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yeah we do tend to tune out the pain when we are used to having it all the time. I've had people ask me are you hurting and me go I don't think so. They look at me funny and go what do you mean you don't think so your walking different then normal. Then I think about it and go oh that's just my arthritis sometimes it acts up more then other times.

Your right guess composting stuff isn't all that weird now that you put it that way.

I have been taking it very easy on the walking this past week, focusing on paying attention to my joints, especially my hip. Standing doesn't seem to bother it. Puttering around doesn't seem to bother it. But walking at any speed does bother it. So I've just been giving it a rest. Some days I don't walk at all, some only a half mile or a mile. Today I actually did 2 miles. My hip is better. Whether it's giving it a chance to rest, or learning to walk on it better, or perhaps a combination of the two. Two miles today and no "crunch crunch", just an occasional pop. I stopped using the cane for the most part, but carry it with me and use it as I walk over speed bumps. Mostly it is a reminder for me to walk SLOW, and if I find myself walking too fast I'll slow down and use the cane to reestablish a slower pace. With the slower pace my knee hasn't snapped, cracked, or popped.
I expect my weight loss will be less than it has been, come weigh-in day, but I don't mind. It's all about better health and I have to learn to live within my limitations.
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I have an old jacket that was given to me by a good friend way back in 1993 or 1994. It hasn't fit me in a long, long time. By the late 90's I was no longer able to squeeze into it. It has a lot of sentimental value so I've refused to part with it. I've rescued it from bags of stuff my ex-wife was going to donate to charity. I've rescued it from off the floor where my new wife put it for the dog to sleep on. It is old, tattered, and needs a lot of work. Recently I pulled it out of the closet and tried it on. IT FITS!!! I'm going to clean it and take it to be repaired. I'm so glad I saved it all these years!
So when I went over to my brothers house I had him dig out yet another coat I gave him a long time ago. It's a very nice leather coat I bought for myself back around 1990. Cost me $450!! It hasn't fit in years either, which is why I gave it to him. I tried it on, and IT FIT!! So he puts it back on the hanger and hands it to me. He wanted to give it back. I didn't know what to say, but I didn't take it. Truth is, I didn't want it. It immediately made me think of something I read recently. Thirty-Nine Reasons Why I Am A Vegetarian written in 1903 by the Rev. Henry S. Clubb. In it he says:

I have seen several references here from people who stopped eating meat for health reasons... and then over time became vegan for ethical reasons. That falls right in line with what the Reverend said over 100 years ago! And I believe that the longer I abstain from animal flesh the more turned off I am by it. I did not want that coat which I paid so much money for all those years ago, because I was turned off by the fact an animal had to die to make it. It appears I'm walking down that path to becoming vegan.

-Norm

Norm I have noticed the same thing. I didn't set out to become vegan, but I find myself more and more uncomfortable with animal parts as food, clothing, upholstery, or decorations.

It's great to read about your weight/health milestones, and your progress down the vegan path. Putting on old clothes and finding that they fit is so exciting. I'm at the stage where many of my "skinny clothes" are too big, so I'm having to buy clothes again. It's a nice problem to have.

Hi Norm, Your progress is amazing! What a wonderful story. You also have a great way of looking at some things. I never thought of setting a distance to walk, and I never thought of an idea like losing 1% of weight per week - great ideas! I'm interested in your post bout arthritis. My older brother has that same spinal issue ( I can't spell it or say it) and my younger brother has something similar, with a slightly different name. One of my grandmothers had crippling RA, and was in a wheel chair for most of the time that I knew her. I may have escaped some serious arthritis by being vegan for 19 years (except for a few months when I tried adding fish and seafood) and by staying away from red meat and dairy for even longer. My healthy eating seems to have been enough for all health issues except being overweight. I'm working hard on that this year. I have a history of compulsive eating. Anyway, I have stiff knees - I don't feel real pain, hear noises, or feel that I have a bone on bone situation, but they are very stiff. Going down steps is one foot , like a toddler. I'm ok with walking. I have noticed that some long time posters and star McDougallers seem to have totally gotten rid of knee problems just with McDougall program and weight loss. One that comes to mind is frozenveg, you talks about how difficult steps at work used to be for her. So far, I haven't seen s specialist about my knees ( they might say lose weight, or they might say have surgery, which I don't want), but I'm just hoping that when I am at the right weight maybe my knees will be fine. Anyway, you inspire me, and I'm so glad that you are here! Take care, LauraA

Weigh-In Day Update:

This weeks number is:

160

The scale shows I've lost another 6.4 pounds in the past two weeks, which is just shy of my goal of losing 1% of my body weight per week, as measured over the past two weeks, but still puts me about 0.9 pound ahead of that goal as measured from February 2nd.
Once again, I am left shaking my head in wonderment over how this is possible. I have cut back on my exercise these past two weeks out of concern I was putting too much strain on my hips and knees. In addition, I have put no effort into eating less, just sailing by on auto-pilot, as it were, and have felt more than once in the past two weeks that I've really been eating too much. I honestly expected a weight loss of 2 or 3 pounds. Sometimes I shake my head in wonderment over how often I shake my head in wonderment over the transition I've been going through. Thank you Dr. McDougall!!
These two weeks weight loss also put me past another milestone! Expect another posting about that in the next day or two!

Happy Eating!!

-Norm

Norm wow, 160, amazing from where you have been!!! Also, very awesome that your body just seems to want to keep going down, even with less exercise. Really interesting.

Loved the quote from the Rev. above - I just had a thought today about when did I decide just to buy cloth purses. All of a sudden I just had the thought it's the skin of an animal and I couldn't do that anymore.

Norm, great news on the wt loss. keep at it you are doing great!

Fan-tas-tic, Norm! Can't wait to hear the next chapter. Plus photos!

327: A Milestone To Remember!(As posted on my blog)


I remember the first time I ever stepped on a scale and had it read 327. I was a young man, some 25-26 years ago. 327 pounds!! I had gained almost 70 pounds since graduating high school. I remember walking home that day, feeling how all the excess weight was slowing me down, tiring me. I decided I had to do something about it! And I did! I set out with all the determination a young man could muster, and I succeeded using what we're all told is the only way to lose weight: Eat Less, Exercise More. I had very limited success in the "Eat Less" department, but being young, determined, and in otherwise good health, I went to town on the "Exercise More" half of the equation. Over the months to come I steadily lost weight and got down to my all-time low weight as an adult: 240 pounds. I had lost a whopping 87 pounds! I tried to lose more weight, but no amount of starvation or increased exercise would budge the scale any further. In fact, it was pure torture on both fronts just to keep the scale steady, and eventually I gave in and once again started to gain weight.
This experience laid the foundation for what would become my standard approach to weight loss over the years. When I got "too fat" I'd eat less and exercise more, with heavy emphasis on the exercise. This approach worked with lower levels of success each time I tried it, never matching the 87 pounds I lost on my first attempt.
Some five or six years after that, I was again well into my 300's, I'm quite sure even higher than 327, but I don't recall ever weighing myself then. That approach worked for me again, and again I lost a lot of weight, though this time not nearly as much and I only got down to around 260-270 pounds.
Then again, in my early 30's, I was again well above 327 and again, I exercised my way back down, this time to around 300. By my late 30's I was pushing 390 pounds and I again attempted to lose weight... but by this time my body had started to rebel and after all those years of abusing it with all that excess weight, I was no longer capable of doing the massive amount of exercise required for me to lose weight. I fizzled out at 360.
In my low to mid 400's I tried to do as much exercise as possible, but wasn't capable of doing enough to lose weight. The best I could hope for was to slow the speed at which I gained.
Until now!! This week I've sailed through the 327 pound mark and have lost a total of 160 pounds, almost double of what I lost on that first attempt all those years ago. What's more, exercise is not the major focus, nor is eating less. Moderate exercise coupled with a whole-foods starch-centered, plant-based, no-added-fat diet allows me to say goodbye to the torture of starving myself and of continuous exercise. There will be no torture of trying to maintain my weight once I've lost all I need to, only the continued joy of eating the foods I've learned to love on this journey I'm on! There will be no more 327's in my future! I've passed that mark for the last time! Thank you Dr. McDougall!!

Next Milestone: 300

Happy Eating!

-Norm

I have said I would post some photos, and I should. The reason I haven't is that I'm still wearing most of my old clothes and they're just falling off of me and every picture of me in them makes me feel fat...

I know, that's no excuse. I'll find my "skinniest" clothes and have the wife take some pictures!

-Norm

Congrats on the new low number, it is great!! and you will get lower still!

Here is a long overdue picture. On the left is Norm near his peak of 486 pounds. On the right is Norm at his current near 326 pounds. Notice the Norm on the left is holding not one, but two canes. Getting around at that size wasn't easy. Or fun.



I am slowly going through more old photos and will encourage my wife to take more current photos. There aren't really a lot of older photos of me at my peak weight, as I really didn't like having them taken.

-Norm

Norm, thanks for the photos. You look mah-ve-lous! But, the best yet is that the canes have disappeared and you are able to do your fitness walking! Health is wealth, for sure. Happy McDougalling!

Hey Norm,

You look amazing, at least 10 years younger!! And so much happier as well.

Your is one of the few Journals that I come in & read anymore.

Can hardly wait until you hit that 299 milestone!!