The Greatest Gift Ever!

A few days ago my wife lost her phone. So, after the Thanksgiving celebration has ended we’ve been turning the house upside down looking for it. Last night we pulled our bed out from the wall and swept under it and what do you think we found? My CPAP machine, which prompted me to choose this topic for this week’s column.

I had been using that CPAP machine for at least 15 years and it was a tremendous help in getting a good night’s sleep without the unhealthy hassle of being awakened multiple times during the night because of sleep apnea. But, as you might surmise from that opening paragraph, I haven’t been using it for close to a year now and I sleep just fine without it. How’s that you ask? Let me explain.

Last year in October, 2023, my wife and I challenged each other to lose weight. She was concerned for my heart because lots of studies show that excess weight, especially around the mid section, are bad for your heart and I’ve had heart problems for the last 30 years. So, I set a goal to lose 18 pounds; I was 168 at the time and wanted to get down to 150. Bess set a goal to lose 25 pounds. So that was the challenge we made to each other; now this is a challenge to any faithful readers who could also benefit from intentional weight loss.

Long story short, we both met our goals and then decided to exceed them! I decided to go for 145, then changed it again to 143 (my high school weight!) and have been maintaining that for about a year. I want to stop here and say this is NOT about bragging: it IS about a challenge because it’s the greatest gift we’ve ever given to each other, hands down! And we’d both like for more people to experience similar kinds of blessings that we have.

So, how did we do it? To start, we cut down to just one meal a day, the evening meal. After about a week or so, we added broth for lunch, and then gradually I added a healthy breakfast and we both took care to eat smaller portions than we were used to. And, we were very disciplined about weighing every morning to monitor our progress. I loved watching the weight peel off….. about .2 pounds a day! Daily weighing is still a part of my routine to insure that I don’t slip back. 

Was it hard? Not really. In fact, looking back it was far easier than I could have imagined and certainly, far more rewarding as well. After just a few days the cravings really subside and it gets easier. I think part of that is because the stomach shrinks but I haven’t researched that to be sure if that’s actually so.

Now, we both eat anything we want to, including desserts, but just not as much. And, we’re never hungry! One side “trick” that helps the pocketbook as well as the waistline: whenever we go out to eat, we invariably get to-go boxes to finish those oversized portions at home for the next day’s lunch.

Now, besides being more comfortable in our bodies as well as our clothes, the icing on the cake for me has been the ability to sleep well again without wearing a CPAP facemask connected to a machine all night! I should be clear here: I’m not suggesting that everyone who takes on the weight loss challenge will be able to ditch their CPAP machine too; I’d suggest you consult your doctor on that one. 

So, there you have it, a readymade New Year’s resolution to whoever might be ready for a new lease on life for 2025. By the way, if you’re fortunate enough to still have your spouse, it’s far easier to do this together; at least we found that to be so.

That’s the good news; the bad news is we still haven’t found Bess’ cell phone!

Thanks for reading All About Seniors… see you next week!

PS… while the weight loss is by far the greatest gift we’ve ever given to each other, THE greatest gift has nothing to do with weight; it’s Emmanuel, God with us, as we’re about to celebrate His birth in just a couple weeks!

Bill Milby is a Director of Visiting Angels® of Central Georgia, a non-medical, living assistance service for seniors. If you have questions or comments about this column you can reach him at william.mercylink@gmail.com or search for us at  https://www.facebook.com/VisitingAngelsofCentralGA