I hadn’t weighed myself for several years. Three or four years ago, I managed to dip under 200 pounds for the first time since I was in college. But then along came King COVID, YMCA closed, no basketball, lots and lots of bad weather…
So when I went to the doctor for a checkup Friday, I expected to weigh something more than 200. Imagine my astonishment when the scale read 186. I made them do it again, thinking, “This can’t be. The scale must be wrong.”
But we have a brand-new scale, which Patty unpacked today. It read 188. Dude, like, where’s the rest of me?
I admit I’ve been eating generally smaller portions of everything for at least two years. But gee… 188?
I looked up weight loss in older people. Sometimes it’s due to some hideous disease that’s gonna kill you. Sometimes there are other causes. And 28% of the time, there is no explanation. You age, you start to lose bone and muscle mass. Actually there’s nothing wrong with you. You just weigh less.
Whew. I was a little scared there, for a bit.
Same thing has happened to me. I think part of it is that we shrink with age — in bone density and in muscle mass.
*Sigh* Those muscles were hard to come by.
I haven’t weighed myself for a long time. I would rejoice if I came in at 188. Congrats! All hail good health.
As long as it’s not a symptom of some grievous disease…
The technical term is sarcopenia, it comes with age. But it can be negated through diet and resistance training. The key is eating more quality protein. As we age, we’re not able to metabolize protein as readily. Hence the need for more protein.
Not that I’m agitating to be back over 200 lbs…