Exploring Solutions for Obesity

This past May after a troubling family crisis and standing @ 425 lbs I committed to a medically supervised liquid diet. In the almost 6 months since, I have lost over 140 lbs, I also committed to an exercise routine where I do over 30 minutes of cardio as well as strength training. The key word here is commit. As I move forward towards the maintenance phase where I still hope to lose more weight I ABSOLUTELY KNOW that any step in my previous direction will put me where I was before. So sensible eating and a conscientious approach to fitness and health are the mantras I have to live by from this point on. Sorry no pie for me this holiday season.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Plateau my A** !!

Last week I was bellyaching over having only a 1.6 lost. This on a week where I didn't cheat and I kept my same routine exercise wise, I was a real pi$$er all that day, but I had to realize I had out grown (or out loss) what was effective for me and and I needed to tweak my routine. So in addition to my normal 5-6 day a week gym workout, I added an early morning jog/walk a couple of days last week. I also pushed my thread mill time and speed upward along more weight training. This week I hit lucky #7. 7.0 lbs lost.

Haven't been giving total weight loss recently

In case anyone out there's wondering I'm at about 105 loss total.

making something outta nothing

I have to admit, I live and die according to the weekly weigh ins and the satisfation I get from a good weeks llost can carry me through even the most trying weeks. So it was with the utmost frustration that I posted only a 1.6 lb loss. I hate to think that the ugly p-ward has reared it's head. Yeah, I know...Het at least you're losing and you can't keep thing you vcan keep a 6 lbs average going forever. But concidering the amount of cals in vs. the cals burned. ....somethings got to give.

A response to a liquid dieter who had given up

The New Direction program has worked well for me at least in this reducing stage. Once I developed a plan for nutrition and fitness, I stuck with it to a tee. That's not to say I'm extraordinarily disciplined, but the immediate payoff of seeing my blood sugar and cholesterol levels plummet made not pulling up to a drive-thru seem trivial. And to be honest, i really need a break from food decisions and food guilt and the time to reformulate a NEW approach towards eating. I know ketosis gives me a holiday from hunger and the challenge of transitioning and maintenance has killed many an earnest dieters efforts, but I gotta get an attack plan for that as well....'cause I can't go back and I WON'T go back.

Calling Chef Bruno !!!!

Something of a recent weight loss legend as well as a liquid diet success story is Chef Luis Bruno. I have used him as an inspiration over the past few months and I hope one day to meet him in person.

Not another "dead"blog.....

81.2 POUNDS. Yes, the constipation and dull hunger is a given, but so is the validation high...

A rememberance of pounds past

Today, I ran across a web site targetted at weight loss in the African American community. I had joined almost two years ago recorded my estimated weight at the time and rarely returned (if ever). I returned today and recorded my current weight, without checking the original and was surprised to find that it was 440 lbs, giving me a respectable 67 lb weight loss in the 2 year period. All the more significant that 79% of the weight was lost in the past 8 weeks. What motivation (and ketosis)can do.

The force of July

Whew, it's over the day of reckoning has come and passed. The family had a twenty person "Forth Feast" with all the trimmings, with me grilling up the chicken and ribs all attending had their fill, and I faithful to the program... Alas,.Labor Day beckons

Long time no type

Week seven weigh-in weight at 381.4 pounds, The unfortunate part was learning that pickles are a total water magnet causing an almost total retention of all fluids acquired throughout the day....yikes !!!!

WEEK FOUR

This week felt good going into weigh in, put enough time into the gym and morning walks. Made a mistake with last weeks food buy, not enough soups. Won't repeat that mistake this week, 4 boxes 2 soups, 1 beverage, and a variety pack. This week 397.4 a milestone, 7 pounds lost, and below 400 pounds........Hallelujah !!! O happy day !!!!!

The problem with catching up........

Okay, the diet is almost 4 weeks old and the blog is only 3 days old so, a little catch up is in order.
WEEK ONE:Orientation, Physical, packages of soups, shakes and puddings at my size 4 per day all 200 calories Preketosis weakness, and hunger 3-5 days. Hit ketosis, not so hungry, breath...uuuugh, constipation terrible, in need of laxatives and suppositories (I call it, hitting it from both ends) 1st weekly weigh in, loss...10 pounds....ohh yeah.....
(I know mostly water weight, but still)
WEEK TWO: More of the same, cooking for the kids on the weekend, not a problem, a few times I accidentally tasted, but spit out as soon as I realized... 2nd weigh in, a meager 4 pounds loss....expected, but still disappointed.
WEEK THREE: Now we get to work out at the hospital fitness center, looking forward to kick starting the weight loss...3rd weigh, in feeling good, with a 7.8 pound loss.

Ketosis is the key (?)

The VLCD is based around the notion that at a particularly low caloric intake. the body straddles between starvation and and appropriate functioning, where the lack of nutrients are compensated for by the metabolism of fats in the liver, producing ketones While a popular dieting option, it remains controversial and is only recommended for medically supervised dieting, where live and other functioning can be routinely monitored.
The option to go this route for me involved understanding the risks and feelings that another more conservative approach, would have constituted an unacceptable half-measure.

425/47 and dying

Life circumstances create choices. At a crucial moment, I decided that my morbid obesity was in many ways the cause of many of the problems that had compromised the promise of my life. Something had to be done and the answer at hand seemed to be a drastic assault on the monstrosity of flesh and flab my body had become. That was 4 weeks ago when I made the choice, and 3 and a half weeks when I made the decision to pursue a medically supervised liquid diet.
My background, a 47 year old African American male, who had gone from a college age weight ranging from 165 to 180 lbs to my peak at approximately 44o lbs. It was as a young naval officer that weight issues began and had worsened throughout my adult life. After the service, a time shortened by issues related to, but not exclusive to my weight, I began a descent into a sedentary existence that cheated me but more importantly, those around me. So it was May 12, 2010 that I officially began, what was to be a months long odyssey on a liquid "Very Low Calorie Diet ". Fuel for my body was a combination of meal replacement shakes/soups/puddings, thus beginning a life without food.