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Obesity Obesity

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This poem just came to mind as I was reflecting on choices my wife and I made more than 20 years ago that changed our health and probably the length of our lives. Currently healthy and happy and in normal weight range for height and body type. I lost 80+ lbs of useless fat.

Obesity! Obesity! I wonder how you came to be, You now have control over me, a healthy life I can not see. A little added here and there, and now the people seem to stare. This weight my bones can barely bear, I’ll change my ways, but do I dare? Less sugar, less salt -- that I know, and a walk each day -- start out slow. Make healthy choices as I go, learn it’s okay to just say no. Make lifetime changes carefully, my weight will change naturally.

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Caren Krutsinger

Date: 9/16/2022 2:02:00 PM

Congratulations! This poem is as remarkable as the weight loss!

Bill Baker
Date: 9/16/2022 3:25:00 PM

Thanks, Caren, the hardest part was making the commitment to do it. Then like everything else ...where there's a will, there's a way. Hope all is well with you these days. The start of school was always a challenge for me, but I loved teaching and coaching. Bill

I Am Anaya

Date: 9/13/2022 7:46:00 PM

Even vegetables have charbs! It can be so much fun trying new foods, reading labels, healthy shopping spots and restaurants with someone to share it. Cooking your own meals! It's trendy! Thanks for the fun poem, Bill. your friend in Calif.

Bill Baker
Date: 9/15/2022 12:42:00 PM

Sara and I have a hobby of reading labels. :-) Thanks for the comment my friend! Bill

S.Zaynab Kamoonpuri

Date: 9/11/2022 11:42:00 AM

A great poem touching on ways to keep fit and keep obesity at bay. Rhymed so well flowed as smoothly. Kudos!!

Bill Baker
Date: 9/11/2022 11:46:00 AM

Thanks for the kind words, S. Zaynab. Have a great week my friend! Bill

Andrea Dietrich

Date: 9/11/2022 11:19:00 AM

All my life I have fought the battle of the bulge, so I really relate to this one. Only one time did I let myelf slip into true obesity. I could not believe I let it happen, so I lost 20 pounds (after which I got breast cancer, go figure). THEN, well-motivated, I lost 15 pounds more, and here I remain now at my college weight. which never was super great but I am able to cheat at times and keep happy. My big change was making sure to get 7 servings mainly veggies per day.

Bill Baker
Date: 9/11/2022 11:45:00 AM

That is a healthy way to eat. I still have my fun days with cheescake at times but not very often. :-) Thanks for the comment, Andrea. Have a great week my dear friend. Bill

Valsa George

Date: 9/11/2022 9:19:00 AM

With age, we begin to have less exercise tending to add calories to our body leading to obesity. It can cause ill health. The only way to reduce the extra pounds is by leading a disciplined life with regular physical exercise, control in our diet and a willingness to say 'No'to fatty foods. Great advice, Bill !

Bill Baker
Date: 9/11/2022 11:43:00 AM

Thanks Valsa, Discipline is very important for a healthy and good life. Bless you and dear friend, Bill

Michael Tor

Date: 9/11/2022 8:38:00 AM

Bill your personal life is reflected in helping others make the right choices. It comes on so easily if we are not careful and it takes some time to take it off. My mom fought all her life to overcome this choice. Great words to help others shared by you my friend. Thank you for sharing and be blessed by it.

Bill Baker
Date: 9/11/2022 11:42:00 AM

All the men in my family, my father, my uncles, my cousins and my brother all died before 60 so I decided to change that statistic if I could. At 77 I'm the oldest male in several generations. Thanks for the kind comment, Michael. Smiles ~ Blessings on this blessed day! Bill

Suzanne Delaney

Date: 9/11/2022 3:26:00 AM

Great advice, Bill: Yes, weight will creep on if you don’t pay attention. So glad you battled and won the weight loss war. Should be POTD. Smiles.SuZ

Bill Baker
Date: 9/11/2022 6:48:00 AM

Thanks for the Comments, SuZ. Glad you liked it. Have a great week my friend. Bill

Mike Gentile

Date: 9/9/2022 6:11:00 AM

Bill, you so poetically portrayed the woes of weight gain that so many deal with! Well written ! So glad you and your wife are healthy and doing well! Happy Friday!!

Bill Baker
Date: 9/9/2022 8:01:00 AM

Thanks for the comments, Mike. Happy Friday! to you my friend. Bill

Linda Alice Fowler

Date: 9/8/2022 12:42:00 PM

If only people would take your advice Bill. Make changes for good health, for yourself, your family, and friends! Linda

Bill Baker
Date: 9/8/2022 5:12:00 PM

Thank you, Linda. Just a small nudge, little things help in the long run. Have a healthy and happy weekend my friend. Bill

Harry Horsman

Date: 9/7/2022 10:02:00 PM

Not only a lovely little rhyming poem, but excellent recipe and helpful support for them that need help.

Bill Baker
Date: 9/8/2022 5:11:00 PM

Thanks for the comment, Harry. Have a happy and healthy weekend my friend! Bill

Miranda Hawley

Date: 9/7/2022 9:17:00 PM

My husband and I have both gained a LOT of weight since we married each other. We are both currently losing a little bit of weight. I guess you get to a point where you realize that quick and easy does the most to add the pounds on. Quick meaning a bag of chips when maybe a handful of sunflower seeds would hit the same need spot and be healthier.

Bill Baker
Date: 9/8/2022 5:09:00 PM

Yep, just 100 calories a day adds about a lb a month, Miranda. Small choices will make a difference Thanks for the comment my friend. Bill

Mystic Rose Rose

Date: 9/7/2022 7:46:00 AM

I agree food can control us at times, I am Italian, food is my life, but we make everything home made in our home, the trick is to stay away from products that contain preservatives, thank you for the reminder, love and light, Vie

Bill Baker
Date: 9/7/2022 7:54:00 AM

Thank you for the comment, Vie, you're quite right, the perservatives are a big factor in what our food can do to our bodies. Sara and I like to do it homestyle ourselves. We eat out once a week just to get out of the house. lol Have a healthy and happy week my friend. Bill

Vijay Pandit

Date: 9/7/2022 6:42:00 AM

A fine poem from you my friend on temptations life offers and we enjoy. It's hard to give up, yet, we must. Find your balance and enjoy life, Bill.

Bill Baker
Date: 9/7/2022 7:12:00 AM

A situation from my past. Lower my weight 80+ lbs and gained a much healthier lifestyle, Vijay. Thought these thoughts may help others think out their health and make the choices they feel are right for them. Thanks for the thoughtful comments my friend. Have a healthy and happy day! Bill

Sara Kendrick

Date: 9/7/2022 4:29:00 AM

It has to be lifetime choices. Avoiding stress, negative emotions of all kinds, and have outlets besides food for the times in life there are situations one cannot avoid. Thank you for sharing this one and for dropping by my pages. Sara

Bill Baker
Date: 9/7/2022 7:16:00 AM

Good advice, Sara. Each person has to make their own choices. What ended the yoyo affect for me was only making choices that I could live with the rest of my life. Crash diets and starving oneself just don't work for a lifetime. A consistent effort with reasonable goals are the way I chose to live. Thanks for sharing your helpful thoughts, Bill

Lisa Ricci

Date: 9/7/2022 3:14:00 AM

Good Morning Bill. Hi. I don't know if this is the truth or if it is your creative imagination and writing. Either way although you wrote with flair this condition for all of us is serious especially as we are all getting older. Yes, it is hard to keep weight down even when trying. May you and all of us live a good and healthy life because even when we do not see results it is worth it. Have a wonderful day filled with health and more. Blessings now and always. (smile)

Bill Baker
Date: 9/7/2022 7:08:00 AM

Thanks for your kind and thoughful comments about a situation many find themselves in as they age and become less active. Fortunately this poem is from my past experience of deciding to change my lifestyle and eating habits. I lost over 80 lbs in 18 months, about 1 lb a week. It brought my weight back into my normal weight range which I'm still maintaining. I wanted to encourage others to think about their health and situation and have a gentle nudge to make their own choices. It's very personal and it's not one way fits all. I may have to write another poem, probabaly Narrative or Prose to share more. As you mentioned, it's worth the effort if it's what you chose for yourself. The yoyo affect only stops when the individual decides to stop it on their own. Have a healthy and happy day! Bill

Victor Buhagiar

Date: 9/7/2022 1:54:00 AM

I'm overweight. Can't bear to cut sugar. A 30 walk each day will do wonders. Darn, I'm too lazy to walk. And I'm too old now. Let the pall bearers suffer a bit.

Bill Baker
Date: 9/7/2022 7:19:00 AM

I have many friends that feel as you do Victor. It's an individual choice and Most my age ( late 70's ) have already decided to enjoy the years they have left even if it means less of them. I have those thoughts myself from time to time. Have a great week my friend. Bill

Sara Kendrick
Date: 9/7/2022 4:29:00 AM

Victor, I like the thoughts penned here as well. LOL..SK

Gershon Wolf

Date: 9/6/2022 7:33:00 PM

God willing, you'll do it. Patience and Persistence! :) gw

Bill Baker
Date: 9/7/2022 7:25:00 AM

Thanks gw, I did and I'm still alive because of it. Lost 80+ lbs 20 years ago and got into a normal weight range for my height and body type ( according to the weight charts I fould on the internet ). There just numbers, listen to your body is my advice. When I feel energized, positive, and healthy; the weight number doesn't seem as important. I appreciate the encouragement my friend. Bill

L Milton Hankins

Date: 9/6/2022 7:14:00 PM

I so hope you are right, Bill. I finally made it under 200 and then promptly jumped over that goal line once again. I find it very hard to give up the things I need to give up to get my weight where I would like it to be. And, at my age, I wonder if it is really worth it? I don't know the answer to that question, but I don't want to spend the last years of my life denying myself all the things I enjoy. What'd'ya think?

Bill Baker
Date: 9/7/2022 7:37:00 AM

Most of my friends feel just like what you just said. Many have made the choice to live life and enjoy it without all the limitations necessary to be a certain weight. A few have passed in the last 10 years but seemed to enjoy their lives their way fine. I feel like it is a very personal choice, not a right or wrong choice. I got tired of the yoyo affect about 20 years ago and dropped 80 pounds. I've kept the weight off, but each year (November thru February) I gain 5 to 10 pounds enjoying the treats of Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations. It's getting harder and takes longer each year to bring my weight back into my range. At our age , 1/2 lb - to 1 lb a week is a challenge, thats cutting the calories 250 - 500 per day. As little as I normally eats these days, that's alot. Salt and sugar are the things I try to watch the most. Probably should go to soup mail, getting long here. Bill

Sotto Poet

Date: 9/6/2022 5:39:00 PM

The truth is laid bare in your sonnet, and you provide sound counsel. Bill, if everyone performs as you suggest, we will, at some point, arrive at our destination. It’s aggravating how fast the weight creeps on yet how very difficult to take off.

Bill Baker
Date: 9/7/2022 7:43:00 AM

True, Lasaad. It is harder as we age. Generally older people eat less and become less active, but they don't seem to offset each other. This poem was about how I thought 20 years ago before I lost 80+ pounds. Today it's just a way a person can change their weight in a sensible way. I try to be consistent and walk an hour - hour and a half each day. I watch my salt and sugar intake and pay attention to how my body feels. Rest and sleep are just as important as what we eat. Thanks for the comments my dear friend. Bill

Panagiota Romios

Date: 9/6/2022 5:36:00 PM

Best wishes, Bill. There are many ways to lose weight. The way you eat is a lifetime plan. Obesity is the number one killer in all the world. I know you will be a success at this. I am sure your wife, relatives and poets here. want you around for many years!! Pangie xx

Panagiota Romios
Date: 9/7/2022 9:26:00 AM

Sorry I misunderstood you. I went fro a size 16 to size 7 over 25 years ago. And I intend to stay that way. Especially in aging! Though I have seen toddlers way over fed. I don’t gain during holidays! I no longer drink or smoke. Smoking stopped…in 1975.I already outlived many who I do miss.. and a happy day to you, too Pangie xx.

Bill Baker
Date: 9/7/2022 7:48:00 AM

This poem was to encourage others to think about Health and aging. Sara and I are both very healthy and in the normal range in the weight charts for our height and body types. I dropped over 80 lbs 20 years ago and have kept it off except for the yearly increase from Thanksgiving through Christmas. Then I take off the increase over the next few months. I appreciate you kind words and thoughts my dear friend. Have a healthy and happy day. Hugs, Bill

Beryl Edmonds

Date: 9/6/2022 5:11:00 PM

It’s maddening how easy the weight creeps on and is so very hard to take off. Your sonnet tells it as it is and offers some good advice Bill, if one does what you say we’ll get there one day… Poet pal Belle

Bill Baker
Date: 9/6/2022 5:20:00 PM

Thanks for reading and commenting, Belle. Smiles ~ Blessing Bill