Time to Say Hello

Hello,

I've been on the board a short while and have found it to be a positive benefit to my weight loss success. So, it’s time to introduce myself.

I’m a 57 year old male whose been fighting the weight battle all my life. Big as a child, fat as a teen and carried that on into adulthood.

In the 80’s (I know, ages ago!) if you were overweight and went looking for a diet program, what was out there was low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets. So I went with that and joined Weight Watchers.

I had success with their program and even received ‘Life Member’ status by reaching goal weight and keeping it off for a while. But with their program I had a nagging, underlying issue. I was always hungry. Always! It seemed like my appetite would never subside. I didn't understand until many years later that because it was a low-fat, high carbohydrate diet, eating refined carbohydrates caused a rise in my blood-sugar levels, setting up an insulin surge that drove blood sugar down again, causing rebound hunger. It really was the wrong diet for an overweight person like me.

Fast forward many years and a few additional starts and stops with WW, and I went on the Atkins low carb program. Oh my god! I was in heaven. Eat steaks & bacon and lose weight. A guy’s dream diet. It worked for me for a while. But I didn't have the time, or desire to restrict my diet to the point where I was always low carb. What about my Cheetos? What about my Guinness? What about day-to-day living where many times, low-carb choices were not available? Eventually, I went back to my old eating habits and gained weight.

Then recently, just by chance, a colleague who had lost weight and was keeping it off, and more importantly, seemed very relaxed and comfortable with his program, gave me a book: The Skinny: On Losing Weight Without Being Hungry, by Dr. Louis Aronne.

This is it! For me, this is the Holy Grail. This explains it all. Why the other diets fail and what it takes to lose weight and feel satisfied while not being constantly hungry. I’m following this and it’s working.

My diet is now consists mainly of meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, dairy and complex carbohydrates. I cut out almost all simple carbohydrates such as white flour, sugar and potatoes. I've substituted complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, brown rice and barley whenever possible. I've also cut way down on the diet soda, substituting water and coffee.

I start the day with protein at breakfast, protein, vegetables & complex carbs at lunch and dinner and fruits & dairy for snacks. If I’m hungry and have had snacks, a bit of protein knocks down my appetite. So far, I love it and it works. I’m losing weight and don’t have the constant hunger cravings! I can see staying with my variation of this program for the rest of my life.

As for exercise, 3 days per week, I do my version of the 30 day shred DVD for 30 minutes (no jumping due to knee issues). On three other days per week I walk for 45 minutes or swim for at least 30 minutes. I take one day off.

And last but not least, there’s MFP. This is a great site! It’s the third leg on my three legged stool of weight management: diet, exercise, and MFP tracking/motivation. It’s allowed me to really see what food I consume and tailor my food consumption to my personal needs. Plus, the real world discussion and problem solving from people on the site helps with my motivation and lets me know that I’m not alone in my effort to lose weight and become more healthy.

So, to all of you, cheers, and hello.

JustWanderful