MD Diet Clinic Be Praised...

I need to write an entry. I have been really busy lately and have neglected writing here to the point that it feels forsaken. It isn’t; I just have had a hard time feeling motivated to write anything down let alone anything that I would want to reread in the future. I was on the treadmill this morning and something was sparked that I thought would be a good catalyst for getting me to start thinking about writing. Here is some personal history to start off:

About 2 months ago I went to see a doctor about my health. More specifically a nutritionist to help me get a grip on my diet and what has been happening with my body. Right after Amie and I were married we went on the South Beach diet and I went from 235 lbs. down to 195 lbs. From that time until about two months ago I had been steadily gaining the weight back that I had lost. April came around and even my fatty clothes weren’t fitting me well and I was feeling extremely discouraged about the eventuality of my obesity. Health problems associated with weight are very commonplace in my family tree; I have written about my dad and his bout with heart disease, diabetes etc. and was feeling that I was doomed to that end. I for whatever reason have always been conscious of my appearance and I think that the most disheartening thing was that I not only felt fat, I looked fat. I had gotten to where no matter what I wore that my gut and backside weren’t able to be hid. It sucked. Add to that I thought that I was doing everything I could in that I was active with exercise; I played football and basketball once a week and went to the gym. All those efforts were for naught, they kept adding pounds.

The first thing that I learned when I met with the doctor was that I was on pace to have a heart attack by the time I was 50 (sounds like someone else I know). I was also inline for adult onset diabetes (also, sounds like a LOT of people I know). BUT I also learned that I was able to make some changes that could completely reshape my body and give me the appearance and health that I wanted. She gave me some information that said in a nutshell that our culture and the way that we eat is the exact opposite of what our bodies need; from the times of days that we eat, to what we eat to how much. Changes in the way that I eat and what I eat would eliminate food craving that lead you to cheat and give me results in a relatively short amount of time, as long as I stuck to it. Amie and I were in this together so I knew that if we were both committed to the changes we needed to make in our diet then we would succeed. Her help has been HUGE…

A few of the things that I needed to change was the amount of protein that I ate. According to the doctor protein is the fuel that your muscles use to maintain themselves and a key component in telling your brain whether or not you need food. One of the biggest mistakes that happens with people that have food cravings is that they start their day with a yogurt, or bowl of cereal…some kind of carbohydrate and their muscles don’t start off with the fuel they need so their brain tells the body that it isn’t nourished; your metabolism slows down and your body goes into starvation mode making it so that all the fat and sugar that is eaten is put directly in to the fatty storage in the body. You can eat a 5000 calories diet every day and your body can think it is malnourished if you don’t eat enough protein. Another change was that I needed to eat a huge protein filled breakfast followed by some sort of morning fruit then another sizable meal for lunch (loaded with protein) and the taper off throughout the day not eating anything after six o’clock. My grams of protein for the day should be between 130 to 160 grams and my carbohydrate intake for the day no greater than 45 grams (I also learned that “net carbs” are a joke, fiber doesn’t at any point take away the effect of the carbs you eat and that net cards are a marketing tool to get you to eat more carbs). The sugars that I eat are from natural sources; fruits etc. and I needed to drink about 80 ounces of water throughout the day. Lastly, the doctor said that if I changed how I exercise during the first months while my body was losing the excess fat that I could accelerate the process. I needed to do only cardio and to get my heart rate in the fat burn zone, which for me is between 125 and 150 beats per minute for no less than 3 times a week for 45 minutes at a time.

A few of the things that I have learned over the course of these months is that on the South Beach diet my body was eating its own muscle and structural fat and that I why I lost weight. I was still soft in the middle even though I lost 40 lbs. I started this diet weighing 232 lbs. with 152 lbs. of that being my lean body mass (muscles, structural fat, organs etc). A safe body fat percentage is between 7.5 to 10% for males and at that point mine was almost 35%. As of yesterday which was my most recent appointment I weighed 195lbs. with 149 lbs. of that being my lean body mass, meaning that of the 37 lbs of my weight loss only 3 lbs. of it was muscle. My blood pressure is now in a safe place and I continue to loss weight everyday as I keep with the changes that made two months ago. I have a long way to go still but as I made the changes that I need to have enough protein in my diet I haven’t had any real cravings for stuff I shouldn’t be eating. Matter of fact, on Sunday I had a piece of cake that was DELICOUS and it wrecked my stomach and my body didn’t like what I had done do it reinforcing that if I eat what is good for me and have enough protein then I feel great and see positive results in my appearance. Statistically speaking if I can keep up with this for a year the chance of going back to being the way I was is small and for two years I am almost guaranteed to stay thin and healthy for the rest of my life. The way you feel and look plays such a role in your esteem as a person, a spouse, in the business world that I feel very grateful that I was able to learn what I have and make the changes. I do not exaggerate when I say that I do not crave sugars, sodas, candy…any of that stuff. Cheating is not appealing in this diet if you do what you should.

Anyway, that is one of the things that I am proud of that I have done in the past months. I get excited thinking about being in my fifties and still able to play with my grandkids, ski, and do all the things physically that I wouldn’t be able to if I was fat with bad health.

BRING ON THE MIDLIFE!!