Yesterday was
my weekly hump day lunch with the morale boosting son so I inflict yet another parking
lot photo for that momentous (for me) event.
The conversations are becoming more and more focused on his upcoming nuptials
which seem to now be approaching at the speed of light. He reported the honeymoon coordination is in
full process at this time. We also confirmed
Father’s Day weekend activities. He’ll
be joining me on a company sponsored trip I put together to see the Pawtucket
Red Sox on that Saturday night. We’ll
follow that up with a barbecue with the most excellent parents of the MEF on
Sunday; dead animal flesh will be intricately involved.
 |
| Yesterday in an Undisclosed Parking Lot |
Speaking of
dead animal flesh, yesterday also marked the 1 year anniversary of launching on
the ketogenic diet. A year ago I was
forced to do something since the knee doctor told me my admittedly substandard running
(more accurately – jogging) career was at an end. This was bad news since I always used running
as an excuse to eat and drink anything I wanted to. As I cast about for solutions to maintain the
beer consumption I associate with a healthy lifestyle my son in law proposed the
diet he and his band used during an extended tour – enter the ketogenic diet.
When I started
I was about 25 pounds heavier than when I left the Army, hovering right around
250 pounds. As I took a hard look at my lifestyle
it was obvious the medical effects of my running program had failed miserably
in their published goal. I wasn’t obese
but I wasn’t winning any bathing beauty contests either. The diet is actually pretty easy for me since
it involves a lot of meat (talk about wheel houses!). I do miss the bread, potatoes, and especially
popcorn.
After the first
couple weeks of feeling a little woozy at times the benefits started kicking in
as I shed weight at an almost alarming rate.
By the end of September I’d lost 52 pounds which was 12 pounds further
than I really wanted to go but I just wanted to see if I could take it under
200 for the first time since the very early 1980s. My ketogenic guru (son in law) told me when I
reached my target weight I could then take one day a week off the diet and that
would keep me from losing too much.
The First
Friday of the Week and Keto Vacation Day turned out to be a match made in heaven. If you read this blog at all you know what I
mean. Since October I’ve kept myself at
that target weight with the 6 days on and 1 day off approach.
The hardest part
of the diet was convincing my wife that I wasn’t trying to set a new record in
cholesterol counts with my daily bacon and eggs along with a serious
cheeseburger fetish. She could see the
weight sloughing off but for some reason (despite a very generous life
insurance policy) she was honestly concerned about my health. Then came my annual checkup where my cholesterol
count was actually down along with my blood pressure. The doctor was genuinely stunned that as a
late middle aged guy my test results were improving instead of heading south.
There were also
some attendant benefits that surprised me.
Not carrying the extra 40+ pounds around cured the knee pain I’ve had
fairly constantly for the last ten years – that was to be expected. Since the keto diet calls for mostly fresh
food instead of processed forms I’m convinced that has produced additional
benefits. My energy level is better than
it’s been since my thirties and there’s been no loss of strength. I no longer have to take daily medication for
a decade long acid reflux disease (that I was told was permanent) since I went
on the diet. It raises interesting
questions about exactly what is in our processed food.
The keto diet
is not for everyone and has to be followed with discipline to be effective. I’m
luckily not averse to eating almost the same thing every day which would be
intensely boring for people who, unlike me, take great pleasure in a wide
variety of food. I still gaze longingly
at hamburger buns and the smell of fresh baked bread or cinema popcorn still
sends me into paroxysms of mouthwatering self-doubt and temptation but I’m not willing
to abandon the beneficial effects of the keto lifestyle.
I have a pretty
cool son in law.
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