DIETING FOR HEALTH--Where Is All Of This Leading Me? Many Questions Remain...

DIETING FOR HEALTH—Where Is All Of This Leading Me? Many Questions Remain

Now that I have initiated lipolysis using the Atkins approach to reduce my carb intake below 20 carbs per day, in fact just slightly above 8 carbs per day as a 21-day average, I ask myself whether to continue on this low-carb flush-and-purge juice fast until I am at my target weight of 180, or should I continue well past that first goal to match my marriage weight of 160, or still further to 155, to match my high school athletic weight, or even further on a cleansing fast to surpass by one pound my previous adult low of 139? And what is accomplished by each of these objectives? At 180, I equal the weight I most recently reached in 1993, but only maintained briefly. Although the charts say that with my 6’3” height and medium frame, my ideal weight is 180, I tend to dispute that figure because I still had a slight potbelly at that weight that couldn’t be accounted for by lack-of-tone alone. At 160 I would at least equal my marriage weight at age 35 and be able to wear my wedding suit for the first time in 25 years. To attempt to complete my cleansing by finishing at 138 seems a bit ambitious for a 59-year-old, given that I completed that fruit fast when I was 33. There have been greater accomplishments than these, I am sure, but right now nothing comes to mind. I have begun to settle into a workout routine that incorporates walking and jogging into the same workout, with jogging gradually replacing walking by Christmas Eve, one-minute-at-a-time. If I am able to accomplish that, it will be my first time to consistently run since I was 31. Once the goal of jogging for 3 hours is accomplished, I will set my sights on improving my pace from a slow jog to a medium and then a fast jog. If all goes as planned, I hope to run for 3 hours per day, five days a week. Today I jogged for the second time in 28 years and was surprised how out-of-shape I felt to be running. Even after walking 2-3 hours 5 days per week for the past 27 months, I was still not prepared for the extra effort involved in jogging. I was feeling pretty down about it until I remembered that I was attempting the equivalent of jogging 2 city blocks while carrying a heavy suitcase. I am still over 200 lbs and attempting to regain my former training weight of 155 pounds. In high school I ran the 100 yard dash in 11.6, not fast enough for a medal. In the 220 yd dash, I ran a 25.1 in the relays and won a couple of medals. In the quarter-mile I did a little better, running the first lap of the mile in 56 seconds. I did still better in the half-mile, running a 2:06 when I was 25. I haven’t dared to dream of regaining those accomplishments, but it would be fun to try and see what I can do with a little determination, effort, and a closely and carefully-constructed incremental workout plan. My wife just bought me a membership at LA Fitness, which will encourage me to limber up, improve my overall posture and weight training, and offer me welcome relief from the hot sun of midsummer and some of the cooler and wetter days of winter. I cannot emphasize enough how important it will be to maintain a constant vigilance on my weight and fitness regimen, if I am to accomplish this ambitious plan by Christmas. I encourage myself by realizing how far I have come so far in toning and improving my overall conditioning. It does take a long time, just as it took a long time of inactivity and poorly-regulated diet to reach the bottom. Now, a slow, steady and sustained effort is needed to counteract the negative results of poor health choices. Once begun, however, every day becomes another day of improvement that brings me closer to vibrant health. Every improvement builds on the next one and is vital to the entire program. This mountain can definitely be moved, even if it has to be one spoonful at–a-time. The hardest thing of all is still the daily choice to keep moving forward or to allow myself to do nothing at all but maintain the status quo, which is the same thing as moving slowly backwards.

Mark Overt Skilbred