Weight Loss

[wizzard166]

I'll preface this by saying that I probably should notify my Specialist; however, I don't want to do that before asking our group for their input. I don't want to bug my Specialist with many questions that arise from my lack of knowledge and overall being anxious, so that is why I feel our group is such a great thing.

I've been running the same weight for quite a while, likely the three years I've been on watch and wait. I'm 6'0" and have been at 250 to 252 for all of the three years. Yes I'm overweight, and its all in my gut; however, I'm tall enough with big chest and shoulders so it isnt too unsightly (unless I look sideways in the mirror)

My wife and I came back from my six month Boston visit to Dana Farber, after which we spent time in Maine. Great time with beautiful sights and incredible Lobster and Sea Food. We got back on Monday April 19, and I made a commitment to eat less portion size, reduce Carbs a lot, and starting walking for the first time in eight months. My walk is exactly one mile in the early Morning, and I'm doing it in about 18minutes. This is S Florida so its hot and I sweat heavily during the mile.

I got on the scale for the first time this past Thursday May 6, and I was 242. My belt notch is now one hole better. I am pretty sure I was around 252 before I left for the trip. So we're talking ten (10) pounds in 17 days. Other than the weight loss, I just feel more tired than usual at times; however, the walking has definitely made me a bit stronger.

My question to the more knowledgeable people in here, is should I be concerned? Does that sound like too much weight drop for the small time I've been doing what I described? Does it sound instead normal, and the excess weight is easy to drop like that by walking one mile a day and without precise measurement saying I'm eating less with less carbs? Any input is appreciated.

Carl

[Newdawn Administrator]

Doesn’t sound like an excessive amount of weight to lose in 17 days to me Carl especially if you’ve been walking/exercising more and eating lots of yummy but low carb, lower calorie seafood. Obviously if it continues unintentionally you’d be best to check it out but for now I’d just be grateful 😉

Regards,

Newdawn

[wizzard166 in reply to Newdawn]

Thank you Newdawn. My overall reaction is the same as what you have said. I'm thinking that there is a certain amount of excess weight that will come off anyone if they begin doing moderate exercise combined with careful eating. Especially if the person really has excess weight and not just a small amount of fat beyond other normal people. Since my 250 should really be for a 6' guy around 190, my thinking is someone like me can easily drop ten pounds just by thinking about exercise.

When I was 50 I was also around 255, and I committed myself to strict Atkins; what he called Boot Camp. 28 grams of Carbs per day, drink a lot of water, and No Alcohol. I'd avoided the diet for a long time, due to resistance on giving up my one or small drinks a night. So I bit the bullet on alcohol and really did it full steam. I went from 255 to 220 in the first month, and then got so excited i did a second legit month. I dropped from 220 to 200, and then said it was enough. Then at 65 I was back to the 250 range and decided to do Atkins again, and this time it only resulted in ten pounds in the first month. I was so depressed that it wasnt the 30 pounds from my first time. I called my Brother Matt, a brilliant MD and actually expert in nutrition and exercise (just wrote a book) and he said: "Carl you are 65 years old." He said your metabolism is way below where you were at age 50, so you can't expect the same result. He implored me to just reduce my amount of food and exercise moderately, and be happy with about 2 pounds a month coming off. He recently urged me to thing about being a Vegetarian, and I thought about it, but I've loved meat all my life and just can't imagine doing it. Still I know he is right, based on the work of a friend of his the famous Dr. Dean Ornish. Ornish proved that a Vegetarian diet can Reverse Heart Disease (yes proved), and Matt's new book follows up on the work of Ornish.

If I drop another ten pounds in two weeks, maybe I should be concerned; however, I agree with you Newdawn that I probably just reacted physiologically to an instant change in exercise, and true limited portion size.

Carl

[Jm954 Administrator in reply to wizzard166]

A low carb vegetarian diet with all the nutrients you need is quite hard to do. Ask your brother for some food plans if you want to go this way.Jackie

[wizzard166 in reply to Jm954]

Jackie

My brother's book has a lot of suggested food plans for good nutrition, but I likely will never go that route. What I'm doing now is smaller amounts of chicken, fish, pork, and salads for dinner. For breakfast every day two eggs with a small amount of cheese, and sometimes yogurt and fruit. I'm skipping lunch some days, and others I've had two small apples and a few slices of cheese. If my wife makes some egg salad or tuna or chicken salad, I'll have a small amount of that for lunch with an apple. The key is I'm going to much smaller portions, and limiting carbs a lot.

Maybe it will work, or maybe the recent ten pounds was just a non repeatable who knows what. I think the one mile walk is a big deal, maybe the biggest one. Since I was doing absolutely nothing prior to starting the morning walk, my body metabolism must have been jump started.

I had a really good face time with Matt yesterday, and amongst other things I mentioned the ten pounds and what I'm doing. He just encouraged me to keep it up, and said he wasn't worried about the ten pounds. I told him I might add weight with build up of leg muscle from walking. He said I won't really build leg muscle with the walking. He said to build muscle I'd have to have weight resistance, so I realized that meant ultimately going into a gym again. I stopped the gym at the beginning of the pandemic, and have been nervous about entering one again.

Overall with the great input I get on this site, and confirmation from Matt, I'm now relaxed with the weight loss. I just hope I can continue the loss at that pace, but I suspect the amount of weight loss will decrease after that first burst. We'll see.

Carl

[Jm954 Administrator in reply to wizzard166]

Keep going and keep in touch with Matt for support and help.

If I can do it, you can too (63 pounds lost since Jan this year using a low carb plan). You'll soon feel good.

The ten pounds will have been some water because carbs hold onto water in your body. Anyone who has eaten a big bag of sweets will know that they feel thirsty afterwards.

If you can manage even lower carb levels you will get better results and reverse any insulin resistance you may have. Regaining metabolic health has been my goal.

This podcast is worth a listen, life changing information here.

lowcarbmd.com/episode-10-dr...

Jackie

[LeoPa in reply to wizzard166]

Sorry but low carb and vegetarian are oxymorons. You lost wait due to sweating and carb reduction. Around 60% of what you lost was probably water. I lost 40 pounds in 6 weeks 9 years ago when I went low carb. More than half of it water weight. Then it stabilised. Then I regained 20 pounds in muscle weight as I started to exercise seriously. Low carb is the way to go 😊

[wizzard166 in reply to LeoPa]

I appreciate your input Leo. I was thrilled when I saw I was ten pounds down, and you are likely correct it was water loss. In fact I noticed recently that every day I seem dehydrated. I guess I've been stupid in that the large amount of sweating on the one mile walk needs to be replaced. I think I've been drinking more, and likely have, but I guess I need to drink even more.

I agree with you totally about low carbs. I read Dr. Atkins book many years ago, before I did the one successful Boot Camp. He explains how Insulin is the root cause of fat accumulation. Few people know that Insulin has two functions: one is to get sugar out of the bloodstream, but the other is to deposit fat anywhere and everywhere in our bodies. So low low carb, 28 grams per day, keeps the insulin from pumping into our bodies. Then the body has no choice but to burn fat eaten and in our body deposits to have enough calories to live on daily; thus, the weight loss.

My only reason for the input on the vegetarian diet, has to do with what Dr. Dean Ornish proved; it can reverse heart disease. I figured there are a lot of us that should at least be aware of that truth.

Carl

[LeoPa in reply to wizzard166]

Hi Carl. Carbs bind water. When you get rid of carbs a lot of water goes with them. Drink enough to keep your urine color light yellow. There's no need to drink more. What Ornish says is much more complicated than meets the eye. On a clean low carb diet heart disease does not develop in the first place. Atkins' wasn't clean. Lots of processed low carb pseudo food was allowed. Clean low carb reverses heart disease too. I'm living proof 😁 of this. It took a few years but my blood pressure normalized after being borderline high. And it's doable indefinitely. Unlike an Ornish like self torture which most people can't do indefinitely. It isn't much fun to be hungry for long. I can't imagine a meat eater to not be hungry on such diet constantly. So they give up after a while. And that's good because it needs lots of knowledge to stay healthy on a vegetarian diet. Too many nutrition deficiency landmines everywhere. It can be done but one needs to really know what he is doing.

[wizzard166 in reply to LeoPa]

Thank you again Leo, I admire your knowledge in this area of such importance. I felt that the Atkins diet made sense once I understood the insulin relationship to the deposit of fat. I too was evidence back when I was 50 and did Atkins strict for two months. I went from 255 to 220 first month and then 220 to 200 second month. At the end of month one I had blood work and my Tryglycerides had gone from around 200 to 60. My other cholesterol numbers were near perfect too. So a strict low carb diet seems to bring your blood work into near perfect numbers, as long as you don't cheat. The danger is eating a ton of fatty foods, if you don't at the same time limit the carbs to next to nothing. I used to go into a Deli and ask for a pound and a half of corn beef dripping with fat, pour on mustard, and some sour crout and feast. I did that and my Triglycerides and Cholesterol readings were like an athletes. Without insulin pumping due to eating carbs, the fat is simply eliminated or burned for energy.

[LeoPa in reply to wizzard166]

Thank you. You're right. It works exactly like that. No insulin, no problems. But fat should not be mixed with carbs. Of course one can eat himself to overweight even on a high fat low carb diet but few do. Because we feel when enough is enough. Once you ate a dozen eggs in one sitting you don't crave the 13th 😁. Just kidding. I don't eat more than 6 a day. Same with fatty meat. One does not get hooked on it. Eat till full and no more 😊

[wizzard166 in reply to LeoPa]

Leo

That is what I loved about Atkins. I have been a ravenous meat eater my entire life, and in many ways loved all meat and fish and eggs and cheese. With Atkins I could literally gorge myself with all of that, have little carbs (28 grams) and lose weight and have perfect blood chemistry. The other key is absolutely No Alcohol, which I hated; however, it was worth giving up any alcohol for two months to lose the 50 pounds when I was age 50. Unfortunately for some reason the big weight loss never happened in the one month I tried the same thing at age 65. Only ten pounds in one month on the same regimen. Really depressed me.

[LeoPa in reply to wizzard166]

They say low carb is for life😊 It is for me. The metabolic rate does decrease as we age but even without aging every new run at it (if we give it up for a time) it becomes less effective. I don't exactly know why. It becomes ever harder to simply not gain weight as we age. I'm on one meal a day now for exactly this reason. I noticed that even on keto my weight slowly started to creep up. Now it's stable again. I lost about 2 pounds of fat in 3 weeks.

[blowinginthewind in reply to wizzard166]

Your haematologist, GP etc may be worried, mine were. I had scans, extra appointments, GP trying to get me admitted etc. I lost a total of 60+ its, unintentionally, and was overweight an still am. But they were rather upset when I had lost less than that. I knew a lot of it was fluid loss, and muscle loss - due to medication changes and the gyms being closed. So I had to go in for blood tests the day before telephone appointments, and get weighed on their scales so we knew it wasn't just different scales. I had scans etc. After years of being nagged to lose weight by doctors, I was shocked to be nagged for losing weight. Yes your doctor should show some concern, possibly send you for a CT scan or a PET scan, and more frequent appointments. If it is fluid loss because of the weather being hot and sweaty, 10lbs isn't a huge amount. BUT you must tell your doctors now.

[Smac29]

Hi Carl,

Great job on getting fit! I don’t think it’s a lot of weight. Men lose it so easily by just doing what you’ve been doing!

Sheryl

[wizzard166 in reply to Smac29]

Hey SherylThank you for the encouragement. Its jus a small step for mankind, but a great step for me. we'll see if I have the fortitude to keep up the walking, and the strength to stay away from the good tasting but deadly foods. I know it is all in my head and my inner desire, and I think there is a good chance I'll keep it up.

Carl

[whmk]

Not a lot of weight to lose in 17 days. I can lose 5 pounds playing tennis in the FL sun for an hour.

[Hidden]

I'm walking 2 miles most mornings and haven't lost any weight. Good for you.

[wizzard166 in reply to Hidden]

probably you started in much better shape. I started way overweight at six foot and 252, so I think the first couple weeks of finally doing some exercise and eating a lot less had something to do with the ten pounds. Probably as I continue these next two weeks I won't see anything near that; we'll see.

[JaimeK]

From what I understand, if the weight loss is unintentional that is where the concern comes in. Sounds like you are doing good 👍🏻 Btw, I’m also in SoFL...it’s really starting to heat up. Stay hydrated🥵

[wizzard166 in reply to JaimeK]

Hey Jaime

I know it was in the nineties the other day. Thats why I'm getting such a good sweat from a mild one mile walk. I've noticed lately I seem much more dehydrated than usual, so the change in weather is likely the cause. I'll never forget visiting my Brother Matt in Vale Colorado, and forgetting to head the warning in the airport about drinking water. Within a couple of days I ended up in an ER with an IV to increase my hydration. That really taught me a lesson. I'm in Lake Worth by the way.

Carl

[JaimeK in reply to wizzard166]

We are practically neighbors! I’m in West Boynton. 🙏🏻

[Justasheet1 in reply to JaimeK]

JK,

My wife and I lived for years in Boynton at Jog road and Boynton Beach blvd.

I have family off Lyons road

Howdie almost neighbor.

Jeff

[wizzard166 in reply to Justasheet1]

I lived for eight years at Boynton Beach Blvd and Military in Banyan Springs. Had to sell when we adopted my wife's Grandson, and the Board sent us the letter about violation of the Senior something act. So six years ago we sold and I bought in Smith Farms.

[JaimeK in reply to Justasheet1]

Hi Jeff, a small world for sure. We live in Verona Lakes off Lyons south of Hypo. I saw in your profile you are a retired ff. Did you work for PBCFR? My husband is a driver for the county and has 10 years left! We are headed on up to GA or possibly TN once he retires. Somewhere, anywhere north...Blessings to you in retirement 🙏🏻Jaime

[wizzard166 in reply to JaimeK]

I used to live in Banyan Springs where BB Blvd meets Military, but we adopted my wife's Grandson. Six years ago due to not fitting in a Senior development anymore, I sold and bought in Smith Farm.

[JaimeK in reply to wizzard166]

We really are neighbors! We have probably passed by each other in Publix. We live in Verona Lakes, south of Hypo on Lyons. Stay well. Blessings, Jaime🙏🏻

[BoomrangSuj]

I would definitely talk with my specialist.Rapid weight loss, fatigue and night sweats are the typical signs of disease progression.

However, your weight loss doesn't seem unintentional, so that by itself might not be the issue.

The fatigue might be, though the temp. difference between Maine and Florida might explain that.

Perhaps get a blood test done to assess if there is any drop in platelet or Hg counts?

Better sure than sorry...

[wizzard166 in reply to BoomrangSuj]

Thanks you Sujitsur

[SofiaDeo]

If you've cut your carbs significantly, that alone can cause a dramatic weight drop. When your carb intake decreases below whatever your own personal genetics' level that keeps you out of ketosis, that metabolic transformation into ketosis means you burn fat like crazy as well as often getting a mild stimulant effect that makes exercising even easier. Ketosis isn't dangerous as long as you stay well hydrated (need to flush metabolic waste products out & not affect kidneys) and do not have a history of a type of diabetes where ketosis could lead to ketoacidosis. You likely know this already from the Atkins books, so just a reminder.

You may want to avoid the gym for leg building, and not just because of Covid. Our joints may not be able to handle the weights they did when we were younger. It's easy to overdo things on a machine, much less likely to cause really bad injury if we use our own body weight. At-home lunges, squats, etc. with first your own body weight, then with handhelds can build up muscle. Biking and other sports can build up muscle, too. I got a Bowflex instead of purchasing standard gym equipment, those are lighter overall but give more oomph that straight body weight alone.

It sounds like the % you lost in a month isn't too much. Many docs talk about percentage of bodyweight over a time period, versus the number of pounds. And how those numbers compare to "ideal" for you height/body frame are also important. I don't think 10 lbs in a month is especially significant when your ideal weight is 190 and you started at 250, as opposed to a 120 lb ideal weight person losing 10 lbs starting from 125. I know we hear the "2 pounds a week maximum", but that's more related to the fact that many people who drop weight quickly from fad diets regain it when they start "eating normally" again.

As long as your docs say everything is OK & there aren't any other disease states to consider, it's probably fine. Congrats on getting healthier! Biking will feel much better, you'll get more of a breeze & not sweat so much, as you move into Florida summer. I started biking & rollarblading a lot when I moved to Florida. Swimming can help build legs too, if you can get flippers & learn the "dive swim" where you use more of your hip flexors than arms to move, it will also tone your abs. I learned that when I started diving, but even snorkeling can be a strenuous workout if you use leg muscles this way (plus no overheating since you are in the water),

[wizzard166 in reply to SofiaDeo]

Sofia

Thank you for the education. I'm much more relaxed now; although, I wasnt really getting too nervous. I was just aware that loss of weight is one of the things our doctors look for with regard to potential treatment, so I was tempering my happiness with a little concern.

We did buy a Peloton about six months ago, but I have never gotten on it. My wife has used it, but I remember my rear end hurting the last time I was on a bike so I avoid it. I am heavy but all in the gut, so I don't have much flesh cushion behind for a bike seat. I'd never attempt to get on a real bike anymore at 74 years old, when I haven't ridden a bike since my thirties.

I like the walking because we have a beautiful development with older trees and lakes dotted along the road inside it. So it is really pleasant visually and the fresh air is nice too. I like it a lot more than a gym.

Carl