General Discussion & Chat: my 100 + lb weight loss #2

Here is your new thread Herbie!

We came form here:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/740130/


This message was edited Oct 30, 2007 3:29 PM

Thanks Beth, I feel lousy! I'm headed to bed and hopefully will remember to weigh in tomorrow morning!

have a great day ladies

hey everyone. is it time to drop this thred or not. i have been a little busy lately but i am still on my diet. last week i lost another three pounds. i am now 249 pounds. my next goal is 240 . hows everyone doing there. its up to you guys if you want to keep this going.

I'm still having a few health issues and headed out of town, I'll be back and posting when then, Thanks,
Pat

I'm doing great and celebrating losing 75 lbs.
My weight loss may go slower now as I lose the last few pounds, but it's been fun to have this support!

thanks for checking in. my next weigh in will be wed although i am going to queens tonight for my wifes monthly grade school reunion. its in an italian resuturant that severs family style. oh boy. LOL

have a grat day

Herbie43,

I just joined Dave's Garden today and am still poking around looking at different topics. Your weight loss saga is extremely inspiring as I know how hard it is to change lifestyles from total hedonism to a more Spartan regimen. You're doing way better than I even though you seem to enjoy a few more splurges from time to time. Like that pulled pork, Italian food, and other delicious looking stuff in your pictures.

In the original post of the first thread, you said your carotid artery was 60% clogged and your aortic valve wasn't functioning up to par. I browsed through both threads fairly quickly and may have missed it, but you never say whether you had any procedures to clear the artery or replace the valve. What effect has your substantial weight loss had on those two conditions.

I ask because three years ago I weighed 302 pounds and had a heart attack that resulted in a double bypass and aortic valve replacement. Luckily, my carotid arteries remained unclogged and since my surgery, everything has improved immensely except my weight loss which kind of stopped at 235 pounds.

Most of my weight loss was inspired by pure fear. Fear of returning to the operation table made me give up smoking, drinking, eating fatty foods, etc. But earlier this year, I began backsliding on the diet and went back up to 250. Now in the past 3 weeks I'm back down to 235 and plan to continue this present diet until I hit somewhere under 200. Supposedly, my weight should be 175. Not likely!

The diet I'm on now is based on "metabolic transformation" and works great if I really stick to the maximum numbers per day assigned to a man 5'9" - 6'0": 130 - 150 grams protein, 150 - 180 grams carbohydrates, 50 - 55 grams fat. Now some folks are going to say "wow, that's a lot of protein per day!" And yes it is. It's also a lot of fat compared to what I had gotten used to after my surgery. It's also about half the USDA recommended carbs, but believe me it works fast.

I should emphasize a few things. First, the fat should be as much nonsaturated as possible, so all the animal protein is from lean sources like fish, skinless poultry and lean pork. The rest of the fat is polyunsaturates from olive oil or other vegetable sources. I find that usually I don't take in more than 40 grams of fat per day. The carbs should come from whole grains and fresh fruit. Like you say, nothing white, because most white starches are going to put you over the limits I'll explain below.

Yes, there are a few catches with this diet that make it hard to hit the maximum grams allowed for carbs. One is that you cannot eat more than 25 - 30 grams of carbohydrates in one meal or snack. For someone shorter than 5' 9", and for women in general, the single meal or snack max. is more like 20 grams of carbs. And second, you have to space your intakes a minimum of 3 hours apart and preferably closer to 4 hours if possible. So you can see real quickly that you're not going to hit 180 grams of carbs a day unless you eat 6 times over a 15-hour span of time.

This diet may sound similar to the Atkins diet, but I think it's more balanced than other "high protein" diets and is based on transforming your metabolism so that your body draws from stored body fat rather than elevated blood sugar levels typically occuring following a high carbohydrate intake. If anyone is interested in a more detailed explanation of the blood sugar thing, I'd be happy to go into that in another post.

Basically, all I can tell you now is that if I eat at or under the maximum allowable levels outlined above, I lose an average one pound per day with absolutely no exercise and sometimes two pounds per day if I cut the grass or walk a mile or two. The doctor that monitors this diet advises some simple weight training to build muscle mass while you reduce your body fat index. My cousin has lost 125 pounds in 9 months this way and all he does is walk a mile or so per day ... nothing else.

Anyway, I just thought I'd throw that into the mix and congratulate all you folks on your persistence toward your weight loss goals. Believe me, you don't want open heart surgery. It's not a picnic.

pr

This message was edited Nov 17, 2007 10:19 PM

penny - nice to have you with us and congratulations on your weight loss. whatever diet works for you is the one you wantto stick with.

as for my clogged artery. the first dr. i we3nt to was read to operate and before i agreed to anything i wanted to check out few things. the first thing i did was got on the internet and looked up the top 100 doctors in new york. the top cardiologist was michael kay from westchester so i made an appt with him. i brought all my mri's x-rays etc and all my reports along with me. after running some of his own tests he told me that the artery was 60 percent clogged but they neer worried about it until it became 80 pct clogged. as far as the aeota valve went he told me that i had more of a chance of getting run over buy a bus and killed than the valve doing me in. i do take lipitor and something for the valve.

every six months i go for echo cardio grams and tests to check my artery. every visit has show an improvement or atthe very least no change which is ok with him.

i am now down to 247 pounds. yes i do enjoy my italian meals but right after such meals i am back on the diet and watching what i eat.

glad to have you along with us.

how is everyone doing ??

Herbie43,

Thanks for the welcome!

Everything is doing fine now. When I was first in the hospital here in 2004, the surgeon I was assigned to advised me to go to a facility that was better equipped since the risk of the required procedures was so high here. He is a very proficient surgeon, but he just felt the risk was very high, so after some research, I went to Cleveland Clinic which is the tops for valve replacement. My aortic valve was completely calcified with plaque ... shot ... and the echo cardiograms were showing a 20% ejection fraction.

After surgery, diet, 3-1/2 years of medication and cardiac rehab, etc., my ejection fraction is up to 58%. Life is good. Coreg is a miracle drug. I just ate a half of a pear and am thinking about a yummy protein shake/coffee latte thingie made with skim milk.

pr

my mom died from a (what they called at the time, a "clogged" aorta valve. she was only 41 years old. when i spoke with my current heart dr. i told him that as a kid i had a heart mumur. he said at that time they didn't even know what was wrong and that i probably had valve trouble at that time.

have a great turkey day.

frank

Penny,
I would like to hear more about the high protein diet you are on and if you can recommend a book that is specific to what you are doing. I HATE counting calories, fat grams etc but right now what I've been doing isn't working so its time to make changes!!
Thanks,
Pat

Pat,

The book is called "The Diet Docs and the Amazing Metabolic Transformation" by Joe Klemczewski, PhD and J. Scott Uloth, MD.

The metabolic transformation basically is converting your metabolism from storing fat to burning fat. The program is based on the fact that when you eat carbohydrates with a high-glycemic index (white bread, bananas, potatoes, soda pop, candy, etc.), l;ittle digestion is required to convert the carbs to a usable nutrient and your body quickly releases insulin to shuttle the resulting blood glucose surge to wherever it's needed.

Since most people aren't glycogen-depleted when they eat (especially inbetween-meal snacks), their muscles and liver already contain sufficient glucose to fuel body activity and the body has nowhere to store the excess blood glucose, so the liver converts it to triglycerides (blood lipids) and shuttles it into storage as fat cells. Insulin also is capable of triggering existing body fat cells to simply pull in excess blood glucose and directly convert it to body fat.

So, in very basic terms, what you are trying to do is minimize your carbohydrate intake to a level where there isn't a surge in blood glucose above the level to cause fat storage, and keeping it at a level that prevents the body from going into "starvation mode." When you achieve this balance, your normal daily activity will call first upon available glucose in the liver and muscle to fuel your needs, and when those reserves are rapidly depleted, your brain will call out the fat reserves for fuel inbetween meals and snacks when you have expended the immediate reserves in your muscle and liver.

What are the levels of intake? Well, the way I understand it is that for an inactive man like me at a desk job, 5'9" - 6'0", we shouldn't eat over 30 grams of carbohydrates at any one meal or inbetween meal snack. That's the first rule. Now, secondly the daily micronutrient range for the same man's food intake would be 130 - 150 grams protein, 150 - 180 grams carbohydrates, 50 - 55 grams fat, for totals of 1,570 - 1,815 calories ... according to the book.

Here, I'm just giving you the ranges straight out of the book. If you are a patient of one of these docs, they tailor your program to your age, physical activity, medical conditions, etc. Okay, since I'm a heart patient, my range has been tailored a bit to reduce the fat intake, etc., and as a result, I am eating more like 1,600 calories per day. But I guess if you're not a client, you'll have to go by the information in the book.

Those ranges appeared to me to about double the protein I normally ate, cut the carbs in half, and increased the fat intake by about a third. The diet isn't a "low carb" diet however, and recognizes the need for carbohydrates at a level that prevents other metabolic consequences that result from a diet too high in protein and too low in carbs. Best thing to do is get the book and read the entire theory and figure out a program for your height, weight, daily physical activity, lifestyle, goals, and taste in food. There are recipes and other useful and easy to understand information in text, charts and diagrams.

pr

thanks for the info!

I have a very personal question. When a person looses a bunch of weight, do they always end up with sagging extra skin? Is there something that can be done to prevent this?

I think it's a combination of how much weight you lose and how old you are when you lose it. Skin loses elasticity as we age.

Do exercises help?

It always has in my case...I've never had a problem with losing 60-75 lbs, no lose skin.

The kind of exercise makes a difference too. I understand water aerobics are especially good to aid in tightening the skin up so it will not appear as "lose" after weight loss. AGE is a big factor and how fast you lose it can be critical as well. It can take up to a year for the skin to tighten IF it's going to.

I was in kind of a hurry this morning to get ready for work. What I left out was that Joe is a body builder and part of his program is to get the client into a regular routine of exercise involving weight lifting machines and dumbells. It's not anything really strenuous or time consuming. Just lifting 5, 10, and 15 pound hand dumbells in a series of arm exercises and using weight machines to exercise legs, arms, and abdomen muscles.

The routines generally take about 20 minutes for upper body and 20 minutes for lower body, and the sessions are generally no more than 20 - 25 minutes each and two or three times per week. I think the deal is to get folks like me out from behind the desk and get our muscles burning stored energy so that our metabolism changes to where our bodies are calling on stored body fat more effectively reducing our weight. It can't hurt to build a little muscle mass while losing body fat mass either, huh?

Another thing I left out this morning is that when you intake dietary fat, it should be non-saturated types of fat, not saturated animal fats associated with fatty meats, etc. It should be vegetable or grain source fats. I know this may raise some issues with folks that avoid GMO soy and rape seed (canola), but you can then focus in on olive oil. Anyway, this is a big deal with me because I had been on such a low fat diet following heart surgery that I was hesitant to up my fat intake at all.

One issue with fat though is that it's your body's second most favored source of energy ... carbs being the most favored source ... so you don't want to overdo the fats anymore than the carbs ... remembering that the point is to draw on the fat reserves existing in your body fat.

pr

hi everyone - i picked this out of a health magazine yesterday

an all day sugar solution
eat barley for reakfast and therest of our meals will be les fattening states a new swedish study. when 20 adults ate barley in the morning, the grain cut their blood sugar response by 44 percent at lunch and 14 percent at dinner and the less our sugar spikes the less fat our body will store. credit the high amount of soluble fiber in barley, which takes hours to digest. plus, according to the study the fibers effect on glucose remains active while it breaks down. opt for high barley bread or pick up pearl barley in the store

also

in a university of kentucky study, 63 men lost 100 pounds in 10 months by drinking a protein shake in place of a meal each day.
the shake consists of 1 cup skim milk plus 2 tbsp ground flaxseed plus 1 tbls reduced fat peanut butter plus 1/2 cup frozen lueberries plus 1 scoop of 100 percent whey powder.

have a great day

Can you make barley like oatmeal?

Herbie,

With regard to the UK weight loss study ... did the 63 men lose an average 100 lbs. in 10 months or did the group of 63 men lose an aggregate 100 lbs.?

pr

i couldn't figure it out. losing 100 lbs each in ten months seems excessive and if its a total for all of them then it's not to good as far as i can see.

i'm not sure if you can make barley like oatmeal but i think yhou can.

it's been a while since i've been on hnere. juist wanted to let yhou know that i am now down to 246 pounds. since thanksgiving i have lost an additional 7 pounds. my original goal was to get to 250 pounds. now that i am past that and my sons wedding is in march i think i will shoot for 230 pounds. thats another 16 pounds from now until march 28th.

That's really cool, Herbie!

I had a minor setback last week when I had surgery to excise a malignant melanoma from my arm and have two sentinal lymph nodes removed. Apparently the general anathesia and subsequent pain relievers and fluids they fed me introveiniously caused me to retain fluid and re-gain 8 pounds in one day, dangit. I've shed half that and can't understand why I'm retaining the other 4 pounds, but will be back on the straight and narrow this week for sure.

Let's see ... today I'm 237 ... so I'm gonna shoot for 17 pounds by March 28 too, and hope we both do better than we plan.

pr

I am staying stable... but ate some raw celery that didn't feel good in my Lap-Band pouch and have been queazy for about a week. I just started to take probiotics yesterday and I hope it helps. It's good for weight loss, I haven't felt like eating at all!

penny - i hope everyt5hing turned out all right with your sujrgery. gaining the 4 lbs seems secondary for a full recovery. o.k. lets keep track on how we do and then i will post a pic of me in my tux. by the way, did i mention that my wife deb is now down to 184. she has lost over 88 pounds.

beth - hope you ae feeling better. funny, i always feel like eating. LOL

good luck everyone

Beth, tell me a little about the proibotics? Where do you get them and purpose etc?

I had lab work done yesterday, when the work up is done I'll get a call from MD. I've changed my Blood Pressure meds and we'll see what the out come is. Been quite a while since I had blood work. Its never easy to get my blood so I dread draws.

The probiotics just help your gut bacteria replenish. You can buy them or just get them in some products like Dan Active if you're not lactose intolerant.

Cool, thanks!

everyhone getting ready for the holidays. lets keep the damage to a minimum.

Now there a realistic goal! LOL

Merry Christmas everyone

happy holidays

I just popped in to say hello to everyone.
Wishing you a speedy recovery PR
Beth from Scio, are you exercising to control the sagging of skin?
(i spent a couple of weeks in Scio back in the 70's........)
Herbie, how u doing?
I was in the states in sept, and weighed myself, I was amazed that i had gone up to 217 lbs.
I have been dieting since i have been back in turkey and i am down to 192....I cant believe it.
I have been walking and doing sit ups on a machine.
I asked my sister to send me some exercise bands, they travel well, and seem to pack a great punch......


As Herbie said: try to keep the damage to a minimum during the holidays.

hang in there everyone, remember, take one day at a time, and drink your water

cheers

i did good at our annual work christmas party. everyone brought something home made to eat. i brought chicken parm which my wife makes. it was so tender you didn't even need a knife. i was a good boy. had one piece of the cutlet and a very small portion of thai noodles in peanut butter sauce. nice and spicy.

this next week will tell the story. hang in there.

happy holidays

yummmm the thail noodles in peanut sauce sounds good.....

they were excellent. my co-worker married a thail girl when he was stationed there. i keep asking him to get me some recipes. LOL

I saw my MD yesterday for follow up on my blood pressure meds and get the results of my lab work. My glucose was a little elevated but the other test (the one where it tracks for about a month) was OK. My cholesterol was 222, my MD gave me a choice. Lose 50 pounds and lower the cholesterol OR change doctors. I agreed to weigh in and get my blood pressure checked weekly.

The timing is good. I need to get serious or I'll be "seriously" dead.

This message was edited Jan 6, 2008 6:31 PM