Healthy Living & Weight Loss: Take Two

In January, I wrote about my story with weight loss.  Last summer, I finally getting serious about those extra pounds I'd been carrying around for a few years.   

Since I wrote the post, I've been contacted by two great friends who also lost significant weight and want to share their stories.  It's also fascinating to me how the typical food Americans eat is so terrible.  Case in point is an article  saw yesterday with some good science on how fructose can lead to obesity.  Personally, I find any food with high fructose corn syrup to be addictive -- if I have any, I want more.  And after I eat anything with it (I don't any more), I always feel a bit ill after.   The science now backs up the addictive sensation -- the research shows that the way that fructose is metabolized in the brain can lead to increased food intake and obesity.  Some good comments from the article:

“We feel that these findings may have particular relevance to the massive increase in the use of high fructose sweeteners (both high fructose corn syrup and table sugar) in virtually all sweetened foods, most notably soft drinks,” said lead researcher M. Daniel Lane from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

“I hasten to point out that the situation is probably most critical with the younger population, particularly in the USA, where many children receive enormous amounts of fructose in soft drinks which they consume continuously and acutely. This would be expected to lead to substantial blood levels of fructose, as well as glucose.” 

My weight loss plan is relatively simple:

• Eat smaller amounts
• Exercise: SPIN 2x/week plus one run; push-ups a few times/week.
• No sugar or sweets
• More fruits and vegetables
• As little processed food as possible
• Snack on nuts and KIND bars
• Drink green tea with honey (here's a great write-up on the benefits)

It has worked for me -- I'm down 25 pounds from where I was last July.  I think I'll feel a little better about myself this summer at the beach....

As for the stories from my friends, the first person is someone I've worked with in the past who lost 60 pounds last year.  Again, it's simple diet and exercise....his plan:

It's not a real revelation or anything but eating less, more healthy meals and stepping up my exercise.  The shocking thing was I have always done cardio but wasn't doing it hard enough or long enough.  So, 6 days a week of intense cardio... one hour 4 days, 30 minutes two days.  On those two days I only do 30, I also do strength training.   

Eating, I haven't eliminated anything, I just don't overeat.  I have added a lot of good fats (nuts, nut butters, olives, dark chocolate, and avocados) and that really staves off hunger.   I eat 4 meals a day all similar in size (400 to 500 calories).  I've cut back on fatty meats, fried foods, and non whole grains.  I've also added a lot more dairy- yogurts, low fat milks and cheeses which I haven't really eaten for years b/c I thought I was lactose intolerant (turns out I'm not).  Two big things is I've cut back my alcohol to about two drinks a week from about 10 drinks.  And we don't eat out much anymore which is a huge thing in my opinion. The food that is served out is so bad for you even if you think it is good for your (get the book Eat This, Not That for you and your kids). Salads at Panerra or CPK might have 2000 calories and 80 grams of fat and you think you're eating healthy.   Most places use so many oils, butters, salt you are losing the battle from the moment you sit down.  We have two or three big cookbooks that list calories in meals and we follow those recipes diligently.  Bottom line is the worst home cooking though is nothing compared to what you get out at restaurants.  

The bottom line is I have had to change my whole way of thinking about and it has a required a much needed lifestyle change.

The second story is from a good friend of mine from business school.  Like me, he actually works in the Health & Wellness space, but being busy let's the basics fall by the wayside.

hey – loved the blog about weight loss. i went through a similar thing after a fairly uncomplimentary photo taken just after christmas of me.

did pretty much the same as you. cut out mocha’s and pastries. lunch is spinach, raw mushrooms, ground flax, handful of nuts and balsamic. pretty much on a vegan diet and avoiding fats, juice etc. SPIN is in and i lost 15lbs in 7 weeks. probably another 10 to go and while i’ve relaxed a couple rules, i feel better now than i had done for a long time. clothes actually fit too!

well done – we’ll have a nice salad next week then.