New (again)

[Guest guest]

Hi everybody.

I'm here again after a few months of being off the list. I began formal croning about this time of year 6 years ago. I was coming up on age 65. I had been aware of Walford, Wendruch and the rest for a number of years and had made several false starts (we can develop a sense of failure from false starts or use the information learned to help in the new one). This time I decide that I would stay with the program under all circumstances. It didn't work out exactly that way, but must of the time, I was with it. I lost about 50 pounds, and then, while maintaining a relatively low average caloric intake, managed to gain back 25 of them. I have dropped about half of the 25 pounds. I use the weight gain to reassure myself that in order to gain weight on so few calories (perhaps 2200 daily, average, but with occasional soiree's to 27 or 2800) that I must be below my set point. I currently weigh about 197, at 5'8" ... with lean body mass at about 146 pounds. In order to lose weight, I must keep calories below 1900 and exercise, or below 1600 without much exercise. It is easier for me to eliminate entire food groups than to exercise precise portion control. I have tried Zone, etc. Most of my success was with a Walford modified Ornish program. I ran into trouble when I decided I could eat a little salmon once a week. My sneaky brain quickly added chicken, and increased sizes, and greater frequency, til I was no longer eating only when hungry, and only until I was satisfied. Since I was using lipitor at the time, my lipid profile remained excellent. I did track calories most of the time, but sometimes failed to do so. My blood pressure, which had been a serious problem became much less so, and remains in pretty good shape, especially considering my weight. Using my lbm as a guide, and assuming a 25% muscle lost in relation to total weight loss, I should be at an acceptable weight for an ob/ob type (been fat all my life, my kids are obese, so were some aunts and uncles, my father, etc...) at about 172. My arbitraily selected caloric set point is 2700 calories. I was consuming over 3000 calories daily when I began the program. 2700 is about the amount you'll find in an average person at 20% bodyfat with my lbm. There are a number of charts that contain this kind of information. It doesn't have to be especially accurate to provide a good checkpoint. As good a guess as any. Walford suggests that people my age go for about 20% calorie restriction. I'm below that now. Even with as much as 28 miles of walking, plus some light resistance exercise, it is very difficult to actually lose fat right now, with a caloric intake that could not, in theory, support my weight.

I know that it's calories that count, but by getting my weight down to the 170's I should be able to get rid of my last bp meds, 25 mg of metoprolol daily. With the metoprolol, and my current program, bp hangs around 128/86. My heart rate while resting is about 45. Cholesterol jumped significantly when I had to drop the lipitor. Needless to say, my compliance with the program has improved. We'll see about the lipids next week when I have them checked.

I am married to Colleen, whom I love. Three children, in mid to late 40's. Four stepsons in the same age group. I seem much younger than my contemporaries, and while this post sounds as if the program were not working, it is working. I am much healthier by all objective and subjective measures, except that I am not as strong (muscle strength) at 70 as I was at 65. I feel better than I did then. My blood pressure was hign enough to scare the nurses when I saw my doctor. That's no longer the case.

I try to pay attention to my behavior, and learn...sometimes slowly, to modify my actions as necessary. I don't believe this process should be too painful. I do not agree with those that think that stress-induced higher cortisol levels are part of the process of life extension, but rather believe that stress reduction can improve the effectiveness of the program through lowering cortisol while improving ability in self-control.

As a crony from the early days used to say,

Non apetite,

Ed S.

[Guest guest]

Ed: Welcome back to the Support List! I agree that the process should not

be too painful. Or too difficult. In fact, it should be fun to think up

new recipes, ways to eat better/differently and to keep enhancing one's

diet. I've started weight training and jogging to help in an all around

health enhancement program.

Let's hear from you again soon.

on 10/16/2002 2:38 PM, Ed Sullivan at Sully@... wrote:

> Hi everybody.

>

> I'm here again after a few months of being off the list. I began formal

> croning about this time of year 6 years ago. I was coming up on age 65. I

> had been aware of Walford, Wendruch and the rest for a number of years and

> had made several false starts (we can develop a sense of failure from false

> starts or use the information learned to help in the new one). This time I

> decide that I would stay with the program under all circumstances.