I’m not a fan of chemical diets, pills and “miracle drugs”. There are a lot of stories out there that claim all sorts of successes losing weight, but this is more than a story. It’s my story and it’s true.
About 2 years ago, after many years of “I don’t care abuse”, I wound up weighing 260 lbs. At 5’10″, I was way over the charts into obesity land. One day a friend, Eric was in my office and he commented on my shirt spreading belly and stated I should do something about it. Well I did.
In the year following, I cut my eating portions in half and successfully dropped 30 lbs! (Actually the first 9 were the easiest, being mostly water weight). Then it stopped. I have 30 more lbs to drop, but for the past year I couldn’t get the scale to budge. For the past 8 months I actually started running 30 mins a day in attempt to drop the weight. Nothing budged.
Over the year I was diagnosed as being diebetic, Type 2. This wasn’t a surprise given my weight problem, but what I didn’t realize is that the insulin resistance was actually keeping me fat. I read about this in The Diet Solution by Isabel De Los Rios. It’s a great resource of good solid health information.
My Doctor prescribed Metformin about a month ago, in an increasing dose to make sure I was telerant to the drug. Metformin helps in increasing the insulin efficiency and promotes glucose absorption into the muscles.
It’s been 30 days and this is what I determined. With my blood glucose at 140 or above I was actually gaining weight. The exercise only helped to sustain on the scale. At 120, I didn’t gain weight, but It wasn’t going anywhere. I would build muscle, but my body kept storing the excess sugar as fat. (The muffin top effect was my evidence of that. Prior to the “new” fat, my belly was all viceral fat, hard and no pinch). Thenin the past week it happenned.
My blood sugar is stabalizing at 100 to 110. Wow! The fat seems to be melting away! What a perk! I actually lost a measurable 2lbs this week! I love it! My wife actually commented that my belly seemed to be shrinking and I feel a lot more energetic
So what’s my motivation? Before getting so fat, I bought a whole bunch of silk shirts (I’m in Florida). It’s a style I like and my 36 in waist jeans are still waiting to be worn again. I can’t wait. I actually peaked at 42+ in waist and I’m at 40 now. I haven’t worn any of these since my buddy pointed out my “growing physique”.
Well, I’ll be 60 years old this year in October. I hope to be 20lbs lighter by then. To top that my Ironman Daughter said she would run my first 10k with me. I’d like to make her proud.
So, for now, I’m feeling good. My weight is heading in the right direction, my blood preasure is “legal” and I don’t have to take Prilosec anymore! Wow, Life IS Good!
