100 lbs down!
A few weeks ago, I had projected that by today, I should have reached a milestone of 100 lbs lost, and planned a celebratory lunch with my mom and best friend in advance. Our plan was to celebrate it today whether or not it was exactly on target, but to my delight, it was!
I'm getting closer and closer to my first weight loss goal, which is 135 lbs. I'd like to lose another 40-50 lbs after that, but I'll be happy to hit that first goal! Honestly, when I first started this, I felt very dubious about whether or not I would be able to lose any weight at all. I had never really tried before, and somehow just didn't even think it would be possible. I had only ever seen my weight go up before, my sizes increasing slowly but surely over the years, and felt helpless to stop it. My health was also deteriorating at an alarming rate, and I didn't know what to do about it.
The game changer was my own doctor here in Winnipeg putting me onto The Obesity Code, by Dr. Jason Fung. I've mentioned Dr. Fung's work before, and it won't be the last time. My own doctor said something like, "yeah, this guy's been around for a bit, but suddenly the medical community is waking up to the fact that's he's completely right!" I asked what made Dr. Fung's approach different from anyone else's, and my doctor summarized it by saying that Dr. Fung's philosophy is that weight problems are about a hormone imbalance, not a caloric imbalance, that it's about cutting carbs but raising healthy fat intake rather than protein (like the Atkins approach), with intermittent fasting on top of it. And that's a pretty good summary, and about what I've been doing.
I've lost 100 lbs today. I've also lost about 4-5 clothing sizes depending on the store, 16 inches off my waist, 21 points on the BMI scale (which I don't particularly believe in). I failed to measure my body fat percentage at the beginning, so I don't know how much I've lost there, but I can tell you that it's significant. I have almost no loose skin whatsoever, which is also astounding. Typically, people who have bariatric surgery (think gastric bypass) lose weight at about the same speed I am, but have incredible amounts of loose, saggy skin after that can only be addressed through cosmetic surgery. Dr. Fung's followers typically don't experience this because of the magical effects of autophagy: a process which happens during extended fasting (over 40 hours, give or take), where the body breaks down its old, partially-used proteins, which includes skin! Some people have reported skin tags disappearing. I have a very tiny skin-coloured mole on my right pinky finger that I've noticed shrinking, too.
I see the changes in my body from week to week: new, small observations that take me by surprise. It's a constant adjustment, and it's not finished yet! It's still a new experience to catch a glimpse of myself in a window or mirror and think, whoa, look at that! It's small physical things like becoming more flexible, not having any sort of allergic/asthmatic nasal congestion anymore, everything becoming easier. I don't get out of breath going up stairs, I don't get tired and feel like taking naps everyday. I've talked about how much fasting and cutting carbs/sugars reduces your hunger before, and that continues to be true. I just ended a 60-hour fast this morning and experienced no hunger whatsoever yesterday, on the 35-48 hour stretch.
The last thing I want to point out is that exercise has had very little to do with this. Dr. Fung puts the balance at something like 95% dietary and 5% exercise, and I've found this to be true. I always did swim laps before this and walk around 3 km per day. I still do, but a chest injury has set me back since early August, and I haven't been allowed to swim since then - I'm hoping to start back in a week or two if all goes well! But this hasn't impacted the speed of my weight loss in any way. Something to think about!
I'm always happy to answer questions about this stuff, so if you have one, ask me - any time, anywhere, in any format. :)
I'm getting closer and closer to my first weight loss goal, which is 135 lbs. I'd like to lose another 40-50 lbs after that, but I'll be happy to hit that first goal! Honestly, when I first started this, I felt very dubious about whether or not I would be able to lose any weight at all. I had never really tried before, and somehow just didn't even think it would be possible. I had only ever seen my weight go up before, my sizes increasing slowly but surely over the years, and felt helpless to stop it. My health was also deteriorating at an alarming rate, and I didn't know what to do about it.
The game changer was my own doctor here in Winnipeg putting me onto The Obesity Code, by Dr. Jason Fung. I've mentioned Dr. Fung's work before, and it won't be the last time. My own doctor said something like, "yeah, this guy's been around for a bit, but suddenly the medical community is waking up to the fact that's he's completely right!" I asked what made Dr. Fung's approach different from anyone else's, and my doctor summarized it by saying that Dr. Fung's philosophy is that weight problems are about a hormone imbalance, not a caloric imbalance, that it's about cutting carbs but raising healthy fat intake rather than protein (like the Atkins approach), with intermittent fasting on top of it. And that's a pretty good summary, and about what I've been doing.
I've lost 100 lbs today. I've also lost about 4-5 clothing sizes depending on the store, 16 inches off my waist, 21 points on the BMI scale (which I don't particularly believe in). I failed to measure my body fat percentage at the beginning, so I don't know how much I've lost there, but I can tell you that it's significant. I have almost no loose skin whatsoever, which is also astounding. Typically, people who have bariatric surgery (think gastric bypass) lose weight at about the same speed I am, but have incredible amounts of loose, saggy skin after that can only be addressed through cosmetic surgery. Dr. Fung's followers typically don't experience this because of the magical effects of autophagy: a process which happens during extended fasting (over 40 hours, give or take), where the body breaks down its old, partially-used proteins, which includes skin! Some people have reported skin tags disappearing. I have a very tiny skin-coloured mole on my right pinky finger that I've noticed shrinking, too.
I see the changes in my body from week to week: new, small observations that take me by surprise. It's a constant adjustment, and it's not finished yet! It's still a new experience to catch a glimpse of myself in a window or mirror and think, whoa, look at that! It's small physical things like becoming more flexible, not having any sort of allergic/asthmatic nasal congestion anymore, everything becoming easier. I don't get out of breath going up stairs, I don't get tired and feel like taking naps everyday. I've talked about how much fasting and cutting carbs/sugars reduces your hunger before, and that continues to be true. I just ended a 60-hour fast this morning and experienced no hunger whatsoever yesterday, on the 35-48 hour stretch.
The last thing I want to point out is that exercise has had very little to do with this. Dr. Fung puts the balance at something like 95% dietary and 5% exercise, and I've found this to be true. I always did swim laps before this and walk around 3 km per day. I still do, but a chest injury has set me back since early August, and I haven't been allowed to swim since then - I'm hoping to start back in a week or two if all goes well! But this hasn't impacted the speed of my weight loss in any way. Something to think about!
I'm always happy to answer questions about this stuff, so if you have one, ask me - any time, anywhere, in any format. :)
Comments
Post a Comment