I have a long history of problems with my weight. I am a classic yo yo. Two years ago I weighed
in at about 400 pounds and was diagnosed (surprise, surprise) with high blood pressure. I am
reluctantly on medication. Fortunately I have medical insurance. When it came to advice on
weight loss, I didn't get much from my doctor beyond the offer of an appointment with a
dietician and one of those cute little 1200/1500 calorie exchange diet plans.
I had already been doing some reading. (The brochure went out really fast-that was the food
that got me into trouble). Two authors that have been very helpful are Dean Ornish and Andrew
Weil. Drl. Ornish is a cardiologist who has had significant success with a combination of diet,
excersize and meditation. Most of his patients have been able to reduce their medication levels
and have a greatly improved quality of life. The downside is that the program limits fat intake
to about ten percent of total intake, but the books gave me some good ideas. Andrew Weil
is also a medical doctor who specializes in alternate forms of treatment. Again reduced fat
intake, some excersize, ect. Picture a slightly stocky Santa Clause with a great big grin. both
authors have given me some good ideas.
It takes some time to work through both authors' material. The emphasis is on how the body
processes the foods we eat and how our bodies are affected by what we eat. Reading Dr. Ornish's
description of what happens to the bloodstream after a high fat meal is good for a week's
worth of motivation.
I am currently down about 92 pounds. No particular diet plan. Most of the prepared foods or
products in bags or boxes went out the door. Fortunately both mom and I are scratch cooks.
So it goes-slowly and mostly steadily.
6 days ago
2 comments:
congratulations on the 92 lb loss! that's wonderful. i, too, have been yo-yo-ing for many years. i've lost and regained hundreds of pounds over the years. it's a never-ending struggle for me. best of luck to you!
deb
Congrats on the weightloss! I've read some of Ornish's stuff. He has some great recipes. I've lost about 60+ lbs myself over the last couple of years. I've been at a plateau for the past several months though. I need to kick in some more exercise so I can get past this. I'd like to lose about 30 more lbs. I don't like diets though. I just try to monitor what I eat, as far as quantity goes and also exercise. I've been slacking on the exercise part though. Good luck with your continued improvements.
:-) ---Robbie
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