I have always struggled to get to my “fighting weight” I have managed it a few times over the years with huge efforts, but never got to hold onto it for more than a few months.
It isn’t because of my genes, I don’t have a thyroid condition or slow metabolism. I have never eaten a salad and put on weight. Food isn’t an emotional crutch, I don’t feel emotionally fulfilled after a Pasty or an ice cream . I have tried every diet going, and guess what? When I worked hard and decided to stick to it, they all worked!
I could tell you about my long term meds that really haven’t helped my weight, but the reality is I could have been on those same meds and made better choices and not gained any weight at all.
But I didn’t make good choices and gained a lot of weight over the last 10 years or so. What I do have is a busy life with 3 wonderful kids who I love supporting in their sporting and other endeavours. Dads 'Taxi Service' travelling to training and matches in surrounding counties most evenings and weekends. I run a small growing business that is time hungry and I am also trying to renovate an old house. All of these things are greedy for my time, but they didn’t make me fat. My choices, poor nutrition and fast easy options because I was tired or time pressured made me fat!
So struggling with working as an Electrician whilst carrying twice my recommended healthy weight range for my height at 6ft 3 and having turned 38 I knew I didn’t want to go into my 40’s with the associated health risks of being so big. I made a decision that this year was going to mark some big changes. But I had been here before and even used VLCD plans and lost big amounts of weight really quickly, but fallen off the wagon.
I was either perfect or awful with my diet . Weight was either going up or down and quickly! I am pretty sure I have never been the same weight for more than a week in the last 15 years. So to make this work I knew I have to adapt and find a way to find a viable long term way of dealing with this. I had to find a solution where I felt like I could do this for a few years, be in control and not be on a plan that was like clinging to a cliff edge by my fingertips.
For me it had to be VLCD with a high protein and low sugar/carb intake. I had worked out that the really high sugar in my diet was fuelling a viscous cycle of tiredness, hunger , caffeine and high sugar intake, short term spike in energy and repeat over and over again.
The KeeDiet has been great for the first 12 weeks of this much longer turn around. I have lost 63 lbs in just 12 weeks and have much higher energy levels, better sleep, lower blood pressure and resting heart rate.
I really like the Shakes, much nicer than a more expensive alternative plan used before. For my weight loss I used 3 shakes a day with a healthy meal of grilled chicken/egg/tuna salad (Social Plan). If I have a slip from plan I make sure it is a slip within the Keto principles (no sugar/very low carb). There is a good variety of products and they are much more reasonably priced compared to previous plans I had followed.
It is quite noticeable that when you stop buying lunch from the garage and breakfast from the cafe, I actually had lower food bills. It is probably a bit early to write about this experience (KeeDiet: Jon is a real inspiration on our Secret Slimmers Page and although not at the end of his journey, we wanted to share his story so far) . The first 12 weeks have flown by, I am 33% of the way to what I am trying to achieve. I would expect at least three more 12 week cycles to finish the job.
The plan and its members are very supportive and that makes a big difference. There is a lot of work still to come, time will tell if the new approach lasts and my results are sustained. I am proud of the last 12 weeks and I certainly would have taken this if you had offered it to me on New Years Eve.
You need to get your mind focussed to be successful on a VlCD , but if you do the rewards are pretty special . “Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right”
Part 2 to follow