Chuckster

I was going to go under the knife. The surgeon put me on 800 calories a day. That alone nearly killed me as I was pre diabetic. I found out that this sort of starvation in not only cruel but dangerous especially for a man my size. After studying nutrition and health I became astounded and how ignorant or dishonest MDs actually are. Fortunately for me my physical therapist talked me out of surgery and hooked me up with a gym that had a weight loss program. They fixed my head and showed me that I could do this. I was losing about 3 pounds per week and in a little over a year I was at a healthy weight. My % body fat is 12%. I workout 45 minutes per day and I play sports. I did this for me but more than that I did it for my family. It dawned on me that there was nothing wrong with my digestive system so it seemed absurd and almost criminal to pay someone to deliberately damage it so that it no longer do it's job. The problem was in my brain not my stomach and small intestine. I was eating about 40% too much. When that was explained to me the task of losing weight seemed less daunting and doable so I did it. I was over 300 pounds and taking in over 5000 calories a day to maintain that weight. Nutrition is not rocket science. I stopped eating crap and ended by hedonistic and gluttonous ways. I ate 3000 calories a day and exercised and I made sure that food was wholesome and nutrient dense. Had I gotten sleeved of gotten a bypass I would not be nearly as healthy as I am now nor would I have so many valuable lessons.

If there is any agenda it would be to let people know that with the right tools IMO most people can avoid a surgical intervention. What I did was much healthier and perhaps even more permanent since I fixed the cause of the problems which was self induced caloric poisoning. I could not wrap my head around paying someone to surgically alter my perfectly healthy digestive system. I did really do anything that drastic. I changed how I was living. This was a better option for me. In the 1970 only 3% of American were clinically obese but today it is 35%. I guess for me paying someone to alter my digestive system to fix a behavioral problem seemed/seems absurd.

Medically as health as me? How would you know that? BTW, I am a research scientist. I have been weight stable for 4 years. There is no going back to my selfish, shameful and gluttonous ways. I have a higher purpose and responsibility. As to you calling me Chuckie, I used to have the name Chunkster because I was big chunk of lazy couch blubber. Now I have dropped the N and the people who called me Chunkster call me Chuckster. Why are you being so nasty and condescending? It sounds like you want me to fail. Carnie Wilson has had 2 weight loss surgeries and she has managed to circumvent both of them. Marie Osmond has remained lean by eating less. Perhaps Marie Osmond has a better moral center that Carnie who comes off as a real self-centered jerk so it is not surprising that she is also very self-indulgent and food-centric. Marie is a class act. I shared this story with others who are struggling with their eating behaviors to let them know that it is possible to lose weight the old fashioned way i.e. moving more and eating less. Your defense of MDs is without facts. The leading cause of death and injury in the US is the medical industry. The US medical industry is also the biggest thief and according to Blue Cross Blue Shield at least 1/3 of what Americans pay for health care is waste and fraud. I can post all sorts of links and graphics show how American MD have become a menace and actually do more harm than good. I can show you that the largest criminal fines are against the medical industry, I can show you that America pay over $9000 per capita for health care and is ranked 37th for quality which put it lowest in the industrialized world. Cuba spends less than 200 dollars per capita and they are ranked 38th. Answer this question. The most weight a moderately active woman can maintain on 2000 calories per day is just shy of 140 pounds. And BTW the human body cannot defy the 2nd law of thermodynamics or any other physical laws. Tell me all the reason for why you could not eat 2000 calories or lesseveryday. Tell me why you could not select healthy wholesome foods and eat them in the proper amounts? Do you even know basic nutrition? Does your surgeon even know basic nutrition? I freely admit that I was a glutton.

I learned a lot about myself. Some people self-medicate with food and to some degree that was me but mostly I was just a glutton like so amny Americans are these days. I was also a victim of the clever marketing of food and the addictive nature of today's food. I realized that most of what is sold in supermarkets is not fit for human consumption. Pets get better nutrition. Another reason why I did not go with surgery is because I had gotten great counseling. I knew that it was within my power to reform my behaviors and doing such was very empowering. It made me a better husband and better parent. Another important reason was the risk. bariatric surgeries have a significant mortality rate and many people have the side effects such as mal absortion, leaking and dumping to name a few. I was asked to name all the valid reasons for why I could not eat 40% less calories and I had no reasons. I asked the person helping me why I wasn't and he let me off the hook by explain what is if to be sated and how the brain has to catch up with the body. Big people have big appetites. Because of how I eat now I don't have gnawing hunger. I now eat the way nature intended humans to eat. I eat the foods that we were designed to eat. I had to eat mindfully. I selected the right foods in the right amounts and lost the weight. I reduced calories gradually so I was never really hungry. I ate 6 times a day and now I eat larger meal 4 times. What I learned mostly is that food can no longer control me. The pesky free floating anxiety that most of us have vanished. I took control. I learned that with the right tools things that seem impossible are actually pretty easy. I now enjoy food... real food more than ever but I have gone from a hedonist to an epicurean and the whole thing was quite spiritual. I did this for a higher purpose. Sure vanity was part of it as was health but I did it mostly for my loved ones and for society as a whole.

Actually what the OP said is 100% correct. I was going to get sleeved or mini bypass. They wanted me to go on Medifast but luckily for me my PT (was rehabilitating a knee injury) talked me out of it. When my knee was better I joined a gym that had a weight loss program. They taught me all about metabolism. All any type off weight loss surgery does is restrict how much you can eat and/or causes mal-absorption of nutrients. They gave me the immutable facts of nutrition and how to safely restrict calories. At over 300 pounds is was eating. These were my numbers: Resting (basal) metabolic rate: 3502 calories per day Typical daily activities: 1576 calories per day Total calories burned: 5078 per day I was taking in 5000 calories per day when I should have been eating a whole lot less Resting (basal) metabolic rate: 2026 calories per day Typical daily activities: 1208 calories per day Total calories burned: 3235 per day I increased my activity but mostly I stopped eating the typical American diet and now I will never go back to that vulgar lifestyle. I safely lost weight and my perfectly healthy digestive system is still intact. I'm now eat responsibly because it is the right thing to do for me, my loved ones and society at large. The fact is, like most people I was a glutton. When I admitted that I knew what I needed to do so I did it. It was actually quite easy.