Journal

Weight Worries

14 Comments

It occurs to me that many of you may be envious of my 187.5lb weight, and might be wondering why I’m stressed about it.

1) My lean weight is closer to 155. And that’s not “0% fat” lean. That’s “healthy” lean. I’m carrying 30 lbs I shouldn’t be.
2) I’m only 5′ 6″. I may seem larger-than-life on the internet, but I’m really a small guy. You could fit three of me into a Chris Crosby, and still have room for the puppies he claims to be made of.
3) My father was overweight for the better part of 15 years, and died from a heart attack back in 1988. He was 5′ 11″, and never got his weight below about 210 (at least not during my lifetime). It never got much higher than 230, either, so it’s not as if he was grossly obese. He was a very active guy, but never took very good care of himself. This killed him, and left him unable to take care of ANYBODY.

So… I’m not going to let that happen to me. I could still get hit by lightning, or assassinated by sapient racist koalas, but the reaper is going to have to go out of his way and WORK for it if he’s going to claim me early.

I’ve already had a heart attack. It wasn’t congestive, so it “doesn’t count” as a heart attack. It was 1999, and I’d been dieting and exercising a LOT that year. Then I got the flu, and the flu virus infected the myocardium, causing it to swell up, and I checked myself into the hospital with chest pains. It turns out that myocarditis typically kills guys my age, because they have a little bit of blockage that nobody is worried about, and then the swelling puts them way past the threshold for congestive heart failure.

At the time of my little visit to the hospital, my cholesterol was nice and low (100, 75/25) and I was “way too healthy to be in here” (according to the nurses). I need to get back to that level of health so I can have a little more piece of mind. I don’t want to shuffle around the mortal world forever, but do want to stick around long enough for grandchildren, and maybe a great-grand or two. That’s something neither of my parents managed to pull off.

I’m not looking for sympathy here (“You poor orphan! Here, have some more gruel.”) I’m just explaining things so they’re a bit clearer. And with that out of the way, it’s time for a breakfast of soft-boiled eggs and crispy bacon. Gruel is too high in carbs, even if you leave out the sugar us orphans never learned the taste of.

–Howard

14 thoughts on “Weight Worries”

  1. Personally, I was more surprised that you found such a difference with a mere 7 pounds more or less… just didn’t comment on it. 🙂

    1. Well, since I’m only carrying around 30 pounds I shouldn’t be, a seven pound change is the difference between 23 pounds and 30 pounds… not a difference between 180 and 187.

      That 7 pounds represents a 25% increase in the amount of surplus body fat.

      Besides that, there’s some threshold where my pants, my wedding ring, and my underwear all stop fitting comfortably. Bah. I’m not going to go buy new “fat pants.” I’m going to lose weight until the old ones fit right. I’m not made of money.

  3. cholesterol & word usage

    “even if you leave out the sugar us orphans never learned the taste of.”

    That’s “we orphans”, not that I can (thank God) include myself in that group yet.

    I get the difference that only a few pounds of body weight can make — my “numbers” are close to yours (a little higher, because I’m taller), and have found that as few as 5 pounds can have a big impact. And this from a guy who is most assuredly not in touch with his body.

    I do wonder how your low-carb diet (even your “regular” diet for that matter) works with lowering cholesterol. It seems AWFULLY fatty, which Conventional Wisdom says is Bad For You. Maybe the capiscum?

    1. Re: cholesterol & word usage

      Us orphans don’t get none o’ that fancy grammar in the orphanage. We just get gruel, wit’ no sugar. 😉

      Low-carb diets work by forcing the body into a metabolic state where it burns fats. The cholesterol in your bloodstream is almost completely manufactured by you — it’s not cholesterol that you ate. When your body is burning fats for fuel, the cholesterol your body is making is being metabolized, and your cholesterol levels will drop.

      I always check my cholesterol a few weeks into these diets, and it’s always, ALWAYS well below 200. It’s when I eat fast food and lots of carbs that my cholesterol climbs above 200 — even if I put some oat bran in the mix.

      –Howard

    2. Re: cholesterol & word usage

      I went low-carb, and recently had a doctor’s visit including blood tests for sugar, cholesterol, etc. And my cholesterol was well within the good range. My doctor said the conventional wisdom is wrong… that meat and vegetables and whole grains (but not potatoes) will lower your cholesterol. So she said to keep it up… I was on Protein Power and South Beach, and have stabilized my weight and blood sugar by avoiding all the “white foods” (white rice, refined flours and sugars) and eating meat and vegetables and whole grains.

      Now, whether she was right or not about the conventional wisdom, the numbers for my cholesterol level are hard to refute. And I don’t eat near as much capsicum as Howard does. 🙂

  5. I’m carrying around a few pounds I need to drop, myself. Something to do with how spending about half of a six-year period on crutches or in a wheelchair impairs the ability to get exercise …. there’s at least about fifteen pounds on my gut that shouldn’t be there.

  6. Ack! I’m 5’11”, topped out a little over 230 lbs about 3 years ago and have (as of supermarket scale at lunch), made it down to 210 lbs today. Am hoping to get back down to 190 lbs, from back when I got married, 5 years ago.

  7. Weight Worries

    I your pain feel…. yes Dean Wermer was right…..fat drunk and dyslexic is no way to go through life. Like you I am a tall Hobbit @ 5’5″ and in the 170’s. Both of the folks have had heart issues, mom just a couple years ago, dad back when I was a kid. Both are still with us and still fighting each other like cats and dogs…..thankfully. I think that part 2 of the Late Dean Wermer’s admonishion is a big part of my weight problem, complicated by the fact that my job has me living in hotels for the bulk of the year, while working crazy hours.

    Like you a few pounds does make a difference in the feeling of health…. I know that I get a big rush when my “fat” jeans want to fall off. I should be wearing 30 or 32″ waiste jeans, in 34″ ones these days. Hoping I can force myself into getting on the bike and under the weights this summer. Back in the day I was a powerlifter and ran around in the mid 140’s would like to get back to the 150’s.

    Glad I haven’t gotten hooked on Ovalqwik…….

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