Discussion Board

This is my first post here so let me introduce myself. I’m a 54 year old man living in Brisbane, Australia. Over the past two years I have reduced my weight from 283 pounds down to 210 pounds. It has been a long, slow and frustrating journey with periods of weight loss followed by periods of weight gain.

What I now realize is that my main problem has been with dairy ‘foods’ which is not particularly surprising given their high fat content and lack of fibre. Since eliminating dairy I have been loosing steadily (28 pounds so far). The information on this site has been invaluable in making this decision, particularly the existence of pus in milk.

Another old favourite that I have eliminated is chocolate, partly because it contains dairy but also because it is connected with child slavery in Africa http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/ ... ntentSwap1

My main interest has been loosing weight but as this is starting to come under control (still got plenty to loose) my interest is now turning to regaining health and reducing or eliminating as many of my medications as possible. I hope to gain information and inspiration from this site.

Welcome to the boards!

I'd just like to let you know that right up front I love your profile pic, and am also impressed with your compassionate stance regarding chocolate. I seriously wasn't even aware of that issue, so should I ever think to introduce any chocolate back into my diet in the form of richer, plan-legal deserts, it will be from a company which has suppliers which do not engage in the practice of child slavery! If I can't find such a company, then it's no huge loss to me now. I've been away from chocolate for going on three months now and honestly don't miss it. You will get to that state too I'm sure.

I look forward to reading about your progress following the plan.

welcome! I found the info on pus in milk particularly inspiring in giving up dairy as well deeeesgusting. I'm sure you will find all the people on this board exceptionally helpful and supportive.

Excellent progress on the weight front and wishing you the same success on the rest of your diet cleanup and push for greater health and freedom from the medical merry-go-round.
f1jim

Welcome Hamster! Love your name, your "photo," & your attitude.

Thx for the chocolate link. I'm struggling with what I truly believe is an addiction to the stuff so any info to motivate a reduction in using it could prove beneficial!

Oh, and yes the pus in milk was a real grosser-outer for me too. I think it is the piece of info that got my husband to finally go dairy-free.

Firstly thank you all for your kind comments. I have read a number of journals and find them to be inspirational. There are many stories of great progress toward regaining good health.

What have I been up to today? Firstly, I finished reading “The Pritikin Permanent Weight Loss Manual”. I had read several of his books many years ago; it’s a giant pity that I didn’t follow his advice earlier.

I haven’t decided to eliminate coffee as yet, but just to reduce my consumption from several mugs per day down to several per week. Instead I’m substituting tea, partly because it usually contains less caffeine but mainly because I can drink it without added milk. I have found that green tea is like drinking an infusion of lawn clippings and all the herbal teas I’ve tried so far just plain don’t hit the mark.

White tea however is a rather delicious drop, delicate and not over-powering, the following link might be of interest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_tea
Of the black teas I like Russian Caravan, Earl Grey and one called Traditional Afternoon. The Traditional Afternoon is a strong full-flavoured tea that really hits the spot.

I missed going to the gym last night and must go tonight for another session on my treadmill.

just a short note to say hi and welcome!

I did my usual 4 km walk during my lunch break. It was a truly magnificent day and I really enjoyed every minute of it. Paid a visit to the gym in the evening and did 1 km on the rowing machine followed by 1 ½ kms walking up random hills followed by 2 kms walking on the flat. All up, excluding incidental walking I’ve done 8 ½ kms.

The diet has also gone well, the calories are under control and I’m not missing the dairy. It’s truly amazing how long a block of cheese now lasts. Mrs Hamster has now becoming serious about loosing weight and has started keeping a food diary. She doesn’t have a lot to loose but any loss will help with her blood-pressure, cholesterol and diabetes.

I weighed myself this morning, I’m now only 1 pound 6 ounces away from becoming overweigh WOOOOOHOOOOOO Almost time to party!

Kind wishes to everyone here, regaining one’s health is a slow process, it’s taken me almost 2 years and I’m not there yet.

Oh almost forgot to mention a little Tofutti Imitation Cream Cheese mixed with low-fat salad dressing makes a lovely creamy salad dressing – yum.

Yesterday was a bit good and a bit bad. I stayed with the diet and am continuing to avoid dairy. It’s now around 6 weeks since I first began to restrict dairy and about 2 since I eliminated it. The result is hard to tell but if anything I feel more alert and less weighed-down. This is only a subjective feeling and might not be supported by any physical reality. However, it still feels good. Certainly eliminating it has helped with the weight loss so perhaps the only effect has been that.

I had some shopping during lunch to do so didn’t get to do my walk and then didn’t go to the gym in the evening. Anyone who has been reading this journal would realize that I’m a supporter of regular exercise. There was a recent article in Time that argued that exercise was useless for weight loss. I only read the headline and then dismissed it entirely. However the attached link might be interesting to anybody who is tempted to believe that it is true:
http://walking.about.com/b/2009/08/18/e ... s.htm?nl=1

Got a letter from my GP last night – he wants to see me. No idea what the issue could be so I’m hoping that it’s only for a check-up and nothing serious. Just made the appointment for later today and have got to admit that I’m feeling a little nervous.

Good luck to everybody here and stay the course

My visit to my GP went well - all he wanted to do was check my blood pressure. Which is now NORMAL (124/79) and he's halved the medication.

Also my last blood sugars test came back as non-diabetic so he's also halved that medication. So from feeling nervous I'm now more convinced that my diet is working. Still got around 15 Kg to loose.

Constipation is still a bit of a worry but I'm greatly increasing my fiber intake so with a little luck that problem will work itself out in the end.

I've had a couple of minor cravings for dairy but nothing serious and they were easy to resist. It seems that for dairy that I have a switch which is either set to "off" or to "excess", moderation is just not possible so I'll try to keep the switch to "off".

The tea drinking is going along ok with no cravings for coffee. I guess the next step will be to start cutting back on the tea, but that won't be for several weeks.

Hamster,
That’s so WONDERFUL! I am so happy for you. This must be enormously motivating for you to stay with the program. I hope you are celebrating this most excellent news.
Letha

Congrats on the medication halves--that's wonderful

Firstly thank you all for the wonderful encouragement. Letha, your progress to date is an inspiration. My thoughts are with you and may you reach your goal.

Not much happened yesterday. I went for two walks, first one was only around 2 kms and the second was longer at around 5 kms. I'm satisfied with that particularly because a fair bit of the day was taken up with buying a new monitor. The diet was OK with a bit of grazing in the afternoon, but nothing bad so all is on-track.

I had my first coffee yesterday for a week. It was the first soy-milk latte that I have ever had and I really enjoyed it. Sort of a nutty, earthy flavor.

Got to go as I'm for a nice walk along the beach.

I too wish to welcome you and offer my best wishes in your quest for better health. You are starting very strong.
f1jim

Hi Hamster - I'm glad that you are doing a journal. Your progress is great - the Dr report sounds wonderful! Take care, LauraA