Here's a diet I could get behind

I know, I need to lose weight.  And seriously, before I go any further I just want to say that going into the age of 50 overweight has to be the dumbest, stupidest thing I have ever done.  You always hear it gets harder to drop pounds as you get older, but you don't really understand how much harder it is!  It is flipping hard, is what it is.

And now that my right knee has decided it is oh, maybe the knee of a 100 year old hockey goalie, or a football player or some other person who puts lots of strain on their knees.  Catcher in baseball!  That's another one.  My right knee has for several years bothered me when I would drive for long stretches, such as back and forth to Colorado to see Rachel Pie at school.  But since my last drive out to Grandma's a month ago?  Holy shit.  This knee is just killing me.  And instead of getting better it seems that I am taking more and more doses of Advil (really it is Walgreen's brand Wal-profin) to get through the day.  And if something is in the bottom shelves of the kitchen cabinets?  I would rather drive to Target and buy a new one than have to get down on that bad knee and retrieve said object and get back up again.

I have decided that my bad knee has some arthritis in it.  And being the smart person I am, I chose to research this on the Google rather than going to see a medical professional.  I really hate going to see a doctor.  And I wouldn't have any idea what kind of doctor you go to for arthritis.  Nor do I know what kinds of tests they administer to determine the type of arthritis or anything else.

But what I do know is this:  Without fail every single solitary website about arthritis in the knees says this:

LOSE WEIGHT!!!

LOSE WEIGHT NOW!!

Supposedly every pound you lose takes about 10 pounds of pressure off your knee.  And that should help your poor arthritic knee while you figure out whatever else you are supposed to be doing.

And I read this article today.  Now, this really is a diet that has my name written all over it!  Years ago in a galaxy far, far away I was going to Weight Watchers. This was back when they were strict and not all "oh, let's count points instead of actual nutrition".  I can't even understand the new stuff.  It makes no sense to me.  I like the old way.  Hmmmpph.

Anyhoo, back in the day, the Weight Watcher people told you to keep track of how many servings of Protein, Carbs, Vegetables, Fruits, Fats, and Extras.  I think that was it.  There may be more, but that was  the basis of it.  And it made sense.  And it matched with the guidelines of the pyramid and the heart association and the diabetes people.  I was always going way under on my protein counts and struggled to keep my carbs in check.  This new stupid pointy thing?  I would be all over eating all my points in potatoes, rice, bread and other bad white stuff and screw the damn protein.

When I was a small person in elementary school we had to learn a song about Baked Potatoes.

"A baked potato, burns the fingers, mealy and plump and hot.
A baked potato, burns the fingers, careful because it's hot"

What a lovely ditty that was.  But every time I see a hot, fluffy baked potato with the top cracked open to let all that steam rise out, that is the stupid song I get stuck in my head.

And according to the article  me wanting to eat all those potatoes might not really be such a horrible thing!  Yea!!  I need to research further and see if they are going to list everything he ate for the 60 day challenge.  And also how potatoes fit with arthritis and knees.

So, bring on the wisdom of the masses!  Let me hear from you about what you know about:

A. Knees in general
B. Arthritis in particular
C. Potatoes and diets composed of
D. Losing weight and how horrific it is after you turn 50
E. Why my Christmas decorations are not jumping out of the boxes and draping themselves artfully over all surfaces.