Friday, May 29, 2020

My thoughts on weight loss 7 years on (down 100 lbs)

So between the ages of 12 and 21 I was, as a doctor told me, “morbidly obese”. At 21 I peaked at 260 lbs.Over ~8 months I lost 100 lbs to the exact “healthy” weight for my height.

Ive kept the weight off for 7 years, gained muscles, run half marathons and love exercise. I’ve taken up a career in diabetes science, so I thought I’d share my personal and professional thoughts:

1) Willpower is given too much credit - Education, understanding what’s going on, why you struggle to lose and why you’re SO hungry is key.

2) Obesity isn’t just fat - obese people have majorly disrupted metabolic hormones (testosterone, insulin, leptin etc). These hormones control everything from how hungry you feel to how much fat gets stored when you eat. Your brain and body aren’t operating the same way as a slim person.

3) Fixing above is key - there are two ways to do that, losing fat (it’s a vicious cycle) and controlling what you eat, not just calorie counting.

4) Exercise helps but is only a very small part when you are heavily obese. You’ve probably been called lazy but exercise just isn’t fun when you’re big. Like me you might love it when you’re slimmer.

5) You’re not a shitty, weak willed person because you’re fat and have tried but failed too many times. The world is full of terrible dietary advice and food products designed to get you addicted.

For me the key was keto but the main reason it works is because it forces you to avoid sugar and processed food, allowing your metabolism to slowly repair. The high protein / fat content massively helps satiety too. Other more carby diets could work too.

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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2XMsZLP

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