I am a middle aged Canadian that has been overweight since the age of
three. I have tried most of the various ways of losing weight, and have
given up completely at times. Once my weight problem became several
serious health problems I decided I should do something about it. I read
almost everything I could get my hands on regarding this problem, and have
found a solution that is not only very effective, but relatively easy to
maintain.
I was always fat. I cannot remember a time when I wasn't. By the time
I turned 15 years of age I was 235 lb at 5 foot 6 inches in height. A
visit to the Doctor when I had some viral illness led to my first round of
weight loss. He gave me the standard 1200 calorie diet from the hospital
dietician, and monitored me monthly. This was my first real experience
with what I call 'brute force' dieting. It worked. I lost 80 lbs over
six months. I did it by following my own version of the 1200 calorie
diet, and by walking 6 miles every day (to school and back, then the same
in the evening). The reason the diet worked is because I went through
what it said, and then picked out a very few foods - bread and cheese
basically, with some pineapple - and ate the same thing at the same time
every day. It controlled the amount that I ate, and I now know that it
cut the amount of carbohydrate down substantially that I was eating, and
it worked. Unfortunately from a biological standpoint I didn't know why
it worked. I assumed it was the calorie thing. When it was 'over' I
asked the Doctor what I was to do now? He really didn't have an answer.
The weight stayed off - for five years. Then I got my first car, the
amount of walking I had to do disappeared, and my weight floated up to 192
lbs. I started again, watching how much I ate carefully and walking a
great deal (I have moved to Calgary and left my car behind). In six
months I got down to 175 lbs. Seemed like very little return for all
that effort... but that was what my 'normal' weight had settled into so
perhaps it should not be such a surprise. Then I went and retrieved my
car.....
My weight ballooned over the next year, quickly. By the time I started
teaching in Fort McMurray I was over 200 lb again. Various attempts to
lose weight failed. By 1993 I had floated all the way up to 250 lbs. I
decided to go back to basic principles, and followed the regimen I had as
a kid, bread and cheese twice a day. And it worked! In six months I
got down to close to 200 lbs. And I was hungry the whole way.
In October of the same year I made the mistake of taking a Hallowe'en
chocolate my daughter offered me. That was the end of that. I decided
that this diet stuff was all a waste of time; I was going to be the size I
was going to be and nothing seemed to matter that I did other than sitting
around starving to death.... so I quit trying. By 1999, I hit 300 lbs.
I was driving regularly to Toronto from my home in Wiarton, and I had to
stop two to three times to sleep at the roadside on the way. I decided I
better do something, so I started carrying water to drink in the car
instead of juice and pop... about two litres per trip! Anybody see the
warning signs here? I didn't....
My weight came down - I thought easily and somewhat naturally - to about
260 lbs. Again I did not see the danger sign.
In December of 2002 I saw the doctor because I was having difficulty
breathing. I was in fact in very serious Congested Heart Failure. I
started heart and blood pressure medication, and was told my blood sugar
was 18! I was type II diabetic. Thus began my third round of weight
loss. This doctor also gave me a dietician's diet to follow - 1500
calories this time - but he also talked about this other diet, where bacon
and eggs was a good breakfast.... "You mean Atkins?" "Yes...."
I followed a modified version of the Atkins diet for the next six months,
and one day I actually saw the scale tip below 200 lb. Unfortunately
during this time I also developed a kidney stone. NOT from the Atkins
diet! I had been given Lasix as part of the treatment for Congestive
Heart Failure, and one of its lovely side effects can be the accretion of
kidney stones. This was the second I have experienced. That messed up
what I was doing to a certain extent. I stayed with the principles - but
not always the practice - of the Atkins regime since, and my weight tended
to hover in the range of 210 - 220 lbs.
All this time I still did not really comprehend the mechanics of how my
body processes foods, so I kept making mistakes. By the spring of 2009
things had broken down rather completely, I was back up to 260 lbs, and my
sugar addiction was in full force. I had continued to read, voraciously,
about these problems, and had just finished Gary Taubes "Good Calories,
Bad Calories", when everything clicked into place.
I cannot eat carbohydrates! My body responds to tiny amounts of
carbohydrate with massive amounts of insulin. So, this time, I decided
to tackle the problem differently. I would not try to lose weight. I
would do everything I could to minimize the amount of insulin my body was
producing. This meant:
- NO carbohydrates of any kind, no fruit, no bread, no starch, no
vegetables
- meats, cheeses and eggs in any quantity
- exercise - I have an old exercise bike and began riding it -gently -
every evening
- supplements known to alleviate Insulin Resistance
By February of 2010 - eight months - I was down to 178 lbs! My old
weight from high school!
I know now that I cannot eat carbs in any quantity at all. I have
progressed to eating Gundersen Larvik's Bran Crispbread as the major
staple of my diet. A package of 10 crackers per day - with cheese,
peanut butter, whatever else I want. No, it is not 'normal' but it is
both filling and satisfying. When I want to eat meat and eggs, I can,
and do. If I wanted to eat some '5% vegetables' (broccoli, cauliflower,
salad greens) I would but I don't yet. I continue to take vitamin and
mineral supplements to make sure that I have all the necessary building
blocks.
My weight has stayed stable for four months now, and shows no sign of
changing.
Oh - I almost forgot. I am NEVER HUNGRY. Ever. Not since Day 3, May
18, 2009.