be okay once or twice per week), no potato or corn chips, no candy, no bread smeared with honey, and so on. Now mind you, I am not and will not be eating only celery and carrots. In fact, I kind of shy away from that stuff even when I diet. What I will be doing is a sort of modified Atkins' Diet of my own making. So, Ill be cutting out lots of carbs but nowhere near all of them although sugary ones will be just about completely out of the question for me.
In fact, you might think I would be overdoing it if you saw what I will be eating such as: pizza, bagels, toast with butter, baked potatoes with butter, buttered corn and so forth. I'll also be eating a lot of salad and meat and probably a bit more of other vegetables and fruit too. For snacks, I'll be eating things like: peanuts, almonds, macadamia nuts, bacon, salami, fruit (limited mostly to bananas, pineapple, apples and berries, citrus fruit - all just out of preference), bacon, chicken wings, bacon, OJ and whatever else that strikes my fancy that is pretty low carb. I'll eat just about anything for my regular meals eating either 3 or 4 a day but making sure to limit carb intake with meals to maybe one slice of bread per meal (maybe one per day for the first few weeks). On the sad side, I will be cutting out beer. Now, that does not mean I will cut out alcohol. I'll be able to drink wine and booze when I want - maybe twice or three times per week - just no beer - at least not for a couple to few weeks. I will miss my beers and ales - that is for sure.
I can eat almost any crappy food out there, short of sweets and super-heavy carb junk foods, and lose weight. I have proven that in the past. Working out is going to help with that - but all I am planning is walking on the treadmill at a decent incline. I have done it before and I can do it again. I have a bit of extra incentive to get this done besides getting down myself to a waistline where size 36 or maybe even a 34" pants from any maker readily fit me again. That added incentive is lowering my blood sugar which has been high seemingly for well over a few years now almost any time it is tested. It's not high enough for me to be diabetic but is getting close. After what I have been through, with the cancer and other shit like Lyme disease, I imagine I don't need to help another illness debilitate me, especially in light of the fact that I got lots of life in me after kicking cancer's ass. Besides that, who needs a disease they brought onto themselves by their own lack of discipline. Time to grow up a bit in the eats department.
The only tough other thing about this, besides cutting out some loved food and my beers & ales, is that I have to curtail things I love to do - such as be lazy watching TV too much. That is tougher to get done when I am at home than when away from it for an extended time. For instance in 2009, when I was in AZ for 4 months for work, I lost about 30 pounds in less than two and a half months and kept it off for almost a year after I got home. Then some run of the mill home type shit came up and I started to eat too much crap again and gained most of the weight back but not all of it. After the battle with cancer, I had lost some again, but think I recently gained almost all of that back by being in the doldrums at home.
Now, I am reticent to get on a scale. Numbers on scales don't matter much though, pants size does and with that goal and my blood sugar level in mind, I am hoping to reduce my stomach's tonnage of carbs and thus see the pounds fall away. If I were to do it by the numbers, I would be happy losing 25, very happy to shed 40 and ecstatic to lose 50 pounds. Time will tell. Sorry to bore you with it here but I am betting my blogging about it now and again may be of some help to me in my quest to find the missing thinner me of yesteryear.
I am off to the gym...
All the best,
Glenn B
