Who's up for weight loss and fat burning with Fat Free February?

 Hi guys! Last month I issued a No Junk January weight loss challenge (and was so-so successful lol). Now, if you're like most of the world (raises hand), January New Year's resolutions end about mid month. But just because I fell off the bike occasionally doesn't mean I can't get back on it anytime I want. So how's about we keep up the good work begun in No Junk January with a Fat Free February weight loss challenge? 

So first a disclaimer: not Fat Free February as in cutting out fat (other than transfat). Keto has taught me that calorie restricting with foods rich in MUFA(monounsaturated fatty acids) PUFA (polyunsaturated fatty acids) and even some saturated fats (in avocado and coconut oil) actually burns "bad fat." That would be white adipose tissue or stored fat. 

In this Fat Free February weight loss challenge I'm going practice calorie restricting to free myself of excess white adipose tissue (stored fat) and build up BAT (brown adipose tissue) or healthier brown fat. Building brown fat increases metabolism which burns calories which reduces stored fat WHICH ironically is built by eating more fats or fatty acids (MUFAS and PUFAS). It comes full circle. 

Calorie restricting, then, will include keto type eating (I don't do strict keto, just saying, that hasn't worked for me for long term weight loss). I limit added and refined sugar, white foods (rice, potatoes, bread and pasta). My 1200 calorie diet is high fiber, high protein, lots of green leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds (specifically seeds like in blueberries, raspberries and blackberries).  

And a Fat Free February is perfect for the cold weather. Being chilly causes the body to burn calories faster and increase metabolism and to stay warm. Stay tuned for more on how I lost 100 pounds! 

How I lost 100 pounds in one moment

If you follow this blog on how I lost 100 pounds, you know that I love to write intriguing titles. Today I'm going to share how I lost 100 pounds in one moment. Really. Not that I shed all the weight in 60 seconds with the wave of a wand. But it was kind of magical. What happened was that I experienced a surprise "aha moment" which flipped my entire thought process on it's head and set me off on a path to weight loss. How it happened was, if not easy, pretty simple. 

Backstory: over a period of 8 years or so, a series of unfortunate events had plunged me into morbid obesity. Menopause, the loss of two stillborn babies, depression, anxiety, the antidepressant Paxil had wreaked havoc on my impulse control and pushed me to (what I thought was) comfort eating. Once I started gaining weight, it just snowballed and I went from healthy to overweight to obesity in a scary short time. 

Paxil had a devastating effect on my self-control. It shut off all my limit switches. Paxil made me apathetic and even more depressed. I knew I was waaay overweight but I just didn't care. And worst of all, it seemed I couldn't stop it. I resigned myself to this new me and hated myself even more. But then, my higher power sent me a lifeline (AMDG) in the form of a wakeup call. 

Like Archimedes, the aha moment occurred in the bathtub. If I despised how I looked clothed, it was unbearable unclothed. All I saw was white, bulgy ugly fat. I began to hit my stomach, wishing I could just beat it off. I'd been reading about friends who were able to lose weight and I was so angry with myself that I couldn't. Why not me??

Then, something (Someone) stopped me (higher power). In the midst of this misery, I was blindsided, like St Paul on the road to Damascus, with a lightbulb flashing out "why not you?" Literally, why can't you lose weight? And immediately followed: Zoinks, Scoob!! I CAN!! It's not rocket science! I can practice calorie restricting. I can stop overeating. 

And so I could and so I did. That aha moment of realizing my own power and ability was absolutely revolutionary. Once you find your mojo, your Zen, your Tao, you can do anything. Once you flip the record to the B side, once you quit playing "can't" on autoloop, you discover a whole universe of new affirmations, wisdom and strength. It sounds so simple because it was. Is. It wasn't always easy, but it was easier than I thought it would be. 

Top photo is me in 2013 and bottom side is 2014 after weight loss. If you're interested in more on how I lost 100 pounds (without gastric bypass), stay tuned! 

How I lost 100 pounds using Alanon slogans: Weight loss strategies that work

Hello my friends, so February is upon us but my No Junk January weight loss challenge isn't. I wasn't completely successful but no matter. As Alanon says, progress not perfection. When you fall, just get back on the bike. And Keep on Keeping On. So much wisdom to be had from Alanon. Today I'm thinking about how I lost 100 pounds (without gastric bypass) using these and other Alanon slogans. Because really, alcohol and food addiction aren't that different. 

I've blogged before about how low self esteem led to obesity and confidence to weight loss (and vice versa). Losing weight helped boost confidence. I also write a lot about the gastric bypass reality TV show "My 600 lb Life" because it demonstrates so graphically the links between negativity, low self esteem, depression and obesity. 

Because Alanon slogans are all about positivity, we can use these affirmations to lose weight. Dr. Nowzaradan ("Dr. Now") of "My 600-lb Life" finds that his biggest task with gastric bypass patients, is to convince them that they can lose weight if they want. I realize, looking back that that was a huge part of how I lost 100 pounds. Literally half the battle in overcoming obesity is realizing you can. None of the weight loss strategies will work, calorie restricting, intermittent fasting, even gastric bypass, until you  discover you have the power to overcome. 

That may seem to contradict Alanon's first step which is to accept powerlessness over people, places and things. We must understand that we rely on a higher power for the strength to beat addiction. I found that to lose weight I had to trust the ability that my higher power (whom I choose to call God) placed within me. That has been the experience of the success stories on "My 600-lb Life" as well, that we can't sit back helplessly and wait for someone else to fix us. We have to walk the walk. 

How the US went from healthy, to overweight to obese to morbid obesity: two words

This is a difficult blog post to write because I'm going to talk about one of the US's most uncomfortable elephants in the living room: obesity. When I was a kid virtually no one was overweight and obesity was unheard of. Let's look at how the US (and increasingly more countries) went from healthy weight, to overweight to obese to off the charts morbid obesity.  

First, let's establish if in fact, more people are overweight. CDC stats tell us that from 1999-2017, the number of obese, not just overweight but obese, people jumped from 30.5% (bad enough) to a staggering 41.9%. And morbid obesity shot from 4.7% to 9.2%. So I wasn't imagining things. 

That means nearly half of us weigh 50 or more pounds than we should. (BMI <30) and 1 in 10 weigh 120 or more pounds than we should. This isn't even taking into account those with extreme obesity such as gastric bypass patients on "My 600-lb Life" who weigh 3-5X normal weight. 

At 9 (left, 1973) I was deemed to be overweight. I weighed 100 pounds and was put on a calorie restricting diet, limiting me to 1000 calories a day. I was hungry and sick all the time. I only put on 20-30 more pounds into adulthood. So you could say calorie restricting worked to lose weight. But it didn't. I had my tonsils out and couldn't eat. 

 And then I hit puberty, lost any excess weight, got clinically too skinny for awhile and then leveled out. It wasn't until around 2004, after losing two stillborn babies, that I got overweight. That was due in large part to depression and taking the antidepressant Paxil. How I lost 100 pounds has been the gist of this blog. 

So 1000 calories wasn't enough to feed a growing child and isn't enough for an adult. Even Dr. Now of "My 600-lb Life" only requires gastric bypass patients to follow a 1200 calorie diet. But that's really not the point of this post which is how we went from healthy to overweight to obese as a nation (many other parts of the world are seeing obesity increases as well).

I blame two fails for the obesity pandemic: lack of exercise and portion control. We overeat routinely. Everything is bigger, more calorie dense and nutrition arid. And the logical result is people who are 504 pounds overweight like Geno on the most recent episode of "My 600-lb Life." Geno speaks of eating large amounts in a never-ending quest to feel full and satisfied. 

So I think we can see how this snowball gains momentum. Geno is talking about a sense of satiation that food will never provide. He could never eat enough to fill the void. And with the addictive nature of junk food and "comfort foods" they literally create a need for themselves that they by nature never fill. The more you eat the more you want the more you eat. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. 

Part of how I lost 100 pounds was with portion control. And though it wasn't easy, it wasn't as hard as I thought. I'm hopeful for Geno because he has what many of Dr. Now's patients lack: a positive attitude. And a friend. His cuz Nico says he's going to lose weight with Geno and be his accountability partner. Let us hope and pray that these two pals will find the weight loss and healthier life and JOY that they deserve. 

#howIlost100pounds

Yummy keto diet recipes for weight loss: food swaps for cheese soup and mac and cheese

Greeting friends! As part of my No Junk January weight loss challenge, I'm sharing de-junked versions of junk food favorites, so we can still satisfy cravings with calorie restricting and 1200 calorie diet friendly options. Today's feature keto diet recipes for broccoli cheese soup, cheese sauce and mac and cheese. 

Part of how I lost 100 pounds without gastric bypass, was with keto diet and calorie restricting on a 1200 calorie diet. Those might sound contradictory as keto and calorie restricting seem to be opposite approaches to weight loss. But one thing they share in common is reduction of junk carbs, breads and starches and sugar. 

One reason cheese and dairy are verboten for weight loss is their addictive nature, esp. cheese. Gastric bypass patients on "My 600-lb Life"(a reality TV show about morbid obesity) are always shown consuming huge portions of food covered in butter, gooey cheese, etc. Tacos, pizza, mac and cheese, pasta dishes, are all "overweight" on the dairy. 

However, cheese soups, cheese sauce and mac and cheese aren't really enemies of keto diet or the 1200 calorie diet, IF done right. Keto's problem with dairy isn't the fat. That's encouraged. It's the sugar. Low and zero sugar milk, cheese and other dairy are great for weight loss, both on calorie restricting and keto diets. 

Here are keto diet recipes for broccoli cheese soup and homemade mac and cheese that even gastric bypass surgeon Dr. Now of "My 600-lb Life" would approve of. The recipes aren't feature the same ingredients for the cheese sauce base and they're pretty simple: full fat cottage cheese (or plain Greek yogurt if you can handle it--I can't), Parmesan cheese, shredded mozzarella, blue or feta cheese and avocado. 

So the best food swaps for the cheese sauce base would be Greek yogurt because it has almost no sugar and tons of protein. But it just doesn't hit that junk cheese sauce craving. Something about the sourness. So I blend full fat cottage cheese in my blender till it's super creamy and thick. Blended cottage cheese also cooks nicely without getting grainy or stringy. 

To hit that sharp cheese taste, I add parmesan, feta or blue cheese (just a smidge, or it'll overpower). I also blend avocado and mix half and half with cottage cheese. This make a great sub weight loss friendly sub for Velveeta in mac and cheese. Season with garlic, onion powder, celery salt, celery seed, dry mustard, white pepper and black pepper, and you've got a cheese sauce to die for. 

For cauliflower or broccoli cheese soup, simmer veggies in chicken bone broth for a WHAM of protein for virtually no calories. Then I mash them, add the cheese sauce, plus some shredded mozzarella or 6 cheese Italian and gently (GENTLY) simmer till smooth and melted. Don't boil or the cheese will fall apart. For the "mac" in mac and cheese,  cauliflower, zucchini, lentil or edamame pasta make great food swaps. Or sometimes I omit altogether and just used mashed vegetables. 

For fighting obesity and junk food cravings, keto diet recipes like this are win-win. They are comfort food, plus, protein punch (to curb hunger) plus yum-yum-yum. Many "My 600-lb Life" gastric bypass patients have been able to lose weight and overcome obesity with these simple food swaps. For more No Junk January diet recipes, keep following. 

#howIlost100pounds

Self doubt, low self esteem and other joy killers derail weight loss

 Hi my name is mar and I'm a fear-of-failure-aholic. Low self esteem, self doubt and other joy killers have derailed so much good, or, should I say, prevented me from seeing good, in me. The loudest demon on my back, self doubt or insecurity, is so ever-present that he's become something of a pet, albeit an ugly one. These pernicious party crashers have even made weight loss more difficult, or more correctly the ability to celebrate weight loss. 

This blog explores how I lost 100 pounds without gastric bypass. And time and again, I've seen how mental and emotional health play as large a role as physical. How I lost 100 pounds was as much (maybe  more) about caging and managing negative mindsets as calorie restricting. And I realized today how insignificant and even non-existent dings to my self esteem can still send me spiraling. 

As relates to  obesity and weight loss, I call these negative mindsets, "fattitude" which I define as just those hateful, nasty head voices like low self esteem, feeling of failure, self doubt, self hatred and even self  harm. And yes, I'm hearing as I write how often the word "self" is used. Does that mean, on top of everything, that I'm selfish, self-centered or self-absorbed and that I have to feel guilt for that too?? Maybe, maybe, maybe and no. 

No, those of us who struggle with low self esteem aren't necessarily selfish, self-centered or self-absorbed. We can be but more often it means we were raised by people who were. People who may have weaponized their own low self esteem and it our problem. People who blamed, shamed and guilted us for their own insecurities. We thought it was our job to fix their issues and when we couldn't, felt we'd failed, felt hopeless, helpless and horrible. 

This topic obviously requires a ton more thought and discussion. If you identify with any of this, let me just end today's missive with this. Consider muzzling the negative self message beast. Work on, as Alanon says, taping over those messages with positive self affirmations. Get the trowel out and dig around to find from whence this negativity springs and uproot it. It was a real ah-ha! moment when I sourced my self-hatred. I felt so much freer and lighter. 

Like dandelions, the negativity sneaks back when I'm not vigilant. But at least now I know where it lives. Love to you all and peace be with you. 

#howIlost100pounds

"My 600-lb Life" Brittani Fulfer shows joy of weight loss but also cost of obesity

Gastric bypass reality TV show "My 600-lb Life" alum Brittani Fulfer debuted (Facebook image) her jaw-dropping 333 pound weight loss recently in a swim suit and it's obvious that the formerly very overweight woman has made huge strides since the days of morbid obesity, thanks to "My 600-lb Life" gastric bypass surgeon Dr. Nowzaradan and his team. 

However, the cost of obesity are shown in the scars from knee surgery, that the "My 600-lb Life" participant had to undergo, after literally blowing out her knee from carrying around so much weight. I know how being overweight leads to such problems. I've been sharing how I lost 100 pounds, without gastric bypass, in this blog. And there are multiple health problems, diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol, that I no longer have after weight loss. 

Does weight loss fix all chronic pain issues? No. Would that it did, but some, such as arthritis, scoliosis and tendinitis are structural and will probably never be completely healed. However, weight loss does improve them. And there is no health condition I know of that weight loss, if being overweight is a problem, won't help. 

It's not uncommon for people to blame overeating on pain issues. But the truth is, it's the other way around. The "elephant in the living room" as Alanon calls it, that we don't want to acknowledge, is that obesity damages our bodies. It's not the only thing, of course. I had to have shoulder surgery after getting to a normal weight, because of arthritis and that work I've done caused shoulder injury. Had I still been overweight, the recovery would have been more difficult. 

So I rejoice with Brittani Fulfer and anyone who has worked so hard to get better. And I urge anyone who is struggling with weight related issues and/or trying to lose weight to work that program. As Alanon says, practice makes better. Don't quit quitting. I'm rooting for you! 

#howIlost100pounds

(pictures are of my weight loss because I'm not