Diet

Do you know me? I do not really think so you see until 2 years ago I had been obese for most of my adult life. I had at one point weighed 285 if not more. I had all of the associated medical problems from this added weight. I had very high blood pressure sore back and knees and, I was oddly enough always hungry. I had to lose the weight because my doctor was trying all types of medicines to control my blood pressure but nothing worked. He mentioned that the thing that would really bring it under control would be a reduction in weight.

People always ask me how I had lost so much weight in such a short time. Well there were several things that I did to lose the weight. One of the most effective things that did was to keep a food journal. When I was 285 lbs I went to a medical experiment at Columbia University for Meridia (sp). They would not let me into the group for the medical experiment because my blood pressure was too high. But they explained that the most important part of the medical experiment was that participants had to keep a log of food intake. That is you had to write down everything that you ate and how much of it you ate. You had to keep this log for two weeks before they would even let you into the drug side of the medical experiment. The reason was that most people would be able to correct their excessive eating by seeing what they were eating. I ending up using this myself and found out how much I really was eating. I then started using it to count the number of calories and types of food I was eating. It was very effective because every time I wanted to cheat I had to think I would see it written in from of my face! There was no way to cheat because I had to write everything that was put in my mouth. If I drank coffee or juice I had to put it on my list. I keep this list religiously for 5 months and lost 100 lbs in those 5 months. I then keep the list up for the next 7 months so that my eating style would be permanently changed. It worked great and now I do not keep my food log even though I have stayed close to 190 since 2000.

Now in addition to this I also keep a very strict high protein and high fiber diet. Why Protein? In a diet you want to do two things. First you want to feel full for the fewest calories. Second you want to speed up your metabolism. Lucky enough protein does both of these; it makes you feel full and speeds up your metabolism. It speeds up you metabolism because it is hard to digest and therefore takes more energy to digest. Consider that Sugars are stored as fat, YIKES! While Proteins is stored as muscle. So if you want to cheat chose a Protein item. Beef jerky is great for this, but remember to wash it down with lots of liquid because that makes it absorb the liquid making you feel even more full.
Why High Fiber? First all of that protein you eat does not pass through your system very well so you will need the fiber to help you "stay regular". Second You want to eat foods high in Fiber because it fills your stomach up with space so you do not feel hungry. You do not calories from fiber because your body cannot process the energy in it. You should make sure your diet is high in vegetables and legumes (beans) because they are high in protein and fiber. Finally I use fiber products like Metamucil, I take them with lots of water about an hour before I eat so I feel full/eat less. Fiber is good at absorbing water, which works if you drink lost of water before and after your meals. The water fills up your stomach and you are not as hungry. For high protein high fiber foods legumes (beans) are the best source on the planet and they are also a good source for calcium and B complex vitamins. For high protein foods the best source is baked fish. But you would be surprised how few calories pork has if you cut the fat off before you cook it.

Another strategy that works great for me is reading the labels. There is a lot of information on US labels for food, like calories per portion. Portion size is a big problem in American minds, you see the food makers set portions so that al foods seem to have 100 calories! But the size of that portion can vary dramatically from food to food. For example Coke has 100 calories per portion but that is only 8 liquid ounces. Rice, which many diets tell you to stay away from, also has 100 calories per portion but that portion is a 1/3 cup of cooked rice!! And let me tell you I would feel much more full on that than Coke. Also many things you drink have a lot of calories in them. Back to the Coke example if you had coffee with (powdered) cream and sugar it would only have about 30 calories for the same amount. Also the added caffeine helps to speed up your metabolism and it is a natural appetite suppressant.

Well I hope this helps David Rumptz.