405 POUNDS TO 285 POUNDS... NOW THE JOURNEY TO 225

FIrst of all... I’m now 270 pounds. I’m losing upon average, 2 pounds a week. I’m so pissed at the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for teaching the last 3 generations the wrong things to eat and being influenced by big food and drug companies. How can one of the richest nations in the world have the most people in the poorest health. How is it that despite the food pyramid, Americans have gotten fatter and fatter. How is it that my high school has a dedicated part of the nurse office for diabetic kids. I literally have 29 students who are morbidly obese before 16 years old! Enough of my ranting.

I am losing this weight by combining three different aspects of healthy living. They are ketogenic (OR LCHD, low car healthy fats), intermittent fasting and exercise. I’ve heard that any one of these three can help a person lose weight. I figured I’d do all three to cover all the bases.

IF... Intermittent Fasting is a protocol that is more concerned with WHEN you eat instead of what you eat. I eat from about 12:00 pm to about 6:00 pm, then fast from 6pm to 12pm the next day. My eating windo is 6 hours and my fasting window is 18 hours. The reason this works is that the body can’t lose weight when insulin is in the blood stream. Since it takes anywhere from 4 to 10 hours after eating, for insulin to return to its baseline, fasting for 18 hours gives the body a chance to switch into burn mode. It’s not as difficult as one might think. I go to bed at about 10pm. I wake up at 6:30 am and break my fast (have breakfast) at 12pm. Most of that time fasted is while I’m sleep.

KETOGENIC EATING is eating protein and fat, while limiting carbohydrates. While eating ANYTHING does cause a rise in insulin, carbs SPIKE it, causing it to go higher and stay higher for a longer period of time. In short, limiting carbs in your body force it to use ketones for energy instead of glucose. After some weeks of eating like this, the body starts to switch from using mostly carbs as fuel, to using mostly FAT as fuel. If you’re over weight, YOU HAVE PLENTY OF FUEL sitting around you gut, butt and thighs.

EXERCISE is all about helping to use energy before it gets stored (as fat). I typically ride my bike for about 6 miles at an 11 mph speed. This takes me about 30 minutes and burns about 600 calories. I do this about 3 to 4 times a week, thus burn about 1800 to 2400 extra calories a week. Keep in mind that 3500 calories equals a pound of fat. So I’m probably losing about a half pound a wee, due to just good old biking. I chose biking, because it’s enjoyable for me and there is no impact on my joints. Running at 405 or even at 300 pounds was just not feasible for me. I put on headphones and hit a bike trail around a local park. It also my own little getaway, as I’m in my own world am doing thoughts for those few minutes.

I’ll post another update in another 5 pounds.