Wish I could say that, Muddy. My “base” weight at 15 was 80 lbs. I was 90 lbs. when I got married. So, you can see I simply cannot tolerate ANY additional weight, I am just too tiny. So, 30 lbs must go. That will put me at 5’5" and 120 lbs which is exactly where I should be for my height and bone structure. I don’t ever want to see 90 lbs again, I looked like a staving person, but simply could NOT put weight on to save my life back then. My family genetics is such that we gain weight after about 30-35. Watched both parents do the exact same thing, especially my dad. So, “not going there”, and do NOT want to be a slave to life-style meds if I can avoid it. And for me, I am able to if I keep my weight down. So, worth temporarily forgoing (alot) of fruit. Muddy, you can still have fruit on Atkins, but not in huge amounts. So, it’s not so bad. I can have a 1/2 a pear, a 1/2 an apple, a 1/2 an orange. Just not 12 oz. of fresh squeezed OJ, that I’d really like to have right now! Plus, trying to be more active than I am, which is fairly active - 3 days lifting seriously in the gym with a body building trainer, and walk 3 days a week, 2.25 miles in the hills. I need to up that and add 30 mins. of additional cardio in the form of interval training at least 3 days a week. That’s just my metabolism, sadly.
Muddy please post pics of your tent gardens and orchard. I cannot picture what you have there!
You sound like my 7 siblings.
I’m still in double digits for weight, but if I put on my gardening shoes this time of year, I can make the scale reach 3 digits. I will not claim that it’s all distributed the same now. 
I’m small boned and several inches shorter, and older than you. I’m lucky that my appetites and activity levels usually keep me in the range they do. The time that I have to be most careful is late summer, because I have very little appetite for anything besides fresh fruits, veggies, o.j., and ice cream once we get into oppressive weather.
MrsG. I’ve thought of trying to get one of the girls to take pics of the inside of the grow tent for me. Right now it’s empty except for a container with a few fig cuttings that I recently put in over a heat mat to root.
The problem with trying to take pics in there is that I fill it so full that I can only barely get in one of the doors. You’d see a mass of green leaves and citrus blossoms, with smaller pots balanced on top of larger pots. There is also at least one wooden TV tray with smaller pots on top and things that do better w/o direct light beneath. There was a Frederick passiflora in there growing up the side and across the ceiling of part of it.
I’d also have to turn off part of the lights to take pics, because they are on both ceiling and some sides. It’s hard to get a pic when there is bright light shining at the camera. Maybe we could snap some through one of the upper vents.
My subtropicals/tropicals fill the back deck and are also sitting on the pool apron right now, because some of those need to come back in if it goes below 50 at night, others at 40, still others if chance of frost. They won’t go into the ground until I feel close to positive I won’t have to rush to bring them to safety. Then they will either go in the ground, be left in pots inserted into the ground, or stay potted so that I can move them to shade when it gets too hot.
My citrus started growth flushes and bloom cycles, so I stripped most of the trees of fruit. I’m left with a ton of Meyer lemons still holding. Strawbs are coming in though:
There was an interesting story in the NY Times sunday about a study of a more nuanced approach. It was to determine the best diet for athletes but by my thinking it has much broader implications for all those trying to shed fat. If you work out in the morning and eat your carbs for breakfast and lunch and eat almost pure protein for supper you body will burn much more fat during your morning workout. If you don’t have carbs available during the workout your body will burn your fat before the protein in the food from the night before.
There was dramatic change in athletic strength within 3 weeks (3%) because of the conversion of fat to muscle.
The Atkins diet is pretty terrible for the planet if it is adopted by a large percentage of humans, although that will likely never happen.
Carbos are the calories for a shrinking planet if not waistline. Actually, I believe it is the carbs that aren’t bonded to cellulose that are fattening. White flour, corn syrup and so forth.
Yup. I do all my exercise in the morning. I lift (hard) 3 days a week in the morning, and walk about 2 1/2 miles in the hills 3 mornings a week. I have my higher glycemic index carbs in the morning. The Atkins 40 gms/carbs diet is more like a bodybuilding diet, and is actually very healthy. And I remind folks, this is a short term diet. You are not expected to remain on either the Atkins 20gm or 40gm diet forever. Once I reach my goal weight, I will be adding more carbohydrates to my diet, but from here on out, I really need to watch the kind and amount of carbohydrates I consume. I try to make the healthiest choices I possibly can. When the diet calls for “2 slices of bacon”, I use Applewood Farms uncured turkey bacon. When the diet calls for a slice of “whole wheat toast”, I use a slice of Ezekiel bread, etc. So, after the weight is off, I will continue to do a few key things consistently: Watch my portion sizes, curtail my poor-choice carbs permanently, continue to eat my higher glycemic index carbs prior to noon, keep exercising as I do or more, and watch my alchohol intake (I don’t drink much, anyway, but that can be a real significant source of poor carb choices and calories for some). And, I agree, Alan, combining carbs with fiber is really the key to slowing down absorption and insulin spikes. Having developed and run a community wellness program for my health care system, I always knew what I needed to do. It was just a matter of making the commitment to actually going on a weight loss diet I struggled with. It is my nature to not like being told what to do 
So, I just had to get over myself, and get with the program. I want to watch my grandbabies have THEIR babies.
Patty S.
One of the hardest things to overcome is genetics. My dad would eat terrible food, fry everything. Clean up with gasoline if working with paint or oil. Never washed veggies or fruit. He lived till 86, and his bother was the same way and lived till 94.
I kinda laugh a little at trying to eat super healthy, I try so I can keep my weight down, but I’m not really doing it for health reasons, I’m doing it totally for cosmetic ones. As for how long I live has more to do with my genetics.
My dad was so malnourished as a POW, he lost all of his teeth had berry berry, scurvy, malaria, and a tape worm. Was a POW for 3 years 4 months. Did this tremendous strain on his body limit his life? Absolutely not.
I miss my dad a lot, but don’t miss the smell of fried chicken and pickled pigs feet which he pretty much ate weekly.
If you do take care of yourself you will live longer no doubt, but how much longer? Not as much as you think. It does though give you a better quality of life too. Jack LaLanne was 96 or 97 when he died. My uncle was 94 and never worked out or had a good diet.
Again eating well will give you a good quality life, and to me is worth it for that alone. And it could help you live longer. Probably does despite my observations.
On genetics and lifestyle.
Because my job keeps me moving nearly constantly, often lugging things around like ladders on uneven terrain, weight has never been a problem for me. I did notice I was becoming winded more easily a few years ago, though, and went back to a short, hard (steep hill, half a mile up, then back down) run 4 days a week. When I was younger I used to run just as hard and a lot longer.
Made me feel like a kid again, until a kid training for cross country passed me easily on my isolated road- well not that easily. He kept looking back and I swear I saw consternation on his countenance that it took him so long to leave me in the dust. About killed me to accomplish that.
Anyway, after a particularly hard day of busting sod with a shovel a couple of months ago my knee started aching and several doctor visits and an MRI seem to indicate a couple of meniscus tears and a spot of ligament bursitis.
Now I wonder if I will ever run again. Sigh! the travails of mortality. I may have a limp next time my Grandson sees me.
As long as I can keep carrying my ladder around for about another decade I’ll be fine.
HIIT - High Intensity Interval Training. The very best thing you can do for your heart and to burn off body fat. I do this, too, on my street. I walk from my house down to the bottom of the cul de sac, downhill. About maybe 100 - 110 yds. Then I run up to my driveway, and turn around, and walk back. It is a killer. But, it burns off body fat just about better than any exercise (that, and lifting weights to build muscle mass for post-menopausal women, who lose muscle mass at a much faster rate than pre-menopausal women). You should be able to run, Alan. Let the minsical tears heal, and allow the bursitis to resolve with rest and ibuprofen. There were some very good studies published just recently that showed running in later years actually doesn’t do the kind of joint damage we had originally assigned to running. Buy the very best running shoes money can buy, designed for running on either hard surfaces, if you’re running on the street, or for uneven surfaces, if trail running. You cannot spend too much money on your shoes. I don’t think I could ever claim being in as good a shape as you, Alan, but good for you to give that kid a true run for his money. Bam.
Thanks for the encouragement, the doctors don’t seem too worried either. I’ve just never had any nagging injury before in spite of a life time of depending on physical work to make money.
I read all those studies- at least when they reach the NY Times health section and I was aware that runners don’t have more knee problems than folks who ride bikes or do other things that would seem to be less wearing on the knees.
While I’ve stopped running I’ve started stretching and doing heavy calisthenics like push ups, pull ups, etc. If I can’t outrun them I better be prepared to make my stand.
Exercise can be a lifelong enjoyable event if you find something to do that you enjoy. I have been playing tennis for about 40 years now and I can’t wait for the next match. One big problem with continuing a competitive sport is that when you move into your senior years your competition is much younger. I don’t win as much as when I was younger but I still love the game and the circle of friends that come with it. Bill
Bill, This is where guile, deceit, and cheating come in handy. wink:
I’m about to eat the first ‘Champagne’ loquat of the season.
MrClint, how do you determine when loquat fruit is ripe?
They take on a deeper color and you’ll note some softness to the fruit. It rarely hurts to let the fruit sit another day when you think it might be ready. Here’s a pic of ‘Champagne’ from a couple of days ago:
I’m still letting the one in the picture sit. In so doing, a bunch of other fruit are ripening up as well.
I picked a few 20th Centrury Asian Pears today and they were Soooo good! I’m sure if I’d thinned more they would have been bigger. I like to let them turn yellow before picking. Th
ey don’t last long after that but sure are sweeter.
I have a 20th Century tree too. They are delicious!
Don’t get mad at me. I try to be honest here. My 20 th fruit is juicy but mildy sweet. The good thing is that I can eat them without peeling the skin.
To me, it is not in the same league as Korean Ginat or Hosui on a taste level. If KG is a 9 out of 10, my 20 th century would be a 5, sonetimes 6. Shinko ( from my tree) would be a 2.
Honestly, I have good reason to believe that the fruit pictured and described by me may very well NOT be 20th Century. I forget all the details of why I was suspicious, but on the tag I have a question mark after the name, which means I’m not at all sure. These guys are super sweet, so they don’t sound like your description. Can you (or anyone else) tell just from that photo whether or not you think they are 20th century pears? Certainly the are some type of Asian pear, though. Thanks.