(Cruisin' on the) Beer B(l)oat

 My wonderful, loving, caring much younger wife has helped me over the years convert my beerlove from an almost-12-pack-a-night cheap lite shit habit to a more refined occasional local-microbrew-or-two per week one, and my health's all the better for it.  Honestly.  I'm healthier and feel better in my fifties than I did in my twenties and thirties thanks to her.  


Between the above-mentioned habit shift and an almost 80 lb. weight loss over a few years I quite literally owe her my life.  Stepping on our scale is a morning routine, and this morning I found myself feeling bloated while undressing for my shower.  Yesterday we picked up a sixer of one of many awesome local Octoberfests (wifey's a fiend) now that they're coming out, and we each sipped a couple while Netflixing and enjoying an intensely heavy thunderstorm.  

So this morning I stripped naked and, after observing my paunch in the mirror reluctantly stepped on the old honesty meter.  Disappointed? Sure, but I know I'll work it off during the coming week.  Not to make fun, but my wife does that routinely, and especially when she has her period (TMI?  Apologies if so).  She'll stand in front of the mirror, patting her belly.  She turns from one side to the other, mumbling "I hate my pooch...".  Even after many years I'm never quite sure how to respond to this, so I play busy or pretend I didn't hear her.  At first, I'd offer caring compliments and affirmations of deep love no matter her shape, size or weight, but after enough times of her "Don't even-"'s I've learned to just shut up and let her spout.  

So anyway- now what was this post about?  Beer?  Scales?  Pooches?  Oh, I don't know.  I woke too early and couldn't get back to sleep.  Just a tired rant, I suppose. 

Comments

  1. RiverJuly 19, 2021 at 8:53 PM

    I have a four children, daily chocolate habit, pooch, so I just buy bigger pants and don't look in full length mirrors anymore.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Elephant's ChildJuly 20, 2021 at 11:30 AM

    Well done to your wife and you. I wish I could claim similar success.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. presstfortimeJuly 21, 2021 at 3:03 AM

      Kudos entirely to my wife. I was a petulant child when it came to changing the eating habits I'd grown accustomed to, even though what started the whole process was my wife hearing my physician utter the words "pre-diabetic" during a physical. So sorry if it's been a struggle for you.

      Delete
  3. Sandra CoxJuly 20, 2021 at 1:21 PM

    I echo, EC. Well done to both of you. Losing eighty pounds....kudos. That took some work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. presstfortimeJuly 21, 2021 at 3:04 AM

      Thanks, Sandra. The work was all on my wife's shoulders. I burned up more energy whining and fighting it than I'd care to admit.

      Delete
  4. BijouxJuly 21, 2021 at 3:18 AM

    Congrats on the weight loss! That is tremendous! My scale rule is to never weigh myself in the morning due to water retention. By afternoon, I am always down 1.5 pounds.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. presstfortimeJuly 21, 2021 at 4:29 AM

      Thanks so much. Since losing all that weight, stepping on the scale is part of my every morning, unless we have a lazy/eat out/no hiking/beery weekend, then all bets are off on Monday.

      Delete
  5. JenniferJuly 21, 2021 at 8:28 AM

    Wow, eighty pounds is a LOT. That's impressive! As to your wife's period bloat, I sympathize with her. During the week before my period I swell up all over and feel fairly miserable most months. I wouldn't dare step on a scale that week! :)

    Out of curiosity, how much younger is your wife? I ask because my husband is 16 years older than me. And I've had to force him to take better care of himself, too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. presstfortimeJuly 22, 2021 at 3:01 AM

      Impressive for sure, and thanks, Jennifer. My wife and I are 12 years apart. Some days she'll say I act every bit my age, and some days I say she acts like she's five or eight or twelve. She knows this, and this is part of what makes things work for us! Yes, if it wasn't for her I probably wouldn't take quite the care she forces me to, so you're not alone.

      Delete
  6. Mary KirklandJuly 21, 2021 at 3:17 PM

    Good for you. As long as you feel good about it then I'm happy for you.
    I'm a big girl and I don't give one f*ck about it. I don't have a pooch, I have a great dane. lol

    ReplyDelete
  7. Theresa MahoneyJuly 21, 2021 at 9:23 PM

    80 pounds down is fantastic! Because of my autoimmune disorder, my weight fluctuates all the time, so I don't stress about looking in the mirror and seeing a pooch anymore. Though I did spend many of my 20's and 30's stressing about it, thankfully my 40's told me life's too short to worry about a little bulge here and there as long as I'm feeling healthy and happy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. presstfortimeJuly 26, 2021 at 2:06 AM

      Good for you, Theresa, and that's a great outlook. Thank you.

      Delete
  8. BobJuly 22, 2021 at 5:58 AM

    New here:
    I may not have a wife, but I don't think I'd ever comment on the 'I hate my pooch' remark!

    Just sayin'.

    ReplyDelete
  9. nickJuly 26, 2021 at 4:17 AM

    Losing eighty pounds is very impressive. Your wife has obviously had a very good influence on you. If I'd heard the words pre-diabetic I would have been jolted into some drastic action as well. Luckily I've always been fairly thin. At six foot I was 11½ stone for a long while and I'm now 11¾ stone which isn't bad at the age of 74. Unlike Bijoux, I actually lose several pounds overnight. Go figure!

    Any kind of comment on a woman's appearance, or her remarks about her appearance, is treading on treacherous ground. I'm as ultra-cautious as you are.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. presstfortimeJuly 31, 2021 at 4:37 AM

      Yeah, Nick, if it wasn't for my wife I think I'd be dead by now. ultra-cautious is good, my friend!

      Delete
  10. Mr. ShifeJuly 27, 2021 at 4:27 PM

    Nice job on the weight loss, pressfortime. I joined the 50 club recently and I find myself being more bloated than I ever was. If I eat the wrong thing, the pooch is out and about. If you find a magic elixir to getting rid of it quickly, please let me know. I also hope the magic elixir doesn't involve giving up beer because that is the only vice I have left.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. presstfortimeJuly 31, 2021 at 4:40 AM

      I'm right there with you on the beer thing, and I'm afraid there is no magic elixir. Besides my wife, my elixir is a very physically demanding job. I know it won't last (or my body won't) forever, so I'm taking advantage of it while I can still breathe.

      Delete
  11. BohemianAugust 7, 2021 at 3:20 AM

    Your better habits later in Life have you at least going in the right direction. As for me, I'm to that Age where I know I gotta Die of something, so it might as well be enjoyable.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Are You Afraid of Dying?

  Are you afraid to die?   During a recent hike I thought about this, and the notion has taken up residence in my head since then.  A trail my wife and I were on had a section that was quite hazardous with slick, moss-carpeted rocks and a steep downward slope on one side.  As happens often my imagination got the best of me, and I envisioned myself slipping on the rocks and dropping over the edge, my scream echoing off the surrounding mountains we'd been admiring only minutes earlier. I imagined the pain my death would cause my wife and children, and the horror my wife would feel seeing me disappear, my screams most certainly haunting her for eternity. I suppose I'm not afraid to die; the older I get, the more I think, "Well, when it's my time, it's my time."   I think what actually scares me is dying a painful death.  That makes me a sissy, sure, but there you have it.  The pain, and also- and this is probably ridiculous- the idiotic concern that the way I die
Read more

Paying Tribute to What, I'm Not Exactly Sure

I'm trying to determine whether this is a record review, a rant or a sad nod to a failing memory- I've had a love/hate relationship with Elton John since the early seventies.  I wish I could remember which of his fantastic hits was the first I'd heard, or where/when, exactly, I heard it.  Sadly, my brain has failed me over the years, and these are among the memories that have slipped into a void, never to be retrieved. I used to be the proud owner of a gargantuan vinyl collection, a good portion of which was the majority of Elton's catalog.  One of the very first albums I bought was "11-17-70", his first live album, broadcast by WABC in New York.   "Sixty Years On", one of my all-time favorites, is a fantastic tune which takes the studio version 10 steps further in my opinion, though both versions have their own qualities. My opening sentence is only partially true.  I've actually loved Elton's music since day one, with the exception of parts
Read more