Fifteen days ago I had gastric bypass surgery and today I worked 12 hours and then went hiking in the local hills. While walking up the trail I realized that this was the longest hike I had been on in almost 3 years. Having lost 35 pound of lard in the last couple of months has really made a difference. Just think how much harder that hike would have been carrying a backpack loaded with 35 pounds of lard. I am kind of fantasizing what it will be like a year from now when I have lost about 100 pounds of lard. Will I be running up the hills? Probably not for while I am a young 67 year old man I don’t expect to be the same person I was as a 20 year old Marine.

Many of us can remember how lard was once thought to be a healthy food. In fact some people still consider it healthy and use it in many cuisines. During the 19^th and early part of the 20^th century lard was as popular as butter. Even in my youth during the later part of World War II lard was still used by many as a substitute for butter, In fact it wasn’t until the later part of the 20^th century that lard started to lose its popularity in favor of vegetable, olive and sunflower oils.

Is lard really that bad? Many people say no for despite its reputation, lard has less cholesterol and more unsaturated fat than an equal amount of butter. Lard also contains no trans fat and this cannot be said for many margarines and vegetable shortenings. Healthy or not, my goal is to keep getting rid of my lard. While I enjoy eating pork, pig fat is not on my list of food choices.