In November 2013, a little over 2 years ago, I embarked on a change in my eating habits, following the recommendations of a book called, The 2 Day Diet: Diet Two Days a Week, Eat Normally for Five by Dr. Michelle Harvie and Professor Tony Howell. This is where I started.
Beginning weight 11/3/13: 209
Height 5'8" Age: 61
Beginning waist size: 43 in.
By reducing carbs and increasing vegetable and protein intake severely two days a week and more moderately the rest of the week, over the course of eight months, I lost about thirty pounds and five inches in waist size. I continued eating a maintenance version of the recommendations, but over time slacked off and allowed more carbs into my diet. Gradually pounds started accumulating. A few time since then I have made feeble attempts to return my weight to 180, or 185, or 190 pounds, but each time after a losing a few pounds, weight loss eluded me, and I decided to be happy with the new weight and just hold the line. So here I am today, at 197, having gained more than half of the initial loss back, and imagining the possibility that I will soon be back where I started and no longer able to fit into the new jeans I bought when I reached my low point.
For those of you who know me or followed my blogging back then, I was posting my progress several times a month and wrote about learning to control my hunger, getting over my carb addiction, and how much better it felt to conquer the cravings I used to feel. So why am I back where I was?
Partly, it is the insidious addiction that carbs encourage, but, due to a new book I am reading: Always Hungry? Conquer your cravings, retrain your fat cells, and lose weight permanently by Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School endocrinologist Dr. David Ludwig, I now believe that there’s been something else at work—my own metabolism and the uncanny ability of the human body to store calories in order to preserve fat.
Surprisingly, one of the reasons I may have had trouble keeping my weight off may be that I tried to eat not only fewer carbs, but also lower my fat intake and eat low fat foods. Dr. Ludwig recommends eating butter and other ‘healthy’ fats, like nuts, and warns that low fat substitutes often contain hidden carbs. Though I haven’t yet started implementing the recommendations in this book, I look forward to losing this weight again and keeping it off.
While I won’t post weekly “weigh ins” as I did last time, I will keep you posted on my progress. Wish me luck!
Paul, the problem has many influences. We as American consumers have been ingesting calories from to many non food substitutes and products. And it's been slowly injected into so many foods we eat that we don't even know they're added. High fructose corn syrup is one. Low fat no fat substitutes are another. The body stores calories from these foods as fat because they have no nutritional value.
ReplyDeleteNext is the bacteria in your gut. It plays a huge role in metabolism and digestion. Many people believe ( as the products are marketed that way, that yogurts contain the probiotics needed to maintain a a healthy gut and keep your body burning and using the foods you eat. They don't.
Lastly, we have to kind of change our America vision of " healthy". Don't even like those term because it's so misused. There's a great video called poodle science.
http://youtu.be/H89QQfXtc-k
What this so beautifully explains is that we are not all created to have the same body mass or size. Healthy doesn't look one way. It's different for everyone. BMI is NOT a good or accurate measure to of health. It's was never designed to be.
So the worst thing that many if not most people do is diet. Drastically cut their caloric consumption often at the expense of whole food groups. They set themselves up for the cruelest trick of all. The body doesn't care what weight YOU believe you should be. It works on a sour oval mechanism built in to ensure survival during famine.
So when you restrict calories severely to lose weight quickly, the body thinks you are experiencing famine. When you begin to increase the calories consistently the body starts storing your intake as fat to protect you from the next famine.
Dieting doesn't work.
The best way to help your body burn most efficient is to eat consistently starting early in the day, giving yourself a balanced diet that include all food groups.
Check out this list of probiotics for the best combinations. They are NOT all equal
http://buyerreview.com/best-health-supplements/best-probiotic-supplements/?gclid=CN3d6cuQvsoCFQotHwodKlMATg
I've read some good things about green tea concentrate and enzyme supplements as well like amylase lipase and bromelain.
It seems like your activity lifestyle is a good one. You're out doing the things you enjoy.
Good luck cuz!