I’ve bored you many times with my long-standing ambition to lose enough weight to wrestle Shute.
You know, the shtick about how I was a high school wrestler, and there’s only one really great high school wrestling movie, and it’s “Vision Quest,” yadda-yadda…
Well, this is sort of about that, but more about the fact that at least I’ve kept ONE of this year’s resolutions. Or rather, I’m more than halfway to achieving it, with less than half the year having passed. Here’s the resolution:
Lose weight. This still feels new to me, although as you know, I have tried before. It still feels new because I was a skinny kid, and continued the tradition for several decades after I grew up. When I was little, I was also almost always the shortest kid in the class. I got over that in high school, reaching my present moderate height of 5’11” and a fraction. Which was satisfactory (although an even 6 feet would have been more so). But talk about skinny… In my junior year, I was this height, but in the 115 class on the wrestling team. The following year, I was in the 132. Now I weigh in the vicinity (sometimes more, sometimes less) of 13 stone. In the 180s, that is. In the past, I’ve tried and failed to get down to 168. This time I’m going for 160. (That way, maybe I’ll get to 168.)
I’m proud to report that this morning, I broke the 168 barrier. See the image of the bathroom scale at right. Like Louden in the clip above, I, too, had to ditch my shorts — as I do every morning for weigh-in — but I found it unnecessary to blow all the air out of my lungs. So here we are. Ya ready, Shute?
It’s not 160, but I’m headed there. Which is pretty good for someone who weighed in the low 180s at the start of this thing.
And basically, I really just did it in the last month. I sorta kinda was losing weight there for the first few. I had managed to get too small for the 36-waist pants I’d bought at the end of 2023. I got a couple of pairs of 35s (which aren’t that easy to find), and they were sort of working, but then I kicked the project into gear…
It wasn’t that hard. I just went from simply avoiding seconds to fairly serious portion control on first helpings, plus zero snacks. And… while I kept up my 11,000 steps a day routine, I added ankle weights. That risks adding leg muscle and therefore weight, but it really ramps up the loss of fat. And waist reduction.
So now, the 35s are too big, and I’m back to the size I’ve worn for most of my adult life — 34. Just in time, too: All of my shorts are 34s, and it’s that time of year.
Since I had posted my resolutions, I figured I had a right to brag. A little. We’ll talk about those other resolutions another time.
How are y’all doing on your goals?
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Of course, y’all may look at Shute, and look at me, and say, “Nah, he’s not in trouble.”
And I’ll admit, I’m nervous about the match. But so was Louden in the movie, because he had seen Shute, too.
But Louden had an advantage you might not consider unless you’ve been a wrestler. He may have looked scrawny, but he was a good bit taller than Shute. So am I. I figure a guy who looks like that and only weighs 168 is no tree-topper.
It’s about leverage. My long, skinny legs were an advantage against other guys my weight — and even guys 20 pounds heavier. That’s why I went out for the team to begin with — I was beating guys with 20 lbs. on me in P.E.
Of course, on the other hand, I’m now 70, not 17. But hey, Shute is older now, too…
Uh-oh. Maybe Shute wasn’t short. Maybe he cheated on the weigh-in…
I’ve done the opposite and it’s time to reverse course.
Last January, I started to watch what I ate and went from 206 to 184. (I was trying to get to 177). I was stuck at 185-186 most of 2023. I was walking as my normal evening routine- which includes some decent uphill climbs- and averaged almost 7,000 steps a day. Not bad for someone that works while seated a lot.
But, over the last 3-4 months, I’ve stopped being as careful with what I ate and I was 199 this morning. I knew I had gained weight because my clothes aren’t fitting as nicely, and I hadn’t felt the same.
I had stopped walking as much but now I am back up to averaging 6700 steps a day per my phone.
So I am trying to get down to 190 by the end of May. I’d like to be at 185 by mid June. If I can make it there, I’ll shoot for 177 again.
I’d love to be at 170. But I don’t think I can do it.
I am going to add ankle weights though. If what you said about it helping to burn more fat is true, then maybe that will help me. I hadn’t thought of that or tried it.
I wrestled in High School; now MMA is my interest. I weigh about 195, about 6 foot, but I am “long.” In the Philippines I fit the Ska song “Big Boy.” In some ‘hoods I am Triple “OG” – OG appears as “triple OG” or “real OG” and these typically reference someone who has become very successful in life but remains connected to their background or roots.
Thinking of John McCain today – his widow Cindi is Director of the World Food Programme and speaks of the humanitarian crisis, a “full blown famine,” in Gaza. In 1999 Tim Russet asked how 5 plus years in a prison camp prepared him to lead. McCain responded the imprisonment strengthened the values he had prior to his capture. He also understood he was never alone – I also struggle with feeling like a “lonely leader” and with what is called “survivor syndrome.” Why them and not me?
Democracy is fragile, and I hope we understand our Youth are angry. As others believe, it seems much of the protests on mostly elite campuses are more about unfair treatment, with plenty of “blame” on all sides. As I ask my “network” about LOVE, all agree there is not as much love today as in the past. Find Joy today, find your Happy. Love ALL the children of the world, regardless.
Just to keep you up to date.
Two days ago I got down to a new low: 164.8. It was a pleasant shock that morning.
I’ve gone back up a bit since then. It was 166.6 this morning.
I almost typed “all-time low” just then, but that would not be accurate. I was this height my first year on the wrestling team, and I was in the 115 class. Which means I was LESS THAN 115. The next year, I was in 132, and you know the rest of the story.
That’s why I’m a big believer in leverage. I was incredibly scrawny, but at least a head taller than the other guys in my class. So my long, bony legs provided an advantage in certain situations…