Shivering my way back into all my kilts

[tundramanq]

I gain weight and inches every holiday season from good food and good cheer. Then try to lose it by the next spring with less success every year. It is hard to be very active in the winter. I have too many kilts at 32 to 34 inch waists and no desire to churn them - some can't be replaced.
Was using walking, lean meat and greens diet with less success every year.
At 62 I tried a new approach - make my body burn the fat to stay warm:
Hunt down stealth "dead" calories.
Instead of using nondairy creamer in my coffee and dosing every cup, I now dose the whole pot of joe with about 2 tablespoons of half n half and my stomach doesn't complain. 300 calories versus 40 calories in a whole pot!
I also cool the coffee to room temperature by placing the coffee carafe in a sink of cold water for about 5 minutes. Hot drinks and calorie laden drinks keep you from burning fat.
This last 5 months I dressed light indoors and for short times outside. Set my thermostat down to the temperature required to feel a bit chilled. To maintain body heat your muscles tense up and if there isn't any handy glucose they convert and burn fat. If that isn't enough your muscles start to shiver to generate more heat. I rode the area between the two. The muscle tension will help keep your lean muscle mass that would get cannibalized if not used in dieting.

Anyway with these changes I am down 20 pounds and 4 inches since January 1st ( 5 months) and am still working on the multi year old "love handles". Last year it took until fall ( 9 months ) to shed 15 pounds and 3 inches - then the pig out season began again.