AZ ranch

   / AZ ranch
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#1,351  
why 153? I decided to lose weight, when I was 40. I started eating less, exercising more, and eating mostly fruit. When I went from 210 down to 175, my close friends (and their wives) told me "stop losing weight". "You don't need to lose any more weight". I was the same weight as when I got out of the service, aged 27, and I could run my 2 miles in 11:57

I remember I would sit in traffic and strain my different leg muscles, to burn calories. I did a lot of aerobics and light weight lifting (small 5-8lb dumbells), for cardio and calorie burning.

Now, 22 years later, I've gained back about 2 lbs a year. I love food. My weakness.
The 153 is an arbitrary number I pulled from some internet site trying to determine best weight for your height. It’s not in stone. I went from size 40 pants to comfortable 34. I can squeeze into 32 but I still have a bit of a muffin top with them. I want to get rid of that. If it takes 15 more pounds or 30 more is to be determined. I was a slim 32 at age 40 when I was instructing at a karate school and running marathons. That’s my target size.
 
   / AZ ranch
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#1,352  
Since my wife's cancer, we've eliminated almost all processed foods, and we're trying to do even better. Her cancer affected her gut, and it made her super sensitive to what she eats. Unfortunately for me, she is an excellent cook, and I'm an excellent eater. I think my downfall is in always finishing my plate, and then never saying no to seconds.
I use a smaller plate these days!
And have no problem pushing away whether the plate is empty or not.
 
   / AZ ranch
  • Thread Starter
#1,355  
The 153 is an arbitrary number I pulled from some internet site trying to determine best weight for your height. It’s not in stone. I went from size 40 pants to comfortable 34. I can squeeze into 32 but I still have a bit of a muffin top with them. I want to get rid of that. If it takes 15 more pounds or 30 more is to be determined. I was a slim 32 at age 40 when I was instructing at a karate school and running marathons. That’s my target size.
I have a friend who is a nutritionist and dietician, and she told me 30 yrs ago that if you eat what you’re suppose to eat, you’ll weigh what you’re suppose to weigh.
So even though I started off with the goal of shedding pounds quickly (about 3 lbs a week), I morphed into eating what I think I’m suppose to eat to stay healthy and the pounds are still dropping off. No real effort to lose now, my body is just going where it needs to go.
I enjoy walking and I enjoy going to the gym a couple times a week to workout.
I’ll keep eating right, keep walking, keep drinking plenty of water, and then see where I end up. I’m guessing it will be between 150 and 160.

Another goal is to climb a rope. Right now I can’t even climb up 2 feet, but my goal is to scale a 20 ft rope I hung from my rafter so I can climb up to the 2nd floor deck. That’s going to take a LOT of work on my biceps.
 
   / AZ ranch #1,356  
Health is pretty good, now. Back in March the doc said I was the heaviest ever (225) and he was talking Lipitor and something for blood pressure. I told him I’d fix it. I really dislike prescriptions. I mean really, really dislike medications. I don’t take anything except some vitamin supplements.
In the last 4 months I have lost 42 pounds and I go in next week for blood work. I cleaned up my diet so I expect my cholesterol to be way down. I’m at 183 pounds now but plan to get down to 153 By Labor Day.
I work out a couple times a week and walk about 40-50 miles a week. In March I could do 18 sit-ups. Yesterday I did 120. Not too bad for a 72 yr old fart.

Wow, amazing. that’s what I need to do.
 
   / AZ ranch #1,357  
I previously ate just about everything, including lots of junk food and snacks. After doing a lot of research, I found the best way to lose weight and prevent disease is to go the totally plant based whole food method. No meat, no dairy, nothing processed (almost everything that comes in a box). I mostly eat fresh veggies, fruit, grains, and beans.

I know that’s too cold Turkey for most people but I now eat to live instead of living to eat. You can work your way into it by gradually adding more veggies. I just decided to give it all up at once and go totally with the program.

you can find a lot of info on the Food Revolution Network at Foodrevolution.org

I gave up snacking and very rarely do I eat anything after 4pm.
Many days I just eat 2 meals, one at 6am and the other at 2pm.
Sometimes I just eat one meal. Depends how fast you want to lose.

Most people can’t give up their meat, but it wasn’t that big of a deal for me. I love beans, all kinds of beans. There’s a direct corolation between eating animal products and the major diseases - cancer, heart disease, diabetes.

I’m sure I’ll get stomped on by a lot of meat-lovers, but I’m not trying to force anything on anybody. Just answering your question. It works for me.

TxDon been preaching this in the good morning thread for a few years. All plant based.
 
   / AZ ranch
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#1,358  
So two of my block walls on my underground greenhouse are going to be 6 ft tall and 19 ft long. When they are finished and cured, I will backfill. I’m planning on inserting rebar and filling some of the holes in the block around the center of my walls at least.

Question;
Should I put a small block wall perpendicular to the long walls at the midpoint for support?
 

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   / AZ ranch #1,359  
Is the soil expansive like the Texas Clay? If so, then I'd say for sure, but other than that, it is hard to tell for sure. If you do it right, you can do the same sort of thing on the outside to brace it, but getting it tied in properly so it works will be the key. (Not a soils engineer but did stay at a Holiday Inn Express once...)
 
   / AZ ranch #1,360  
Something happens when retaining walls are more then 4ft tall. The amount of pressure on them increases to a point of needing some engineering. Less then 4ft, and it's all easy pleasy.

The two biggest issues are water and water freezing. If you can drain the water away from the side of the bock, you will eliminate all of your potential issues. Adding a deadman, or anchor, or some sort of reinforcing structure to the wall will help, but there is a limit to what it will do when fighting water, and water that freezes.

How much rain do you get in the worse case scenario?

Does it freeze there when the ground is saturated?
 
 
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