Low Carb Super-Heros

I get so encouraged by those folks who have lost lots of weight eating and living low carb. These low carb heros have made tremendous progress in losing many, many pounds, and in many cases even hundreds of pounds. It takes sometimes a year or more, sometimes several years - of consistent effort eating and living on-plan.

I made up my mind not to even start any weight loss plan if there wasn't a hope of long term success with what I was about to do. The last thing I wanted was to rebound and to eventually turn into one of these folks that has the fire department coming to cut him out of his house, to take him to the hospital on a flatbed truck. No, I am not one of those folks who stays at home and has his family running to get him sacks of Major Burgers from the local drive through. I have a job and get off my butt plenty. Still it is not such a reach, having seen person after person diet and then rebound back up OVER where they started. EVERY time.

I kidded my kids about the story I read about a lady who was taken to the hospital after laying on the couch for years and her skin had actually grown into the couch somehow. They had to cut her from the couch, and I believe she later died. Dunno how that happens, but it is gross, and not something I want for me. Is that likely? I don't know. But I told myself there is absolutely NO WAY I was going to start any (diet) lifelong Way of Eating until I knew I could have long term success.

I was so excited about finding the low carb way of eating. At ~410 pounds or so, I couldn't stand for things to get worse (and live). And I needed something that will work and work long term.

Lucky for me I have met and found online many folks that are my low carb heros. They have done this thing. REALLY done this thing! And I am so proud of them, as they give me hope. The first I met was a doctor (the doctorin kind of doctor that actually went to medical school and practices medicine). He had kept it off for ten years!!! WOW! AWESOME!

I then met folks in the low carb forums who have lost a hundred pounds or more and kept it off two or three or more years on an ongoing low carb eating program. THAT IS INSPIRING! That gives me HOPE!

Anyhow, the best part of meeting and getting to know these low carb heros is that they are regular folks with all the flaws and imperfections that regular folks have. They are not all just totally so above average that they could do this (and maybe I can't). They are regular folks. Not to knock them either. They are super people, who stick around and continue to live the low carb life, and continue to share with and encourage others on low carb living (Even after they have met their own personal goals)!

This is especially important as we read in the news of studies and reports that say that it is impossible to lose weight long term, and that show that folks on diets typically rebound. I am not debunking those studies, just acknowledging that most everybody in those surveys are "going on a diet", and then later, "getting off a diet". That will never work! Long term success requires total lifestyle change in more than just lipservice or some temporary adjustments. It really does mean changing how you eat and live long-term!

Tremendous thanks to all the regular folks that have made such awesome progress and shown such a consistent effort over the long haul!

My own personal goal is to lose up to 240 lbs in total. Dunno if I can do it, but I am going to try anyhow! So far I have lost around 90 lbs or so!! In a couple of months I hope to be a hundred pounds down from where I started. It may take me two or even three years (or more) to approach my goals but I am heading in the right direction now and reversing years of bad and unhealthy eating and living. Some day I hope to be able to have lost the weight (as much as I can maintain and be heatlhy and still actually EAT) and kept the weight off long term for at least several years (if not much, much more)!! I hope then to be somebody elses low carb hero and show them just what is possible!

I don't know where you are at at this point in your life. Maybe you need some encouragement too - just to even get started (like me). I encourage you to go online to one of the Low Carb support groups and meet others and get to know some of the Low Carb Heros there. Regular but yet extraordinary folks, who have accomplished great things! And you can too!!!

NY Times: The Hideous Masters of Gluttony

The New York Times (the Sports Section of all things) has an interesting article about the world of competitive eating, and in particular, the Nathans Hot Dog eating contest entitled "The Hideous Masters of Gluttony". It is a funny name for the NY Times article in and of itself, just thinking about that alone.

You can read this article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/06/sports/othersports/06sandomir.html?ref=sports

It is kinda interesting reading and thinking about these world champion competitors that prepare their bodies for so much food, so fast - food that they cram by the handfuls into their gullets (Hot Dogs in their Buns, Twinkies and Cannoli's, Pies, Quesadillas, Jalapeno Peppers, SPAM, donuts, etc.).

It is an intentional spectacle of gluttony to the point of pain, and to the point where containment of the massive quantities of food ingested becomes a problem. The most skilled eaters even study and practice the science and techniques of eating so much food so fast, and at keeping it down.

I suppose we have all had times where we have overindulged, and eaten too much in one sitting, for the shear pleasure of the tastes, and textures, and simple satisfaction of eating pleasant food - though it is doubtful many of us have gone to such extremes as competitive eaters do. Watching these things or reading about them has kind of a tabloid or Jerry Springer quality to it. Like a bad accident you stop and watch amazed and revolted and shocked at the same time. In this instance it entertains us and disgusts us at the same time. Sort of like watching the freak show at the fair, or seeing someone eating glass or swallowing swords.

So much of our lives revolve around food. The connections we have with food are so visceral we remember vividly the great meals we have had, and we even build much of our lives around food. Birthdays, celebrations, wedding receptions, closing business deals, anniversaries, dates, picnics, parties, fairs, carnivals, pot lucks, and other great times would not be the same without food.

Now that I am low carbing it, working hard to watch (be aware of and control) what I eat, and how much I eat, and even when I eat, I probably find more of interest in reading about these competitive eaters than I would have ever had before. Watching them eat with a passion to try to surpass perhaps even their human limits reminds me that I have overeaten myself in the past. Eaten myself into a condition testing my own limits and impacting my own health in the process. Reaching a whopping 410 pounds (or so).

Too much good food. Great food. Too much stuffing high carb sugary stuff down my gullet. Too much fast food. Too many Cokes. Too much desert. Too much bread and pasta and rice and potatoes. Too many good times. Too many excellent restaraunts. Looking back on it, though I did not eat the volume of these competitive eaters, I wasn't eating right and I was eating too much of the wrong stuff over a long period of time. To me, today, looking back on it - it is just as much as spectacle and just as disgusting.

Now I am celebrating low carb heros - more than these spectacles of overindulgence. I celebrate those who have carefully considered and controlled what they eat. Cutting out the carbs and sugars, and controlling their portions. Making wiser choices. Eating meat and eggs and veggies and other low carb choices. Cutting out the sweets and the sugary drinks. And the potatoes, and rice, and bread, and pastas that so quicky turn to sugars in our body.

It's funny too that a number of these competitive overeaters are thin. Kobiyashi (sp?) and others are not the big heavy & overweight folks you might imagine. And I got enormous and I never once ate giant plates full of hot dogs or pies like they do. I often ate no more or no more often than the folks I was with, though occasionally I did just a little.

That tells me that the consistancy over the long run is so very important, and that the food choices I make are so important. I got huge eating a little more than I should, too often, for too long. I got seriously overweight and in seriously lousey health eating foods that satisfied my desire for taste and sugar and texture (with lots of carbohydrates) for too long. Now I am reversing the trend.

By eating great food, great meat (steaks, burgers, hot dogs, sausage, bacon, pork, turkey, chicken, tuna, salmon, tilapia, turkey, etc) and plenty of good low glycemic veggies, nuts, and lots of eggs - I am full and satisfied and still losing weight. I am never suffering. No white-knuckle test-of-will diets here. I eat till I am satisfied. I eat healthier foods than ever before. My health has improved. I even snack. I eat low carb deserts - low carb cheesecake and low carb ice cream.
I no longer have blood sugar issues: where I get shaky if I haven't eaten, and sleepy if I eat alot. I no longer have acid reflux and esophageal spasms. I no longer have gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD). My blood pressure is lower. I have more energy. I feel so much better - better all the time. I am wearing smaller clothes. I fit in booths and chairs and tight spaces better. I have lost the better part of a hundred pounds so far, in less than a year.

Without suffering. Without really going without or feeling that I am. Without missing the sugars. Without being hungry. Without that starving sensation where you are about to gnaw your arm off (you are so hungry).

It is wonderful!! If you find yourself in the same situation I did last November (and haven't necessarily personally set any world eating records in your recollection) - and want to improve your lot, this is the absolute best way to do it. I highly recommend the Atkins or other similar low carb way of eating for you (Atkins, South Beach, Protien Power, Carbohydrates Addicts Diet, Kimkins, Sugar Busters, etc). You too can have great results and better health before you know it!

YOU CAN DO THIS!
IT IS EASY!

IT WORKS!

If you want to jump in on the low carb way of life I recommend the following:

1.) Get one of the good low carb books and read it - and follow the directions to the letter. Wait to modify the program once you have been on it a good while. Keep your carbs low 20 grams or less each day to start - and get into ketosis (not to be confused with ketoacidosis - a potentially life threatening condition that is *NOT* associated with these low carb diets) and stay in ketosis.
2.) Get some online support from other low carbers. There are about 4 or 5 online low carb support sites available - some linked off this site! Introduce yourself. Participate. Setup a journal. Post often.
3.) Remove the low carb temptations from your environment
4.) Plan ahead and work hard to learn about all the low carb and low glycemic options and recipes out there. Try them. Learn what to avoid.
5.) To start do not count calories or fat grams or anything else - just count carbs and keep them low. Make sure you are making good choices with your carbs - eat healthy and satisfying veggies!
6.) Get a scale or find some place to weigh. Weigh yourself and keep track of your weight daily or weekly (or at some interval that works for you).
7.) Drink lots of water each day!
8.) Visit low carb web sites and read and learn all you can about this amazing way of life!!

Good luck on *YOUR* low carb journey!!!!

An Awesome Quote from one of My Low Carb Heros!

"One foot in front of the other, dissassociating food from emotions, my weight from my self-worth and my progress from my results. Associating success with making good decisions regardless of the short-term outcome, controlling what I can control and leaving the rest to the whims of the great magnet (to quote Hunter Thompson). Worrying about chipping away on the rock in front of me instead of the mountain behind it."

This from Jake (aka J13) one of my low carb heros! He is the same fellow who has espoused online really tremendous thoughts such as:

"Own Your Decisions!"

With this statement Jake has fought against the excuses people make and the ways that they undermine themselves. Many times people blame their problems or situation on everything and everyone else - but not on themselves and the decisions they have made. They fail to take ownership of their own decisions and the consequences. Jake maintains, I believe, that there is no "cheating", but only conscious decisions one makes with consequences that come from them.

-- and --

"Character is that force that enables an individual to carry out a resolution once the mood in which that resolution was born has died."

That's all about character and commitment to stay motivated and on-track to be a long-term success. Not a 90-day weight loss wonder that loses and gains it all back and then some, living life and eating on yo-yo diets and unsuccessful eating habits.

Jake has lost an enormous amount of weight on low carb living and is a constant source of encouragement to me and to others. He sets his own bar high and helps others keep things in-check as well. One thing that is wonderful about Jake is that he doesn't allow himself or others to live in a land of excuses, negative self talk, living with bad habits, or failing to live consistently and on-track all the time.

You can find Jake in the Low Carb Support Forum and TDC (Triple Digits Club) linked on the right hand side of my blog!

This is essentially what I was talking about in my last blog post. How important successful thinking, successful self-talk, positive mental attitude, commitment, focus, and developing good new habits are to your continued success.

I urge any of you on the low carb lifestyle to pause and take stock of yourselves and your thinking and your daily habits.

Look to others who are successes and who have made great strides and been successful in the long run!

What are they doing right? What habits and thinking can you borrow from these successful people? How can you change things and adapt new ways of eating, thinking, measuring, excercising, tracking, and visualizing to help you achieve your goals long term? How can you get more motivated? How can you change things for yourself? What can you do more consistently - day in and day out? Are you defeating yourself with negative self talk? With bad habits? With allowing yourself too much wiggle room and too much slack? Are you cheating?

I find that learning and sharing with others, and having the right mindset helps me. I hope that if you stop and think about you life right now, and make the right changes in your life by taking a moment to consider these things - it will help you too!

To quote a verse and an idea from the Bible:

"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." Galatians 6:7

This principle is a spiritual priniciple but is also broadly applicable in all aspects of one's life. If you are not reaping the results you want today, what did you sow yesterday and the days before? And what kind of tomorrow are you sowing for today?

And I don't know about the "Great Magnet" in the quote tho. The only "Great Magnet" in life I know is Jesus.

"And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” John 12:32