My Secret to Losing 100 Pounds in 6 Months
 Check out My Before Picture
(on the right), this was taken around
July of 2011
Having never had any serious weight problems during my
adolescence in addition to being a high school athlete, it was a devastatingly
shocking turn of events when I weighed in at a whopping 260 lbs. For years I
could eat what I desired and never had to be overly concerned about my weight.
During the summer of 2011 I reached my heaviest and unhealthiest where my
appearance absolutely disgusted me. This image sickened me so much that I
started avoiding mirrors, was embarrassed to get my picture taken, and even
while I was showering I avoided even peering onto the disgusting blob of a body
I was carrying around. To my best estimates I was at my heaviest 263 lbs and had
a body fat percentage bordering around 35%+. My eating had gotten out of
control, hardly ever exercised, and plummeted into a depressing sickening
lifestyle. My depression and self loathing got to a point where I simply
couldn't take it anymore and acquiesced to the simple fact that I had to make
some changes or I would be stuck with my unsightly body for the rest of my life.
Another Before Picture:
This intense weight gain did not occur overnight but rather over
the course of a couple years filled with questionable diets and a lethargic
lifestyle. I have a rough estimate that my daily caloric intake had a floor of
2,000 calories and a ceiling of a staggering 5000 calories. During the years of
my body's expansion I had made numerous flawed attempts at going on crash diets
and trying quick-fix weight-loss supplements. To my discontent, these halfcocked
plans always produced unsustainable weight-loss where after terminating my
latest fad diet I began gaining weight all over again.
A major life changing
experience shook me to the core and made me start being real with my weight
problem for the first time. I lost a girlfriend to an accidental drug overdose
and I found myself alone for the first time in years. Taking an honest look in
the mirror and when I barley recognized what I saw, it scared the hell out of
me. So my journey to lose 100 pounds started right after my fiancé died from a
drug overdose on December 20, 2011. I was determined to do whatever it took to
lose weight and improve my mental and physical health. I strongly believed that
improving my physical appearance and health was going to be a central part of
getting through my devastating loss as well as being able to move on with my
life in a healthy manner. I did not use any supplements, stimulants,
prescription drugs, or any other appetite suppressing substances during my
weight loss quest. I did have the blessing of developing a life-long friendship
with YurTopic's owner who introduced me to water fasting and the importance of
nutrition. With a very strong dedication to improving my emotional as well as
physiological health, along with a ton of willpower, I set off to lose as much
weight as possible.
6 months later, a 100 pounds lighter:
Intermittent Water Fasting was My Secret To Losing 100 Pounds in 6
Months!
Having a weight problem is not required to water fast and it is mostly
practiced by individuals who are very concerned about their nutrition and
health. People who fast are typically in great shape, do not look their age,
and are strict about the types of food they eat. Fasting has tons of health
benefits and the irony of my using fasting for weight loss is that losing weight
is more of a side effect of fasting. If you are in the normal ranges as far as
body fat percentages go there is still much to be gained from introducing
fasting into your nutritional plan. I started my hundred pound weight loss
journey by making some huge changes in my diet. The first was removing dairy
completely from my diet. Now I will be honest and say that today I do consume
dairy occasionally and only when I feel like having some junk food like ice
cream or pizza. During my great blow up as I like to call it, I ate cheeses and
drank milk almost every single day.
The other unhealthy component of my diet was
my out of control consumption of grains. I ate tons of pasta and bread and the
outcome of a diet loaded with carbohydrates is plainly seen hanging off of my
mid section. The combination of the gluten from grains along with dairy products
is converted in the body into a substance similar to glue. This muck coats your
organs and makes their functions slow and inefficient. Beyond weight control
issues is the issue of cancers that are caused by the overabundance of there
simply being more stuff slugging through the body. With internal organs not
functioning at their full potential the chance of contracting cancers of the
pancreas, liver, and colon are drastically increased. The most highly
recommended diet for everyone is a raw plant-based diet where most nutrients
are absorbed by the body. Cooking food kills a lot of the natural enzymes and
micronutrients making food more about just consuming mass rather than
nutrition.
We have been conditioned to cook all of our food but the hard truth is that
early human beings rarely cooked foods and had diets that were much more
nutritious than most people have today. In early human civilizations having a
fire to cook was potentially dangerous because it would give away their location
making them more vulnerable to predators. Early human beings fasted
unintentionally based on the scarcity of food and it was very common to go a few
days without consuming anything other than water. I looked at my body and how
unhealthy I had become as a manifestation of everything that is wrong with
modern culture. Eating excessive amounts of food, drinking alcohol in excess,
spending most of my time sitting on the couch watching TV, and rarely getting
any exercise I became the personification of a megalomaniac American. My worst
fears were realized and I was willing to do just about anything to transform
myself back into a healthy, attractive human being. I looked to early human
beings and their eating habits as a source of inspiration for the changes I was
going to make in my life. I looked into the eating patterns of early human
beings and learned that their diets consisted of mostly fruits and vegetables
with very little meat. I modeled my new diet from the primitive human eating
habits and also introduced water fasting into my health regiment. It became a
test to myself to see how long I could go just on water and throughout the
entire experience I accelerated my ability to deal with the emotional garbage
that had backed up within my psyche stemming from the traumatic loss of the love
of my life. Water fasting affording me an opportunity to emotionally detoxify
and start dealing with my emotions on my own.
What I Did Exactly
I went for a long period of time eating just one small meal a day (about 800
calories), I did this for several months, while purely skipping like 1 (maybe 2)
days a week to just drink water only. Then I went through a phase where I would
eat 3 meals a day (around 1500 calories total) for about 3-5 days in a row, then
I would take 2-3 days purely on water only, then repeat. Overall the calories
were about the same with both phases I did. The main thing that is important
with weight loss is you want to eat a lot less overall, but while alternating
your calories throughout the week. This keeps your metabolism fired up to burn
fat on the very low calorie days.
You can accomplish this calorie zig-zag method by simply eating a lot less
(than you normally do) a few days out of the week. Although I have personally
accomplished my goals through the use of purely water fasting on the "low" days.
By fasting so often and dramatically improving my diet I saw results
extremely, well, fast. By July 2012 I was down to 158 lbs just in time for a
trip to Las Vegas. Everyone around me was blown away by the rapid weight loss I
had achieved. I will confess that I wasn't the healthiest weight during that
trip due to the lack of muscle mass. I had accomplished this entirely from
dietary changes and exercised almost never. The transition I saw in exactly one
year is nothing short of extraordinary. Check out a picture of me on Vegas back
last July (I am the cool dude with the drink):
Oh and a side note: The guy in the far
left is the guy who owns this site you are on right now (Paul),
he's also my friend and we both work on YurTopic together everyday.
Find Your Willpower!
One thing about fasting is that it takes a ton of will power. I was always
mindful of what I was eating and if I did eat some junk food I made sure that I
didn't continue to do so the next day. One thing
about food is that it is very close to being hooked on drugs in the way that it
stimulates chemicals in the brain sending pleasure signals throughout the body.
I had an ongoing inner dilemma where a part of me would say forget it just eat
what you want while another part me told me to stick with my plan. My task each
day was to do my best to ignore it and do what I felt was necessary to get the
results I was looking for. My advice to dieters is to always be mindful of what
your wants and desires are, especially when it comes to food choices.
Since the trip to Las Vegas I have began exercising and added some much
needed muscle weight. The latest reading I did showed me at 163 lbs and floating
around 13% body fat. A little over a year and half since the start of this quest
for a healthier me, I have lost over 100 lbs and a body fat percentage drop of
more than 20 points. The best part of doing it this way, yes the hard way, is
that permanent results are achieved and cravings for junk food are easier to
deal with. The best part of introducing water fasting is that there is no need
for extreme exercise regiments. I currently do fifty pushups everyday and run
maybe once a week. This is almost nothing compared to the running routine I had
in college where I ran three trail running trails averaging around 3 miles. Fasting and calorie restriction make exercise requirements minimal and you will
soon learn that when the body is operating as it is supposed to strenuous
exercise is unnecessary.
I don't have the desire to binge on food like I used to and don't get hungry
as easily. There is something very empowering about knowing that when you
take large amount of time off from not eating you are doing yourself many
favors. I want to give a big thanks out to
Brad Pilon for
helping me realize this as well. I also make drastically
contrasting food choices where even my junk food consumption is somewhat
controlled. I also saved myself from almost certain cancer and heart disease
issues I would of been facing in the near future. Knowing that I have began
reversing the negative impacts of my poor diet and health choices has given me
some piece of mind in regard to my overall health and wellbeing. Having that
much body mass destroys the circular system by stressing it to death. Today it
is easy to go for runs and I really enjoy being more active without painful
repercussions. I feel like in addition to the 100 lbs I lost more than ten years
of wear and tear off of my life force. Feeling younger, stronger, and happier
make almost any task I need to do seem less perplexing. It was difficult at 263
lbs to even get out of my car or go for walks. I look to my approaching thirties
with a much more positive attitude and an overwhelmingly more positive frame of
mind. Almost two years ago I was starting to lose my will to live and saw my
future as bleak and filled with misery. I wish anyone who finds themselves in a
situation similar to mine the best of luck with making changes to your
lifestyle. Just know that you are the most powerful source of change and only
you can make yourself happy.
Thanks for reading my success story, and you can read all the articles I have
written for YurTopic by clicking on my Author link at the top of the article. I
plan on writing a lot more articles for YurTopic into the future!
Diet & Nutrition
Top Lists:
Top 15 Foods That Help Migraines
24 Food Additives That You Should Consider Avoiding
Top 15 Healthy Spices From India
15 Disgusting Ingredients In Your Food
15 Best Foods For Brain Health
15 Foods That Are Surprisingly Good for You
Top 15 Organic Produce That's Better Than Conventional
15 Weird Interesting Facts About Vegetables
10 Best Cleansing & Detoxifying Foods
Informational:
Evaluating Diet Plans: Which One is Right for You?
The Essential Health Benefits of Ginger
The Health Benefits of Kale
Top Natural Appetite Suppressants That Will Help You Lose Weight
Almond: The Magic Pill For Hunger, Weight Loss and Cholesterol
How Effective is Phen375 in Losing Fat?
What Are Health and Losing Weight Benefits of Unique Hoodia?
Organic Foods – Are they better than Conventional Foods?
Facts about Alcohol
Best Ways to Get a Good Night’s Sleep
General Benefits of Green Tea
Health Benefits of Inositol Supplements
Anti-Aging Foods to Stay Young
Who is Responsible For Overweight Children?
My Secret to Losing 100 Pounds in 6 Months
How and When to Use HCA Extract? |
