One the road

Spent Tuesday on the road, I drove from home to DeSoto, Texas. It was about five hours of driving time.

My weight yesterday morning was just about back to normal after eating out on Saturday. For me it is always the salt that gets me. The good thing about being here is that I can fast longer and my wife will never notice. I will be traveling back home on Friday, I guess.
My sister in law Margaret pasted away early this morning from cancer. She and I haven’t talked in years due to me remarrying. I would like to go to the funeral in respect for the family but I am not sure I can or should.

The key to anything in live is that you put yourself into in with all of your heart and soul.

This is true for weight management too. You believe in what you are doing completely. If it turns out it is not working you find a new way and you believe in it heart and soul until it works or it is proven to be a bad decision. This is my way of thinking and my way of living. But I am always studying, researching and like a chess player planning my next move. This is all part of putting your heart and soul into it. Never just decide this is the way it is and never be welling to change.

Do you believe your doctor really wants you healthy?

I have read so much and researched so much that it proves to me that if we are healthy then there would be no need for as many doctors, nurses, diet companies, fitness companies, and the factory food industry would be dead. So big money is paying doctors to not tell us the truth.

Doctors have known for many years the truth about the obesity, and diabetes that plague this country and now the world. Doctors know that what we now eat and the fact that the factory food industry has created chemicals that trick our hormones into telling our brain to eat more. Doctors know that calories in and calories out does not really work. Doctors know about what insulin does to our bodies but they keep giving diabetics insulin to lower blood sugar until really telling us the truth. If they told us the truth they would be losing money from the kickbacks they get from the drug companies. 

Obesity and diabetes is a symptom and not a disease. Both of these symptoms can be reversed by eating correctly for most of us. Face it, it is not about the number of calories we eat, it is about what we eat and how often we eat. Our ancestors did not eat food out of boxes and they did not eat three meals a day plus snacks. They were luck to eat a single meal a day and they had to go out and hunt and gather what they ate, they did not go down to the local fast food store and get what they wanted when they wanted it. We eat too often, and we eat so called food and not real food too often. 

I grew up on a farm in the late 1940s and 1950s I was a skinny kid, and my parents, grandparents where also slim. We ate good but we ate what e grew. We did not go to the local fast food store to eat, hack the closes grocery store was about 30 miles from where we lived. We ate home grown veggies, fruits, and meat. We processed our on meats. We did eat home baked breads. And my grandmother, and mother made sure we had a dessert a few times a week. We also did not eat any snacks and we always had a large breakfast and a large lunch, and dinner was a smaller meal. We worked the fields, took care of the animals that were our source of meat, milk, and helped do the work on the farm. Yes, we still worked the fields with horses and mules at that time. We made sure the animals were well fed even before we would eat. What I am saying even as a child I never ate as much as most kids today do and I worked the fields and helped take care of the animals from the time I was able to walk good. 

I could go into a lot of the reading I have read and reprint a lot of data that says that our doctors really know what is happening today and have chosen not to make it public and even call the ones that are doing so quacks. But that is beyond what I want to say here. 

What I do want to say is that our food, diet, drug and fitness industries are doing is spending big money paying off our doctors and our governments to keep them quiet and to even tell us what these companies want us to believe. How else can these doctors afford to pay off their education loans, have their big homes and drive their big fancy cars. The doctors or no better than our elected congressman, and others in government that are getting rich off of the companies that buy them out. How else can they get rich on a government paycheck and the doctors get rich on what they get paid by our insurance companies that always under pay what the doctors charge. 

You can lose the weight you need to lose, you may not ever weigh what you are told you need to weigh, but you will lose to the point that more than likely you will not need medications. You will not need knee and other joint replacements, etc. I was told that I needed a knee replacement but they would not do it until I lost some of my weight. Well I lost the weight then even more doing it my way, and I no longer need a knee replacement because I ate mostly real foods that helped my body to rebuild my knee joint. Yes, our bodies are all the time removing old cells and replacing them with new ones. That even includes our brain cells. We do not have to lose our memories as badly as so many do if we only ate correctly. Yes, I said it brain loss is due to eating wrong foods, and eating way to often along with a lot of the medications that we are being given. 

Why am I claiming this I have family that are diabetic that have gone from taking a boat load of medications to not needing any medications by changing what they eat and how often they eat. I have gotten off all of the medications I was taking by losing the weight. I am now lowering my blood pressure by not eating so often. I am also losing fat and gaining muscle by fasting just the minimal amount. 

I know most of you will say I am crazy and I know why you will say that. You believe in what you see on TV ads. You also believe your doctor has your best interest in mine when he tells you what he does. And I bet you even believe your elected officials really do work for you. Well, I am here to tell you the only way that would ever be true is if you paid each and every on of them hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars a year. This world runs on money and if you do not have the money to give them.  Then they will tell you what the ones that are paying them wants you to hear.

Beautiful ride

My wife and I just got back from a beautiful ride. The only problem my wife got out into the lead and I could not get her to stop so I could get pictures. I promise I will take the ride again and I will stop for pictures. I do love following my wife because I see how she rides and I learn. It has not been that long since she was riding a lot and I have not ridden but very little since about 1972. But I have to say this was my best ride by far, and for the first time out I was only having to use my brakes for stop signs. I was managing to control my speed for the corners by using the throttle. We also were riding faster and I was not having the issue of holding the scooter in a straight line. 

Also I have a new decal for my scooter it is the Presidental Service sticker. For which I served at Camp David under the White House Communications Agency from August 1973 to Feburary of 1977.

It has been a month

Today makes it a month without counting calories and my weight has been more stable than I can ever remember in the past. I have had to much salt at times, but it seems that taking the apple cider vinegar and water a long with ginger in my morning hot tea has really helped to stabilize my water weight too. I have to admit my weight is still higher than it was when I started not counting calories but by less than 2 pounds. I also have to say that my belly is smaller, and my thighs are also smaller. I was carrying about 2 inches more fat around my belly and my thighs at the time I started not counting. And since I am doing resistance workouts my arms, chest, and shoulders are a little larger. My weight at this time is 196 and my percent of body weight is down to 17%. I am using the calipers and my weight and hight to figure my body fat percentage so it is not that accurate I am sure, but it is still down from what it was. 

I have not really changed much in the way I am eating, I am just not snacking like I was. I am not eating as much that can spike my insulin. I still eat the same things. I do wish I can eat less carbs, and more fats, but I have to live with my wife and I love her too much to force her to change her diet seeing it is hard to get her to eat enough in the first place. So I am just working on balancing myself as much as possible. Also I am working on making my time of not eating anything longer. I do not eat after the evening meal, so I am not eating from about 5:30pm until around 9:00am, and I do not normally eat lunch so I do not eat after my breakfast until I eat the evening meal around 5:00pm. My wife will be in Erie PA the week of July the 4^th that week I am planning on doing a few longer fasts just to see if I can. I also will be limiting my carbs that week. 

Why managing my weight is so hard for me

Let me start out with this my wife Linda is five foot six and 125 pounds fully dressed. She has a stomach the size of about a coffee cup. Why you ask? At Christmas time in 2012 she got very sick and ended up in the ER. They really did not find anything wrong until they did an upper GI, they found her stomach was twisted like a Barbers Pole. She was sent to a Gastrologist, who determined that she needed surgery and ASAP, but the insurance company refused the surgery saying it was for weight control even though my wife was weighing only 135. It took 3 more trips to the ER and a call from my company’s lawyer before they would approve the surgery and by then my wife’s stomach and died, and my wife was very close to being dead too. The surgery was successful and my wife is doing great now but I almost lost her. The surgery did not take place until early March 2013. Well, that is a little background now for the reasons of my issues.

My wife is under weight and more than likely will never be able to gain the weight she needs. She loves pasta, bread, anything Italian. Than means she loves carbs, and potatoes. I have gotten her to understand that I cannot control my weight by eating the high amount of carbs and potatoes. But she still gets upset when I refuse what she wants to eat. I refuse to fuss at her because at least she is eating enough to hold on to the weight she has. This is the reason I have such an issue, and the reason I am finally going to fasting. I can at least give my body a rest for the extra insulin, and I can cut some calories. And my wife is old school and refuses to except that carbs and potatoes, and bread are not that great for any of us.  She is a great cook and she does cook what I need along with what she wants, but she will not at times give in and just let me not eat the carbs and potatoes. For me eating out is a two sided sword. I can choice the foods I want to eat which is great but the other side is the extra salt in the foods. But I am finding that apple cider vinegar and ginger helps me get the extra water weight off faster. 

For me fasting is trying not to eating between meals and only eating breakfast and dinner, and never eating after dinner or at bedtime. It is normally 14 - 16 hours for me between dinner and breakfast the next day. If I need a stack then it is nuts, mostly almonds, and walnuts. I do not drink sugary drinks, except a very small amount of fruit juice with breakfast. Breakfast was the largest meal but I have lately manage to cut it back to about half of what it was. Dinner is mostly salad, meat, and other veggies. The only time I have bread is at breakfast. Sometimes dinner will be pasta and or potatoes. I do my best to keep it to as small amount as I can. 

We do what we have to, to keep our spouses happy. 

A simple question

I have to ask a question of the bleeding hearts for the immigrants that are illegally taking over this country. Where is your bleeding heart for the homeless, the Veterans, the elderly, and the sick in this country that are real citizens of this country and in great need of homes, medicine, and food? I understand the immigrants are in need so are our citizens in need. But you have turned your back on your own citizens. This is so true not only of the liberals, which is the democratic party, but even the so called conservative republicans. Our own government and media, has taken up the cross of everyone but the citizens of this country. Please think about it. Then tell my why. I should not be feel this way in my own country. Also, if I felt like my concerns were understood then I would feel so much better about helping the immigrants that needs help. But when my own country and my fellow citizens are more worried about citizens of another country than its own citizens then I feel this once great nation has lost its way and no longer deserves to call its great. I was raised to believe that charity starts at home, in this cast home is the USA. 

It is a rainy day so I my brain is working overtime

I have been thinking about diets, dieting, forced exercise, and just being plan active. I am 70 years young and I have seen a lot in my day. I grew up on a working farm, that we ate what we grew and very little else. My great grandparents, grandparents, and my parents and myself were not over weight. I fact I was the skinny kid. So when did I get fat? Believe it or not when I went in the Navy and was eating the food that was there for me to eat. The day I went into Navy bootcamp I weighed 168 pounds, the day I graduated from boot camp I weighed a whopping 210 pounds. Sure some of that weight was muscle, but most of it was fat around my belly that I have carried for the rest of my life. So why did I gain so much in bootcamp I want to say it was for the most part being force feed, and also the foods we where fed. Before bootcamp we ate mostly farm fresh veggies, fruit, and meat. Sure I had some grain in bread, and a few desserts. But I was never fed cereal, rice, not that many potatoes, and never bread the way we had it in bootcamp. I also ate way too much, and too often. The rest of my time in the navy, I managed to keep my weight at about 210 by only eating 2 meals a day instead of 3. I also did not eat in the chow hall that often. But that a lot of times meant that I was eating pizza and other junk foods. At just over 4 years in the Navy I married and my first wife did cook for us and I even lost a little weight for a while seeing I was eating mostly real food again. While I was in the service after I got married I was traveling a lot and very busy on the road. There would be times that I would eat a very quick small breakfast or maybe no breakfast and not even have time to eat until evening. I managed to not gain and maybe lose a little more. 

Then I got out of the Navy. I took a job as a field service person. But before going in to the field I had to sat in a class room 8 to 10 hours a day for about 5 months and there was always food for us and drinks heavy with sugar. Man oh man did I gain weight in those few months. Then I went in to the field and was very busy but doing a lot of work at night and sleeping in the day when I had time to sleep and you would thing I lost weight but no I gained even by not eating that much, but I was not eating that great when I ate. Also my stress level was very bad and it caused my blood pressure issue. I was put on medications that caused me to gain weight even more. Then I lost that lost that job due to the company giving up and just died off. I managed to get another job in short order but stressed and ate too much while looking for a job. The new job meant that I was on the road at about 5 am to get to work by 7 am., then I would work 8 to 12 hours a day sometimes 7 days a week. I was again not getting enough sleep and there was always the wrong types of food around to eat. And I started gaining again and I got acid reflux. 

Then about 1979 or 1980 I read about the Atkin’s Died and my wife and I both went on it, I believe when I started it I was about 230, and over about 9 or 10 months I went down to 163, but life goes on and I could not continue the diet mostly due to my wife having real issues with it on her health. So I went off of it and I gained all of the weight back then some. 

Fast forward to 1999 I left a job that was stressing me out so bad that my doctor was even telling me the job was not worth it. So I found a new job that I wanted so badly but again it was a stressful job but rewarding in that I was helping people with their problems. I was on the phone 8 or more hours a day. Some weeks 4 days a week 10 hours a day, and some weeks 5 days a week 8 hours a day my day would start a noon and go to 9 or 11 at night. There was alway food to eat most of it donuts, and soft drinks or pizza.  My weight was climbing again my acid reflux was there again. This continued for way to long. Then boom 2002 my first wife and my first love was killed in a car wreck, and my kids were all out of the home. What else was there to do but eat, and work. I did not even want to be home. When I was home I would have the TV on and something to ease my pain there to drink. For me luckily one of the kids I knew asked me to take his mom to the homecoming game, he had lost his dad the year before and his mom just did not want to go to the game by herself. I called Linda my wife now, and we talked about it we had always treated each other as brother and sister and had never thought about being really together. I took Linda to the game and after the game we sat in the car and talked for a very long time. We were both scared of the thoughts of dating and dating each other even scared us more. Then I walked her to the door to say good night. I am not sure why but a voice told me to give her a good night kiss so I kissed her on the cheek and I believe we both felt something at that same time. The next day was a parade in town so I called Linda the next morning and asked her if she wanted to go to it with me seeing I just did not want to be home alone, and did not want to go to a parade alone either. She said yes and the rest is history. We have been married for over 15 years and we have never regraded it. I believe it was God’s voice that night that told me to kiss her. 

Why that information? Linda is the reason for me losing my weight and keeping it off. She is a very good cook and she loves cooking and knows how to cook for someone with weight and health issues. Now I did not lose weight at first I even gained a lot more weight due to life and jobs and stress. But on our birthdays in 2010, it was also Thanksgiving, I could not fit into my dress cloths and I made my mind up then to lose weight. And even with it being the holidays I managed to lose 10 pounds by the first of the year. How was I doing it portion control only. I was not eat different food, I was just cutting back on what I ate. It was March of 2011 that I gave up diet coke finally, and I started walking, only a quarter mile at first. Then the end of July 2011 I found Loseit and calorie counting that carried me forward to lose down below 200 pounds for the first time since the Atkins diet. By January of 2012 I was down below 200 and I managed to keep at about 200 or less until the end of 2013, then I started slowly gaining, and I had not changed what I was eating and I had not increased my calories. So what happened? I will try to explain it to you. I was snacking almost all day trying to eat very small meals. This was screwing up my insulin production and my digestive system. I have only figured this out over the last month or two. 

So I am going to explain something to you that goes against the lies that our food industry, even our doctors, and government are telling us. We should never snack all day. We have to give our digestive system time to rest. When we eat to often we are increasing our insulin levels and too much insulin in our system makes the fat that we carry around. It is not eating fat that cause us to be fat. In fact eating good fat can cause us to lose the fat we are carrying around. Also, I am going to say this calories in and calories out is true and not true at the same time. The calorie is only a theory. Over the last month I have stopped counting calories, but I am logging what I eat, I have not gained any weigh but I also have not lost weight. I have also stopped snacking. I am only eating 2 meals most days and every now and then I will eat a 3 meal at lunch. I fast for about 14 hours a day from the end of the evening meal to the next days first meal. No bed time snack, no in between meal snacks. I am giving my digestive system time to digest the food I eat then have time to rest. I am feeling so much better. I have more energy, and my thinking is so much clearer. Also as I have said before I sometimes have issues with low blood sugar, I have not had an issue this last month, and my blood pressure is down to the point I no long need the medication. My belly and thighs are down a couple of inches too. I am very active but not forcing my self to exercise the way I was. I do some resistive training which I am finding I am enjoying. My chest and my shoulders have increased by about 2 inches, and I have even noticed my skinny arms are up about an inch. This is not fat it is solid lean muscle. 

I am planning to do longer fast in the future but more than likely I will not go over 18 to 24 hours as I really do not see the need. I am neither really overweight or diabetic, so I do not need to force myself that far. Fasting is not starvation by any means. And it is very good for the body, mind and soul. Why do you think it is being done by religious groups.  No you will not hear about it on TV due to fasting does not make the food industry, the diet industry or even the exercise industry any money. 

So what am I eating? Real food for the most part. I do eat lots of veggies, and small amount of protein, in the way of all types of meat. I eat nuts for the extra fat I need. I drink whole milk and not low fat milk. I also mix whey protein in my milk for breakfast. I eat eggs, bacon, ham, and every now and the I eat a slice of bread. I also eat pasta, at times. I do eat a small amount of potatoes and rice at time. I do not drink diet soft drinks or other soft drinks. I drink water, and unsweetened tea. Mostly I am doing protein control. I stay away from as much refined and processed foods as possible. And I stay away from fast foods almost completely now. 

My feelings on the state of this Country and the children and the people caught up in it

Folks here is my feelings about the issue with the kids of the immigrates or illegals or our citizens kids that are all separated from their parents. It is not fair to the kids I agree. But all of the parents made decisions that effected their kids. I am sure most made the decision thinking things would be better for the kids, I know I always wanted what was best for the little ones and still do. I also know that life is not fair, and best laid plans seldom work out to the plan. We have kids in this country with parents in prison, we have kids in this country and over seas with parents in the military, we have kids here an else where that their parents are trying to make a living and are separated from their parents. And we have parents that have walked off from their kids and never looked back.
We also have parents that have chosen to abort the little ones, but too many in this country and else where do not see to even think of these little ones as even human. That is the biggest sin of all.
If we lived in a perfect world none of this would be happening, and the truth is too much of this is out of control of what most of us can do. Is our government doing everything it should do of course not? Or we doing everything we should as fellow humans of course not too. But we have others in this country that are encouraging this issue to happen for political reasons and that is the biggest human failure that there could ever be. Also I am going to add if you believe in God and the Bible and have never read Daniel and Revolutions then you do not know God's full intent on our lives. So what is the answer. Stop fighting each other and for a change lets work together to get this worked out. There can truly be an answer to all of this but it will never be found as long as we fight about. And believe me this fighting is just playing in to the devil's hands.

To my thinking this is all part of a plan to over throw the government of the USA. It is  being staged and financed by the big money that is truly the shade government that wants to take over this country and the world. Am I crazy? I wish I was but there is just too much evidence to back this up and it has been in play for a very very long time. The school system has brainwashed so many denying our true history. And forcing the removal of God, pray and even the pledge to our flag and country. There has been a movement in this country and the world for many years to go to a one world or global economy and global government. This really would be great if it was the right type of government but it will not be it will be a type of government where the people have no say, in the government, and will be no better than slaves. We have been moving this way for so many years and each and every law that is created is taking more and more power away from the people of this country, and we as a people are so stupid that we are not seeing it. I fell for it too for way to many years. I am also afraid it has gone too far to turn back. I hope I am wrong but I just have that feeling the movement has way too many people in its grip. 

Today is just a few random thoughts that have run through my head

A question for all: What is most important some weight goal that you have pulled out of the air or that a doctor told you, you should be or a stable weight that makes you healthy, and you have the energy to do what you need and want to do? 

For me it is to have a stable weight range, and to be healthy and fit enough to do what I need and want to do.

We as humans always want more and that has not changed over my 70 years here on earth. But I have learned just in the past 7 years that if I listen to the needs of my body then my weight will be what it needs to be. I will have the fuel to do what I need to do, and I will not ever feel overly hungry or stuffed. Even at my age I can be standing up and lean over and tie my shoes. I can still ride my bike, my motorcycle, and hike to trails to seen the sights that this earth has for me to see. What we have to do is not pay so much attention to the numbers and just be as I say in-tune with our bodies. Once you are in-tune with your body your weight will take care of itself. 

There are so many better ways to determine health and fitness other than a number on the scale. 

I am 70 years young, I have never been in the hospital, not even born in one. I was found to have mild high blood pressure issues when I was 29 years old. For me it was stress in my life from getting out of the service with a wife and son to take care of. That stress let to me eating the wrong stuff. Over the years I gained and lost weight so many times I cannot even count them. My diet of choice was the Atkin's Diet or the South Beach Diet. With the Atkin's I just could not stick with it seeing my wife at that time made the best Mexican food I ever ate. With the South Beach Diet as long as I stuck to the first couple of phases of the Diet I could lose weight but then gain it back in the maintenance phase of the diet. When I found Loseit and calorie counting I believe I had really found it. I lost the weight but then my weight started climbing again even with my exercise and calorie counting and low calorie budget. I started looking for answers again. I have been managing my weight now for a while by checking my weight weekly excepting a weight range that is about 4 pounds wide. It allows for bad salt days mostly. Just before Memorial Day I decided I needed a break so I stopped counting calories and started logging what I ate in my journal. I have managed my weight to with in 4 pounds this way without counting calories. I have cut my stress levels at the same time by not worrying about the calorie budget everyday and I am eating less, due to less stress. I have also cut my blood pressure to the point I know longer need my medications on a daily bases. I now take my medication only if I have a bad salt day the day before. I can tell easily if that is true by my weight and my blood pressure. My medication is only a diuretic so it helps to keep the water down only. I can control my water weight also with apple cider vinegar and ginger. My last lab work was very good. My doctor said that most half my age have worse lab work. I could even improve my by exercising above what I am doing but I do not feel the need is there. I do resistance workouts and I walk about 10K steps a day. The key for me is lowering stress. I also fast about 14 hours out of 24 and sometimes as much as 17 hours out of 24. I also only eat 2 meals a day and I have limited my snacks each day to a quarter cup of unsalted mixed nuts. The last quick check I made on calories is that I eat about 1700-1800 calories a day, and I burn between 2000-2500 calories a day depending on what chores I have to do. So you would think I would be losing more weight. It is not happening because my body knows better than any of the calorie calculator we have and the devices we have to determine what calories we burn.  The calculators and the devices are just theory. And our bodies know best.

It is Monday!

This past weekend was Father’s Day weekend. My wife finished up her course she was doing then we went to get her nails done, then went to the Chinese Buffet for dinner. I had not eaten since breakfast so I was not too worried about eating over my limit for the day, but I knew that the salt in the food would really work me over. And yes my weight showed a gain on Sunday morning, not a lot but it was disappointing. Then Sunday my wife fixed me my favorite breakfast which is not a bad choice of a spinach omelet. Then I only had about a quarter cup of nuts before dinner which is my wife’s homemade meatloaf, I enjoyed that of course, and like normal I ate nothing after dinner. This morning my weight is down from yesterday but still a little higher than before eating out Saturday afternoon. Also, I am now following the recommendation of apple cider vinegar and water in the early morning and evening, I know this helps my digestion, and even my blood pressure because I have been doing it for a long time, and it was something that my grandmother use to do way back when I was very young. My blood pressure was up a little this morning and yesterday morning due to the salt but still in the very good range. It has been 14 hours since I have eaten and I am still not hungry. The longest I have ever gone was when I was in the service or back when I was working and could not get away to eat was about 24 hours. I have not gone that long in a long time now, but I have managed to go about 17 to 18 hours, but about 14 to 16 seems to be my normal fast times. I will be extending that the first week of July when my wife is away on her trip. 

So what is my goal in doing this, only good health, if I can manage to lose more of my belly fat that will be great and it will help my health also. I just do not want to do what I have so many times before and regain my weight. I am willing to except the fact that at my age I am going to have a harder time not gaining, but I believe that fasting can help me control my weight better. I also know that I feel so much better when I have eaten just enough to feel like I am not hungry but at the same time I do not feel like my stomach is full and  I am not bloated. 

Since I started my experiment of not counting calories my weight is up just a little on average but still below the weight my doctor set for me of 200 pounds. Now I would like to lower that if possible to 185 to 190 and I have expressed that to my doctor and he smiled and said that would be great. Do I believe I can do it? Yes I do but I also know that my body will be fighting it all the way due to my body’s set weight being around 205 for such a long time while I was younger. But I also dream of maybe reseting my weight more in line of what it was at the time I turned 21, and that was 168 pounds. I know it may be a pipe dream but it is something to think about and work for. 

Slowly seeing the truth

I am reading the book “The Obesity Code” by Jason Fung, MD. Being someone that was raised to research and also trained by the Navy to be a researcher and troubleshooter, I know that most internet research just leads me down a rabbit hole or on a wild goose chase. But I am also someone that has been keeping a journal since I was about 6 years old and I still have all of my journals. I was a skinny kid and skinny teenager. I did not gain my weight until I left home and joined the Navy. So I have not only been reading and researching why I am heavier than I want to be and need to be, but I am looking back at why I was a skinny kid and teenager. What I am finding is that we did not eat refined carbs or for that matter any fast foods, or factory created so called foods. I am also finding that I did not eat snacks, and I had 3 meals a day, with each meal being about 5 hours a part. We also did not eat after dinner(supper), but we did have desserts with each evening meal. We also ate bread with each meal, but the bread we ate was always homemade and it was cooked fresh for each meal. Our meats were mostly smoked or salt preserved. We only ate fruits and veggies that came out of the garden. Breakfast was normally well before daylight and it was always, biscuits, eggs, and bacon or ham. My dad and grandpa would make sausage out of the hogs with butchered, and mixed that with old meat for deer, so we made the sausage only in the fall and early winter when it was hunting season. 

So what was my key to being skinny? 1. I was always very active. 2. We ate 3 meals a day at the dinning room table. 3. We did not snack between meals. 4. We did not eat after dinner or at bedtime. 5. We did not eat refined or factory made so called foods. 6. We did not drink soft drinks, but I did drink sweet tea with my lunch and evening meals. 

So what was the key to being skinny? 1. It was giving each meal time to be fully digested before eating again. 2. It was giving my body a chance to get over the insulin spike and also time for my body to burn off some of the extra that I had eaten before eating again. 3. And this is the important piece of the puzzle, it was never allowing my insulin levels to stay elevated. If insulin levels stay elevated then we become insulin resistant and that leads to insulin being converted to fat, and if it stays that way too long we can become diabetic. 

So what am I doing to change myself. 1. I am cutting back as much refined carbs as I possibly can. 2. I am going to stop eating snacks between meals. 3. My snacks will be good fats, in other words nuts. 4. I will not be eating after the even meal, no bedtime snacks. 5. No soft drinks including diet ones. 5. I will only eat fruits that are in season, why. Fruits have sugar and they cause insulin spikes. 

The key is to give your digestive system time to rest between meals. When you eat it takes up to 5 hours for your digestive system to process what you have eaten. If you do not give it time to rest then you are putting more fat on your body. So far what I am saying is just to prevent weight gain.

Now lets talk about losing fat. To lose fat we have to give our bodies time to start using up some of that stored fat, and turn it into energy to fuel the body. To do so we have to go without food long enough that we no longer have it in our digestive system and it has to pull from the reserves, which is our body fat. To do so is where longer periods between meals come into play. Yes I am talking fasting. The research shows that our bodies can go days and even weeks without food, most of it depends on the fat reserve that we care around all the time. So what is required amount of fat we should have, that depends on the gender, the age and some other factors. Most men need around 10% body fat to be safe. And from what I have read most women that are not of childbearing age needs about 20% and it is a little more for the childbearing age women. Lets be honest here I am not the expert here at all I am just pointing out what I have picked up from reading information from the research of scientist that should know and not from the BS that is mostly on the internet now. But fasting will force your body to start processing your body fat for energy and before you scream that it will cause muscle loss let me say this that is bull. From my own experience if you do your fasting correctly you will gain muscle, due to your body’s growth hormones kicking in to protect your body. I have lost a few inches around my belly and I have not lost any real amount of weight. My should measurements have even increase due to my resistance workouts and my working and lifting in the process of my move this year. 

So have I lost inches in my belly as I said, and also in my hips and thighs. 

Also my blood pressure is down, I am sleeping better. And to top it off I have more energy. 

I do not have that much weight that I need to lose, but the research say that you will lose the weight too, but it takes longer fast than what I am doing. So far my longest time between meals is about 18 hours and most days it is about 16 hours between the evening meal and the breakfast. I do plan to try longer fast but I will wait for that for when my wife is away on her trip so she does not worry about it. She does not need to fast and she really should gain some weight. But her issue is medical seeing back in 2013 they had to take out most of her stomach due to it twisting and dying. 

I will have more on my progress as I have it. 

It’s Friday

It is a beautiful day, they call it hot but to me it is just a spring day. The temperature here so far is for less hot than what I was use to. Sure if you are out in the sun it is hot, but there is so much shade here due to the trees that it does not feel near as bad. And yes the humidity is high. 

My weight is down just a very little this morning, but more importantly my blood pressure is down a lot 107/70, and I have not been taking my medication either. My percent of body fat is at 17.2%. My stress level is also very low. I feel my stress is low for a few reasons. First I start my day with a prayer, and reading my devotional. And secondly I am not stressing over ever last calorie, instead I am eating what I feel I need, and to be honest I am eating less calories and more real food. Yes, I am eating some sugar and yes I am eat some carbs, but I am also eating more nuts, veggies, and less meat. I am also fasting at times, not really trying to just doing so because I really do not want to eat. Dinner is by 6pm and breakfast is not normally until about 9:am so that is about 15 hours of not eating, and now I am not eating after breakfast until I eat dinner. Also, my breakfast is less than what it use to be. And to be honest my dinner is less also. I do expect that if I can keep my salt level down I will begin to lose a little more weight. My wife will be gone the week of the 4^th of July and I plan on trying a couple of 24 hour fast, to see if I can do it and to see if it will help me drop my belly a little bit more. 

I do feel better and I am sleeping much better. While I am not getting out and forcing myself to do the long walks I am on my feet and moving most of the day. I am doing resistance workouts with resistance bands, dumbbells, and a curl bar. With the new puppy I am also taking her for walks to get her use to walking on a leash. 

It has now been 25 days without counting calories and I am not gaining weight and maybe dropping just a little. I have not really started a true fast so I will not say that is really helping. I do eat at least 2 meals every day. My brain is clearer and my thinking is better. I am not waking up with headaches, and I am not have as many issues with my allergies. 

I believe what is helping me is that I have had the 7 years of habits of counting calories to get me use to the amount of food to eat. Also, in that time I have learned what to eat and what not to eat. To me it is more of what not to eat together is also important. There are some foods that just react badly for me if I eat them together. Most of those things are carbs that do not set well together for me. 

Back home

We had a lot of fun on our weekend trip. Friday was a day of travel, which I thought was a long day but yesterdays drive was even longer as we traveled through Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. We went and picked up rescue puppy in Camden, Arkansas, and the best route to get there from where we where at the time we found out we would get her was to travel into Louisiana and up into Southern Arkansas. It was a good trip and I got to see places I have never seen. Beautiful country all the way but mostly back country roads, and we were pulling our camp trailer all of the way. 

The puppy is a terrier, hound mix. She is about 9 or 10 weeks old. We are calling her Sandy due to her color. The group we got her from, found her due to the fact she was going to be as stated taken to the river and dumped. None of God’s creations should just be dumped, killed, or aborted.  So we decided to take her in and become foster parents, but to be honest I believe she has found her forever home. 

We traveled to Austin area on Friday so we could go to the family reunion on Sunday. We stated at an RV Park in Taylor, Texas that we stated out back in April. Saturday we got a new hitch setup for our Jeep, which we had hoped to make pulling the trailer better, and it really did make it much better. By the way even pulling the trailer we averaged 20.5 miles per gallon of gas. Also on Saturday we had dinner at Logan’s Roadhouse, and my wife and I shared a plate of ribs. Sunday at the reunion I had roasted chicken and potato salad, maybe not the best meal  choice but it was good. 

Monday we ate at the RV park, just cereal, and had a chicken sandwich from the leftover chicken for lunch. By the time we got home it was after 8:00 pm so my dinner was a few mixed nuts and a shower and bed. 

My weight this morning was the same as Friday morning I really feel good about that. Since eating out most of the weekend normally leaves me with a salt overload. 

Sandy is here in the office with me laying on the floor sleeping I will post a few pictures of her.

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Did I forget to say she needs to fatten up a little bit, she looks like she was not fed very much. Sandy is very sweet and just wants to be noticed and loved. 

It has been a very long day

This morning started early before the alarm went off. Just wake up before the alarm. 

My weight was down again now down to 195.2. But may be up in the morning due to eating out at Cracker Barrow for lunch. Dinner to night is fish, and Cole slaw. Also the last two days I have had what feels like withdrawer symptoms from what I believe is a sugar overload over the past week or so. I hate to admit that I have been eating too much ice cream. I am still thinking about and believe I will try intermittent fasting along with the intuitive eating. I would like to see if it would help me burn off some of this belly fat that just sticks around.  

We spent the day running around to Benton, and Hot Springs, went to Linda’s sewing center, then Home Depot. Then to Hot Springs to Hobby Lobby, then to Cracker Barrow to eat. Then on to Livingston RV to get our camp trailer. Then on to the storage unit to put the trailer away. We will be leaving on Friday morning, headed to Taylor, Texas to camp and go to the family reunion on Sunday then back home on Monday. 

Well it is Monday

My weight is down this morning to 196.4, that far from my normal of about 194-195. What is changing with my eating? Nothing really, but I am looking at intermittent fasting. I see that it has benefits for me as well as a lot of other people. What I am looking at is the 16/8 fasting where you go 16 hours of the day without eating and you feed yourself in the other 8 hours. I am not there yet I am close at about 15/9 and even that seems to be helping me. I am still following the intuitive eating, but I am writing down what I am eating and still not counting calories. 

Another note is needed my blood pressure is down nicely to below the 120/80 that every doctor pushes. I am down to about 115/75. I am still taking the half pill that I have been. But I seem to have times that I do feel weak and when that happens I check my BP and it will be in the low range for me. 

Saturday evening we had a few storms in the area and it became a hell storm. We are looking that it did not last long and we had no real damage. There were leaves knocked out of the trees, and that was it. Sunday was a very nice day, with Church early, then out to breakfast at about 11:00 am this gave me almost 16 hours of not eating before breakfast. I do not see this being about to happen everyday see my wife is a hardcore believer in breakfast. I may have to just do my best to work around it. 

After we ate we explored around the area finding out new ways in and out of the Village. We are looking for a better way to get the camp trailer in and out of the Village without having to take the long way that we were doing. We believe we found a way in and out that is much closer to the storage unit that we keep the trailer in. 

Sunny and very warm day

They are saying it is hot today but it really isn’t, at least by what I have been use to. 

The front yard is not redone, and it looks great I will post some pictures. 

My weight was up a pound this morning, but my blood pressure was really good.

Went to Hot Springs, and got a haircut, then checked on the camp trailer, it will be ready for our trip back to Texas next weekend. 

 This is a picture from the end of our drive way to the west. 

We have a wind chime too. 

We did get our Diamond Doves.

These are drift roses that are like ground cover.