Fasting & Other Weight Loss Schemes

I don't know why I started thinking about weight loss this morning but I did. I was probably slightly overweight as a child. After all, I did grow up on the farm where we had plenty of  food and desserts made with whole milk, cream and real butter, plus my mother was an excellent cook. By the time I got to highschool I was more aware of my figure - you know - more peers = more pressure. I weighed between 130 - 135 pounds and it helped that I was 5"8-1/2" tall.

Then I got married and pregnant. Suddenly I didn't have to worry about being overweight because I was going to get big anyway. I ate much more than I needed to. My favorite lunch was a cheeseburger deluxe, french fries and a coke followed by a strawberry malt. I easily gained 30 pounds which took a while to lose but I did get back under 140 lbs. Five years later, after the stress of divorce, being a single parent and moving across the state for a better job and attending college at night, I lost down to 127 lbs. - the least I have ever weighed since.

This photo of me was taken when I was 31 - after two more children and another divorce. I was again around 135 pounds and thought I had to lose more. That was when I tried fasting on the weekends - nothing but water.

We lived on an acreage with a huge yard to mow. I specifically remember one hot summer weekend, fasting, mowing (by hand, no riding lawn mower) and almost passing out. 

Maybe fasting wasn't the answer. 😓 

I managed to stay in the 135 - 145 range the next 15 or so years, then I hit middle-age. If you are a woman, you know what that means - you gain weight even when you're trying not to. I got up to almost 200 lbs. I type that and still can hardly believe it. After age 60, the weight slowly began coming off. 

In early 2018 when I decided I was going to have knee replacement in the fall, I began actively trying to lose 25 to 30 pounds. I was 167 pounds in January; surgery would be in October. The first month I lost seven pounds. By the end of February I had lost another five pounds. Once I started losing weight, it got easier. By the end of March I was celebrating losing 20 pounds! By May 11, I was down to 145 pounds. Then the yo-yoing began. By my annual physical at the doctor's office I weighed 141 with a BMI of 23.

This photo of me was taken the latter part of July. I didn't lose quite as much weight before surgery as I wanted to, but post surgery I started losing again and got down to 137 pounds. My husband told me I looked frail. For the first time in my life I started trying to gain weight. It didn't take me too long. Ha!

I stayed around 156 lbs. until my "life-flighting" accident in June, 2023. I lost down to 142 lbs. and have stayed there ever since - although I probably look heavier because I'm no longer 5'- 8 1/2". 😒

I mentioned weight-loss schemes in my title - one of the best ways, for me, to lose weight was "time-of-day" eating. I stopped eating at 4:00 p.m. - nothing until the next morning. That made it so easy for me. 

Some older women gain weight. If I take after my mother, and I expect I will, more weight loss is in my future.