The headline on this piece might sound like a come-on, followed by talk about why weight loss is important and a pitch for a miracle weight loss product.
It isn’t.
I share this in the hope it can help someone else struggling with weight concerns.
Several years after marrying, my weight began turning up — from good cooking and lots of food, I'm sure.
The weight gain didn’t bother me until one day parks and recreation director Andre Gate poked me in the tummy, commenting: “You’re too young to put on weight. What are you going to do when you get older?”
I laughed and continued eating with special treats, large quantities of ice cream, fresh fruit and frequent consumption of beer and hard liquor while listening to country musicians at the old Royal Hotel.
Over the years the average gain was a mere two pounds a year.
After open heart surgery in 2000, the weight dropped 10 per cent only to be slapped back in two years. The first year YaraCentre was open frequent walking and not eating food after 7 p.m. lost 17 me pounds.
Around that time I was tossing out old clothes. Among the items was a favourite 32-inch waist pair of dress pants with a green sheen worn in the 1960s and 1970s.
Last fall, Yours Truly was in hospital twice for six days with heart and kidney concerns. The care was fantastic. The food was good with more than I could eat.
The scale showed a loss of seven pounds – just from eating less.
Motivation to lose weight has been my reason for not losing weight but my doctor provided one: If my kidney concerns were not set straight I would someday be a candidate for kidney dialysis.
I remembered the last time I saw my friend Mike Fay — some of you might remember this nice fellow as Santa Claus from local parades.
He was on dialysis, taken to Regina Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Recovering from it on the alternate days, it was a terrible way to live.
Dieting began in earnest. I used to consume between 2,500 and 3,500 calories a day, really needing no more than 2,000. My partner tires of my smart phone consultations for the calorie count every time I eat.
With kidney issues, reducing the amount of protein intake is crucial. Excess protein is processed by kidneys and discharged in urine – something that wears out the kidneys.
From my readings, protein needs are 35 grams per hundred pounds of weight — in my case 78 grams. One eight ounce ribeye steak has 58 grams or two-thirds of daily needs.
The dieting shed 30 pounds, hitting a plateau but my waist line has shrunk so much I’ve started wishing I hadn’t thrown out my favourite 32-inch waist pair of dress pants with the green sheen.
Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
