About me

Hello, my name is Abe. I’m a 71-year-old male who has been suffering from several diseases for most of my adult life mostly due to my being overweight. I have type two diabetes, high blood pressure, IBS, as well as GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disease). I also am often constipated, have arthritis and osteoarthritis, and often suffer from lower back pain due to degenerative disc disease.

My starting weight is 279.4 pounds.

I take medications for my diabetes, high blood pressure, GERD, and take a beta blocker to keep my heart ticking along a little smoother. I also take a blood thinner so I don’t have any clots forming in the heart or preventing a pulmonary embolism. Right now I am also taking pain meds, nerve blocker and a muscle relaxant due to a bad back.

I know, I’m a mess, right?  Basically, a ticking time bomb, at risk of a stroke or heart attack. The medical profession is doing what they know best, by prescribing drugs, but I realize that losing weight and eating better will probably resolve most, if not all, of these issues. I just got married for my first time at the ripe age of 65. I love my spouse and want more time with him, so it’s time for action.

Over the years I’ve tried many ways to lose weight, but often rebound right back again.  I know I need to not just see this as a diet, but rather as a new way of life. I’ve had success before when on the EODD, but the tendency was to eat too much on my non-dieting days and I never had a clear plan for when I stopped this diet. Also, on my eating days, I would eat as much as I could and not worry about what I was putting into my mouth (chips, ice-cream, cookies…well, you get the idea).

My doctor has suggested I either do the EODD or the Mediterranean Diet.

The Every Other Day Diet (EODD) makes a lot of sense. To explain: I. was usually eating about 2,500 calories a day which is way too much for my sedentary lifestyle.  The principal is this – if I am eating 2,500 calories a day, in two days I would eat 5,000 calories, right? This method suggests every other day we eat only 500 calories. This means in two days I would only be consuming 3,000 calories which would be a reduction of 2,000 calories every two days. That reduction will result in weight loss.

As I mentioned earlier, my last attempt at this failed because I didn’t have a clear plan on how to end this.  I mean, I wasn’t  able to sustain this.

Recently I started to research the Mediterranean Diet. I bought a few books and discovered that this way of eating seems to be the healthiest of all diets and quite sustainable. So, this is why I am combining the two diets.

So, starting June 1, my first day will be a diet day. I hope to post a blog post every day to chart my progress and write about how I am feeling. I will also chart my weight loss and potential lowering of medications. On my eating days, I will be sticking to the Mediterranean diet, eating healthier, wholesome foods.

My goal, to reach 225 pounds.

Oh yeah, I am getting orthotics next week to help straighten my knee. I hope to begin a walking regimen as well.  Follow my blog for more. 

So, why am I writing this blog?  Mostly to keep me honest and help me to stay motivated. I will be telling friends about this and posting a link on some Facebook  groups I belong to so maybe even create a following. Maybe I can help someone else in their journey  that would be cool 🙂

Thanks for taking the time to read this and wish me luck.