Am I fasting? Of course I’m fasting. I’m just wondering if the fast will be easier for me now that I’ve been on Keto for almost 3 months and I am already eating a lot less. So did I binge eat last night (or early morning before the fast)? Nope. The last food I ate was Shalosh Seudos. I’m so used to only eating two meals and although I have not committed to intermittent fasting, I do mostly follow it. I have a cup of coffee before davening, and then I have my first meal between 1pm - 2pm and then dinner between 7:00pm - 8:30pm depending on the day. I don’t snack at night anymore and truth is it’s about 2:45pm when I’m writing this and I’m not really hungry. I was up about 20 minutes before the fast started at 4:45am and I drank a lot of water and took a pill that helps me with inflammation, but I didn’t eat anything.

I will most likely break my fast on a cup of water and then perhaps some egg-drop soup left over from Shabbos and then maybe 1/2 hour later I’ll have some salmon and broccoli kugel. I should be ok with that. Funny thing is I’m talking a blood test tomorrow morning after my shiur so I’ll be missing my morning Joe two days in a row.

Why a blood test? Well it will be my first one in about 3 years and I’m going through some other real challenges that I haven’t talked about yet and I also want to check my cholesterol and uric acid since I’ve been eating a lot of meat lately. So there is a lot for me to still learn about my health and the blood test should shed some light. Tzom kal to those who are fasting. May this be the last sad 17th Of Tammuz.

Day # 82

Weight: 249 Lbs (112.9 Kilo)

Lost 5 Lbs since last Friday

Total Loss: 41 Lbs in 82 Days (18.6 Kilo)

Not too shabby :)

I’m soon going to be 53 years old. I have been fighting obesity (or more likely just living with it) for 40+ years. It’s a part of who I am. I’m an emotional eater, always was and probably always will be. Every year for decades I told myself that I’m still young, I don’t have to worry about losing weight for real. I’m not yet in the “danger zone” where my life could be on the line. So over the decades I tried several diets and had various levels of success, but they never lasted. I didn’t worry though because it really wasn’t life threatening. I even had gastric bypass surgery about 20 years ago (much more on that in a future post) where I went from 390 Lbs. to I think 220 Lbs. I think was my lowest.

Now I’m 53. Now I’m in the danger zone. Losing weight is not just a cosmetic thing or something that will allow me to go on hikes with the kids. Losing weight now is a matter if I will live to see my grandchildren or not. Of course life and death is in the hands of our Creator, but we need to put in the effort. The Torah says we must guard our bodies. They are on loan to us from Hashem. It’s not just a toy we can abuse. Again, will talk more about this is a future post. I truly feel it is now or never. I can’t afford to play games anymore. Life is way too precious and I have so much living yet to do.

So now I’m doing something about it. Or at least trying. I’m to chicken to post my name (for now) in case I fail or decide not to follow up. I’ll write another post about that, but it’s because I’m scared. If I go public then I will become accountable. It’s the point of no return. I can’t post about my struggles, pain and story if instead of inspiring I will be extinguishing. This time if I were to fail, I can’t just hide it behind a box of donuts and call it a day. Everyone will know that I failed. Not sure if I’m ready for that yet. I guess I want to first see what the response is to these posts. Will I inspire? Be inspired? Will it help others and myself? It’s a very scary thing to do. But do you know what’s worst? Dying.

I Chews Life.

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