I asked ChatGPT to suggest ways that I could get below 230 lbs. I’ve lost over 60 lbs. in a relatively short time (about 5 months), twice in my life. Once when I was about 49 years old (2003) and then about 9 years later, in 2012 when I was first diagnosed with type 2 diabetes
I think when I was about 49 years old I became a “foodie.” Before that time I had told myself that I didn’t want to become a foodie, if I even fully understood what that might mean. I recall walking by the spices in Food Lion and stopping to look at at small jar of Saffron. I think it cost about $14 and I thought that rather expensive. I had never tried saffron, but I said to myself, “If you don’t try it now, you may never try it before you die.” And with that thought, I started trying things that I had, to that point, not tried. *Oh, and in the saffron spice jar, was a small black plastic resealable pouch, and in that just a few pinches of saffron. $14 and you probably weren’t even filling up a fourth of that small spice jar.
I do recall making some white rice and adding saffron to it. The saffron pistils are a dark rusty red, but they made the rice a bright yellow color. I ate the bright yellow rice with bright green (from frozen) garden peas. I haven’t fixed anything with saffron in a long time. As I recall it took several attempts before I could finally taste the nuance of flavor that saffron brings to food. There are so many other flavors that can overpower it.
Lost a bunch of weight at 49 about 2003, but I first visited the Biltmore Estate in last Spring of 2004. As I recall I just missed the spring plantings, which I was told had been dug up to plant the summer plantings about a week before I visited. I took the day’s ticket, and paid extra to make it a year long ticket, so that I could visit an unlimited number of times (except for the special Christmas tour). And I did visit multiple times that year (and haven’t been back since). I visited for each season, and paid extra for the Christmas night tour, and before the annual ticket ran out, I visited again to see the spring plantings early in 2005.
Seems like it was on a visit to Biltmore that as the afternoon waned, I went into the little shopping area attached to the main house. They had a bakery in there and I bought two or three sugary items. I know one of them was a Bear Claw. And, as I started to drive back home (to Fayetteville), I began to eat these sugary, starchy desserts. And that was the start of me adding the weight back on. This was the first time I had gotten to about 230 lbs. after losing 60 lbs. in a few months.
By the way, losing the 60 lbs. both times was not a struggle. Once in the mindset, and the metabolism is going, I can eat a variety of foods and still lose weight, about 2 or 3 lbs. a week. And that is even with cheats every so often. I consider a “cheat” to be like eating a large plate of spaghetti with sauce, or having a whole half gallon of ice cream in less than two days. These cheats were the first time I lost weight, because the second time was more difficult because I was now losing the weight because I was a type 2 diabetic. I had to cut out a bunch of foods that had been fair game the first time. I think I cut out bread entirely, and drank a lot of water and now corn, potatoes, pasta and rice were now severely restricted.
Both times of great weight loss I got to about 230 lbs. (maybe even a little less) but it was at this point that instead of continuing to lose 2-3 lbs. a week, I stopped losing for about two weeks, and then I started back up. But my gain was at about half the speed from which I had lost. Visually maybe about a 45 degree slant downward, and then about a 22.5 degree slope back upward.
I have lost about 12 lbs. over the last year and cut my Resting Blood Glucose level by about 50 points. So, unlike the two times that I lost about 60 lbs., this time it has been a slow, steady loss and I weighed 237.4 lbs. yesterday (12/06/25).
I forgot I had posted the following graphs about my weight in previous years:
And here are the tweaks that may help me get below my weight goal of 230 lbs.
1. Eat protein first at each meal
A few bites of protein before anything else flattens blood sugar spikes and naturally reduces appetite without effort.
2. Include one resistant-starch food every day
Beans, wild rice, black rice, or sprouted bread improve insulin sensitivity and promote slow, steady weight loss.
3. Take a 10-minute walk after your largest meal
This small movement lowers post-meal glucose and shifts your body toward fat-burning without feeling like exercise.
4. Add one extra serving of vegetables daily
Extra fiber fills you up, reduces calories naturally, and keeps blood sugar stable.
5. Choose one meal each day to be slightly lighter—based on appetite
Letting hunger decide the “light meal” prevents metabolic stress and creates a gentle calorie reduction.
6. Make very small calorie trims, not big cuts
Removing 30–70 calories from a meal (like one less slice of bacon or bread) nudges weight downward without triggering rebound.
7. Drink 4–6 ounces of water before eating starches or sweets
A small amount of water slows stomach emptying and reduces the blood sugar rise from the meal.
I bought a new digital bathroom scale and this morning was the first time I recorded my Daily Weight. I wrote down that it showed me as 240.2 lbs. but when I looked at the app on my phone it said 240.3. *I’ll try and pay attention to see if the numbers are slightly off, or maybe I made a mistake writing it down. I don’t have to have my phone with me, because the app uses my WIFI to get the message from the scale.
I had gone to Hamlet to have the lunch buffet at Seaboard Station Restaurant. Their prices have gone up to $13 for the buffet, with water. I had one small piece of fried chicken, a taste of meatloaf, a small portion of pastry, some green beans, a small salad and some Sara Lee Carrot Cake.
But, when I got to the IGA in Rockingham (Edwards, I think.) I found that they had a pint (maybe two) of Hershey’s “Roadrunner Raspberry” Ice Cream for $3.99. I was so happy to finally find it that I bought a pint for a lady that was passing nearby. Her choice and she chose “Dulce de Leche” I think.
Bill Gibson, II 