I recently turned 65. Have you noticed how difficult it is to lose weight when you turn 65???? And how easy it is to put it back on! I guess it is difficult to lose weight at all ages, but my metabolism has slowed down so much that I have to lower my calories to almost nothing in order to lose any weight! At any rate, I have been traveling some over the past year and I noticed that my weight had started creeping back up. It was time to go on a diet and lose some weight!
On July 10, 2016 I decided to start my diet to lose 15 lbs. I weighed in a 195.2 lbs. That is way too much for me! So far, I am down to 184. Only four more pounds to go, but the past six weeks have had a lot of ups and downs. Here is my story!
I normally eat pretty healthy. In my younger days, after especially after I was divorced, my diet was terrible. I was one of those people that ate fast food for lunch and dinner most days. Then I watched one of those documentaries where a guy ate nothing but fast food for a couple of weeks and his health and body chemistry went totally downhill! So I gave up fast food. Just that one thing did improve my health, but the weight gain from that time would put me on a road of a lifetime of dieting.
For some reason, it was much easier to diet in my younger days. I could take off weight fairly easily back in my 20’s and 30’s. Now it is a difficult fight. Some time ago, I read somewhere that our body has a set point. The body is programmed to to weigh a certain amount based on your normal eating. What I’ve found is that the body always wants to go back to the higher number. So the key to maintaining a good weight is to never let it get out of hand in the first place! But for me, that ship has sailed, so I have to figure out a way to lose these 15 pounds again!!!!
It is amazing how my weight has fluctuated over the years. In high school, I weighed about 150 lbs. I could eat just about anything then and never gain a pound. In college, my weight went up to 170. I always felt best at that weight. I kept 170 on my driver’s licence up until my weight got to 190. (Didn’t think I could get away with it anymore at that point). When I graduated from college and started working in an office, my weight started to increase. I think it was from going out with the staff to eat lunch every day. My highest weight ever was 215. I never want to go there again!
Starting Tuesday, I’ll let you know how I lost the 11 pounds so far at 65 years old, what worked and what didn’t work. And what comes next! Stay tuned!