Want to Feel Better?
For many, few things will help as much as losing weight.
Nearly everyone would like to look and feel better. A female patient said, “I only need to lose weight around the middle.” Yeah. Don’t we all. It doesn’t work that way.
My goal is to be in the best shape of my life when I turn 70. I have one more week. I’m close.
I wrote a post on the importance of your constitution for your health. I quoted a medical textbook. A person with a great physique can have a poor constitution and poor health. I will tell you that if you have a great physique, you will feel better, even if you are not healthier.
Most of us should lose weight. I remember walking up six flights of stairs in the dorm. I was 21. When I got to the top, I was out of breath and nearly had to sit down. I realized my weight was the problem. I weighed 180. I didn’t look too bad. The fat was well distributed. I went on a pretty tight diet. I got my weight down to 161. I felt much better and could climb the stairs easily.
For a while I was checking patients’ balance on their feet. I had two electronic scales. A patient would put the left foot on one scale and the right foot on the other. I had a patient who broke my scale. He weighed over 400 pounds.
Years later, that obese patient had a stiff neck. That was why he came to see me. He also told me that nobody could figure out why he was short of breath all the time and couldn’t do anything. I told him about a picture of the MRI of a person who was overweight compared to one who was not. The fat was not just under the skin. The fat was in the abdomen pressing up against the heart and lungs.
I saw his wife later. He decided to quit drinking and lost 75 pounds. He felt much better.
We don’t realize how our weight is affecting how we feel until we lose it. Fat pressing against the muscles of your abdomen can weaken and separate them leading to hernias. Fat pressing against your heart and lungs can’t be a good thing. You also have to supply the fat with blood which can lead to higher blood pressure.
How to lose weight? I love a quote from D. D. Palmer, founder of chiropractic. He said the fact that there are so many alternatives is evidence that none are any good. He wasn’t talking about weight loss. The comment applies to everything. There are many approaches to dieting.
Key is taking in fewer calories than we expend. We all know that. Many times, we forget about liquids. Alcohol, soda, and coffee drinks can all add up to a lot of calories. A salad of lettuce, carrots, celery, and a few other vegetables might be few calories at all. Then we apply a generous helping of dressing and have all our calories for the day.
Another problem is we think we expend more than we do. Yesterday, I walked 6 miles. I ate 3 pieces of pizza and 2 very small pieces of cake and gained half a pound. That is a tad disheartening. However, I also take my measurements. My waist was not bigger.
It is important to have both weight and tape measurements. Also important to know a fluid ounce of water weighs an ounce. A cup of water is half a pound. When my father was playing college football, he lost 5 pounds a day and gained it back at night - water weight.
Next week I’ll report on my personal success or failure and tell you what I did.