For some people losing weight is easy after 40 or 50. I have never found this to be the case after I turned 40. I was able to stay buff up until age 40 by lifting weights and running 1 to 5 miles a day and if I wanted to lose 25 pounds in a weekend (I'm 6 foot 5) I would simply hike around 20 to 25 miles that weekend and that would usually do it. But, by age 40 these methods ceased to work for me because running all the time had taken it's toll on my feet and I started to get bone spurs and finally had x-rays of my feet and they noticed hundreds of fractures in my feet healed from when I used to jump off roofs for fun between the ages of about 10 and 15 years of age when I took many physical risks with my friends because we all believed we were invincible then like young boys and men often do.
I have been pretty frustrated, however, since about 40 with all this. Because my feet limit what I can usefully do without being in too much pain. And I refuse to take pain killers because that just lessens mental and physical acuity by doing this too. So, because of this I still can walk at 67 up to 6 to 7 miles at a time without problems while walking or hiking and I likely in a real emergency could walk 20 miles in a day for a week or more but I would be in a lot of pain from it (and then I would have to take muscle relaxants and pain killers to go to sleep after that every day.
So, my point of view is: "Why be in so much pain all the time?"
But, a little pain is necessary to keep in shape after 40 or 50. This is a given. If you aren't willing to put up with any pain then soon you will be riding in an electric scooter or wheelchair. This is the reality of life.
So, when I lost 30 pounds in the process of a burst appendix, laproscopic surgery from that, and not being able to eat or sleep about 3 weeks after that, during recovery, I found I was able to keep that weight off which is really good.
But, then I realized I could no longer eat rice pasta being on a gluten free diet anymore or rice bread because rice converts at a much higher sugar level than does wheat. So, even though your muscles are going to hurt more (over 40 or 50) if you eat wheat at all, I had to go off a gluten free diet because I didn't want to become diabetic which can be a problem after 50 or 60 for many or most people.
I was told during my recovery in the hospital that I was Pre-diabetic but that I could avoid diabetes by a radicat change in my diet.
So, I gave up all carbohydrates for a month and gave up all fruit juices permanently. However, you can still eat raspberries, blueberries and strawberries because they do more good than harm as fructose and they help your brain (especially blueberries). Also, I can eat an aple or one other fruit a day as long as it is not juiced, you just have to eat it in a non-juice form.
I have been very frustrated by all these changes and also realizing that even though a gluten free diet is a pain free diet it also can contribute to getting diabetes in some people. So, I feel the pain more but have gone back to Sourdough bread, pizza with a wheat crust about once a month, and the same for wheat pasta.
However, I want to lose more weight because I'm 67 so I can more easily live longer.
My latest idea is to have only a small window of the day where I eat anything at all. I'm naturally a snacker so I have to deal with this.
My latest Idea to keep off weight and to lose more is to not eat between midnight and noon anything at all. (It is better not to eat between 6 pm and 8 or 9 am but I stay up late often because I can't sleep. So, not eating between midnight and noon works for me at present. Then, lately I realized that if I just have a cup of milk or a little cereal or a protein drink I make in the blender I can last until 4 to 5 pm even when I'm walking or hiking with my dogs. So, this is a new way to stretch out when I don't eat longer. So, this presently means I'm not eating much at all or nothing between midnight and about 4 to 5 pm on a somewhat daily basis depending upon what I have to do that day.
I noticed at the doctors by doing this I had already lost 5 pounds in one week doing this so maybe I'll keep this up as long as I can.
However, each of you likely will have to design a diet that works for your body and daily cycles. This custom way of designing your diet will keep you alive longer. The more you know about yourself and how different foods will affect your body and actions the better you will get at custom designing a diet for yourself that will keep you happy, healthy, wealthy and wise.
No comments:
Post a Comment