Oh, man. Poor Jesse. I feel your pain, dude.
I'm dieting, too. I NEVER do this. Half the weight I've gained over the past 30 years was packed on in the aftermath of some (usually sane and well-balanced -- I used to be a medical writer, and don't mess with the other kind) diet.
But my endo in LA got to looking at the numbers when I was down that way a few weeks ago, and insisted that I low-carb myself back into a size 12 pronto, or else.
And so I'm back on the meat-and-salad special, and doing a lot more walking than I've done in ages. Also kayaking: Dave and I were out in Haro Strait yesterday, off the west coast of San Juan Island, frolicking with orcas and generally having a fine time in one of the world's most spectacular spots. Turns out I really like kayaking. Canoodling with two-ton marine mammals with razor-sharp teeth is also more fun than you might imagine.
So it's coming off, slowly. (Not fast like it does for men. Did I mention I hate that about y'all?)
Aw, Doc. You're breaking my heart. You know I love you, but Rachel Ray is evil.
Try this or this or this. Save yourself.
At least you're getting enough fiber in your diet, which should clean you out real good.
My doctor won't let me near this, however; I just try to cut back 500 calories each day - adds up to 3500 a week, which is a pound per week.
Slow going and it sucks. But I lowered my blood sugar almost 20 points down to normal range (I was damned near borderline) and I'm determined to get down to double digits. Doesn't show on the body yet, but knowing that my blood sugar level is down, my blood pressure is normal, and my good cholesterol is rising, I can live with the health part of losing weight.
I'm just waiting for the time I can get into a bathing suit and not feel the need to run and hide from my beached whale impersonation...
Hi ya'll. I'm gnu. Just sticking my hoof in the water here. This looks like a good pond to share a drink.
"Rachel Ray is evil". LOL. I'll have to back up you up on that julia.
I've never heard of the bean diet but I was wondering if, it's so risky why would your doctor allow you do it? You do seem to be well educated about the risks and have a good plan and attitude.
You didn't mention your height but your starting weight is about ten pounds less than my current weight (I'm 6'1") and this bean thing sounds simple to do. I'd like to try it. I've never done any special diet other than short forays into eating less carbs.
All my levels are actually good, never any elevations in blood sugar or cholesterol although I do take a pill daily for mild hypertension and vitamins.
Did you just go to your doctor and say I want to try the bean diet? Did he look at you funny
?
Best of luck with it. It sounds like you are off to a great start and by the time you start your bike trip I hope you feel like you are flying.
I had only visited The News Blog a few times and am a relative newcomer to political blogging. My condolences to each of you who were compatriots of Steve and I look forward to being able to read his collected works when they become available.
I wish ya'll all the best in your new blogging endeavor.
You're a trooper, Doc. Be careful--an extremely low-calorie diet combined with hard exercise can really waste your muscle mass along with the fat. I'm thinking extreme survival tales, like the dude who wrecked his sailboat and floated halfway across the Atlantic in an innertube, or the guy who decided to hike the Outback from north to south living only on wild plants and almost didn't make it.
I'd counsel patience and slower weight loss, but you're a smart guy and will make adjustments if you start feeling not so great. Good luck.
Yeah, I was wondering what your height is. My doctor told me to lose weight to lower my blood pressure - I was 170 at the time. I'm only 5'7" though.
Keeping it off really is the hard part. It's a lifestyle change to keep from gaining it back. I'm trying to get from 155 to 150 now, and I can't seem to eat little enough - I need to spend more time on the bike
I'm 6'2". And 248.6 as of this morning. Finally broke 250. Hot DAMN!
Also, I'm watching my body fat percentage like a hawk. Precisely so I don't lose muscle mass. Biking like crazy keeps my muscles strong and in good shape.
Come Halloween -- storm season, no longer riding bikes outside most days -- I'll likely add some light weights to my routine in the gym downstairs from my office. I can't life much due to a long-term injury, but I should be able to build strength and muscle with lots of light reps, and all I really care about is endurance, not large bulky things. My muscles are mostly long-distance muscles, not fast-twitch. I'm hard-wired for biking, running, all the endurance sports. The classic grunt. *laughs*
As for Rachael Ray, I'm going to pull from an email I sent a few minutes ago:
The thing about R Ray is, the meals are 30 minutes. And I understand her style of cooking. I don't understand the other people. Too complex for my simple medic mind. Take 2.17 cups of something I've never heard of and French Word it with the a Obscure Cooking Implement till it is half way done, where "done" means something only a Chef with 20 years experience can see.
Rachael says, take half a handful of garlic, drop it in the pot, take your evoo go twice around the pot and cook till it smells good. Then throw in the chopped up veggies and stir. When they start to get brown, throw in the chicken, add 1 cup of water, cover, and let it sit for 10 minutes. I can understand that. It's simple cooking. I can do simple. I can't do obscure. Yes, her constant perky annoys me. But I'll put up with it, if I can learn how to freaking cook, which will let me stay at a weight I want.
I cook a pot of beans every Sunday and make burritos from the leftovers and put them in the freezer. To avoid flatulence, I cook a different type of bean every week. Lately I have been combining different types and cooking them with lentils. Last week I made red beans with adzukis and red lentils. Often I combine black beans with whatever other bean I choose that week. Legumes are the way to go.
Here's a different way. Concentrate on heavy exercise, eat all you want. I'm 65, eat and drink like a horse. The price? My goal is climbing 10,000 stairs every two (5 day) weeks. Its a bitch getting to that goal, but not too bad to maintain once there. Should be a snap finding the resource in Seattle. I don't drink a lot of beer (more Jack Daniels now), my beverage of choice, but still drink some. I do eat beans, not Bush's, way too sweet and too much juice. There are some Texas-style beans, and another kind with jalapenos that go with everything. Also you can whip these up to make a super dip. This approach is a lot more fun than dieting, and after a while you'll be proud that you're doing the radical exercise bit. Once you have achieved your exercise goal and are building muscle, you'll be starving, and by eating healthy will be able to satisfy yourself at the dinner table.
"Beeno" rules! I've got some kind of problem digesting soy -- gas galore! Beeno really does the trick!
People die from being overweight
See, I've read conflicting opinions on this, mostly that it's not the weight so much as the sedentary lifestyle that kills. But the two are so highly correlated (or so the theory goes) that it's difficult to say which one is really the killer.
Regardless, I'm not taking any chances either - because in the end, who cares what you die of? You're still dead.
when you have lost enough weight to be able to lift your own weight via doing The Table i once more reccommend the Tibetan Rites / also known as the Five Tibetans / i have successfully lost most of my Killer Belly Fat by balancing my endocrine system (the mission statement of the Rites is to stimulate hormone production which decreases and contributes to the aging process)/ doing the rites in the morning stimulates the thyroid particularly and therefore steps up your metabolism / i eat a normal balanced diet / key element is food combining : dont eat meat at the same time you eat carbs / one or the other, but not both together / actually since doing the rites for six months i have much less taste for meat but i have 73 years and prolly dont need as much protein as i did when younger / fiber Yes !
Jesse, I did this sort of too about 8 years ago. Beans and pilates and treadmill for 1 hour. Specifically korean mixed beans and rice (put a whole bunch of beans and different types of rice in a pressure cooker and let it rip).
I went from 155 to 117 in 6 months. Alas, the weight came back eventually although not to the height it was (until I was pregnant). The other problem with losing weight so quickly...well if you have a tendency in your genetics, it can trigger gallstones/bile issues that can become chronic. Guess what runs in my family :-(.
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