A Simple Diet That Works Fast

I should start out by saying, “I love food.” Not just the act of eating, but the taste of a good meal.

I am lucky, because my wife is a wonderful cook. She not only makes great tasting meals, but ones that are well balanced and nutritious. She watches fat content closely too.

So at five-feet nine-inches in height, how did my weight eventually reach 203 pounds? Here are some hints.

Monday thru Friday

Breakfast

• Glass of Orange Juice
• English Muffin

Lunch

• Half a sandwich
• Diet Pepsi or Iced Tea with Splenda

Dinner

• Two or Three Tanqueray and Diet Schweppes Tonic drinks or Bourbon and Diet 7-Up drinks, or a Margarita made with Tequila and Crystal Light lemon (Wasn’t I a good boy, notice the use of no-cal mixers.)
• Main course prepared by my wife and a healthy salad
• Desert occasionally

That doesn’t look so bad does it? Well, besides the drinks, I would have at least two and sometimes three helpings at dinner time. Have to admit though, it sure tasted good.

Weekend Meals

Breakfast

• Glass of Orange Juice
• Coffee or Tea with Splenda
• Scrambled Eggs with Cheese or Omelet or Waffles or Pancakes and Turkey Bacon

Lunch

• Restaurant meal = Mexican Food or Chinese Food
• Diet Pepsi or Iced Tea with Splenda

Dinner

• Two or Three Tanqueray and Diet Schweppes Tonic drinks or Bourbon and Diet 7-Up drinks, or Margarita made with Tequila and Crystal Light lemon (Wasn’t I a good boy, notice the use of no-cal mixers.)
• Main course prepared by my wife and a healthy salad
• Desert occasionally

I think you get the idea though. I was eating more than I needed and although I exercised at least five time weekly I couldn’t seem to lose weight. It was a constant cycle of losing 2-3 pounds during the week and gaining it back on the weekends. Slowly over the years my weight moved up to 203 pounds. As would be expected, my waist size  increased from 32-inches to 36-inches. In fact I was wearing stretch waistbands and they were so tight that my pocket linings showed. I was sure that my metabolism was part of it, but didn’t know what to do about it.

I finally listened to my doctor and went on a medically supervised diet called Take Shape For Life. (An alternative is to buy directly from Medifast, which provides a slightly greater variety in food selection.) I should tell you right now that it is not cheap. I wanted results and I wanted them fast, so was willing to spend $300 per month to get the job done.

Their weight loss plan is designed to:

• Change your metabolism so you burn fat, instead of store fat.
• Reduce your calorie intake drastically
• Consists of eating five of their meals per day, plus a lean meat or fish for dinner along with salad or vegetables

The key is to eat small amounts of food every 2-3 hours so your body doesn’t tell itself to store fat. You start burning fat by the second day. I could actually feel my body adjusting the very first day. I must warn you, however, that it does tend to make you fart quite a bit as your body adjusts.

I hunted around to find some before and after pictures.

Here I am at about 200 pounds with a tight 36-inch waist. I actually got a little heavier than this and reached a top weight of 203 pounds.

This chart shows the pounds I lost in approximately 18-weeks.

Here I am at about 160-pounds, with a comfortable 32-inch waist.

The key is to follow the diet diligently.

• Set a target weight. My doctor said my ideal weight was between 147 pounds and 165 pounds. My initial target was 165 pounds, but I changed it to 160 pounds to give me some leeway after completion of the diet. I try to keep my weight in the 162-163 pound range and under no circumstances allow it to rise above 165 pounds. (Ideal Weight Calculator)
• It says no alcohol, but I was used to having 2-3 drinks each night. So I substituted Crystal Light drinks, which got more liquids into my system. (I only had a few glasses of wine, as a reward, during the whole time I was on the diet.)
• I created an Excel Spreadsheet to track my weight loss. If you would like to download a copy so you can tweak it to meet your personal needs, please do so. [download id="1"] and/or [download id="2"]
• I established set times that I would eat each day, based on Medifast guidelines. Since I am an early riser, I usually ate my Medifast meals at 5 AM, 8 AM 10:30 AM, 12:30 PM and 3:30 PM.
• I ate dinner at about 6:30 PM, which consisted of about seven ounces of lean meat or fish, plus a reasonable portion of salad or vegetables.
• I weighed myself every morning when I got out of the shower using a scale that also measures body fat. I went from 203 pounds with 33 percent body fat to 159 pounds with 15 percent body fat.

Because your body senses that it is being nourished regularly, it starts to burn fat instead of storing it. I lost 44 pounds in about 18-weeks, or an average of almost 2.5 pounds per week. This includes a one-week business trip during which I didn’t lose anything, nor did I try. When I returned, I started the diet again and the pounds started dropping immediately.

I am serious when I say you will definitely lose weight, and at a rapid rate, if you follow this plan closely. Also, you won’t feel hungry between meals and you won’t lose muscle.

I have been off of the diet formally almost three-months now. I just weighed myself and was 160.5 pounds with 16 percent body fat. (That does not mean I returned to my old eating habits though. I continue to follow Medifast guidelines.)

Obviously, there is no way I would continue buying these diet meals at a monthly cost of $300, so I found lower cost alternatives. Before explaining what I am using now, I should emphasize the fact that once you reach your target goal you will be used to eating smaller meals throughout the day, as well as smaller portions. I never felt starved nor was I unable to make it to my next meal without cheating.

To select alternatives to Medifast meals you need to understand what the calorie, fat & carb content is for a typical meal. The chart below provides the information you need. (It is also provided in one of the tabs on the Weight Loss Tracking Spreadsheet you can download.)

Keep in mind that a typical Medifast meal costs $2.25. The replacements for Medifast meals that I am using are described briefly below:

• Bars = I am using Promax bars. They taste good and a large variety of flavors are offered. Because a typical bar has about 300 calories, I cut them in half. If you buy them at a specialty food store, or supermarket, you will probably pay an average of $1.35. I buy them in bulk online from VitaDigest and pay about $1.08 per bar. That means each Promax meal costs me 54-cents. That’s a lot better than $2.25.
• Shakes = Haven’t found a good replacement, so decided to use yogurt as an alternative. The average cost of a Yoplait “Light” serving is 50-cents, with 100 calories, zero fat, and 20 grams of carbs.
• Oatmeal = Quaker Oatmeal “Low Sugar” packages range in calories between 110 and 130. Depending on store specials, plan to spend from 50 to 60-cents per serving.
• Low Cal Snack = Sometimes you want something to satisfy a hunger pang, but don’t want to blow your calorie intake for the day. My solution is Vlasic Kosher Dill Spears. There are only 5-calories per spear, so if you eat two or three it won’t impact your daily total. They sure hit the spot too.

Finding alternative meals can take a bit of work at first, but once you establish a core selection you are set. Rather than pace the supermarket isles looking at labels, use this Calorie Count Site.

A few things to assure you keep the weight off:

• Weigh yourself every morning. This will help you decide what to eat that day, or the next few days, if your weight jumped up.
• Eat 4-5 low-cal meals daily at two to three hour intervals.
• Eat one or two regular meals each day, but watch your portion size.
• Restaurant portions are usually too large. Cut your meal in half and take half home to eat for  a meal the next day.
• Exercise enough to raise your heart-beat for 30-minutes at least five times per week.
• Never exceed your maximum target weight. It is a lot easier to deal with a pound or two, rather than ten pounds.

Hopefully, this will be enough to get you started. I have been wondering lately, though, what if I didn’t use Medifast, but followed their plan using meal replacements of my choosing with similar calorie counts, etc. If anybody tries this approach and gets the results they want, please let us know via a comment on this post.

In closing, one word of caution. When I started my diet I was taking medication for high blood pressure. The weight started rolling off. I started feeling light headed at times when getting up from bed or a chair. About two-three weeks into the diet, I got out of bed, went into the bathroom and shortly thereafter passed-out on the toilet. So if you are taking medication for high blood pressure, consult with your doctor. After that episode, I quit taking mine. My pressure has been normal ever since, and without medication. Additionally, I can now have a couple of drinks with dinner each night and with no weight gain. I am loving it!!!

If you decide to do this, please report back so people will know how it worked for you.

Tags: Advice, Diet, Good Choices, Health