Ensign Steve

Well, I've already determined that it's none of my business what this person eats, but I hope she will consider eating maybe a fruit or vegetable while she's pregnant. And laying off the Mountain Dew, too. Being pregnant does give you license to eat a lot, but that doesn't mean you should eat a lot of junk. But what do I know?

godfry n. glad

To reinforce that, I'd tell you that my experience was very similar to yours. I was comfortable at 180 lbs. when I got married at age 32. By age 45, I was 245 lbs, thanks to the same eating habits you so aptly outlined.

At age 43, I was diagnosed with hypercholestoremia.

At age 48, I was diagnosed with essential hypertension.

At age 49, I was diagnosed with type II diabetes, and sent to a nephrologist because I was excreting way too much protein in my urine. The upshot: Unless I changed my dietary habits, I'd be on dialysis by age 55.

Talk about motivation...

So... I now take in in the realm of 2000 calories a day, but must limit my sodium intake to under 2000 mg (2 g), limit my carbohydrate intake to around 60 g four times a day and around 22 to 34 g snacks interspersed in between (that "snack" is equivalent to 4 oz. of regular soft drink), no animal fats (butter, cheese, red meat), no colas, no grapefruit juice...and...I try to incorporate exercise (usually a mile plus brisk walk each day).

I've taken to reading those nutritional labels on foods now and engaging in a type of dietary calculus to determine what I should eat and when I should eat it.

I'm now three months until my 50th birthday and I've lost 35 pounds in the past year. My new objective is to outlive my kidneys.

It's a cautionary tale, eh?

godfry

Shake

I have to vote for the crazy metabolism thing. My dad said when he was in HS, they did a calorie counting exercise and when the teacher was announcing the results he was a bit miffed.

"Some of you have not taken this assignment seriously. I've got one student here who claims to eat about 10,000 calories a day!" exclaimed the teacher.

Students, "Oh, that's John!"

Dad was about 6' and 120lbs, played baseball, handball, and rode a bicycle a lot! He also had a newspaper route. Was constantly hungry at that age, and didn't gain a pound! It still frustrates my mother, that even now, if he's gained a few pounds, all he has to do is just cut back for a few days and the pounds come back off. Of course with age and muscle development (he's an auto mechanic), he's now up around 160-170.

In high school, I developed a similar appetite, but alas, I did not inheirit my father's metabolism. Fortunately for me, while I was active in sports, I was able to stay in the 155-175lb. range, reaching the higher end during college when I really hit the weights a lot more. Now I'm basically inactive, and about 220lbs. I think if I got back into a serious workout program, I could get back into the 180s in about 6 months. But I'd also have to adjust my diet some, too. I just love food too much ... and all the wrong stuff!