Lifestyle change

it's why i closed down

 

bunky cares

 

i look preggers

 

i miss the bbq pizza...

 

I've made a lot of changes in the last 2 months, which was prompted by working at the hospital. I see the direct consequences of lifestyle habits every day and I resolved to do something about it in my life.

Some of the things Silver talked are dead on:

Cutting out salt. The body needs 1/10 teaspoon, but most americans eat over 7-8 a day. Not good for the body.

Cutting out sugar. Sugar tends to be empty calories - they add absolutely no nutritional value to the diet. However, they decrease our body's immune system incredibly. Our immune system can, on average, repel 14 different viruses at one time. However, for each teaspoon of sugar we consume, that number goes down by 2. Drinking one can of soda which has 8-10 teaspoons of sugar makes the immune system unable to fight off any virus. Scary.

Cutting down fat. The amount of heart attacks and brain strokes due to fatty deposits in the arteries is astounding. Not only that, but fat has been found to be the largest contributor to diabetes, not sugar. The good news is that atherosclorosis (clogged arteries) is reversable by diet.

Cutting down cholesterol. This is connected with the one above. A rule of thumb to be aware of is that cholesterol only appears in food that has a face or a mother. In other words, in meat and meat products. Plant based foods do not have any cholesterol. Thus, cutting down on meat/meat products (like dairy products) will lower the bad cholesterol in the body.

If I stick just to those changes, I will be a new man. I've already lost 15 pounds and I haven't even started exercising yet. My fat percentage, cholesterol level, tryglicerides and blood pressure has all gotten better since I started these changes back in October.

Good luck to the rest of you!

 

I hear you Silver I am going after the poundage as well.

I have been not adding any addition salt to foods for quite a while, although dry roasted peanuts are one of my favorite snacks.

Giving up sugar is not a problem. I rarely eat any outside of the occasional cobbler here at work. Maybe once every 2 weeks.

I gave up sugar soft drinks years back. Only problem I took up beer drinking to replace it. So Miller Lites are my only beer now.

My problem is my job. I am at a desk maybe 7 of my 10-12 hour days. When I get home I just want to crash. We have a treadmill my wife uses religiously. I'll be on that thing too after the holidays and my birthday.

I have family history against me in cholesterol and high blood pressure. Simple diet changes have not worked so meds have been a way of life for the better part of 20 years (cholesterol) and 1 year for blood pressure. If I can knock out losing 25- 35 lbs , it would put me at 190-200lbs. I graduated high school at 195 but back then it was muscle. Not anymore Cholesterol is around 150-160 and blood pressure has been in the 110/72 - 130/80 range for almost a year

 

9/9/2006: 304 lbs. - 46x30 pants - 4x shirts
12/23/2006: 245 lbs. - 40x30 pants - 2x shirts

Hitting the gym 5x per week.

 

/applaud

 

That is awesome. I bet that six inches off your waist makes you feel light as a feather. I know how it is when you have a 30 inch inseam. The bigger your waist size the longer this distance from the top of your pants to the bottom of the crotch. A big waist and short inseam results in pants that hang down like MC Hammer's old outfit.

Are you doing more cardio or more weights?

 

You can do it! I am also trying to lose about 50 pounds. - There is a great website- www.sparkpeople.com - and it's a free weight loss community. Maybe we can start a TBR team and see how much weight we can lose together as a community, after the Holidays. I am down.