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.