Good morning everyone. First, I want to thank all those who gave me such positive feedback on part one of my story -- and that's inspired me to write a few more diaries. So, without further ado:
Diet solved almost everything for me
In part one, I noted that I had "metabolic syndrome." Besides being overweight, I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, deficient "good" cholesterol, high blood sugars, and high triglycerides. (And, in some cases, it wasn't just "high" -- it was off the charts). I had high "C-Reactive Protein" (which I will talk about in some future diary). And so I was prescribed half a dozen or more prescriptions (almost all of which ended up causes bad side effects for me).
Six month later I was 35 pounds lighter, almost all my blood levels were normal, and I'm off almost all the medications.
How did I do it?
WHEE (Weight, Health, Eating and Exercise) is a community support diary for Kossacks....
More on the flip side . . .
WHEE (Weight, Health, Eating and Exercise) is a community support diary for Kossacks who are currently or planning to start losing, gaining or maintaining their weight through diet and exercise or fitness. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are working on your weight or fitness, please -- join us! You can also click the WHEE tag to view all diary posts.
Counting Calories
No matter what diet you're following, no matter what scheme or regimen you are on, South Beach, Mediterranean, Weight Watchers, whatever . . . we can't escape basic biology: if you consume fewer calories than you expend, you will lose weight. It's really that simple.
Sort of.
I say "sort of" because the real question is how to consume less calories. Furthermore, as is well documented in the many excellent diaries here in the WHEE series, we need to have a balanced diet, worry about glycemic load, reduced metabolism as we eat less, muscle loss, protein, genetic factors, and so on.
And yet, on the other hand . . . if you eat less calories than you burn, you'll lose weight. And that's exactly where I started my focus when I started this journey some 35+ pounds ago.
My favorite quote from the WHEE series comes from Jennyjem, who wrote:
A lot of people have asked me how I did it, but the answer never seems to satisfy them. This is because they really don't want to know how I lost the weight. The answer to that question is readily available. No, what they really want to know is how I got past all the obstacles that they and everyone else who has tried to make lasting changes to their bodies or minds have faced.
Jennyjem -- you are right on the money with this.
And so I'd like to devote my diaries to various tips about how I was able to overcome those obstacles.
Now, I'm no expert on psychology, and I haven't done any scientific studies on this. On the other hand, my weight loss has been so dramatic that I've inspired a number of other friends to lose weight, and they pretty much all come to the same conclusion:
Step 1: Write everything down
I can't emphasize this enough. It's just impossible to keep track otherwise. Furthermore, by writing everything down (or entering into a spreadsheet, or some other software program, or on-line), it's forcing you to read labels and learn exactly how many calories and grams of fat you are eating. It enables you to make smart choices.
My own experience has been extremely enlightening. I started tracking everything, and a few months later I had lost 20 pounds. I was absolutely thrilled! After those months, I kind of got into a groove of what I could eat each day, and how much, and still maintain my weight. I had a good routine and I was pretty confident about it. For the next two months I followed the routine and ate smartly but did not write anything down. And the result after those two months? I did not lose (or gain) a single pound.
Hmmm . . . back to basics for me. I started keeping track again, and over the last few months have lost another 15 pounds.
My conclusion is this: if someone wanted to hire me to be their mentor for losing weight, I would tell them: I'll take your case if and only if you keep track of everything you eat.
Now -- all this is only Step One of my plan. There are other obstacles to overcome. You need to know how many calories to consume per day. Further, if you're like me (a voracious appetite) you need to know how in the world you can cut down on your calories without feeling starved the entire day. I will get to that in future diaries -- but for now, I want to share how I keep track of what I eat.
When I first started, I thought losing even just 15 pounds would be a most remarkable achievement for me (it would mean getting to my lowest weight in a decade). And so, I set a goal: if I lost the 15 pounds, I would get myself an iPhone. My wife was very supportive. Yeah, an iPhone was not a trivial expense, but I would be saving a whole lot of money by eating better (less food, less eating out) and becoming healthier (fewer doctors visits, and etc.)
I reached my goal, and, after waiting for the release of the iPhone 3G, I purchased one. A friend showed me some applications that would enable me to keep track of what I was eating. Perfect! I carry my iPhone with me pretty much 24/7, and so now I could enter everything right when I eat it!
And it was perfect timing . . . because this was the event that enabled me to start keeping track again.
You see, keeping track (I was entering everything in a spreadsheet on my home computer) was getting to be really tiresome for me -- it simply was not sustainable (using the word that professionals use). That's why I stopped keeping track after the first 20 pounds. I couldn't do it anymore. Enter the iPhone, and the App, and I started losing weight immediately again -- and that's how I lost the 15 subsequent pounds.
The program I use is called Lose It!. It's free, and it works great for me. It even has an algorithm which will tell me (based on height, age, gender, current weight, goal weight) how many calories I should consume each day. (Experience has proven that it's been pretty accurate for me). There are a few things I wish it did (I'd like to be able to export the data somewhere), but, hey, it's free and it works. (Here's a review; and another). I'm sure there are other good apps out there (A NYTimes article notes a few here. I read another review just last week which mentioned an app that will scan a package barcode for quick and easy calorie logging. I don't know if Lose It! is the best program -- but it's what I have and it's worked great for me.
[UPDATE: as noted in comments below -- many of these programs, including Lose It!, also allow entries for exercise, which will then offset your calorie count. [Update 2: also: many of these programs allowed for custom entries and recipes to be added and saved] Also, anything that works for iPhone will also work for iTouch, which is a cheaper solution -- the only difference being that the latter does not have a phone and can't access the internet over 3G.]
So, for everyone who's been trying to lose weight -- may I suggest, quite simply: "step 1: keep track". You don't even need to cut back, or change a thing at first. You owe it to yourself to at least find out what you are currently eating. Try it.
In my next diary, I will continue to describe different aspects of "how" one can eat fewer calories.
October 1
Thurs PM - ???
October 2
Fri AM - ???
Fri PM - webranding
October 3
Sat AM - ???
Sat PM - Edward Spurlock (Kessler, Ch. 11)
October 4
Sun AM - louisev - Turtle diary
Sun PM - ???
October 5
Mon AM - NC Dem
Mon PM - ???
October 6
Tues AM - Clio2 (Kessler, Ch. 12)
Tues PM - ???
October 7
Weds AM - digitalmuse
Weds PM - Edward Spurlock
October 8
Thrs AM - A DC Wonk
Thrs PM - ???