Weekly Bread #196

I have said more than once, that if you want to know where you are going, it helps to know where you have been. Of course we never know what is ahead of us. Trails can erode or a fallen tree can block our path. But still, checking that compass and looking back can keep us on track. The above picture is from last week. The one below is from a year ago.

The perspectives are different, but is is pretty obvious I was twenty pounds lighter last year. This could depress me, but somehow it doesn’t. I still feel healthy and good even though I don’t fit into those orange hiking pants anymore. It is all relative. The photo below is from ten years ago. It showed up in my Facebook “memories this week.

I was smiling back then too, but I also remember that walk to the beach as being hard for me. And that is why I am not so upset now about 20 pounds – I still feel good and I can hike LOTS of miles without much trouble. But at 20 pounds a year, it would take me 7 years to be back to the shape I was in ten years ago. A fair amount of time, but I would likely reach my “tipping point” much sooner. By tipping point I mean when my old health problems would start to resurface – diabetes, sleep apnea, high blood pressure and a host of others. I really want to be done with all of those for good. And it really remains about my health and not how I look. Thin doesn’t equate to healthy and fat doesn’t mean unhealthy. For me, however, there is a proven correlation, one that both shows up with medical measurements like blood pressure , cholesterol and A1C Maintaining my weight is harder for me than losing though, so if it becomes necessary, I will need to be ready to cut back enough to lose at least some of what I have gained. We will see how I handle that. The holidays can be challenging when so many yummy seasonal treats call out to be enjoyed and savored. Savor is the key I think Smaller portions in fact better lend themselves to being savored rather than scarfed. Whatever happens, I will reassess in January.

L’Chaim

Average weight this week is down .6 pounds for a total loss of 149.5