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Health knowledge made personal
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Health knowledge made personal
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 It works. It really works. I'm ashamed to say that, after last year'shealth fiasco,I gained about five pounds after getting out of the hospital. Then, vacation, and I was up another nine (thank you, Rainier cherries). Along came Hormone Replacement Therapy, and I was up another eleven. Let's just say that Humpty Dumpty and I had a lot in common, and nothing, I repeat, nothing, would budge the weight. I had pre-ordered 6-week Cure for the Middle-aged Middle, and read it cover to cover. Let's look at the results: Time on program: 3 1/2 weeks Weight lost: 6 pounds Inches lost: 6 1/2 (logged in atFitDay) Four of the inches lost were from my upper body, and 2 1/2" came off my lower carcass. My fat-percentage scale shows a loss of 1% body-fat. My Lap-band keeps me from being able to eat much protein: Ground beef and sausage are too gristly, chicken is often too dry, and today's pork is way too lean. Even eggs, unless raw (and pasteurized), refuse to go easily through the band. I was not consuming enough protein, and the results were no energy, weight gain, and a loss of lean muscle tissue. On a low-carb diet, the liver has to have amino acids to convert into glucose. If the protein intake is too low, the body cannibalizes its own lean muscle tissue to provide those amino acids. The brain must have glucose. Loss of muscle means a slower metabolism. That leads to an increase of body fat. Bad, bad, bad. That's what was happening to me. I was eating fewer than twenty grams of carb a day, but I was still gaining weight. Now, using the Eades' program, my protein intake has soared (approximately 120 - 150 grams of protein a day), my carb count is very low, my calorie intake has dropped, I'm not hungry, I feel healthy, and the fat that I thought was super glued to my body is starting to go. And no, I am not in the gym three hours a day. These results have been with minimal exercise. The Divine Low Carb,a blog I follow and learn from, talks about how she thinks that her body was malnourished on a cellular level. I believe that mine was, too. Even though I don't have nutritional malabsorption like a gastric by-pass patient, my gastric band prevented me from eating a sufficient quantity of protein to meet my body's needs. I was stuck in a self-destructive cycle. Gaining weight, without being able to lose it, is frightening. At my highest weight, I was cracking toilet seats. I am not exaggerating when I say that I would rather croak than weigh that much again. This program has given me an edge in the war against a middle-aged middle. Am I ever going to be rail-thin? No. I will probably always be overweight to some degree. But I'm re-gaining control over my over-50 health, and, for that, I will always be thankful to the Eades. The Bionic Broad out. |
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