First day of the year musings
January first always feels like a clean slate day. And yet it’s really just a continuum.
But that “clean slate” feeling is why people make resolutions. I don’t make formal ones anymore – I know better. But I’m always resolving to improve, especially on two dimensions of my life: make more of a dent in my nightowl proclivities, and figure out a way to lose ten pounds. Whenever I mention that last bit on this blog, I get a ton of suggestions involving low-carb and/or Taubes and/or keto and/or intermittent fasting. I’ll say right here and now – once again – that I’m very happy those eating programs worked for you, but they don’t work for me for various reasons too tedious to go into here for the umpteenth time.
Do I sound grumpy? Well, maybe I am. I find I’ve been more short-tempered than usual this past year. The bad news of the world grates on me and of course Gerard’s death, which occurred close to a year ago now. I’ve taken time off since Thanksgiving from working on his book, and now I’m taking the task up again. I predict – loosely – that I’ll get it out about two months from now. For various reasons, the process has been far more complicated than I imagined.
I’m grateful for the friends and family I still have, especially my precious – although far away – grandchildren. And of course for all of you, my readers.
I lost 30 pounds the past four months but I don’t recommend it. I fell and broke my back just after Labor Day. I had a spine fusion on September 11 and now weigh about 165 from 200 last Labor Day. Then I was sent to a rehab hospital for 3 weeks or so. There is no worse food than hospital food and rehab hospitals are the worst. All I ate was the fruit side dishes. My wife visited every day and, on the day I was to be discharged, we both contracted Covid from someone at the hospital. That hit her like a Mack Truck (showing my age) and we have had a tough fall. 2024 has to be better. Happy New Year.
Mike K:
My goodness! Hope you’re both on the mend.
Yesterday at church, the guest speaker talked about while it seemed there are storm clouds gathering for our nation, God’s promises still apply.
One of the things he mentioned was ” stay on the ship”- using a ship caught in a storm as an analogy for the faith in difficult times- he said ” you may be puking on the deck ,( in the storm ) , but stay on the ship .”
https://www.gabc.org/episode/precious-promises-in-perilous-times-lanny-bridges/
Fasting works for everybody , ever seen a fat junky ? Granted keto and fasting did not work very well for my wife. Did wonders for me. Women are different I guess.
Keith:
Actually, women and men tend to be very different in regard to ease of weight loss. In addition, the less weight you have to lose, the harder it is. I’d like to lose about 10 pounds and am not especially fat, so it’s harder.
This year I resolve to not split my infinitives. Wish me luck. Last year I tried to unsuccessfully do the same. Sigh. This is going to definitely be the year I get it right.
Since my heart attack and kidney-damaging sepsis — both caused by a particularly brutal bout of COVID — I’ve lost 35 pounds. And I’m continuing on that path, dropping about 3 pounds per week. So, there’s a winning weight-loss strategy: get really sick and almost die, and the pounds will just melt away.
Hey, at this point I’ll my wins where I get them.
wingbag:
Don’t bother. Split infinitives are only proscribed in Latin. They’re okay with English.
Avoiding split infinitives is the kind of grammar nonsense up with which I will not put.
Today Chat explained to me the mystery of why the French sometimes pronounce “plus” as “ploo” and sometimes as “ploos.” “Plus” means “more” unless it means “no more.”
The usual rule in French is that you do not talk about Fight Club and you do not pronounce the last consonant of a word unless it is C, R, L, or F. (Carriage return, line feed for us computer geeks). Or it gets liasoned forward to the next word. (Another can of worms.)
However, “plus” is its own special case. If the intention of the use is positive, one says “ploo” therefore “more”‘ ; if negative “ploos” therefore “not more.”
But … (you knew a “but” was coming) the French often drop the “ne” (“not”) in negative constructions for concision or because they are French. So there is no way to determine from the written word whether “Je veux plus de gâteau” means:
* “I want more cake”
* “I don’t want any more cake”
Brilliant. So at least in spoken French one can tell the difference by “ploo” vs. “ploos.”
Thanks. You’ve been a great audience. Don’t forget to tip your hostess on your way out.
Yes, the night-owl inclination is difficult to suppress. I don’t have a solution yet myself, really; and I feel as if I’ve been trying ever since grad school. It seems to me that a solution based on something as simple as finding joy in early-morning daylight and making a determined effort to use that time before going to work ought to exist.
I’ve been remembering you, Neo, as the anniversary of your personal loss approaches. Tough year.
On losing weight, I wanted to walk every day, and found that my hip bursitis just won’t let me do it. So I bought a rowing machine and have been rowing four times a week for 45 minutes, getting the cardio exercise I lacked. This sort of thing may not be open to you, with your arm problem. I know you walk.
So, alas, the only avenue open is eating smaller portions. This is crummy, because eating is one of the fewer pleasures left as we age. My sister lost ten pounds with portion control. Because we are women, those reduced portions end up being quite small.
Kate:
Thanks.
Yes, I do walk almost every day – 3 miles, 45 minutes. I can’t row or lift weights because of my arms. And my portions aren’t all that big to begin with. Ah, well.
Some things have to be accepted. Like you, I am not strictly speaking “fat,” just not as thin as I was and would like to be. I think genetics has something to do with this, and there’s nothing to be done about that.
I’m rather annoyed by how little I can eat without feeling my belt getting tighter.
The good news, since my big diet a couple years ago, is that my sugar cravings are down about 80% and I can skip meals without feeling deprived.
But I do enjoy eating. Now I’m experimenting with more enjoyable lo-carb, lo-cal meals. Garlic shrimp is my current fave.
Neo: Happy New Year and thanks for creating and nourishing this place, which invites such good folk to contribute. It’s far better than “stone soup” because you don’t present us with an empty pot; you start it off with good stock, chewy topics and sharp insights, and then people add to it.
I am sorry for your loss of Gerard and I look forward to reading whatever emerges in due course.
To you other commenters: Happy New Year and thanks; and may 2024 bring you all better health and much happiness.
Happy New Year, everyone!
Neo, I have found over the years that the only reliable way I lost weight permanently was making tiny changes in my food and exercise.
Example: I engineered a Caesar salad dressing that is very low in calories and uses non-fat Greek yogurt as its base. I don’t generally care for the taste of NF Greek yogurt, but the additions make the tartness not noticable. Even my extremely picky husband loves it, so we have a salad with it almost every day. Win-win.
I have dozens of other recipes for foods we love (like fried chicken) but are made lower calorie and more healthy. I use my air fryer extensively.
With many of these small tweaks, my husband lost nearly 2 pounds a month in 2023 and I lost almost 12 for the year. It was nearly painless (because we don’t have to eat small portions).
gwynmir:
Yes, that works well if you’re eating those foods in the first place.
I’m not.
Caesar salad dressing? Fried chicken? No.
I remember years ago people used to say things like “just stop drinking soda” or “cut out desserts” and I would point out that I don’t drink soda (except club soda) and I rarely eat dessert.
As I said, though, I’m not all that overweight. I just would like to lose about 10 pounds or even 15, but no more than that. Another odd thing about my weight is that my setpoint is very very set. In other words, it’s incredibly difficult for me to lose weight and it apparently is also quite difficult for me to gain weight (or at least, to eat so much that I gain weight). There’s something to be said for that.
gwynmir:
How you taunt us! Perhaps one little recipe… Unless you are under non-disclosure with a publisher.
Seriously. One thing I’ve learned is that strong appealing lo-carb flavors really do make a difference.
Big fan of olives.
I used to be one of those annoying people who could eat anything and never gain an ounce. That changed when I turned 55 or so. Now it seems I can gain 5 pounds by eating a few cashews. It really is remarkable how little I need to eat to maintain my weight. I don’t eat that much (another development of aging is I simply can’t eat that much in one sitting) and normal portions at most restaurants are about twice what I really want to eat.
My biggest problem is late night snacking out of boredom. I guess that’s what you would call a first-world problem.
Neo: sure, those were just examples. For the record, I’m not a fried chicken eater either, but my husband loves it.
huxley: it’s late here but I’ll add a couple of recipes tomorrow.
For me it is the butter. For me the other weight loss challenge is that I can’t walk on concrete for more than a few minutes!
A reminder to all that the “Silver Sneakers” program may be back in your medical policy this year–take advantage if you can.
Re: Split infinitive. Thank you so much. As a result of today’s conversation I went to Google determined to finally understand what a split infinitive is (is that legal?)
Happy New Year to all–stock up on food and other necessities.
A friend of mine lost 30 pounds in preparation for hip replacement. I asked him how he did it, and he said: “It’s easy! Reduced portion sizes, no snacks, no desserts, no alcohol. Easy.” To which I replied: “And no fun whatsoever.”
Seriously, this is about what I have to do to lose weight. One would think that simply cutting out desserts, for example, would result in a gradual weight loss, but it doesn’t work that way for me. I have to make a very serious reduction in calorie input to lose weight, and then it’s at about the rate of a pound a week. I usually drift up by 10 pounds or so, and then force myself into this regimen.
I very much enjoy your blog. Thanks for being there for us. I had spinal surgery in 2021 for a case of drop foot, where I could not flex and extend my feet. After the surgery I still had to wear ankle braces for about 8 months and then the drop foot was gone and now I can walk normally without external support. For those post-op months I lost 12 pounds gradually without any attempt to lose weight. Now I am back to 115 and have no trouble staying there. I am able to walk an average of 10,000 steps per day and am so grateful to have full return of that function.
Margaret:
You’re welcome! Glad you’ve recovered so well.
As far as walking and weight loss goes (for me, anyway), I’ve walked 3 miles a day at a 4 mph pace 6 days a week for about 40 years. No weight loss at all from it, but I think it helps my back and general well-being.
Happy New Year, Neo! Have you tried low-carb? (sorry, I couldn’t resist).
My New Year’s resolution is that I would like to have some New Year’s resolutions. Seriously–I’ve been adrift ever since I took an early retirement and then the enraging Covid shut-down of the world happened right after my retirement and blew my plans for new directions out of the water. Lost a few key years there, and most of my ummph.
I know you’ve already tried many strategies to see if you could peel off a few more pounds. One thing that made me wonder is, have you had any periods of time—say, at least two weeks or more—where you happened to eat much less due to life circumstances/sickness? It would be interesting to know, as far as figuring out your individual metabolism, if that kind of substantial calorie restriction resulted in any weight loss. The only thing I could think of that, AFAIK, you haven’t mentioned trying already, is eating foods that make you feel satiated. As an example, I’ve found that konjac noodles make me feel very full and that lasts for many hours. I like to add them to soups and definitely recommend the type that is made with some tofu and/or a few other ingredients so that they become a little more like real noodles.
I pray that 2024 will bring blessings to all of us, and that the world will calm the hell down a bit.