I’ve been inspired by the dramatic weight loss of my son, Daniel. (See Suzanne’s blog post here.) I’ve also been on a weight loss trend.
In my prime at 6’1” tall I think I normally weighed about 170 pounds. At the close of my mission at age 21 I seem to recall I weighed in around 158 pounds, as I was skin and bones from riding bikes, working hard, and eating little the entire summer. My highest weight was 190 about a year ago.
Over the years my weight has fluctuated depending on my physical activities. It dropped noticeably when I was playing soccer, doing long weekly bike rides, or running regularly. I’ve always had a healthy appetite and never shied from eating large meals and snacking in between. But as I’m aging and my metabolism slows down I’m getting more careful about eating. Since running is too hard on my body I resort to cycling for best exercise.
In recent years I’ve wished I could get my weight back to the low 180’s at least. But it has been elusive, and my resolve not strong enough. The past few months as I’ve gone back to work, and commute by bike each day, and am not snacking much during the day, I’ve noticed my belt fitting loser on me. I have a store credit for free alterations and planned to take a couple of tight suit pants in for expanding the waist, but when I tried them on first I found they fit just fine. Hmmm. This was interesting. I went ahead and tightened my belt one notch and all was good.
Another factor is I joined a new tennis team that often practices at 7:30 weeknights. So I tend to eat a lighter dinner those nights, plus it provides even more physical activity as I often stay for my usual 8:45 tennis as well. And, I decided to stop snacking at night, so I normally come home from tennis quite hungry but just go to bed w/o eating more.
A few weeks ago my weight reached the low 180’s and I thought I would shoot for sub 180. Once I got to 179 I would decide what to do next, and might just be happy staying there. Well, guess what? This morning just before my shower (no breakfast or clothing) here is what I saw:
Woohoo!! I’m so excited! I know, losing 10 pounds in a year doesn’t seem much to brag about. But for me it is a very meaningfully healthy direction change in my weight, and I feel really good about myself. I’m not really on a formal diet. I’m just more careful about what, when, and how much I eat. Let’s see where I go from here, and if I can keep below 180 through the holidays. 🙂
Nice!