Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Weight Loss & Recommended Books




BEFORE
 
AFTER

This week, I bought four new size 4 blouses.  It blows my mind to think of that number - four - because only two years ago, I was size 12 and expanding!  My dearest wish was to get down to a single digit dress size.  And 8 would have pleased me forever after that - I wasn't greedy!  Similarly, my husband went from a waist circumference of 34+" to almost 30".  Today, he finally bought size small t-shirts because he's swimming in all his other casual clothes.

Both of us have had ups and downs in our weights since we met and eventually married.  We both ballooned out after the wedding - a supposed sign of marital happiness according to teasing family friends.  And now we're both slimmer than on our wedding day ten years ago!  Many people will claim that they just want to get healthy.  That's why they spend so much time and money in the pursuit of weight loss.  But the deep dark truth is that we don't want to feel ugly anymore.  I know it was true in my case!

Both my husband & I had struggled with our weights, trying to find the time to exercise enough to burn away all those stored calories while trying to control the (natural) urge to eat and choosing masses of oatmeal & brown rice in the effort to "eat clean."  All to no great avail.  In my case, I slowly deflated 10 pounds over the course of a year & a half (33% body fat to start) but it started to creep back into place before I had even reached my goal weight. 

In the meantime, my husband had discovered TNT Diet: Targeted Nutrition Tactics by Campbell & Volek a year ago.  It was a great watershed event!  His weight seemed to just slip away like water off a duck's back.  We began to resemble the number ten - he the '1' and I the '0'.  It was not to be borne!  My hand was forced and I must join him in his racist way of eating (no white anything - no sugar, no flour, no potatoes, no bread).  Simply put: if you imagine loading up your plate as usual (meat + veg + starch), just remove the starch and substitute in another serving of veggies (meat + veg + veg).  The diet is not a high protein plan; increased protein is only added proportional to one's increased needs before & after weight training. To my absolute surprise, it worked for me also!  I dumped a further ten+ pounds in 3 months and lowered my body fat to 24%.  And I know it would work for you too if you would just keep an open mind and try it out.


Why does it work?  There is some discussion of the scientific rationale in TNT Diet but two books by another author truly dissect the history & science of fat gain & loss: Why We Get Fat: And What To Do About It and Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health by Gary Taubes.  In a nutshell as I understand it: when simple carbs (sugars & starches) are eaten, insulin is secreted by the pancreas; insulin stimulates fat cells to remove sugar out of the bloodstream & store it (i.e. we get fatter); it stimulates the liver to convert blood sugar into triglycerides & fatty acids (i.e. we develop bad blood lipid profiles); and it stimulates the kidneys to dump potassium by hanging onto sodium (i.e. we bloat & our blood pressure goes up).  Minimizing one's carbohydrate load, and thereby one's insulin secretion, allows your body to liberate the fat you've already stored as well as the fat in your food to be used for energy.  When sugar or starches are present, they are always preferred by the body, so fat is not used and is in fact stored on top of that which is already present.

If you have any interest in slimming down, whether for health or for vanity, please, look up these books and consider giving carbohydrate/insulin control a try!

Links to Recommended Books:
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