Well...I'm starting my first blog. Entering my first blog entry. It's a bit daunting. I'm putting my thoughts out there for others to read. Scary! But I need this. I'm embarking on a journey that will test me. More than anything that has tested me in my life. I need this. I need accountability. I need support. This is how I work.
I'm 35 years old. Single, accomplished. Content. But I'm morbidly obese. Morbid. That's serious. So, I decided to look up morbid in the dictionary to see how serious this is. Now, I'm not stupid. I know what morbidly obese means. But, I'm a nerd and proud of it, so humor me, okay? And, I looked this up in my actual 80 lb. dictionary. Not the web...so give me a few points for going old-school.
According to Webster's New World College Dictionary Fourth Edition:
morbid adj.
1. of, having, or caused by disease; unhealthy; diseased
2. resulting from or as from a diseased state of mind...having or showing an unwholesome tendency to dwell on gruesomeness or gloomy matters
3. gruesome; grisly; horrible
4. of diseased parts; pathological
5. causing disease
To summarize, this is really bad. Sucks! And, I know it too. I'm 345 lbs. I'm on medication for diabetes, cholesterol, and high blood pressure. The TRIFECTA as I like to call it. Definitely nothing to be proud of at all.
I remember back in 2009, my doctor suggested a diet for me to try. I was 360 lbs., and I decided to take her advice and went on a "Protein Sparing Modified Fast." I lost 131 lbs., and I was feeling fan-fucking-tastic. I was working out sometimes 1 to 2 hours a day. I was going to step and Zumba - which I really adore and highly recommend. It's like going to the club and shaking your ass instead of exercising. I built muscle and was seeing a personal trainer.
This was all thanks to the "Protein Sparing Modified Fast." And it was probably the worst decision I ever made in my life. This "fast" is a no carb diet. Not low-carb...NO CARB. None! Zilch! Nada! I was on this diet for 12 months, and I lost 131 lbs. by basically shocking my body into burning fat only. I couldn't drink milk - so I had to take calcium supplements. I couldn't eat fruit - so I had to take a multivitamin and potassium supplements. No sugar. No bread. Nothing that had carbohydrates. I had to limit myself to less than 20 grams ofcarb each day. This includes the carbs naturally found in vegetables. I also had to take a stool softener every day and magnesium supplements because constipation is an issue with this diet.
I lost 18 lbs. the first week.
How is this possible? Well, basically I put my body in permanent fat burning mode. No carbs means no instant energy source so the body automatically goes to fat. It also means you don't retain water. Ketones are produced which are also expelled so I had to drink over 64 ounces of fluid a day to make sure the ketones were expelled.
I had to do under strict supervision from a physician that specializes in this fast. It was going great...until a problem arose. I was so constipated that I hadn't had a movement in a week (yeah...I'm going there folks so enjoy the ride). It was horrible. Believe me, you never want to go through this. I ended up being taken off the diet and being put into what they call "Refeading" - which is gradually introducing carbs back into my diet.
Guess what my body did? It was like crack to a crack addict. I was going nuts. I felt like my body was out of control. I was eating boxes...BOXES...of crackers, vanilla waffers (which I really think are crack), and any type of carb I could get my hands on. And, eventually I gained all may weight back.
So...morale of this story...you can't cheat your body into losing weight. Bodies are meant to use carb and fat for fuel.
Now, here I am two years later facing some serious health issues, and I've made decision to do this the right way FOR ME. The old fashioned way. Eat less. Make better food choices. Move more. Slow and steady wins the race. I hope you join me on my journey.
I'm 35 years old. Single, accomplished. Content. But I'm morbidly obese. Morbid. That's serious. So, I decided to look up morbid in the dictionary to see how serious this is. Now, I'm not stupid. I know what morbidly obese means. But, I'm a nerd and proud of it, so humor me, okay? And, I looked this up in my actual 80 lb. dictionary. Not the web...so give me a few points for going old-school.
According to Webster's New World College Dictionary Fourth Edition:
morbid adj.
1. of, having, or caused by disease; unhealthy; diseased
2. resulting from or as from a diseased state of mind...having or showing an unwholesome tendency to dwell on gruesomeness or gloomy matters
3. gruesome; grisly; horrible
4. of diseased parts; pathological
5. causing disease
To summarize, this is really bad. Sucks! And, I know it too. I'm 345 lbs. I'm on medication for diabetes, cholesterol, and high blood pressure. The TRIFECTA as I like to call it. Definitely nothing to be proud of at all.
I remember back in 2009, my doctor suggested a diet for me to try. I was 360 lbs., and I decided to take her advice and went on a "Protein Sparing Modified Fast." I lost 131 lbs., and I was feeling fan-fucking-tastic. I was working out sometimes 1 to 2 hours a day. I was going to step and Zumba - which I really adore and highly recommend. It's like going to the club and shaking your ass instead of exercising. I built muscle and was seeing a personal trainer.
This was all thanks to the "Protein Sparing Modified Fast." And it was probably the worst decision I ever made in my life. This "fast" is a no carb diet. Not low-carb...NO CARB. None! Zilch! Nada! I was on this diet for 12 months, and I lost 131 lbs. by basically shocking my body into burning fat only. I couldn't drink milk - so I had to take calcium supplements. I couldn't eat fruit - so I had to take a multivitamin and potassium supplements. No sugar. No bread. Nothing that had carbohydrates. I had to limit myself to less than 20 grams ofcarb each day. This includes the carbs naturally found in vegetables. I also had to take a stool softener every day and magnesium supplements because constipation is an issue with this diet.
I lost 18 lbs. the first week.
How is this possible? Well, basically I put my body in permanent fat burning mode. No carbs means no instant energy source so the body automatically goes to fat. It also means you don't retain water. Ketones are produced which are also expelled so I had to drink over 64 ounces of fluid a day to make sure the ketones were expelled.
I had to do under strict supervision from a physician that specializes in this fast. It was going great...until a problem arose. I was so constipated that I hadn't had a movement in a week (yeah...I'm going there folks so enjoy the ride). It was horrible. Believe me, you never want to go through this. I ended up being taken off the diet and being put into what they call "Refeading" - which is gradually introducing carbs back into my diet.
Guess what my body did? It was like crack to a crack addict. I was going nuts. I felt like my body was out of control. I was eating boxes...BOXES...of crackers, vanilla waffers (which I really think are crack), and any type of carb I could get my hands on. And, eventually I gained all may weight back.
So...morale of this story...you can't cheat your body into losing weight. Bodies are meant to use carb and fat for fuel.
Now, here I am two years later facing some serious health issues, and I've made decision to do this the right way FOR ME. The old fashioned way. Eat less. Make better food choices. Move more. Slow and steady wins the race. I hope you join me on my journey.
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