The above photo was shot in a hotel bathroom in Brazil on Nov. 28 2017. I ran across it recently, and my reaction was, "I want that lean body again!" How, when, and where was it lost? And why?
When the picture was taken, we had been living in Uruguay for almost five years. That's a clue. When we first moved to Uruguay, in early 2013, people told us stories about the significant amounts of weight they had lost after moving there, without dieting. People there eat less prepared food, and Uruguayan grass-fed beef, which contains no growth hormones, is world-famous. In the US, Sandy and I had been afraid to eat red meat, and ate mostly chicken and fish instead. God only knows what additives were in the food in the US. When we lived there, in comparison to this picture, I looked like the Pillsbury Dough Boy.
Sandy and I moved back to the US in late April, 2019. We've been back here for approximately a year and a half. I don't look like the Dough Boy yet, but I have a roll of fat around my waist that I don't like (not only due to vanity, but because excess fat is not consistent with optimum health). When, and why, did the change take place? The photo below provides a clue.
This shot dates from May 15 2019. Considering that I was a year and a half older than in the Brazil picture, I'd say that my body was still just about as lean. At the time, we were living in a rental house right next to a canal on the Gulf, here in Florida. We had been back in the US for less than a month. Life on the canal was very nice, especially in May. At around 4:00 in the afternoon, we would sit under the ramada as the breeze from the Gulf was coming up, and have wine, cheese, and crackers. We no longer have a ramada, but snacking at around 4 p.m. became a habit.
Another factor, of course, is exercise. In Uruguay, my main exercise was walking our dog, Betty. At the time of the Brazil picture, Betty was four years old and liked to take really long walks. Betty is now seven, and her walks are quite a bit shorter, especially in the Florida heat. In Uruguay we had a swimming pool, so I had the exercise of swimming and cleaning the pool. We don't have that here. I also had a pull-up exercise bar, which I don't have here. The result of more food additives, more between-meals snacks, and less exercise can be seen in the photo below.
This photo, taken on Oct. 25 2020, shows what a year and a half of life in the US has done. I can't do anything about the lack of a pool (and wouldn't want to have to clean it, anyway), or make Betty take longer walks. Maybe I can get her to take two walks, one in the morning and one in the evening. I think she'd like that. I'm going to cut down on the beer and crackers in the afternoon. And I'm going to get myself a new exercise bar.
Text and images Copyright © 2020 by Donald C. Traxler.
