health, life

I’m a Crazy Old Man

Lori

It is a paradox . . . that we must get serious about taking ourselves lightly. We must work at learning to play. ~ Julia Cameron

Even though I’m a Libra with the sign of the scales, I don’t own a scale, because I never weigh myself.

Call it crazy or idiotic, but I do not weigh myself because I get depressed when I see the number, which in turn, causes me to eat. That’s the exact opposite of what I need to do, which is lose weight. I eat for comfort, not to mention delectable flavors. So, when I went on my low carb diet, I didn’t weigh myself…not once. I just guessed on my weight and I came up with a target number in mind.

I know what you’re thinking . . . how will I know if I reach that target weight if I don’t get on a scale?

I will know by the way my clothes fit me.

The good news is, all my fat clothes are now big on me and most of my skinny clothes fit. However, I still haven’t reached my target. If you notice, I wrote “most” of my skinny clothes fit, but not all.

Oh yes, so why am I a crazy old man? Well, I explained the crazy part already, so bear with me.

When my brother was twenty-nine years old, he got an old man’s affliction. Maybe it’s hereditary, because as a fifty-something year old woman, I just got that same affliction.

Among other things, my diet requires I eat red meat, seafood, poultry and lots of vegetables. I don’t normally eat much of the first two, but I added more with this diet. Apparently, too much  of those first two food items can cause gout.

On top of not being able to eat pasta, bread, pasta, chocolate, pasta, and chocolate, I now have to limit or eliminate red meat, shrimp (shellfish) and asparagus. Did I mention I can’t eat pasta or chocolate?

My husband and I were looking forward to going to a very large car show this past weekend, but I woke up on Saturday morning and couldn’t walk . . . at all! The pain in my right toe joint was excruciating.

Not only was I in pain . . . I was mad. We’d been looking forward to going to that car show, and now I couldn’t walk. My husband is a car guy. I love that about him. His hobby makes him sexy in my eyes. I told him to go without me, but he wouldn’t hear of it.

I was also angry, because my diet was limited enough already, now I needed to eliminate more, and I’m a semi-foodie.

I called my bro to ask him what he does when he gets gout flare ups, and I bombarded my body with his cures.

Guess what?

We made it to the car show on Sunday. I was able to walk around for a good hour.

There is that childlike “kid-in-a-candy-story” look on the hubs face (above).

And, there he is on the left checking out a Mustang, getting ideas on how to ready his own ’66 Mustang for this car show next year.

P.S. I self-diagnosed the gout. I had the same symptoms as my brother. I do have arthritis in that joint as well, so who knows which it was, but pain is pain.

Have you ever been disappointed that something prevented you from attending a long awaited event?

Published by Lori

Observer, thinker, learner, analyzer and writer. Enjoy dogs, laughing, cooking, centering, and humorous sarcasm.

20 thoughts on “I’m a Crazy Old Man”

  1. Pingback: Almost Perfect – Lori's Lane

    1. Hi Andrea. With my addiction to sugar, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to enjoy what I fancy (love that word). We’ll see when the main diet is over. Thanks for reading about this crazy old man. 😉

      Liked by 1 person

  4. To answer your question, I used to get chronic appendicitis (I had it for years before it was properly diagnosed). I missed out on the New York World’s Fair because I had an acute attack. My brother gets gout. So far I haven’t. Good luck on your weight program. You don’t need a scale if your goal is how you feel and fit in clothes. No pasta or chocolate would be a deal breaker for me. I’d rather give up meat.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Wow. That appendicitis thing couldn’t been dangerous. Good thing you finally got it figured out. What a shame that you missed the NY World’s Fair.

      I was dangerously addicted to sugar and had to cut out the carbs and chocolate. Once I get through the first six months, I can add both back in, but only on rare occasions and small quantities.

      Thanks for sharing your experience, Kate.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. Don’t stress about the number, Lori. If your clothes feel better, that’s what matters. Remember, stress can promote weight gain. I was just talking with my infusion nurse yesterday about gout. She has it and also restless leg syndrome. Lose the scale!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Hi Jill. I’m surprised to hear another woman (your infusion nurse) has gout. It’s more rare in women. Not fun.

      Yeah, no scale for me. I haven’t owned one in over a decade. Thanks for your support. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Hi Carrie. Gout is less common in women, so it’s not likely you’ll get it. As usual, I think I’m a rare oddball. 😛

      Thank you for your support and understanding. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  9. So glad you are feeling better, Lori. I hope you can find more foods that you like to eat that won’t affect you adversely. My husband and I both went on the Atkins (high protein and fats, low carbs) diet some years ago. We did each lose 10 pounds fairly quickly but gained them back at a later date. I couldn’t stay on that kind of diet for too long. I can live without chocolate (though I like much of it), but I can’t live without having ANY of the following: bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, all of which I love. I’ll take rice and beans over a mediocre steak any day. Now, after several years of “trying,” I have finally hit my target weight (yes, I do weigh now that we have a scale after many years of not having one), but I eat pretty much whatever I want, just in smaller quantities. And I have slowly changed my desires to yearn less for foods that are bad for me (I can easily turn down a doughnut now). It just took some determination and development of new habits. I do “force” myself to stay hungry for an extra hour or two sometimes in order not to snack, and I think that has helped. Good luck to you in your endeavor!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hi Ann. I have a dangerous addiction to sugar, so I had to get off carbs. I found this really great book that is helping me with supplements to combat the cravings. The book also has allowed me to keep fruit in my diet. According to this book, when I reach my goal weight and have been on the supplements for 6 months, it will prevent my cravings from returning. I can then wean myself off the supplements. That remains to be seen. I’m halfway (3 months) into the plan from the book. Thank you for the good luck wishes.

      Thank you for sharing your experience with dieting. So glad to hear that you’ve reached your goal and have been able to keep it off.

      Like

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