Trying to get back to my original weight

Bud struggles with the challenges of aging while trying to slim down

By Bud Fields

Outdoors with Bud

Like everyone else, I have been trying to get in shape. It seems like it is getting tougher, and the only shape I can manage is round! It seems like the older I get, the more discouraged I get. It is either too hot, too humid, too wet, too cold, or too something. I don’t like it!

What happened to the guy who, when he got married, had a 28-inch waistline, and when his wife was trying to buy him new trousers, they asked her, "How old is your son?" She said, “They aren’t for my son, they are for my husband!”

Even when I look in the mirror shaving, I can’t believe the guy looking back at me. What happened to all the thick, dark brown hair that is now receding and has turned white? How come my eyes are now bloodshot?

I remember when I used to grow a nice beard, that some of my friends envied, just for deer hunting season. It used to be dark brown, and now it is all white. I gave up growing my beard because we are hunting whitetail deer, and my white beard might be mistaken for the rear section of a deer.

I still have several of the weights laying in the corner of my den. I remember back in the day, I used to do a lot of weightlifting, but after several back surgeries, two lower neck surgeries and having my right shoulder reconstructed, that kind of ended my weightlifting endeavors.

Then, aging became more painful, and having three surgeries and a stint installed made things more difficult. Three years ago, I lost part of my right lung, and that made everything stand still. I didn’t like it at all, but bending down was not too bad. It was tough getting back up.

I know the neighbors think I am a lazy husband. My wife loves doing yard work, but I am very limited and tire out easily. The least bit of lifting makes my lower back ache terribly, and I have to sit down and regroup. She is out there doing most of the yard work. I try to laugh it off by telling everybody, "I have her trained!"

I joke a lot and tell everyone I am on three diets because I can’t get enough to eat on just one. A few years ago, I weighed in at 202 pounds. Being 5'9", I was very self-conscious. Well, today, I am still 5'9", but with arthritis I stand rather stooped over. I dislike that also, but I now weigh in at 165 pounds.

I told an old friend, recently I checked the chart at my doctor's office while I was waiting in the examining room. I wasn't bad for a guy 8'7". and I told my doctor, "I ain’t fat. I am too short! You need to make me taller!"

In all honesty, I gave up on trying to get back to my original weight. At 80 years old, there is no way I can get down to 7 pounds, 9 ounces. That was my original weight back on December 24, 1944!