(The history behind the Dieter category of posts)
Yeah. I know. BIG. 355 pounds big. (Check the Articles page under the Dieter category for some of the after pictures.)But then, and here’s the beginning of the secret, I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) on July 25th. First thing that went though my head is I wanted to meet my grandchildren. The doctor put me on a low-carb diet. Now, don’t get put off by that. I’ve been able to eat plenty of things I like. But I still lose weight.The Diet
Here’s the diet exactly as I was told: 60-45-60-45-60
What do those numbers mean? Well, I’m supposed to eat 5 meals a day. You didn’t read that wrong, 5 meals. Not 1. Not 2. But 5. Each of those numbers is how many carbs I can have at each meal. The 60s are full meals. The 45s are snacks. Now, before this diet I ate tons of bread and drank tons of milk. Probably literally. I’m a bread and milk guy. I also liked crackers, cookies, cakes, pies, etc. Yep. Normal fat guy food. Even the donuts. I also drank a lot of carbonated beverages, and not the diet versions. Now, to get a rough idea of how bad I did, a cup of milk is about 15 carbs. I used a glass that held 3 cups. 12 saltine crackers are 30 carbs. I’d eat the entire package. And then, right after, I’d drink about 2 or 3 cups of cola. Each cup was 30 carbs. Or, sometimes I’d eat an entire roll of Chips-Ahoy cookies. I have no idea how many carbs that was, but I bet it was a lot.
Why the 5 meals? Well, I learned from some infomercials a long time ago that eating smaller meals more often would keep your metabolism burning. Yep. They tried to sell you stuff, but they were also educational back then. So the 5 meals help keep my metabolism burning at full speed most of the day. That’s a good thing. Calories come off quicker.
Why those amounts of carbs? I truly have no idea. It’s what the nurse told me to do. And man were those numbers small when I started reading the backs of the foods I ate.
Now, my wife, she’s a blessing. Not only has she been encouraging me throughout this process, but the day after I started on my diet, she went to the grocery store for 3 hours looking for foods I would like but were low in carbs. That helped tremendously. See, I didn’t have to stop eating as much, just had to be more careful about what I was eating. And I don’t mean vegetables all the time either. There were cheese puffs, peanut butter products, etc. that had low carbs but what felt like large amounts of food when I ate them.
Another thing that helped was that my cholesterol was not high. Comes from having tons of fiber in bread. Fiber is good for cholesterol. So, this allowed me to add non-carb foods like meat and eggs to my diet. I ate more of those at the beginning as I got used to the new diet. Here’s an example:
July 25th, 5:14 pm, Meal 2, 55g:
3/4 cup Mashed Potatoes (39g)
1 cup Carrots (12g)
1/4 cup Gravy (4g)
2 Grilled Pork Chops (0g)
See? 2 whole pork chops. Next day I weighed, and I maintained my weight. But I had gotten full for that meal. I was seeing a silver lining to this diet. Now don’t get me wrong, eating a piece of toast for 15g and then eating a dozen eggs isn’t going to help you lose weight, just the opposite. But be mindful of what carb-free food you’re eating, and you’ll be fine.
One last thing… drink water, diet, or unsweetened tea. Diet drinks are not really good for you, but at least you get some taste and no carbs. Diet Dr. Pepper really DOES taste just like the original. Diet Mountain Dew is not bad either. The new Coke Zeroes taste pretty good too. I’ll keep you up to date with those kinds of things in the blog entries.
The Pills
I am a diabetic. I take Glucophage twice a day. It helps my insulin to work better. See, as a type 2 I produce insulin, it’s just not very good insulin. Insulin can suffer because of fat. So basically, if I get rid of the fat and keep dieting, I’ll be able to drop the pills. But those aren’t the only pills I take.
I take 3 pills. I take Glucophage, a multivitamin, and a fiber supplement. The last two are not prescriptions. I chose to take them for a few reasons. The multivitamin makes sure I get needed vitamins even if I don’t necessarily get the right foods for the day. The fiber supplement, although it costs me 4 carbs (which anything under 5 is considered a freebie as long as you don’t overdo it), gives me extra fiber every day. Since I’m eating more foods that have cholesterol in them, I need the extra fiber to make sure I don’t get high cholesterol. I use the chewable tablets. They come in nice flavors so basically taste like I’m eating a large Smarties candy. Oh, and this won’t break the bank, after all, I use the generic versions of everything.
(Update: I no longer take the fiber supplement. I get plenty of fiber from the Slim-Fast bars and oatmeal that I’m currently eating.)
The Exercise
Yes. It’s going to happen. If you want to lose the weight, you have to exercise. But, here are a few things I do for exercise that don’t feel like it:
First, we joined the YMCA in town. We go there and swim. I like throwing out the dive sticks. I swim to the bottom of the pool and get them, then throw them again. It’s actually quite fun to do, doesn’t feel like work, but the next day your muscles hurt in all the right places. I also get on the stationary bike for about 5 minutes, and then go do about 10 reps on each of their muscle building machines. I do the swimming afterwards. We go about 4 times a week for about an hour and a half. I force myself to do the first 30 minutes of biking and weight lifting. Then I go swimming with my family for an hour doing the dive thing or even playing “Keep Away.” Both are fun activities. A final 5 minutes in the hot tub next to the pool, and I’m happy.
Second, I own a Nintendo Wii. I play the sports game on it. Now, I will be honest here, it’s possible to play the game without standing up. But if you do stand up and get into it without thinking about it being exercise, it’s very easy to have fun. I’m looking forward to Wii Fit coming in January of 2008. It keeps track of your BMI and teaches you good exercises to do. (Most of what I’m doing now is off the top of my head. The YMCA charges too much for personal consultations. So I do research on the Internet.)
Third, nothing. That’s it. That’s the exercise I do. Well, not ALL of it, but some of it is everyday activities, like walking around a store or other things.
If I do anything else, I’ll document it in the diet diaries.
The End… Not Really
That’s enough information to get you started for now. I have to say these things though: Do not start any diet or exercise program without consulting your doctor. My diabetes nurse is only a phone call away, and I’ll gladly call her with any questions about any odd physical pains, food questions, etc. If your doctor doesn’t provide such a person if you have diabetes or are trying to lose weight for any other medical reason, then ask them to provide someone you can call. I’m not a doctor or nurse, so can’t take those kinds of calls. But you can e-mail me any time you need support with your weight loss.
Now, from this point on I will be making blog entries detailing what I do and eat each day and my current weight. I feel this “diary” will not only help me to stay on my diet, but will possibly provide good information that you guys might want to know also, such as foods that fill you up, great sites for information, etc. I’ll also keep you up to date with pictures, ‘cause I know people want photographic proof.
So, hope you enjoy the dieting ride. Keep reading, because there’s no telling what’s going to happen. And hey, you might enjoy my other posts too. But to keep up to date with my dieting posts, visit the “Dieter” category.
I’ll be providing you with my Dieter Diary. Other than the first post that includes it, these will be separate posts that give you the exact information I write down in my little spiral notebook everyday. Remember, meals are 60g of carbs and snacks are 45g of carbs. Also, it’s not an exact science. I don’t have scales that measure milligrams. So, when I call it a meal or a snack, it’s approximately 60 or 45 grams of carbohydrates, but it’s always very close.
If you are dieting, and you feel discouraged, feel free to e-mail me. I’ve created a special e-mail address so that your e-mails can get to me quickly. It’s “dieter”. Just put that in front of saphrym.com (without the quotes of course) and you’re good to go. I’ll gladly be your dieting partner. It’s not tough, but without a support system, it can be lonely.
See ya in the comments.
