28 years of dieting.. zero results!
 

Hello people... :)

My name is Tony, I'm originally from London, UK but now live with my gorgeous wife and family in sunny Weymouth on the UK's south coast.

I began my career in dieting 28 years ago after putting on around 3 stones as a teenager. My weight has been an issue all my adult life, at my heaviest I was 23 stones! I've tried diets based on low fat, calorie control, points systems, red & green days, etc. etc. In my experience they are all completely unsustainable in the long term...

About 8 months ago my wife read an article about low-carb diets and after some research bought this book: http://www.drbriffa.com/waist-disposal/ ... I've since discovered this LC plan is virtually the same as the Paleo diet.

From the moment I started reading the science behind this healthy eating plan I was hooked. I haven't been hungry once, and have not craved a single carb... what a revelation! It has given me so much more energy and has prompted me to start exercising regularly... it really has been life changing. My body is now starting to look the way I always dreamed it would.

I'm so happy to be <big (less than BIG) ;)

Tony :)

Hi Tony

Your story echoes mine in the years of different "diets" Had most success on Atkins but didn't sustain it! flash forward a few more years and we, hubby, and I discovered the Primal Blueprint [Mark Sissons] through our daughter and her BIL so borrowed the book from her and liked what we read as it all made sense! so we have been following this since January and loving it! Good luck with your quest too!

Dee

I wish I could say the same!
My lifetime of malnutrition goes a lot further back than yours, and I also have experience of every "System" there ever was!

Low carb has restored me to relatively WELL again, so don't get the idea that I am not a big fan, as I don't suffer sever hypoglycaemic episodes at all any more, but I haven't lost anything like the weight I would like to, and I find every day a food hell, and consider my insulin resistance to be at best a sick twist, of fate, at worst a life sentence!
I lost some weight initially, but just about NONE in the past 12 months, despite being fairly severe on eating as low a carb diet as practical.

Before my health "died" in about 2003 I did massively well, (and quickly!) on a low fat, low calorie high fibre regime, losing 9.5 stones, and I actually felt THIN - and I held that great weight from 1996 to 2003, until worsening health as well as surgery meant I could not continue to exercise the way I did. The weight returned with a VENGEANCE, even eating failry well and under control, but with it advancing years and circumstances meant insulin resistance too, and it had me very ill!

Now, eating Low carb controls that Insulin resistance totally, and means I don't have to starve as I would have to on a low calorie diet, to avoid gaining more weight, but the weight loss is not something I find very impressive, to do that I would need to exercise FAR far more, which unfortunately, I find impossible now.

I would suggest whatever method you use to diet, exercise has far more effect on body mass. Low carb works the way it does by simply not allowing the insulin to store fat, but in itself it does nothing for REDUCING the existing flab, it's exercise that does that. Take EXTRA exercise away, and like me all that happens is you hover around your existing weight, I can eat VERY low calorie (and LC too) and barely lose an ounce, I just feel totally STARVED, similarly I can eat BUCKETLOADS of food, and I mean EXCESSIVE, as long as it has no carb content, and I never rise more than 1kg even after a couple of weeks of excess - probably it's only the weight of the food itself!

Increasing muscle mass loses far more flab than cardio work too, as that's what burns calories when you are NOT actively exercising, that's what I desperately miss having! :-(

Hey that's a truly sad post, I really feel for you. :tears: Having found how enjoyable exercise can be I would hate to have to give it up now...

My exercise consists of 3 x 45min workouts a week that are specifically designed to build muscle and tone the body, here is what I'm doing: http://weymouthfitnesscamp.co.uk/ this guy is awesome! The rest of the week I make sure I get an hour of brisk walking each day... my dog is looking a lot fitter too... ;)

Good luck to you too Dee... :)

Welcome and my best to you on your journey!! :wave:

Hi Tony :wave:

It is good to have another member from my neck of the woods climb on board.

How has the long roadworks to build the new approach road to Weymouth affected you?

Lol.... it's been a nightmare! The road finally opened last week and it appears to be a good thing... we've got the summer holiday traffic to deal with yet though, that'll be the real test! :)

It makes the point (that I did't realise until later) it's the exercise that makes any weight loss diet really work (unless you particularly want to eat like a concentration camp victim!), the one truly good thing about Low carb methods is because they don't involve extremes of starvation, they don't appear to cause Leptin resistance (and other metabolic stuff like Resitin & adiponectin problems) NOR do they cause Reverse T3 production, which ULTRA low calorie dieting does. Leptin resistance has WRECKED my appetite control and now I find restricting food intake REALLY hard, whereas before it wasn't easy, but very manageable with normal willpower.

Reverse T3 is relatively easy to reset, but so far Leptin resistance is not so easy or reliable, (even with Byetta, IF you can get hold of it!) :-(

I've always exercised. For me, I think fiddling with diet works better for fat loss. But I think these things differ from person to person.

Hi Tony,

Dr Briffa rocks!!! Do you read his blog regularly???

And have you started taking vitamin D3 as he recommends? Mind you, with you being in sunny Weymouth, you won't need any D3 out of a capsule for the next few months, with any luck!!!

I loved his book, "The True You Diet", because he splits people up into these different groups, and I discovered why my husband and I eat so differently - I'm a classic "hunter" and need lots of fat and meat, whereas he is a classic "gatherer" and can do better with more carbs and less fat. I found it very refreshing to have a take on diets which doesn't claim that "one size fits all", but actually admits that different foods suit different types.

I got the "Waist Disposal" book out of curiosity and liked his very practical approach to how you can put all his ideas into practice. It's great to hear that there are people out there who are also benefitting from this book, too.

I wish you all the best of luck with disposing of that waist!!!

amanda

Hi Amanda,

I agree Briffa is the man, I haven't read his blog but thanks for mentioning it... I'll get over and have a look.

For my D3 vitamin I eat at least 4 portions of oily fish a week and about 6 eggs a day so no need for supplements, I also get out in the sun as much as possible which has been easy lately due to the great spring weather were having down here!

Tony :)

How are you doing???

Long time, no post!!!

amanda