My Successful Weight Loss Strategies

I thought it would be useful to list out successful strategies I have found over the years. I experiment on myself all of the time, learn from my mistakes! Or make your own, I suspect most people need to find strategies uniquely suited to them. In order to keep this broadly applicable I will list out the principle and the specific implementation separately.

Low Carb
I can't stress this point enough. In my experience, carbs make you hungry. Does this mean I avoid all carbs? No, but I do consider carefully the ratio of carbs to protein and dietary fiber. Nutritional density plays a role for me as well, in terms of whether I consider the carbs "worth" eating. So some examples. I like the Sara Lee Whole Grain Delightful bread. It is pretty low carb (for bread), and it is whole grain so the protein count is higher than normal, I wouldn't eat this alone though because while it has only 1g of sugar it also has 8g of carbs against 3g of protein. However pair that with a light tun salad and some sprouts or lettuce and now I have balanced the relatively low carbs with a some green veggies and a lot more protein. Plus I get to eat bread which helps me deal with a big personal craving.

Another great example of the need to pay attention to the nutritional profile is Greek Yogurt. Sugar and protein counts on these can vary widely. Depending on flavor (avoid them they all pack in the carbs) and other preparation methods used by the maker the ratio can swing from 5 to 1 suagr to protein all the way to 1 to 1.5. Even the full fat to non-fat varieties within the same brand have very different ratios of sugar to protein. Non-fat Fage (pronounced Fah-yay) yogurt has the best ratio I have found and BONUS! It also tastes the best!

More Water Content = Less Calories

This idea only works for me if that water is accompanied by food. Early on I tried just chugging water to "feel full". It does make you sloshy, and sometimes my stomach hurt from being too full, but otherwise I was still hungry and craved everything. What does work is soup for example. Even a cream based soup isn't too bad on the calories (in moderation) and if you avoid rice, potatoes and pasta in your soup you are generally getting something nutritious and low carb. If you are truly craving one or more of those starches soup is the best way to get it, as you can limit your intake of said starches, by adding moderate amounts, just to hit that craving.

My newest discovery is gelatin. I mean obviously I have had gelatin before, but I was reading a book where people ate "gelatinous cubes" and it got me thinking about why I never ate Jello. I realized I had stopped because of the sugar, but I realized I never took into account the protein. A surprisingly large percentage of folks don't even know that gelatin originates from animals.

So I have been experimenting, I started with aspic's (basically savory jello, oftentimes containing meat/seafood/eggs). My first experiment was ok, I just did chicken broth and gelatin. It was a little greasy, and bland, but not terrible. I tried to amp up the nutrition and flavor on my next outing using a serving of green superfood (powdered leafy greens) and ham in the chicken broth. The result was.... gross actually. I salvaged it by heating it into more of a soup and adding some veggies, but as a gelatin it was not ideal.

I haven't given up on aspic's, but I decided it was time to consult the experts i.e. look up some recipes with reviews. Guess what?? there aren't very many recipes and even fewer that have reviews, but I did find a few that seem promising, either because of reviews or because the ingredients look good. I will update with reviews later after I have tried them For the record, aspic's are stupid easy to make unless you care how pretty they look.

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2009/07/tomato-and-crab-aspic-recipe.html

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2009/12/meat-jelly-or-aspic-recipe.html

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/roquefort-aspic-mousse-with-tomatoes-and-chives-14191

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/fabios-tomato-aspic-102221

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/poached-salmon-in-aspic-105726

In the meantime I have moved to sweet gelatins. I am using unflavored gelatin and some of the drink powders designed for the standard water bottles (16.9 oz). The crush pineapple and green apple flavors are my favorite so far. I found that gelatin alone is not quite as fulfilling as I would like so I am pairing that with non-fat Fage yogurt. I dip the end of my spoon in the yogurt and then scoop up a big bite of gelatin. It provides some contrast and creaminess that really makes it a nice snack. I find that 1-2 quarts of prepared gelatin (2-4 Tbsp of dry gelatin) and 3/4 C. of yogurt per quart is enough to get me through the day. At about 100 calories each for 1 Qt of gelatin and 3/4 C. of yogurt. I often get to dinner with only 200 calories consumed for the day. Which allows me to have a nice balanced dinner with lots of leafy greens and proteins.

I am not rigid with this, if I feel like having lunch or breakfast, I have lunch or breakfast. What I have found works for me is eating as lightly as possible when it doesn't matter so that I can enjoy myself and relax more when I am craving something. It just gives me the space to deal effectively with cravings. the key is not being hungry.

Intermittent Fasting
The term intermittent fasting sounds foreign and a little scary at first, but it really just refers to eating in short windows during the day and "fasting" the remainder of the day. For me I have found noon-6:30pm to be about right. I don't jump right into it. Week one I typically reduce the amount I eat for breakfast and eat low carb during the remainder of the day, week two I eat breakfast only if I feel like it. I generally don't feel like it once I have been eating more protein and fewer carbs for a week. by week three I am set in my 6 & 1/2 hour eating window. it has been shown to improve blood sugars even when the same number of calories are consumed during the day compared to eating from the time you wake up to the time you go to bed.

The key here is moderation and  listening to your body, if you are hungry eat. My personal rule is eat as little and as low carb as you can to get you past whatever your craving or obstacle is. Sometimes I just don't feel like eating right. In the past I have let those breaks represent failure, and now I have incorporated the breaks into the plan. Look at the whole day, the whole week, the whole month for a measure of success, not one bad day or one bad week, or even several bad months.

Another way I incorporate the concept of intermittent fasting is having a strict day alternating with a less strict day. For example, every other day I will consider going to lunch and having something reasonable.

FLAVOR
Flavor is king! Make it count, but replace the satisfaction of eating high-calorie, high-carb foods with the satisfaction of heat, pungency, sour, bitter, even sweet (but without sugar). Heat/spiciness in food can be just as satisfying as any other sensation in food without affecting the bottom line (please pardon the pun). Jalapenos, Serranos, chili powder, cayenne/black/white peppers are your friends, make use of them. Bonus, the spicier the food the more it inhibits you from overeating.

Ginger! Garlic! Onion! How I love thee!! I can't count the number of times I have started mincing/chopping sauteeing these items when someone walsk in and says, "What's for dinner? MAN, that smells good!" and I have barely started adding calories. The message here is if I have all of my flavor in 100 calories, I can add something as bland and dry as the dreaded boneless skinless chicken breast and all you taste is awesome!. If you don't know how to cook with these then buy them and start experimenting. To get you started here is a recipe for a sauce that I call Good & Evil sauce. I borrowed the name from a kind of pickle I ran across in the south. Like the pickles this is sweet & spicy (good & evil... get it?) I considered calling it Sauce Kapow! and I may still change the name, because boy-oh-boy it is like getting punched in the moth from an old batman rerun!

3/4 C. Thai Sweet chili sauce
1/2 C Chopped onion
1/3 C Basil (thai or holy basil if you have it available)
1/3 C Cilantro
1/4 C fresh squeezed lime juice
1/4 C. Sriracha
4 Tbsp. Toasted sesame seeds
2 Tbsp Gojuchang (korean chili paste)
1 Tbsp Minced garlicor approx. 4 cloves
4 Green onions trimmed
1 Dried anaheim chili stemmed & seeded (replace with 2 Tbsp of chili powder if unavailable)
2 Jalapenos stemmed
2 Cubic inches of peeled ginger
Salt & Pepper to taste

Put all ingredients into a blender and puree till smooth. No chopping is necessary beyond what it takes to get the blender to suck everything into the blades. I use this as a sauce for meats and for salads I mix 2 Tbsp of Sauce Kapow! with 2-4 tbsp of Apple Cider vinegar (and sometimes a Tbsp of olive oil) and it makes a WONDERFUL dressing. Best of all it runs about 50 calories and 7g of sugar for 2 tbsp. Once you taste it you will see that it is a fair trade for the amount of flavor. I should also mention that the sauce is best after it sits in the fridge for a couple of days.

Hey FATASS!

If you are reading this, I hope you have already heard about Geoff's passing. I would not want anyone to find out this way. It was a shock even when I heard it from people I knew and trusted.

In the wake of his passing, I have had the opportunity to read back through all of Geoff's former blog posts. and his final one was so heartbreaking to me. He titled it, Life Just Keeps on Going.He described his feelings about a painful episode in his life, he did not describe it in detail and I won't fill in the details here.

Obesity is a miserable thing to deal with. I pity the folks who think fat people are just too lazy to not be fat. This isn't something that anyone "chooses" and when you realize how bad it has gotten it requires herculean efforts to undo it. It all gets mixed up in a bundle of feelings and pains that are all obstacles to success.

Go exercise! Sure I will take a walk... and then someone will throw something out of a car or just shout "Hey FATASS!" Genius comedians, every one.

You go out to dinner with family or friends and people stare at you. Sometimes a server will suggest the salads instead of what you just ordered. Perfect strangers feel very comfortable commenting on your weight and offer helpful advice on how to lose weight.

Am I saying that these experiences make it impossible? No, but I am saying maybe give the fat people in your life a break, they are dealing with some stuff that you are likely unaware of. Hell, give EVERYONE in your life a break, because they too are probably dealing with things of which you are unaware.

The point is... I miss Geoff, and I wish he had held on a little longer. I have learned to view my struggle with weight in the long term instead of the day or week, not perfectly, but mostly. 7 years ago I weighed 600 lbs. I lost 140 and then I put some back on, bounced around 500 for a few years, then last year I lost another 75, put 25 back on. I am starting again and my goal is to lose 50 lbs by May 31st. That will put me at my lowest weight in 10-15 years and 175 lbs, below 7 years ago. Then I am going to push for another 50 by Oct. 15 which will put me within 25 lbs of the weight I was when I married the beautiful Irene. Then 25 more by the end of the year? It's probably doable, 15 lbs per month more or less or 3.5 lbs per week..

And if I fail? Well, I recall the wise (if clunky) words of Bishop Richardson in my youth. He gave a lesson which began with him saying, "I want you to all be failures!" His point was that he would rather see us shoot for the stars and fail, by hitting the moon than shoot for nothing and succeed. Sometimes failure is still success, or stated another way, you haven't failed until you have stopped trying.

Micromental Changes in 30 Days

I was thinking today about the changes I have made over the last month and while my weight loss is not insignificant compared to average people it is only a tiny percentage of the overall weight I have to lose. 

Numbers are funny things, probably no other semantic tool is more widely used to lie and mislead than simple numbers. Twain said, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics." He was probably thinking of intentional misdirection, but I think numbers can often lead to unintentional misdirection too.

For example, if a person weighing 200 lbs says that they have lost 33 lbs. in 30 days most people would think that they had been wildly successful and yet I found myself mostly feeling like a failure (again) over most of the month. My actual trend line isn't very smooth, my weight has been up and down on almost a daily basis (even weekly) and yet, overall it's down... even dare I say it, WAY DOWN. 

Consider the following statements:
Thirty-three lbs. is barely 6% of my overall weight
Thirty-three lbs. is actually almost exactly 10% of the weight I want to lose.
Thirty three lbs! That's AWESOME way to go man, you're killing it!!!

All true, yet very different stories

One issue that I have had to deal with is water retention, I mean, the human body simply cannot gain 12 real pounds of fat in a single day (that's the spike in the middle). The physics and physiology don't work. Intellectually I understand this, but seeing that number jump on the scale sinks my heart an equivalent distance.

One way I have chosen to deal with this is by focusing on a different number. I was watching a show from the UK called Super Size vs. Super Skinny (I don't really recommend it unless you like over and under weight nudity). They pair an overweight person with an underweight person and have them live together for a week and swap meals. Then they send them home for a bit and bring them on for a recap. Well my one takeaway was the British style of tracking weight. They track weight using stone and pounds e.g. 15 St. 4 lbs. which is 214 lbs.

I read (I think Tim Ferris in the Four Hour Body) a suggestion that you should never try to lose more than 20 lbs at a time. The idea being that any larger number is too large and thereby making it difficult to maintain mental focus. So, lose 20 lbs. then decide affirmatively that this represents your new weight and jealously maintain it. Then when you feel ready to continue make another 20 lb. goal.

Well, I don't think I ever really committed to that idea even though I "tried" it. I found that I could never easily keep track of where my last 20 lb start weight had been and besides, I was never planning on stopping at 20 lbs and didn't consider it a monumental milestone.

For the last week I have adjusted my thinking. I express my weight in the British style and my weight loss in straight pounds. So I have lost 33 pounds but my weight is down from 37 st. 7 lbs. to 35 st. 3 lbs. and this week I expect to cross over to 34 st. x lbs. 

That's it, the next month will be about focusing on micromental, not monumental changes. I suppose you could say this is another sort of lie, but if it's the one that keep me motivated, I don't give a damn about that.

Death Comes in Threes, But Not If I Can Help It!

It has been six months since my last post. Geoff and I had embarked on a mutual weight loss goal and we mutually agreed to not talk about it after stopped losing weight. Geoff was dealing with a lot of depression, more than I knew. I was too, but we had very different outlooks on our lives as evidenced by each of our last blog posts.

If you are reading this, then you probably know about Geoff's tragic departure from this world just two months later. Geoff's death sent me into a tailspin. We dropped everything and drove to Arizona to help plan the funeral. Many friends came together and mourned over the terrible loss of one of the world's brightest lights. If you knew Geoff, than you know what I am talking about.

I spent the weeks after the funeral pondering an idea, that one way to pay tribute to Geoff was by completing the journey we began. I fear this is beginning to sound maudlin; not my intent. I recognize that the kind of obesity that he, and I dealt with is debilitating emotionally as well as physically. There but for the grace of God go I.

Then just a couple of weeks ago my Dad passed away from obesity related causes. It isn't what the death certificate say, but congestive heart failure, diabetes, high blood pressure, edema is all part of Metabolic Syndrome. He had lost quite a bit of weight a few years ago (about eighty pounds) and kept most of that off, but he still weighed nearly 300 pounds at his passing.

I fear the future if I can't beat this and so I begin again. I am eating low carb as from experience even when I plateau, I experience less water retention and therefore less joint pain when I eat low carb. In addition I am trying something called intermittent fasting. I think the combination will be more effective then low carb alone.

So what is intermittent fasting? Well there are several variants but I am doing something called the 4/3 plan which is 4 days of regular (in this case low carb) eating and 3 days of "fasting". I put the fasting in quotes because you are allowed 600 calories (as a man, it's 500 for women) on your fast days. Regular days are just that, you eat what you crave. So far I have not seen an increase in eating on my regular or "feed" days, and I have adjusted well to the fast days also.

If you do the math you can see that if you typically eat 2500 calories per day (average for an adult male), then that is 17,500 calories per week. Following the 4/3 plan you eat 11800 per week or an average of 1700 calories per day which is basically a not atypical calorie count for a dieting adult male. Even if you average 3000 calories per day that is still only 13800 calories per week or a bit less than 2000 calories per day (the typically recommended amount of calories for a dieting adult male).

I typically eat 50 calories or so of a very high protein food every hour or so on my fast days, but sometimes I save up a few for dinner; like tonight. One of my favorite meals is grilled cheese with tomato soup, but as I said, I have been trying to cut carbs. Tonight I cooked 1/2 lb. of cauliflower (60 calories) till tender, tossed it to coat with 2 tsp of mayo (60 calories) added 1 oz of cheddar cheese (110 calories) and then cooked under the broiler until the cheese started to get bubbly and had it with a cup of tomato soup (110 calories). Surprisingly effective swap and it's comfort food so it's pretty satisfying. I saved almost 200 calories from the bread and cut out 1/2 the carbs.

That plus 3 oz. of Jack links jerky throughout the day rounds out my 600 calories and I am feeling pretty good. I look forward to fast days in one way, I feel GREAT the day after a fast day. Much higher energy and less physical pain/discomfort. One of the reasons I decided to try this is because of how good I feel after "Fast Sunday".

For those of you who aren't LDS fast sunday is one day each month where you fast for 24 hours typically skipping breakfast and lunch and then donating the money you would have spent as a "fast offering" that money goes to a fund in each ward which is used to help members in financial need. I am the financial clerk in our ward so I see the donations that come in and it surprised me to learn that several non-lds families in our area also do the fast. It is a very uplifting activity.

I am not afraid to change things if I get stuck or get bored. I plan to be free with switching it up, anything to keep the momentum.

Geoff, Dad, I love you with all my heart and I will miss you both, but I am going to do my bvest to keep our separation as long as I can extend it.  If you have any connections up there (yes I said "up there") feel free to lend a brother a hand.

Life Is Indeed Beautiful!

Geoff's post last evening was a reminder to me of how challenging life can become. Of course we all have ups and downs but there are stretches that give us painful insight into the trials of Job.

I have had several stressful weeks in a row, which does not make this effort (weight loss) any easier. My weight loss has already stalled despite my best efforts. On paper, I should be losing weight, but I am not and that is disheartening.

Today I got to have some time alone with my incredibly sweet daughter. Unbeknownst to me my lovely bride had recently taught her to sing, "We Are a Happy Family."

She sang it to me, then I tried to sing with her. I was pretty sure she was singing the wrong words, but I couldn't recall the right ones. We agreed Mommy would teach us both when we picked her up. When we did, Mommy gave us the following:

I love Daddy, he loves me,
He loves mommy yessiree!
She loves us and so you see.
We are a happy family.

I started singing variations on the song:

I love Sally, she loves me.
She loves Mommy yessiree!
She loves us and so you see.
We are a happy family.

Eventually this devolved to:

I love Sally, yes I do.
I love her even when she smells like poo.
She loves me and mommy too.
We are a happy family!

The silliness continued with Sally laughing and shouting out, "Sally loves Daddy, Sally loves Daddy!" Which is what she wanted me to sing. I was laughing, Sally was giggling and Mommy had a big broad smile on her sweet face. I have to tell you, I didn't feel sorry for myself in those moments, not one little bit.

Happiness is not a gift granted unto us, but it is something we each have to seek and find for ourselves. It can be shared, and while it can be stolen, the theft destroys it for everyone.

I am happy, my daughter is happy, my family is happy, Life is indeed beautiful.

Life just keeps on going...

It was April 2011.
I was sitting in my Dietitians office.  
I had just weighed in at my lowest weight in years and was down 208lbs in 6 months.
(For those keeping score at home it was aprox. 7.34 lbs a week for 28 weeks or just over 1 pound a day... It doesn't seem like that much when you break it down does it?) 

*28 weeks earlier in October of 2010. I was the biggest I had ever been. As well as dependent on pain meds (Vicodin) to get through the day and just unhealthy in every way imaginable.

(Jump back to mid April 2011...) I'm sitting in my Doctors office at Red Mountain Weightloss clinic in Scottsdale.  I had just gotten the good news about my current weight.  Things are going great....

Then my phone rings.

I would not normally take a call during a Dr's appointment but it was from a family member and something that I can't explain told me to answer the phone.

On the other end of the phone was a voice I was all to familiar with. A voice I had heard my entire life and would've or could've recognized anywhere.  But this time the voice that I knew so well, was different. It was heavy, it was scared, it was not good news...

The voice told me that someone I loved. Whom I had known my entire life.  Was in trouble.  This person was not only family but one of my best friends.  They were not hurt or dying.  They were however, sick, and had been for a long time.  The problem is no one around this person, including myself, had an idea until it was too late.  

The voice on the other end of the phone told me that my loved one had been arrested.  That the charges were serious and I was asked if I could drop what I was doing and drive several hours away to help.

It was not a question of would I do it but how could I do it.  I had a job, wife, three kids and I was pretty heavily invested in my own battle to lose weight and regain my health.  My days were regimented and full...

But yet, it never really was a question.  
I had to go.

I got off the phone. Excused myself from the Doctor's office and called my wife as I began to head for the freeway, south out of town.

For all intents and purposes I never really ever returned back to that Doctors office or to all the things I had been doing that had helped me find so much incredible success in a relatively short amount of time.

This Blog is about whatever we want it to be about.  If I felt comfortable I would surly have no reservations about going in depth on how things played out for me and my loved one over the course of the next year.

But I'm not ready for that yet.
You see... This person is alive.
But I can't see him.  
I can't talk to him.
I can't Hug him. 
I can't thank him or tell him that I love him.

I can't share my life with him and I miss him everyday.

I hate knowing that there is nothing I can do to stop the fact that some day, anyday I will get a call and have to be told he has died.  Without me being able to do any of those things one last time.

But here is the harsh reality...
I was out of town for almost 3 weeks.
I was staying at someone else's home. 
Away from my food. My personal trainer. My routine. 
Blah Blah Blah...  

I gained back almost 20lbs in that 21 days.
I stopped getting up at 4:40am.
I stopped preparing my meals the day before.
I stopped making "getting healthy" my priority because I was scared, angry and hurt.

I never really got back on track when I returned home.
I have gained back over half of that 208lbs I lost 2.5 years ago.

And guess what... That didn't fix anything.
It didn't change the harsh realities of life.
It didn't bring anyone back.
It didn't stop my inevitable Divorce.
It didn't stop job layoffs...

Life is not going to stop being a constant struggle because you decide you need everything to be "calm" and "Still" while you concentrate on being healthy.

So I guess what I'm saying is... 
Life is going to be unpredictable and hard whether you are Fat or Skinny.

But then again what do I know?
I clearly do not have very many or really any of the answers...

Don't Get Stuck in a Rut OR When It Ain't Working, Try Something Different.

So I am sick of bouncing around and making no progress on my weight loss. it has been a week since I lost one additional pound and two weeks since I lost anything significant. I can't technically say I am flatlined because the line is looking like an heart monitor.

My niece Mary decided she wanted to lose 35 pounds and she has plucked away at it 1-2 pounds a week over several weeks and as of our last conversation had lost 34 pounds. Kudos, Mary; you are awesome!

I had decided from the get go to change my plan whenever i stalled for more than two weeks on whatever I was doing. The idea is to change things up without giving up and so i switch like an unfaithful husband to the latest thing to pass my gaze.

So what is Mary's plan? I believe it falls under the category of intermittent fasting; light breakfast, normal (not outrageous) lunch, late in the day and no dinner. I can see that several of you have already opened your mouths to explain that, "No Zach, you've got it all wrong! You have to eat several small meals to keep your metabolism going."

Yeah, I've heard that, but I will just refer you to this study, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2347114/No-micro-meals-New-study-says-eating-meals-day--opposed-small-meals--yields-weight-loss.html. Coupled with longevity research involving CRON (Calorie Restriction with Optimum Nutrition) i think it i safe to say that there are no severe risks to the plan. I figure that my worst case scenario is that I stay flat/or gain weight. What I consider my primary operating principle is that I don't quit.

Everybody has lost some weight or knows somebody who lost weight using plan "X". My personal theory is that a combination of  adherence (lifestyle suitability) + commitment equals success. I struggle with commitment whenever the scale stops being interesting. Early on it's a Jackie Chan movie and a couple of weeks in I am watching The Straight Story.

If weight loss were easy we'd all be skinny right?