A new healthy lifestyle.

Like many people, weight loss when needed, can be a problem. My doctors' reports stated me as obese - along with one-third of the US population. Obesity is a chronic health problem. It is one of the biggest factors for type II diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. It is also associated with cancer (e.g. colorectal cancer), osteoarthritis, liver disease, sleep apnea, depression and other medical conditions that affect mortality and morbidity.

Whatever method I used to loose weight in the past, it just wasn't working. I don't like diets, but I loved pasta, pizza, sweets, bread, etc., those are gone for now and as a result, I no longer have a compelling desire for those foods. April of 2015 started it all. I was led to information regarding health and weight loss, starting with Gary Taubes book "Why We Get Fat, and What to Do About It", 2010. Other books are "Wheat Belly" and "Grain Brain".

This is not just a diet, but a healthy lifestyle which combines:

• Eating well
• Moving more
• Stress less
• Love more.

Eating well starts with eliminating refined wheat and wheat products, refined sugar, all processed foods from the grocery store middle aisles and in the freezers, staying away from fast foods and the the bakery - AKA 'junk foods'.

What were left are natural whole foods including meat, fish and even hamburgers (without a bun or fries), eggs, vegetables, salads, nuts and fruits (of the lower glycemic variety) are all included. I know there are a lot more healthy foods to eat, but those are not for me - I'm a fussy eater.

My personal diet for weight loss at this time limits simple carbs to less than 50 grams per day; protein at about 60 to 75 grams per day and fats should be 50% to 65% of the calories consumed, and, of course, three to four 16 oz. glasses of water. It's called a ketogenic diet - you can look that up HERE. While this link provides a more strict process than mine, you get the idea. So far, I have lost about 50# and my BMI is at 22.7.

I keep tract of what I eat with an app called Carb Manager.

Move more is exercise – this is a must! This can range from walking every day, to sport activities and the gym. While I prefer walking and hiking (my favorite) during the fair weather seasons, the winter season is another story.

I make use of my ‘Silver Sneakers’ membership at the local YMCA. I make it three times a week, and amounts from 1 to 1-1/2 hours each time. While my regimen has evolved during the time, I currently do ½ hour on a treadmill, another ½ hour with various FreeMotion machines and currently about 10 minutes on an Elliptical – this uses a lot more energy for me, so I need to be careful here. These are all interspersed with walking laps around the track. I try to do stretching exercises at home on most days.

Stress less is difficult for everyone. Stress is different things to different people. It’s also different things at different times to the same person. In other words, stress is very individual. HERE is a link to get you started. 

Love more… just do it!

Conclusions

Ketogenic diets are commonly considered to be a useful tool for weight control and many studies suggest that they could be more efficient than low-fat diets, although there is not concordance in the literature about their absolute effectiveness and even some doubts rose about safety. But there is a ‘hidden face’ of the ketogenic diet: its broader therapeutic action. There are new and exciting scenarios about the use of ketogenic diets, as discussed in this review, in cancer, T2D, PCOS, cardiovascular and neurological diseases. Further studies are warranted to investigate more in detail the potential therapeutic mechanisms, its effectiveness and safety, and we would invite all researchers to face this challenge without prejudice. Source

The more people change their diet and lifestyle, the more they improve their health at any age, and get beyond their health risk factors.