The Weight Loss Update

There are some interesting things happening lately, now that I've lost enough to begin to notice.

My arms are smaller. My watchband has cinched two notches since the project started. My fingers seem longer.

Looking in the mirror, I have a neck again. I can see my chin and the outline of my jaw. My nose and ears seem larger. My face is less round. I wonder whether the skin under my chin will end up hanging, or if it will eventually tighten up. I wonder the same about my belly and chest.

My ankles are noticeably smaller. My socks don't make an indentation anymore. Even my toes seem longer.

The gut's still there, but I can tell there's a lot less of it. I can actually feel my ribs. I've dug out older, smaller clothes, and bought a cheap pair of jeans. The pants are 3 sizes down in the waist; technically I should be down 4, but I don't want to invest in new clothes for every reduction in size. I'll buy just enough to get by when I go down one more size, then make do with those until I get the last 2 (maybe 3) sizes.

I have to hold up the pants when I walk, and can't walk very far with both hands full or they might fall down. A new belt or cutting more holes in the current belt is overdue. Shirts aren't that big of a deal, because if a shirt's a little too big it doesn't matter all that much.

It's easier to put on my socks and shoes in the morning.

And perhaps most importantly, all my statistics are getting really good; blood pressure, cholesterol. glucose. etc., are all looking great.

And I feel pretty good too. I don't feel tired like I did before, don't seem to need as much sleep, and have at least an illusion of being a bit sharper at work.

Starting to Understand

The big question on my mind recently has been centered around how a seeming majority of people could support the frightening things happening as our single-party rulers move rapidly forward with their agenda.

I've begun to get a sliver of insight through some recent conversations.

The reason these people don't find the new political direction frightening is they don't know they're taking place.

The reasons:

They get all their news from the network nightly news programs, which of course studiously avoid the "whole" story. They focus on the Obama celebrity, what Michelle's wearing today or their favorite presidential sound bite of the day. The only hard news permitted is whatever new slams against the evil Bush administration were issued from the White House today.

They either don't really know about the socialist agenda, or believe it's nothing more than right-wing radio talk shows spewing divisive rhetoric toward Obama.

They haven't heard anything about the Homeland Security report suggesting surveillance on conservative groups they've labeled "domestic terrorists". It is dismissed as just another right-wing talk radio invention.

They favor government intervention for people in trouble with their mortgage, and believe government healthcare is past due.

They figure the government's been racking up debt for decades, so it's no big deal if some more debt happens as Obama tries to spend money on infrastructure to help rescue the economy.

They have bought the story that only the rich will pay more in taxes.

They think the greedy oil companies are finally going to be reined in. They don't understand what will happen to every citizen when Cap & Trade is passed into law. In fact, they don't even know what Cap & Trade means.

Wasn't it Ben Franklin who once suggested that the American Republic depends on an educated citizenry, or it will fail. He was absolutely right.

Vignette

My earliest childhood memories go back to approximately age 3. We lived in a small house with the back yard directly adjoining the school playground, which happened to be the very school in which my father was a teacher and coach.

We had a kind retired couple next door, and they may be responsible for my lifelong addiction to ice cream. They gave me some ice cream, and from then on I wanted to visit them every day, just for the chance at another bowl of that elixir from the gods. It was sort of messy, and I got it all over my face and clothes, but I did not care.

I enjoyed the playground, spending plenty of time on the swings and slide. My little sister, about 18 months younger, seemed to like climbing the stairs and sitting at the top of the slide, but then would become frightened. She would sit on the slide, wailing, until I retrieved our mother to rescue her. It seemed just a big bother to me.

My favorite playground activity was basketball. Now I was way too small to put a basketball through those regulation hoops. But I had a small orange toy basketball, which I tried valiantly to hoist through that unfathomably high hoop. Whether my memory is legitimate on this point can be debated, but I still believe that I was able to heave that little toy basketball through that hoop successfully at least once. That memory has me running excitedly into the house to tell my mother, "I made a basket!".

I don't think she believed me.

But my technique must have been interesting, if not humorous. I would fling the little orange ball underhanded with both hands up toward the basket, then quickly duck and cover my head with both hands. Because that little ball could hurt when it landed on top of my head.

The basketball thing might have taken root in a visit I still recall to one of my father's high school basketball practices. I was in awe of those high school players, who seemed so adept at dribbling and shooting. I so badly wanted to be able to do that.

One of the players caught my attention because of his unique jump shot. As I picture him in my head today, he would start with a conventional jump shot, but just as he released the ball, he would sort of kick up his feet behind him. For some reason, I found that to be a fascinating and memorable shooting technique. I don't believe I've ever seen anything quite like it since.

Today I still enjoy basketball, and have recently been trying to dust off my game at the local gym. I'm hoping to be fit enough to start playing in a recreation league for older adults by next winter. So far, so good.