Weighty Matters

We pilots take annual "flight physicals" administered by FAA doctors. When I took my last one back in July, I weighed-in at 193 pounds. It was summer, and I was wearing light clothes, so figure 190 just out of the shower. Heavier than I'd like to be; heavier than I ought to be.

I'm a good cook. The reason is simple. I love to eat! And when you live alone the choices become: 1) Eat out a lot; 2) Learn to cook. When it comes to fast food, I'm no fan of McDonalds or Burger King, but I do like Wendy's in the assumption that it is somehow "healthier." (It won't be the last time I was mistaken.)

Now, as good as those fine chefs at Wendy's are, they just don't seem to put the kind of love into their food that you or I would at home. Plus, cooking is fun! It's incredibly rewarding when you do it right, and you get to sample your "work" as you go. Which is how I ballooned up to 190 pounds at a height of 5'9".

I thought/hoped that moving to Guanaja would result in a healthier diet and weight loss. But we have this cook here... We're trying to figure out whether Daniel is a great baker who can cook, or a great cook who can bake. (They are two different things. As I said I'm a pretty good cook but conversely not a good baker.) Daniel's meals are always a sumptuous feast, and there's always a ton of food. Plus, he does like to load us up with desserts and stuff, and my willpower is not strong. I felt as though I not only hadn't lost any weight, but had actually gained some. Hell, the amount of rum alone that I've consumed should have caused a weight gain all by itself (rum being made from sugar cane, you see, and I always mix it with Coke).

So imagine my surprise when, back in Florida, I weighed myself and found....[drumroll, please]...179 pounds! Oh yeah, baby! People you haven't seen in a while always say things like, "Wow, you've lost weight!" but I assume they're just being nice. I can't exactly explain the weight loss. I guess my more-active lifestyle, combined with a healthier diet are working after all. And I'm happy about that.

Alas, life is not so simple. I was only in Pensacola for five days. The day we left to come back down to Guanaja, I weighed myself as I got out of the shower: 183. Four pounds in five days!? What the... How the... See? Back to my old ways for just a couple of days and the pounds start piling back on. Not good.

Conversely my buddy Matt, who always prided himself on his athletic body, now weighs 192. He's gone from a slim/lithe teenager to a (dare I say?) chunky young adult. Hunky to chunky is eight short years! Well okay, let's be fair - he's not "chunky." But he's definitely not the skinny kid I used to know when we first met. He's learned what we all learn sooner or later, that as an adult it is not easy to keep from gaining weight. Especially an adult who's working full-time, going to school and trying to raise two kids (so we can cut him some slack).

My goal is to get back down to 160. It might even be attainable...if we didn't have Daniel as our cook...and if there weren't so many Rum and Cokes to be drank...and if I can keep from going back to Pensacola and falling into my old habits. Like Wendy's.