Just over a year ago I weighed more than 400 pounds. I’ve lost just over 160 pounds to date and
would like to lose another 30 to 50 pounds.
In hopes that others may benefit from my story I am sharing it here.
I’ll start with a review of what I did for my first year and
take it from there. Last year the
emphasis was on weight loss for obvious reasons. This year, while I still have weight to lose
I would like to gain muscle and strength and eventually shift my focus to those
tasks. I have no experience with that
phase of things but I think I can muddle through with the help of my trainer.
Here is a synopsis of
my first year:
February 2015: I
started on February 9th of last year. Believing that a dramatic problem will
require an equally dramatic solution I began with a 28-day water fast. In retrospect, I believe that my thinking was
correct but my approach was wrong so I DO NOT recommend that anyone do a water
fast of that length, if at all!
I have come to believe that if you’re morbidly obese your
metabolism, immune system and general health have been screwed up, damaged and otherwise
compromised by years of the standard American diet --especially sugar and processed food, yo-yo
dieting, lack of fresh air, sunlight and exercise, the stress of being large,
etc. In retrospect, I feel that my water
fast was like hitting an already-damaged body with a hammer and expecting it to
heal.
I lost a good amount of weight on that fast but I was weak
and depleted at the end. The fast seemed
to solve some problems while making others worse. In retrospect, a 3-7 day juice cleanse
probably would have been better for me or even just going straight into clean
eating.
March 2015: At the
time of the fast, I really believed that I was doing the best thing for
myself. While fasting, I did research
to figure out what my next steps should be.
I had high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, asthma,
allergies, arthritis, low thyroid, vitamin deficiencies, digestive difficulties
and more. I was on ten different
medications and walked with a cane so I KNEW that I had to eat to regain health
and not just to lose weight.
Additionally, some of my “symptoms” made me believe that I
had auto-immune issues related to diet.
I was desperate enough to try anything for relief. My research made me resolved to give up
gluten and dairy once I resumed eating to see if that healed some of my
physical ailments.
When I began this journey I had started to develop eczema
and other weird skin conditions and also had problems with my eyes. A pus-like substance was constantly oozing
out of my eyes and they’d be crusted shut every morning. They always felt irritated. Two
different eye doctors diagnosed two different ailments and prescribed eye drops
and creams that did NOT solve the problem.
Within days of starting my fast the eye and skin problems
disappeared. By the second week my joint
pain was at least cut in half and the constant runny nose that I had also
cleared up. One positive thing about the
fast is that it showed me how powerful and influential food actually is.
Having horrible symptoms and ailments disappear once I
stopped eating made me positive that certain foods were the cause. If certain foods can cause illness then other
foods can cause health. A seed was
planted in me at that time. I became a
believer in the healing power of being on the right diet and furthermore
understood that that diet might not be the same for everyone.
After I ended my fast with a couple of days of eating fruits
and organic vegetable soup I went right into eating a paleo style diet. One week after I resumed eating I hired a
personal trainer who worked with me three days a week.
April, May, June 2015
These were the “easiest” months on my journey. I lived mainly on organic greens and
grass-fed or wild-caught proteins. I
drank water or unsweetened green tea. My hunger greatly diminished and my
health improved almost daily. The
constant positive changes kept me motivated to continue with the healthy eating
and personal training.
During this period I Iost over 100 pounds. My blood sugar
became stable and I went from four blood pressure medications to two. I no longer walked with a cane and joint pain
was greatly diminished. I ate the same
things all the time (and still do to some extent) yet, miraculously, I don’t
get bored.
My personal trainer had never worked with a morbidly obese
person before. He did a lot of research
and found that there aren’t a lot of examples of morbidly obese people who lose
weight and become fit through diet and exercise--- and I’m speaking about
long-term results here. We both wanted me to work hard and have the
pride of knowing that I really earned my results and owned my success. But at the same time it is easy for someone
that big and unfit to get injured.
After working together for a while we came to a place of
harmony with all of that but it was definitely a “learn-as-you-go” situation
for both of us. In the beginning, I just wanted to lose weight and be
healthier. But as time went on and my
trainer had me doing more and more I
tentatively started to wonder if I could actually become not merely less fat
but actually fit.
At the end of June, my total weight loss was 109.2 pounds.
July and August 2015
My weight loss began to slow during this period. It’s fairly easy to believe in yourself and
what you’re doing when you’re pretty much getting instant rewards for your
efforts. As the weight loss slowed and
the physical changes weren’t so obvious from week-to week I entered the phase
where most of us quit – the phase where we have to trust the process and start
thinking long-term. Some weeks I did not
lose anything or would even go up a pound or two. It took everything in me, and more, to not
get discouraged and give up.
The summer months were more about inner changes, becoming
willing to fight for myself, persevering through doubt, developing patience and
a long-term view. A lot of good can
happen just by keeping your promises to yourself.
At the end of August my total weight loss was 125.2 pounds.
September and October 2015
At this point in my journey I had been “eating clean” for six-months
and I have to say that I never felt better.
It had been six months since I had consumed fast food, alcohol,
processed food, soda, fried food, dairy or grains of any kind or even
non-organic produce. I not only removed
gluten from my diet but ALL grains as I have found it is harder for me to
control hunger or cravings when I eat grains.
I also had not only removed sugar from my diet but
artificial sweeteners as well. I gave up coffee, not because I think that
coffee, within itself, is ”bad” for you; but because I just cannot drink it
without cream and sugar.
I had calculated that before I began this journey I was
consuming 500 or more calories per day in beverages such as coffee or sweetened
tea. I HAD to give these things up or
I’d be drinking one third (or more) of my daily calorie allowance. In many ways I miss the things I used to
drink more so than what I used to eat. I
went through the whole summer without so much as one soda, beer, lemonade or
sweet tea and that tested my resolve far more than the food at social
gatherings or on hot, summer days.
It was in this period that I noticed some physical changes
that I hadn’t anticipated. Number one
was a complete lack of any sort of body odor.
I mean I could work up a sweat on a hot summer day and the sweat had no
smell. The same with my urine. It became almost odorless. The only explanation for this that I can
think of is that I am not consuming any toxins that my body must rid itself of
--- consuming clean means eliminating clean.
This is not “science,” just my opinion.
My skin has become very silky and not like the skin of
someone my age. People started telling
me that I looked 20-years younger and I certainly did feel that way.
I gave up working with my trainer at the end of August,
largely for financial reasons. I
switched to outdoor cardio such as brisk walking and a yoga class twice a
week. I did almost no weight training
during September and October.
At the end of October my total weight loss was 142 pounds.
This was the month from hell but I did end up learning a
lot. It was a busy month for me with
several family birthdays, a weekend getaway with a good friend, two
Thanksgiving dinner parties with friends and a huge dinner with my family.
The first thing is – I allowed coffee back into my diet with
small amounts of cream and sugar! Huge
mistake! This reawakened a desire for
sweets and carbs. The reason I re-added
the coffee is that I started feeling really flat and low-energy, if not very
depleted.
I had experienced other months where I had a lot of social
obligations and got though them with no excuses and without a lot of
difficulty. For whatever reason, in November I allowed myself my first ever
“cheat meals” and “cheat days” and it was an epic freaking disaster. I allowed myself wine, Martinis and mixed
drinks 4 or 5 times. I ate cheese,
potato chips and other things that I hadn’t consumed in months. My weight began to fluctuate even more wildly
than usual but instead of an overall trend downward it began an upward trend
for the first time since I began this journey.
I do NOT test negative for Celiac’s disease. Nonetheless, not eating it gave me relief and
complete healing from nearly all of my previous health complaints. A friend who is a nurse honestly believed
that if I reintroduced gluten to my diet it would have no ill effects since I
test negative for Celiac’s disease.
I listened to her because she is a health care professional
and seemed so positive about the science of what she was saying. I was also already lowering my standards in
terms of what I consumed and was not feeling good emotionally. I was full of self-doubt and disappointment.
From the start, I had set the goal of losing 200 pounds in
one year. Here I was, three months away
from the one year mark and I knew that it was unrealistic to achieve that goal
in a healthy way. The sense of
disappointment and ”failure” were very strong and hard to live with.
Thanksgiving week I ate gluten many times in the form
stuffing, gravy and numerous baked goods.
The problems I used to have with my eyes oozing a pus-like substance
immediately returned as did the skin rashes, joint pain and breathing
difficulties. I had not taken asthma
medicine, anti-inflammatories or pain killers in months but was forced to do so
to relieve my symptoms .
Since I felt like crap and KNEW the food was the cause I
went back to how I had been eating and my system went back to normal. This experience solidified my knowledge that
I cannot eat gluten. Period. I don’t care what tests say or how much
“science” says I should be able to eat it.
I can’t. It messes up my immune
system and fills my body with inflammation.
After this experience, I “let go” of any resentment I felt
over not being able to eat like other people.
I can sit with friends in an Italian restaurant and watch them chow down
on pizza and spaghetti and literally feel zero temptation to eat any of
it. Zero.
When I look at those foods now I remember how crappy I felt
in November. If anything, I feel a
revulsion towards those foods now and think about eczema, oozing eyes, painful
bloat, joint pain and breathing difficulties when I look at pizza, pasta and
donuts. No thanks.
November ended with a net GAIN of 1.4 pounds and a renewed
resolve to eat in a way that is healthy for me whether I lose weight or not and
no matter what an “expert” has to say about it.
December 2015: After
November’s “dietary vacation” and gluten disaster, as well as ending the month
with a net gain, I was determined to remain on track in December. I made the decision not to do any baking for
the holidays and I stuck to that. My
family LOVES the Christmas cookies that I would bake every year so the decision
to break that tradition was not an easy one.
I made a simple and healthy Christmas dinner and instructed
guests to bring desserts and bread for themselves.
I was busy that month and we had a death in the family, so
exercise really suffered. Nonetheless, I
finished December with a five pound loss for the month and a total loss of
145.6 -- and proved to myself that you
can have a great time without unhealthy foods and alcohol being the focus.
January 2016 - A new year and 11-months into my weight loss
and fitness journey. I renewed my
commitment to embrace health and lose weight and I wanted January to be a successful
month to finish out my first year in a strong way.
I returned to VERY strict eating, upped my water intake and
returned to being VERY carb selective.
I joined a gym and started hitting it 3 times a week. I had a nice drop in January and finished my
first year with a total loss of 157.4 pounds!
This brings us to the present month. The first month of my second year on this
journey. I’m proud of myself for not
giving up!
I had a physical and all my blood work came back great! My cholesterol is in the 170's and my blood sugar is now normal. I no longer take meds for asthma, allergies, joint pain or inflammation.
My resting pulse at the doctor's office was 52! Imagine that!!
I look forward o seeing what I can do in the coming year!
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