Everything started when the doc bluntly confirmed that my husband is diabetic, and just like the rest of his family, he will lose vision and feelings in his legs and whatnot. This is what finally scared to death my significant other. We all know that there are good medications for this illness and that a lot of people have it. That’s all true, but his relatives have a more difficult and complicated form of diabetes, which actually killed a couple of unlucky ones within a couple of months.
After years of failing efforts to improve our lifestyle with healthy food and workouts, now I was determined to make him to change his unhealthy eating habits and the daily level of activity which was close to none. Side by side, we began to fight the cruel reality, him a diabetic with heart, thyroid and seizures problems and me, an obese gr. 1 with HBP.
So one last time, I decided to give it a shot and lose weight, but this time for good. I searched, I learned and I tested on my body and my mind.
With what I’ve learned and done, I managed to steadily lose 50 pounds(23kg) in the last 6 months and because I’m fairly proud of my accomplishment I thought of sharing my program with you.
The most difficult period is the beginning and the end, as for the rest the body will do the job, as long as you are doing your part. It’s not difficult but you must have patience and perseverance.
With this program, both our lives were changed. He lost 55 pounds (25 kg) and me, 50 pounds(23 kg). Now he is in great shape, no hypertension, and his sugar is around 5, even his seizures are less. He lost his fat belly and he is even able to fit in the groom suit once again!
All in only 6 months!
I like this diet from two points of view: it’s easy and it fits the budget. I saved a lot and yet I eat very well.
- I gradually reduced my food servings, the first week with a ¼ and the second with another ¼. My plate contained food twice or more as a normal serving. This was one of the reasons why we were overweight.
- Basically, on your plate, you should have ½ veggies, ¼ meat (boiled, stewed, roasted, grilled chicken, lean beef or fish) and ¼ rice or 1 potatoes or 1 wheat bread. This is a normal serving.
- Every day, weigh yourself at the same time and in the same place. Keep a journal of your weight to keep track if there’s any fluctuations. I wrote everything on a wall calendar so it’s easier to keep track off.
- Every day, do 30 min on a stationary bicycle (or a real one if you can) and 30 min of walking or jogging.
- In the first 3 weeks you should cut down potatoes, pasta and bread until you cut it out completely.
- No more of potatoes, pasta, white beans, lentils or bread! No sweets and cakes and chocolate! Pizza, beer, sweet beverages and ice cream will be just sweet dreams. The body doesn’t need that much sugar. Your body is an amazing bio-machine; it’s made from physical and chemical principles and is able to transform all the fat, alcohol and starch into sugar (glycogen) essential for your liver and your brain. The human body is able to extract the necessary sugar from everything.
- Count your calories until you will be able to make your plate without counting.
If your goal is to lose weight by burning off excess body fat, aim to eat 500 fewer calories per day than your daily caloric needs, and maintain or increase your exercise activity. If you cut 500 calories from your diet every day, you would lose about one pound a week. Or, if you are physically active, you can eat 250 calories less every day and burn 250 calories per day with your workout. Ideally, you do not want to lose more than one to two pounds per week, which means a safe caloric deficit would be to burn 500 to 1,000 calories per day through a reduced caloric diet AND exercise. So, if you burn 3500 calories equals about one pound of fat less.
Do NOT go below 1000 calories per day unless you are on a medically supervised weight loss program or after consultation with your doctor.
The normal caloric consumption should be:
• woman 1200 calories/day
• man 1800 calories/day
1. Do NOT eat after 7:30 pm!
2. Drink green tea and coffee and beverages without sugar!
3. Don’t be discouraged if your weight stays constant for a little while... just keep going!
4. Be stubborn and ambitious and keep your eye on the goal.
5. Say it: NOW, not tomorrow or next Monday.
6. If you want real, long term weight loss, you do not need a "diet", you need a lifestyle change!
Diet
You should have this every day. The blueberries are great antioxidants and help your body fight against all sorts of problems.
Studies have shown that eating yogurt with probiotics can increase the amount of T lymphocytes, the white blood cells responsible for fighting off infections, by about 30 percent—effectively giving your immune system a hand.
• Snack time at 10 am: any fruit(1 apple or 1 orange or 1 small banana or ½ cup of strawberries or ½ raspberries or ½ cup of blueberries)
• At 12 pm a main meal, as described lower down, and ½ cup of berries (raspberries, strawberries, blackberries).
• At 3 pm: a cooked apple without sugar or butter. It will be your delicious moment of the day! It’s very sweet. Bake a big apple with skin at 350° F for 30-40 min or until it’s soft to touch.
• At 7 pm supper and ½ cup of berries(raspberries, strawberries, blackberries)
If you are still hungry, you can have 10 almonds or 5 halves of walnuts that will fill you up. Don’t mess with the numbers; you can’t say “just one more!”
You can use a little bit of vegetable oil for cooking or a teaspoon of olive oil for salad. Don’t forget to put lemon juice in your salad instead of vinegar.
10 halves Walnuts = 262 calories
10 Almonds = 70 calories
22 Dry Roasted Almonds = 169 calories
1 cup Berries = 48 calories
1 cup of halves fresh Strawberries = 49 calories
1 cup of thawed unsweetened frozen Strawberries = 77 calories
1 cup of Raspberries = 64 calories
1 cup of unsweetened frozen Raspberries = 130 calories
1 cup of fresh Blueberries = 83 calories
1 cup of unsweetened frozen Blueberries = 79 calories
1 medium Fuji Apple = 71 calories
1 large Fuji Apple = 109 calories
1 medium Golden Delicious Apple = 72 calories
1 large Golden Delicious Apple == 111 calories
1 small Honey Crisp Apple = 55 calories
1 medium Honey Crisp Apple = 72 calories
1 large Honey Crisp Apple = 110 calories
1 small Banana = 90 calories
1 medium Banana = 105 calories
1 large Banana = 121 calories
1 extra large Banana = 135 calories
1 Orange = 62 calories
1 large Orange = 86 calories
1 small Tangerine = 37 calories
1 medium Tangerine = 45 calories
1 large Tangerine = 52 calories
1 Clementine = 35 calories
Delicious Yogurt
• ½ cup of plain yogurt
• 1 tablespoon oat bran or 1/8 cup
• 3 tablespoons of blueberry(frozen or fresh) or strawberries or raspberries
• ½ banana
Stir well the oat bran and yogurt. Top the mixture with fruits and ½ sliced banana. A frozen banana gives smoothness and has the most wonderful ice cream-like texture!
Total Recipe cost: $CAD 1.42
Servings Per Recipe: 1 bowl
Prep time: 1 min. Total: 1 min.
INGREDIENTS COST
1/8 cup oat bran $0.07
1/2 cup plain yogurt $0.50
1/2 cup frozen blueberries $0.50
1/2 small banana $0.35
TOTAL $CAD 1.42
Bon appétit!
This is a personal experience and my body answered well to the diet with good results. Each person is an individual case.