[image] My YoY weight since switch to Mediterranean diet in AprilSubmitted by KnightCPA t3_101riu6 in GetMotivated
KnightCPA OP t1_j2ptpka wrote
Reply to comment by Karnezar in [image] My YoY weight since switch to Mediterranean diet in April by KnightCPA
Honestly, it was all personal research.
How I started: fat (318 lbs), high blood pressure (unmedicated : 166-176), high-side of normal cholesterol (180+), high-side of normal liver enzymes (ALT=46).
I said to myself, what are natural foods that are high in mass, low in calories, and address BP and cholesterol?
Over 9 months, that slowly turned into my current diet. And now I’m 235, unmedicated BP is 146, cholestoral is 130, ALT is 24. Hopefully, within another year, I’ll be able to transition of losartan (BP meds)
Like 5 months ago, I was researching more and more things to incorporate into my diet, and I learned that I basically adopted what’s known as a “liver shrinking diet” that’s prescribed ahead of bariatric surgery.
Half my meals come from a Keto food company prepped at the cost of $13/, which is on par with a fast food meal. I try to get their salmon and veggie or shrimp and veggie meals. They’re delivered to my door already cooked, I pop them in the oven for 10 minutes, eat, and recycle the plastic trays.
The other half of my meals (chicken and veggie) comes from Sams Club deli, again, already cooked, something like $15 for 5 filets.
I eat sliced tomatos with salt and pepper, lathered in olive oil, use bread to clean off the olive oil, and banana, and these are also from Sams.
If you refrain from bread, you might have better results, but I love olive oil+bread too much to refrain from it lol.
I take supplements (fish oil and cranberry concentrate) religiously, which are supposed to help with cholesterol/BP.
I think what’s important to stress, is that merely switching what foods you eat is may not be enough. You still need to be in a caloric deficit. Now my diet is easy to be in a caloric deficit without as many hunger pains because you eat voluminous, calorically light foods, but the thing you need to focus on is ultimately calories. And for that, I use this:
https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html
This calculator comes in clutch, because you’ll have to scale down your calories as you lose weight. That’s where fasting can help you out.
Other tips and tricks:
the reason I get veggies at sams is because some things like fruits and tomatos will have consistent sizes, and it’s easier to calorie count (I’m sure cosco is the same way, I just haven’t shopped there).
For calorie counting fruit, I have a dry erase board where I keep all the calories /100g, and I use a kitchen scale and excel on my phone to track calories on a daily/weekly basis (I unfortunately don’t transcribe onto my computer).
Drink lots of water. On a bad day, I drink 4 liters. On a good day, 7 and I I work at home in a/c.
Ultimately, if you find something that works for you, adopt it and don’t mind other people. Most people say you shouldn’t eat big meals before you go to bed, but I hate going to bed hungry, so I eat most of my meals right before bed. I’m still losing weight, I’m still healthier than I was a year ago, and that’s all that matters.
Accomplished_Pop_279 t1_j2qnrvf wrote
This is why losing weight be so confusing.
LeWll t1_j2s2cot wrote
Tldr: lose weight if calories in < calories out
He’s just saying his diet makes it easy to stick to it, since the food is filling.
WorkSleepMTG t1_j2rshk2 wrote
> I think what’s important to stress, is that merely switching what foods you eat is may not be enough. You still need to be in a caloric deficit. Now my diet is easy to be in a caloric deficit without as many hunger pains because you eat voluminous, calorically light foods, but the thing you need to focus on is ultimately calories.
Just read this and you can skip everything else.
Fudelan t1_j2s5e8t wrote
It's really not. Burn more calories than you consume. That's it. That's the only thing you need to do
madam_zeroni t1_j2tceu8 wrote
It’s half a numbers game (eat less calories than you burn) and half a mental game (strength to be on a caloric deficit, will to exercise, tricking yourself into healthier foods, etc). Good luck to you
luew2 t1_j2uefl2 wrote
Calories in vs calories out.
Drink lots of water to feel full of the hunger gnaws at you
voiping t1_j2qm6zx wrote
Awesome!
Of you haven't already, consider trying cronometer. It's great for tracking calories.
Tovon91 t1_j2r77gx wrote
Nice diet, but isn't drinking 4 to 7 liters of water per day too much?
KnightCPA OP t1_j2rhg5i wrote
Maybe that’s unique to me.
I have a LONG history of kidney stones, dehydration/stress vomiting, and UTIs before I went on this diet/before I switched away from soda.
I haven’t had any of that since I switched from soda to water, and the worst problem excessive water consumption presents to me is more frequent urinating.
Ultimately, I’m relaying what works for my body. This is why I say, caveat emtor (buyer beware), if you find something that works for you, feel free to disregard what other people (including me) say.
Blu3dream517 t1_j2re6hm wrote
Highly dependent on the body but no I drink a gallon to a gallon and a half a day but I'm smaller than op
NagoyaR t1_j2rdj8c wrote
The calculator doesn't work if you're fat. No way in hell would i loose weight with 3000 calories per day
KnightCPA OP t1_j2rjqsa wrote
I started out at 318 and eating 2,800-3,000 calories a day, and I was losing weight. But I was probably consuming 4,000-6,000 calories a day of fast food and soda for half a decade before I went on this diet. So 3,000 calories was definitely a caloric deficit for 300 lb me.
​
That didn't last long though. As I've scaled down my weight (235), now to get the same weight loss, I need to consistently be in the 1,600-1,800 range.
If the calculator doesnt work for you, I would consult a doctor. You might have a thyroid or other condition that makes it impossible to lose weight through normal means.
​
I had no condition. I was just addicted to sugar and overeating fast food.
ph1294 t1_j2sb4hn wrote
Define fat.
Also, are you currently counting calories? If not, however much you 'think' you're eating, easily add 1k or more and that's probably closer.
If you're not carefully calculating (ideally weighing) your foods calories, you're probably eating more than you think.
NagoyaR t1_j2sg7bm wrote
I'm over 500 lbs but i would not lose weight with 3000 kcal per day. And i also would not have enought money to buy food to get to 3000 a day. Healthy food that is.
EduOjeda55 t1_j2sjusf wrote
If you are really 500 lbs you will absolutely lose weight eating 3000 kcal a day, even if those kcal are donuts. The health impact of carrying that much weight is way worse than not eating a perfectly balanced and healthy diet.
Ghost_Of_DELETED t1_j2sva2d wrote
You'd be surprised, I was 450+ (maxed out the scale) last year. An average day without exercising, sitting in my truck for 6-8 hours and walking less than 5k steps burned roughly 4k calories a day.
EduOjeda55 t1_j2tanwh wrote
Not surprised at all. At those weights the energy expenditure just to maintain that size is crazy.
Ghost_Of_DELETED t1_j2tfmr9 wrote
Oh, I meant to reply to /u/NagoyaR, not to "um actually" your comment with the same info! lol my mistake!
EduOjeda55 t1_j2tja8i wrote
Now it makes more sense hahaha. Don't worry.
DaredewilSK t1_j2snvyk wrote
At 500 lbs you burn 3k just breathing man. No way you wouldn't lose weight.
luew2 t1_j2uiack wrote
You don't even need to eat healthy food, you can lose weight eating pizza, as long as there are fewer calories eaten vs burned you'll lose weight.
At 500lbs you need to be eating 4k calories a day to maintain weight even if you're not getting much exercise, you'd easily lose at 3k
ph1294 t1_j2slcae wrote
How many calories are you currently eating per day?
Can you walk me through how you calculate those calories for a single meal?
NagoyaR t1_j2sosol wrote
Right now i'm actually not counting calories. I did and then stopped. I wonder if i sometimes just cut to many corners and actually eat not enough for my body to lose weight.
ph1294 t1_j2sp3ph wrote
That is almost certainly what's happening. (you are almost definitely eating too much)
If you like, you can share your previous days meals with me, and I can give you a calorie range. But if you're not cooking your food yourself, and if you're not weighing it (or at least basing estimations off prior known weights/volumes), it's highly likely you're eating more than you think.
If you can't even list everything you ate yesterday, I can all but guarantee you overate.
Myrdrahl t1_j2rgeh9 wrote
I find using LifeSum easier, since it keeps track of calories and if I eat something with a bar code, all I do is scan it, and calories are right there.
FatSpidy t1_j2sknvi wrote
I suffer from non-alcoholic fatty liver so this comes with a lot of extra baggage, but I'm curious what your workout schedule looks like or if you have one at all? I've seen progress switching from using my local grocery to using HelloFresh and I certainly believe it's from a difference of freshness, processing, and portion sizes. Now I'm looking into adopting a semi-all liquid diet to try and target liver health in addition to my weight decline. Currently I'm about where you started and there's just tons of conflicting or unhelpful information on my disease in regard to lifestyle.
Is there any pointers you have or information on the liver shrinking stuff?
KnightCPA OP t1_j2sohql wrote
My exercise regimen is dichotomous: pre-sep’22 and post sep’22.
Pre- sep’22, I walked 2-3 hours a day, even when I was at my largest weight. Walking has never been a difficult task for me: I enjoy it, I listen to podcasts, I need to walk my dog anyway.
I (and my liver) was fat because I drank a lot of soda, ate a lot of beef/fast food, and my body was accumulating those excess calories into fat.
I went on this diet and lost crap tons of weight without changing exercise routine.
Post- sep’22: hurricane Ian flooded my house, so now a lot of my free time is taken up by home repairs/improvements.
I now only walk about an hour a day, 2 if I’m lucky.
My only piece of advice if you already have food that’s working for you is:
Track as much as you can in excel. Excel provides a great platform for data analysis and a feedback loop to see what’s happening with your body.
Do more frequent blood testing. I started drinking regularly for the first time in my life in may’22 while I was losing weight, and my ALT spiked to 64 in June. I significantly cut back the alcohol and went to quarterly blood testing, and my sep ALT dropped to the 30s, and my Dec ALT is now the lowest it’s ever been at 24.
If you track both the changes in your diet/exercise and the resulting blood chemistry, you can begin to make better educated decisions on what’s good for your body.
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