Hello everyone. Here’s my brief intro and progress report. I’m male, 53 years old. For decades I believed the high-carbohydrate/low-fat official advice, which has now turned out to be rubbish. Oh dear.
For decades I ate more carbs and sweet things than was good for me, really without a thought of what was healthy or not. Luckily, I come from genetic stock which does not seem to develop diabetes – no one in my immediate or extended family has it. I don’t have it either, and my general health is good.
Having said that, I did not wish to be complacent. So when I noticed my waist measurement had gone up to 40.5 inches recently, I decided to do the low-carb thing for the first time.
Now I eat no processed food at all. A new personal guideline is never to believe anything processed food companies say. They are no more trustworthy than Big Tobacco.
I have been following this new eating style for seven weeks now. I only eat one meal a day, in the morning. Sometimes I may have a snack in the evening of a few sunflower seeds or a handful of raw peanuts.
I don’t eat meat or fish. Mostly I like to eat boiled eggs, avocados, boiled chickpeas and assorted vegetables, especially tomatoes. Also any fruits which are in season.
A friend makes yoghurt at home and I get that from her regularly. It’s full-fat, and I often drop in a handful of raw peanuts for crunch. Great stuff!
I never count calories or use any weightloss apps. I just eat what is healthy, and don’t stuff myself. For me, the key is time control and portion control. It’s hard to overeat when you only eat one meal.
I drink only plain water. I am a lifelong teetotaler, so alcohol is not a factor for me.
For exercise, I do a walk-run five days a week, and skip rope for thirty minutes six days a week. Skipping is a big calorie burner, and I can recommend it. I also do some bodyweight exercises and stretching.
I don’t pay any attention to my actual weight. In fact, I don’t even have a pair of scales. I focus on one thing only – waist size, measured at the belly button. That is the only measurement needed. If that measurement is heading down, everything else is going right.
So in seven weeks, what has happened? My waist size has gone down from 40.5 inches to 34 inches. My target is 32 inches, but I expect I will eventually drop an inch or so below that as well.
I found that my waist size dropped exactly half an inch a week, on average. That seems to be my personal tolerance for weight loss.
So I am finding this low-carb weight-loss thing relatively easy, to be honest. I just aim to continue for a few more weeks and then maintain it.
So to anyone reading this who is overweight and whose diet is poor, I would say, just start to change and then continue. That’s all there is to it. If you have the motivation and determination, it can be done.