Keeping fit

Pictures of me 15 years a go show a dowdy woman carrying 40 more pounds than today. I'd always been thin, and didn't know what to do with myself when I gained all that weight. It humbled me. In a period when I wasn’t paying attention, I became lean and strong. I’ve stayed that way, and here’s how.

I have a scale in my bathroom, and weigh myself several times a week. When I get three pounds overweight, I cut out carbohydrates for a couple of days, and add an extra exercise round every day. Every day. In the ten days surrounding my cousin’s recent wedding in Colorado Springs I had the hotel’s ample breakfast, a full lunch, and a dinner with appetizers, wine, and dessert. We happened on a German restaurant with authentic everything and ate spaetzle, schnitzel and cheesecake until we were sick to our stomachs. The scale was unnecessary. I could feel it. My pants were hard to cinch closed. I could feel the padding at my sides and on my stomach as I sat down. My clothes tell me when I have gained weight. The scale forces me to face it.

On the trip, I didn’t exercise, and could eat much more without feeling full. Exercise does something to my metabolism which makes me feel full faster.

It was only five pounds, and it came off quickly.

This quick-response method had worked for ten years now and can work forever.