I went to a walk-in clinic at the VA medical center because I was having problems and thought my medication might need to be adjusted. I saw a physician’s assistant (PA). I told her that I had been ingesting about 600 calories a day, and she looked at the history of my recent weigh-ins. The loss was too rapid, and she told me that the medications I take require protein to metabolize, and that I was not getting enough nourishment. Someone of my size needs at least 1200 calories per day, and preferably at least 1500, and this assumed no exercise. This is probably why I always hear that I should consult a doctor before beginning a diet or exercise routine. I want to lose weight, but most of all I want to be healthy, and that includes getting the nutrients and energy I need to function on a daily basis. So I signed up for a program and should be seeing a dietician soon.

In the meantime, I’ve ramped up my caloric intake to 800-1000 per day. I have found frozen pizza that, per serving, is reasonable, 400 calories or so, and the serving size is enough for a normal person. The person I used to be, however, would go to Pizza Hut and get whatever the daily deal was, usually a large, and go home and eat the whole thing. But now, it’s more about enjoying the flavor. I can eat the foods I love! I just have to watch the portion size and balance meals throughout the day. It’s important. For years I have seen so-called diets that only tell me what I can’t eat. That is not a diet. A diet is not a list of things you do not eat; it is a list of things you eat.

I enjoy the flavor in a reasonable quantity. I buy foods that are very flavorful. I lived in Japan for two years. Rice is more than a staple there. It is breakfast, lunch, and supper. Anything else – meat, sauce, vegetables – is just there as flavoring for the rice. But Japanese food has all kinds of great flavors, different kinds of meat and fish, wasabi, teriyaki. There is one dish that includes thinly-sliced meat that you grab with chopsticks and swirl in a pot of boiling water in the middle of your table. Eating is an experience.

Last weekend I got plenty of exercise loading and moving furniture. It was a good workout. If you use a fitness watch like I do, be sure to enter your weight whenever it changes. That number, along with your measured activity, is used to calculate the calories you burn. And my watch measured over 2000 calories burned, on a day when I was doing not much but driving my furniture down the road. That’s probably why the PA told me I needed at least 1200 calories, and still should be able to lose weight.

3500 calories cut does not equal one pound lost:

http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/111114p36.shtml

If I hear something that sounds simple and universal regarding weight loss, it is probably not accurate. There are too many factors involved. Oversimplifying is a mistake. I try to learn from mistakes, and this week I learned a lot.

Weight: 234 (lost 35)
Workout time: 10 Minutes
Distance (total): .53 Miles
Run Portion: 0 Miles
Heart Rate (min/max all day): 48/76
Steps: 6223
Goal: To run 10.5 miles in one day by 11/18/18