jrock645
New member
For a lot of people, it's the time of year to get that number on the scale back under control. I've picked up 7 or 8lbs I need to drop, but thats not quite why I'm going the low carb route, or here to discuss low carb.
I actually adopted low carb as my lifestyle right after last year's Super Bowl. On Super Bowl sunday, I got on the scale knowing I wasn't going to like the number, but was not prepared for the number I was going to see. I weighed in at the heaviest I'd ever been in my life by a good margin- 227lbs. For reference, I graduated high school at 160lbs @ 6'2"- that's obviously very thin(I was a distance runner) and have no designs of ever approaching that weight again. The next day, I went cold turkey with the low carb thing, a bit daunted since I'd never done so well with it before.
Low carb dieting is a bit controversial, since our food pyramid in the US insists I need to stuff 6-11 pieces of bread in my mouth each day to be healthy, and FAT is such a bad word. For anyone with these pre conceived notions(basically any American), I would highly recommend reading Fitness Confidential by Vinnie Tortorich. The guy is no nonsense, hits you with it straight without technical mumbo jumbo, is very entertaining to read, and his story of conquering cancer and then training for a 508 mile bike race through the deserts of southern California will inspire something inside of you. Key quote from the book, "It's not about how fast you can go long but how long you can go fast." Anyway, the guy has a website where he promotes a no sugar, no grains lifestyle, or NSNG. So I read this book as I started skipping the carbs, which got me going.
I also read the Dash Diet, which for all intents and purposes is sort of a watered down Atkins. My mom has been on and off Atkins for years and always wonders why she gets away from it in the first place- besides dropping weight, she always feels a lot better. More energy, reduced joint soreness and such, better sleep pattern, etc. Atkins has been extremely controversial over the years but science has repeatedly backed up what he advocated. That said, the Atkins approach isn't a one size fits all approach to low carb dieting if you're just trying to lose weight. You have to keep in mind, he developed this diet for people with severe heart issues, and besides needing to drop their weight he also needed to get their inflammation levels under control, thus being choosy about exactly what kind of nuts to eat, etc. to avoid omega 6's.
Alright, I'll stop there with that stuff as it's not my intent to lecture- though I do strongly recommend educating yourself on the subject if you have any health or weight loss motivations. The Art and Science of Low Carb Dieting is an excellent science and history based study and discussion of a properly formulated low carb diet.
All that said, I went through the process, toughed out the first week and a half and began dropping weight. I'm no stranger to health and fitness and I'd lost 30lbs at another point in my life, but the first 10lbs this time went easier than I'd ever experience. Water weight and glycogen mostly, yes, but it's still major progress on the scale. By about the 6 week mark, I'd lost 23lbs and not a moment too soon- which I'll get to in a minute. The big question is what did I eat. Well, I had eggs with bacon or sausage for breakfast every morning. I poured heavy cream in my coffee with reckless abandon. I ate all the burger patties and steak I could stand. Lots of nuts, lots of cheese, liberal with the salad dressing on salads. Some mornings if I was in too much of a hurry to make breakfast, I simply shot down a spoon full of coconut oil. I also made a lot of stir fries, which got to be a very quick, convenient meal that incorporated meat, veggies, nuts and then sesame oil for additional fat. For successful low carbing, base all meals around fat!
About a month into the diet change, a switch inside my body flipped and I went into launch mode. I felt like my body was running on a fusion reactor! I was riding a stationary bike regularly, trying to do an hour a day but i would sometimes do more. Then I started doing the p90x videos and started walking some trails near my apartment on days off. One such day off, I hiked 7.5 miles of trails, did 2(!) p90x workouts, and rode the bike for an hour. Really! I can't stress enough that I was far from being in great shape, I simply had the unbridled energy of a 12 year old. When your body is burning fat for fuel- like it wants to- there is nearly unlimited energy.
Anyway, back to this dropping weight just in time. I ended up losing 40lbs total, but the first 23 proved critical. I ended up having a major episode with my back, diagnosed with 2 herniated discs and a grade 1 spondy(slipped vertebrae). Obviously, losing the weight doesn't reverse the damage but I've recently considered what a nightmare this ordeal could have been this past year if I'd been dealing with these back issues carrying around those 40 extra pounds the entire time.
Goal #1 this year is to rehab my back and get my body put back together and feeling like a 30 year old in good health should. That starts with treatments from the chiro and such, but I'm a believer in putting it all together. So, I need to get back to where I was on the scale- which won't take long- and get my nutrition dialed back in, and get back to some form of exercise. I let the diet loosen up through December with the holidays and football, but that's that.
Oh, another stat for you... A couple months before I made the dietary change, my cholesterol checked in at 255 and my triglycerides at 275. Pretty nasty. At my July physical, cholesterol came in at 200 with very high HDL, and the triglycerides at an astounding 35... a 220 point drop! Pretty impressive considering how bad bacon, eggs, cheese, salad dressing and spoonfuls of oil are supposed to be for me!
Oops... Never meant for this to be such a long post! With all that said and my story shared, let's get back to my original question. Anyone else here low carb and have a story to share?
I actually adopted low carb as my lifestyle right after last year's Super Bowl. On Super Bowl sunday, I got on the scale knowing I wasn't going to like the number, but was not prepared for the number I was going to see. I weighed in at the heaviest I'd ever been in my life by a good margin- 227lbs. For reference, I graduated high school at 160lbs @ 6'2"- that's obviously very thin(I was a distance runner) and have no designs of ever approaching that weight again. The next day, I went cold turkey with the low carb thing, a bit daunted since I'd never done so well with it before.
Low carb dieting is a bit controversial, since our food pyramid in the US insists I need to stuff 6-11 pieces of bread in my mouth each day to be healthy, and FAT is such a bad word. For anyone with these pre conceived notions(basically any American), I would highly recommend reading Fitness Confidential by Vinnie Tortorich. The guy is no nonsense, hits you with it straight without technical mumbo jumbo, is very entertaining to read, and his story of conquering cancer and then training for a 508 mile bike race through the deserts of southern California will inspire something inside of you. Key quote from the book, "It's not about how fast you can go long but how long you can go fast." Anyway, the guy has a website where he promotes a no sugar, no grains lifestyle, or NSNG. So I read this book as I started skipping the carbs, which got me going.
I also read the Dash Diet, which for all intents and purposes is sort of a watered down Atkins. My mom has been on and off Atkins for years and always wonders why she gets away from it in the first place- besides dropping weight, she always feels a lot better. More energy, reduced joint soreness and such, better sleep pattern, etc. Atkins has been extremely controversial over the years but science has repeatedly backed up what he advocated. That said, the Atkins approach isn't a one size fits all approach to low carb dieting if you're just trying to lose weight. You have to keep in mind, he developed this diet for people with severe heart issues, and besides needing to drop their weight he also needed to get their inflammation levels under control, thus being choosy about exactly what kind of nuts to eat, etc. to avoid omega 6's.
Alright, I'll stop there with that stuff as it's not my intent to lecture- though I do strongly recommend educating yourself on the subject if you have any health or weight loss motivations. The Art and Science of Low Carb Dieting is an excellent science and history based study and discussion of a properly formulated low carb diet.
All that said, I went through the process, toughed out the first week and a half and began dropping weight. I'm no stranger to health and fitness and I'd lost 30lbs at another point in my life, but the first 10lbs this time went easier than I'd ever experience. Water weight and glycogen mostly, yes, but it's still major progress on the scale. By about the 6 week mark, I'd lost 23lbs and not a moment too soon- which I'll get to in a minute. The big question is what did I eat. Well, I had eggs with bacon or sausage for breakfast every morning. I poured heavy cream in my coffee with reckless abandon. I ate all the burger patties and steak I could stand. Lots of nuts, lots of cheese, liberal with the salad dressing on salads. Some mornings if I was in too much of a hurry to make breakfast, I simply shot down a spoon full of coconut oil. I also made a lot of stir fries, which got to be a very quick, convenient meal that incorporated meat, veggies, nuts and then sesame oil for additional fat. For successful low carbing, base all meals around fat!
About a month into the diet change, a switch inside my body flipped and I went into launch mode. I felt like my body was running on a fusion reactor! I was riding a stationary bike regularly, trying to do an hour a day but i would sometimes do more. Then I started doing the p90x videos and started walking some trails near my apartment on days off. One such day off, I hiked 7.5 miles of trails, did 2(!) p90x workouts, and rode the bike for an hour. Really! I can't stress enough that I was far from being in great shape, I simply had the unbridled energy of a 12 year old. When your body is burning fat for fuel- like it wants to- there is nearly unlimited energy.
Anyway, back to this dropping weight just in time. I ended up losing 40lbs total, but the first 23 proved critical. I ended up having a major episode with my back, diagnosed with 2 herniated discs and a grade 1 spondy(slipped vertebrae). Obviously, losing the weight doesn't reverse the damage but I've recently considered what a nightmare this ordeal could have been this past year if I'd been dealing with these back issues carrying around those 40 extra pounds the entire time.
Goal #1 this year is to rehab my back and get my body put back together and feeling like a 30 year old in good health should. That starts with treatments from the chiro and such, but I'm a believer in putting it all together. So, I need to get back to where I was on the scale- which won't take long- and get my nutrition dialed back in, and get back to some form of exercise. I let the diet loosen up through December with the holidays and football, but that's that.
Oh, another stat for you... A couple months before I made the dietary change, my cholesterol checked in at 255 and my triglycerides at 275. Pretty nasty. At my July physical, cholesterol came in at 200 with very high HDL, and the triglycerides at an astounding 35... a 220 point drop! Pretty impressive considering how bad bacon, eggs, cheese, salad dressing and spoonfuls of oil are supposed to be for me!
Oops... Never meant for this to be such a long post! With all that said and my story shared, let's get back to my original question. Anyone else here low carb and have a story to share?
After I took the time to understood what I needed to do, being healthier has been WAY easier. I have more energy, I am stronger, and generally feel better.
