What is NORMAL anyway?

Last August I began this WYLD journey to lose some weight and see if I could get myself into the ballpark shape of where Bruce Lee was when he died at the young age of 32. When I started I was 64, double Bruce's age and needed to lose a good 50 pounds in order to get to about what Bruce weighed which was between 130 and 150. I chose a weight of about 145 as my goal due to my height, age and build. Checking with an online BMI calculator it said I should weigh between 118.1 - 159.6 pounds so 145 should be about right. An interesting side note is that after I got started I found out that Bruce normally weighed in at about 135! I've not be at 135 since I was in middle school and while it is within the weight range, I will have to make that assessment once I hit 145, but my mind thinks that extra 10 pounds may be just a bit too far!

One thing I have learned is that we as American's tend to have "fat eyes" meaning we've become so accustomed to seeing people with a bit more bulk that when we actually see someone at an ideal weight we tend to believe they are too thin. I don't know how many times I've been cautioned by someone about becoming too skinny! Yes, obviously, there is a point where people can get too thin, emaciated and sickly, but that isn't going to happen here unless something completely beyond my control kicks in. I've become very aware of the fat eyes phenomena and have struggled with it when I'm out and about as it's easy to see when someone is obviously obese but much more difficult to see someone at a normal, more ideal weight and not think they are underweight.

So checking in with where I'm at as of right now...yesterday's weigh in was 159.8 lbs, 11.41 stone or 72.48kg. When I started the blog in August I was at about 195 and had already dropped 35 pounds from my heaviest of 230 pounds meaning to-date I've lost a whopping 70 pounds with another 15 to go! I'm not doing anything special other than following a whole food, plant-based diet and walking about 5 miles every morning. I do some push-ups and set-ups and sometimes use kettle weights or a 25 pound slam ball but for the most part it's the diet and walking. 

I do limit the amount of oil, salt and sugar in my diet as much as possible. My wife is an incredible cook who loves to try out new things and quite honestly I think she loves the challenge of "veganizing" recipe's. She's learned that she can cook with little to no oil and the recipe winds up just fine. Because we've also been cutting out additional salt we find that recipe's also use too much salt and we will most often only use a pinch to help bring out flavors. Our taste buds have reset and it's easy to taste the natural saltiness or sweetness in foods...and the flavors!!! OMG! When people talk to me about eating a vegan or whole food, plant-based diet (wfpb) they often will comment on how bland it must be and I will outwardly laugh! The standard American diet is actually the bland one!

We've gotten to the point where we really only eat when we're hungry instead of by the clock. After my morning walk we'll sit and have a cup of tea and talk for a while. Then we get something to eat and make sure it's packed with all sorts of WFPB goodness. We've learned that breakfast doesn't have to be the usual standard American breakfast although we will sometimes make a batch of vegan pancakes...but then we are also just as apt to have pancakes or waffles at dinnertime! Breakfast lately has been everything from avocado toast (on homemade whole wheat bread) to leftover casseroles or even our awesome homemade vegan pizza! (You'd think we were in college!) After a filling breakfast we go about our day and by early to mid-afternoon we will have another cup of hot tea and some kind of snack like a banana with homemade peanut butter and drizzle of honey. Then late in the day or early evening we do another meal and always packed with nutrient dense foods. We eat a LOT of dark, leafy greens, beans, whole grains, berries and other fruit.

So that's the latest. According to the BMI charts by dropping below 160 I've officially moved into the "NORMAL" weight range from the overweight category. While it's just a number it does feel good to have that little bit of knowledge in my brain as well as knowing that as I keep going, it will only get better...and there's my new mantra...BE BETTER! I'm still a work in progress and will continue to be for the rest of my life - which I hope is a long and healthy one. -Greg