What’s my secret?

Okay – from this picture to this one and back again. A 400-lb roundtrip journey. 200 up, 200 down. I’ve a longer post in me, but let this set the record straight, since I’ve been getting a ton of emails about this.

This last 110lb+ push toward my goal weight has been possible thanks to the Weight Management Program in San Francisco. I’ve learned a ton, and continue to, about myself, others, calories, nutrition, and life. It’s changed me forever. A quick summary.

– I was fasting from August 10th until this past Saturday. about 5.5 months.

– by fasting, I mean just enough calories and protein to keep from autodigesting my own heart tissue. I averaged about 700 cals a day.

– This was doctor-supervised. Every week we have class and checkups, sometimes including blood work, urinalysis, and EKG. This is the program doctors send their superfat patients on before they get surgery. It’s also the last stop before gastric bypass.

– it wasn’t cheap, but when you factor in the money I saved not buying Jelly Bellies, pizza, and Mitchell’s ice cream, it was probably a wash. If you have Brown and Toland insurance, they’ll cover at least some of it. Seriously, worth every single penny.

– I NEVER felt hungry. I ALWAYS had energy. I only felt sick once, and that was at Magic Mountain. I guess fasting and roller coasters make one ill. But other than that, it was spectacular. Yes, i worked out – mainly walking on treadmills and weightlifting. Some kung fu, running, and lately, basketball.

– The source of my energy is something called ketosis. [this is my simple explanation, IANAD] When you don’t eat enough sugar, your body makes you feel hunger. When that doesn’t make you eat, after 3 days or so, your body finally says, “Screw it, I’m making my own sugar.” Once that switch is flipped, it stops asking for food and uses your fat to create sugar. Hence, i was never hungry. And since I had plenty of fat, that means I had plenty of energy to go around. [note: if you do this the wrong way, protein will be used to create sugar, and that will include your heart muscle - bad times - make sure you consult a doctor first.]

– I lost about 5 lbs a week. No, that’s not too fast. No, my immune system wasn’t impaired. In fact, I didn’t get even the sniffles in the last six months. I did, however, get the gout. In my case, it was from being dehydrated.

– My cholesterol plummeted. My blood pressure is normal for the first time in my life. My resting blood sugar is perfect (I used to be diabetic.) And i don’t crave sweets or have to take a nap in the afternoons like I used to.

– I took metamucil daily, so my bowels worked normally. Thanks for asking.

– Yes, I have some loose skin, but it’s not that bad. Some of that will tighten up. I’ll revisit in a year to see how it looks. I’m not above a tuck. Yes, I’ll show you if you ask me in person.

– I have to thank my buddy Dan Pardi for telling me about this kind of system and my doctor, Denise Smart, for pointing me to this particular program.

– to affect any change, you have to be willing to do what it takes to win. For me, it was sending my family overseas. Not easy at all. But it allowed me to get the job done. Now we can be a family again without me sneaking out to McDonald’s twice a day and trying to hide the smell from my wife. Or having to teach Tatiana to bowl left handed cause daddy’s diabetes took his other foot. I must be drunk again.

– the best thing you can do to start moving in the right direction is keep a food log. Seriously, it’s simple and easy to do. Write down every single thing you eat or drink that has calories. Be brutally honest, and eventually you’ll see where those extra pounds are coming from. Calculate your caloric totals weekly using a site like calorieking.com. You should be eating about ten times your weight in calories daily. Keep that in mind when you have the bacon Ultimate Cheeseburger at Jack in the Box. It’s 1080 calories. Or about half of my daily allowance in a single sandwich, if you want to call it that.

– Yes, I’m worried about regaining the weight. I’ve been armed with knowledge and I keep strict records of what I eat, so I can’t be caught totally by surprise. For those of you convinced that I will regain it: Quit being so pessimistic. Or jealous, or whatever that is. Be happy for me. Failing that, eat it.