Losing Weight

Some years ago, I got sick of being heavy. So I changed the way I ate, cut out all the crap, and over a period of months lost 100 pounds. I felt great.

Then I got pneumonia. I was in bad shape. But with time and medication, I recovered.

And then the weight started coming back.

I had no idea why. I hadn’t changed the way I ate. I still went to the gym three to four times a week. But either I maintained my weight or, if I ate anything I shouldn’t have, and I mean ANYthing–a slice of pizza, a couple of cookies, a brownie–I would put on a pound that never came off no matter what I did. Eventually, over time, every dámņëd pound I’d lost and then some came back. It got so bad that when I was in the recovery center for my stroke, they had me on a 1500 calorie a day diet for five weeks. I gained five pounds. They were convinced I was cheating; that someone was sneaking me in chocolate bars or something. After that I went to a nutritionist and she put me on a high protein, low carb diet. Gained four pounds and got gout, so that worked.

In modern days I was eating 2000 calories a day and still exercising, but losing no weight. I’d topped out at 320 pounds. It was killing me that I’d go to conventions and people would say, “You look so good!” and by that they naturally meant that I was not walking and talking like a stroke victim. But I knew I looked awful. Not only that but my blood sugar was through the roof. As a diabetic, I should be below 150; instead I was anywhere from 185 to 230. And that was with taking insulin shots.

So I mentioned this to my podiatrist a few weeks back and he said, “There’s a doctor right next door who specializes in healthy living. You should go to him.” And I did.

Basically what he told me was that the steroids I had taken when I had pneumonia had screwed up my body. That anything I ate, my body wasn’t burning up; instead it was holding onto everything. It apparently had set itself into permanent starvation mode. My metabolism had slowed down to nil. Exercise made no difference because it clung onto calories.

He introduced me to a new way of eating. Not a diet per se, but the removal of various foods from what I ate. No carbs of any kind: no bread (except gluten free), no pasta, no Cheeri-Os, God knows no cookies or cake. No sugar: no chocolate of any sort. Limits on fruits: apples are fine, but no bananas, no oranges. No dairy products: no cheese, no milk. He also put me on a regimen of vitamins to help restore my body to its factory settings.

And it’s working. It’s freaking working.

I have been eating this way for two weeks and four days.

I’ve lost twenty pounds. In eighteen days.

The weight is just flying off me. I’m now down to 300 even. My goal, as insane as it sounds, is to lose another 75 pounds before the San Diego Comicon. Furthermore, my blood sugar has dropped to anywhere from 89 to 104, well below where my GP wanted me to be.

Anyone who would be interested in contact information for my doctor and lives in Suffolk County should email me at padguy@aol.com and I will be happy to provide contact info. In the meantime I will provide updates every time I lose another ten pounds.

PAD

25 comments on “Losing Weight

  1. Congratulations, Peter. I haven’t had your problem with weight loss but I’m finally losing, too. Let’s compare results at SDCCI; the “loser” DOESN’T treat the winner to dinner, okay?

  2. That’s always the thing to remember when trying to lose weight, what works for one person, even for most people, won’t necessarily work for you. For me, it was a simple as watching calories (I lost about a pound a day doing my best to keep to a 3000 calorie diet). For my wife, nothing worked until she started restricting how much fat she got at a single meal (she ended up losing over 100 lbs).

    I’m glad you’ve found something that works, and, as you say, will hopefully restore your body to factory settings.

  3. Terrific news — congrats!

    And while I didn’t have that particular reaction to steroids, I can say with no small assurance that steroids are evil, evil, tricksy things. I was on varying doses of them for 4-5 years (yes, years) thanks to a misdiagnosis — I’ve been off them now for several years, but they triggered diabetes in me and I’m still trying to shake mood swings. A useful evil at times, steroids are, but absolutely evil.

    And amazing news about the blood sugar — way to go!

  4. I am glad that you were able to find out what caused you to gain that weight and now how to lose it. As a diabetic myself ( type 2 ), I too had to lose over 70 lbs last year in order to get healthy and feel better. The best part of losing weight is being able to wear some of your older clothes that you used to wear but stopped because they didn’t fit anymore. ( hopefully you didn’t throw away anything you loved to wear )

  5. How does a doctor KNOW things like that? (I don’t deny that he does, and I’m not challenging your story in any way.) But what did he see in you that made him say, “Steroids. Permanent starvation. Eat these things only.”

    It’d be great if someone could say that for me.

    Of course, I could lay off the junk food to start. But that’s not my point right now.

  6. Keep it up sir, you will get to your goal. Its awesome you found a solution. I work in an ER and it drives me nuts when overweight patients show up some of my co-workers immediately write off whatever is wrong with them as “obviously” their own fault because they are overweight. I myself am looking into the probiotic side of weight problems. I’ve eliminated caffeine, working on regular soda and trying to kick my tobacco habit, I’m a dipper, hopefully this will help.

  7. You lost weight initially because you “were sick of being heavy”? In that BID column you wrote about it, you wrote that your reason for losing it was “something so embarrassing that I still don’t want to talk about it”. Was that just BS, or are you rewriting history now to make yourself look better?

  8. Congratulations! Don’t become discouraged if your progress slows or stalls and continue to monitor your vitals to ensure that your program isn’t working TOO well. I wouldn’t be surprised if you have to make some adjuatments or refinements down the line.

  9. Great new Peter!
    My wife was curious, What do you eat? And how does Kath keep up with what you can eat, and what she and Caroline will eat? I know that when I was on Atkins, it drove my wife crazy trying to shop and cook for both of us…

    1. I’d be interested in knowing what foods are most allowed, also.

      Congratulations on the weight loss and grandson!

  10. Sounds like a Ketosis diet. Pretty hardcore strict, but effective. Congrats on the weight loss, and all the best for future success!

  11. Yes. This type of diet works for a very good reason. Most obese people are addicted to bad food. That’s why just limiting them isn’t going to work. You will fall of the wagon eventually. And when you do you will splurge and have incredibly hard time getting back again to healthy food.

    Addiction just works this way. Imagine you’re an alcoholic. You got it under control, you finally reach a year of being sober. You go to that AA meeting and get your chip. And then you say “ok! I’m cured. Let’s go celebrate with some beers”. Yeah..that wouldn’t work. And that’s exactly what people who lost weight do most of the time. They get back to eating junk food, foolishly thining they will be able to control themselves.

  12. Just yesterday I was reading in the New York Times about a study done on the “Biggest loser” contestants and how most of them had regained weight because their body went in “starvation” mode. I wonder if maybe “easing” your body into a diet would stop your metabolism from slowing to a crawl…but I’m no scientist, so that’s a question for someone else to answer.
    Congratulations on your weight loss.

  13. Good for you Mr David,

    May i ask what type of doctor and his name? I too got sick of being overweight (topped out at 296) and started using myfitnesspal and cut out all fast food. for four years i was losing (moderately) it didnt come off all at once. some weeks i would lose 4 lbs, some weeks i would gain 1 etc…

    right now i average eating about 1800-2200 calories a day and according to my fitbit i am burning close to 3500-4500 a day which means i should be losing 2lbs a week and i am not.

    thanks for any help you may provide

  14. Congratulations, Peter! I’m sorry you had to go through the up-and-down rollercoaster of weight loss and gain first, but it sounds like you’re on a great path now. I need to do something similar, before the consequences of obesity really catch up with me.

  15. Fantastic news that the weight has started to come off again, PAD, and you must be so relieved to have an answer for why it all came back on again.

    But, oh boy, that diet sounds hellish 🙁

  16. Your health is the greatest gift that you can give not only yourself, but also your family/friends who hope to have you in their lives for as long as possible.

    Congrats on your renewed efforts. Wishing you continued success!

  17. Peter,
    so happy for you. At our age, life is about constant maintenance and every victory should be celebrated!
    Dave

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