You May Not Believe This

[medussa 0]

I am not the only person in my family who struggles with weight. My younger brother has battled it as well. For many years he was almost too thin from bulemia, and then he stopped making himself sick and just let the weight pile on. I am proud to announce that over the last six months he has lost an amazing 55lbs. He is pretty short, so that is significant.

I wanted to throw it out there...how he lost all this weight...and get some opinions. Please just read the whole thing before automatically judging.

When I asked my brother what it was that finally helped him in his efforts, he presented me with a book call "The Good Fat Cookbook". He and his wife made a decision that they would start eating healthy for the new year. His wife, my SIL, has always been normal weight to maybe 10lbs over at times. Now she looks like a freaking supermodel in a fantastic way.

Basically they started by cutting out of their diet all the really bad stuff like pop and candy... sugar. They cut out the junk food like potatoe chips and Mc Donalds. They cooked their meals at home. Weight started coming off despite not really cutting back on the amount of food. My brother swears they never really went on a diet. As they got into this they started doing some reading. It all led to them cutting out all processed food. They switched to whole wheat bread and Pasta. Bought real food not out of boxes, cans etc...

But what did he eat I asked him? Whatever he wanted...bread and butter (real), salad with REAL (fat filled) Salad Dressing, mayo (real), real sour cream, they cooked with all the olive oil they wanted, meat, meat, and more meat, even the red kind. REAL cheese, nothing low fat, or reduced fat. NOTHING!!!!!! He drank whole milk and put cream in his coffee. They ate it if it was not processed and fake. Real everything.

So I read this book and it is AWESOME. I dont necessarily care for the recipies they give, but it gives you a foundation to work with. Basically it says that you NEED TO EAT FAT TO LOSE WEIGHT. You need olive oil and butter and coconuts and avacados and this list goes on. It tells you how all these foods like red meat, fish and REAL eggs are very important. It is not a diet book or a low carb book just a "how all our ancestors used to eat and never got fat" book. It says bacon is good and lamb is better. It says that you should only eat food fried in LARD and that it is ok to do so. It says NEVER NEVER NEVER BUY LOWFAT, NO FAT, REDUCED FAT ANYTHING!!!! It talks about why....which is to long for me to explain. If you want sugar, eat honey. It tells you the kinds of fats that are good and those to avoid. It says to eat like people used to...meat cheese, butter, olive oil, cream, whole milk, whole grains, etc. It talks about how America is one big "low fat nightmare" and all this "diet food" is making us fatter by the minute because all diet food is processed.

Ok, so my brother and his wife have done this for almost 6 months. They look fantastic.....neither workout or anything. My sister in law says her hair and nails are awesome as well as her skin. No headaches from my brother, as well as a major decrease in his year round allergy prob. The list is endless.

Best of all, according to my brother, he doesn't have to count the calories or spend long hours agonizing over how much he ate. He gets up from a meal completely satified and has NO DESIRE to munch throughout the day.

I started doing the research and it looks good. I am a healthcare professional so I do have knowledge of some of this stuff. I cut out a lot of the stuff from my diet prior to LBS. Since surgery I have started eating this way too and have lost 12lbs by eating a relatively high "good fat" diet. I am not filled yet and I haven't felt any restriction and have been able to eat anything I have tried. I am still eating the same volume of food and probably a higher calorie/fat content now. All in all I have lost 17lbs in the last two months. I did have to do a liquid diet prior to surgery and actually gained a pound during that 2 week phase. That 2 week phase was misery. I was STARVING and thought about food 24/7. I was so freaking deprived. Now I do not feel like I am on a diet and I absolutely love what I eat as TASTE is huge to me. I have no cravings. The only difficult part is finding foods that are preservative free and have the right kind of fats used in them. It takes lable reading, but it can be done.

Has anyone else gone this route and suceeded?. It is still difficult for me to pass up the reduced fat mayo and salad dressing as well as the skim milk. Let me know your experiences

[Dena 2]

Interesting, might have to check this book out.

[giveyouthemoon 4]

Oh good lord I learned this long ago! Yes! Fat is not the enemy! Never has been.

I'll tell you, the world is a lot more satisfying since I eat fat (and not that trans fat crap, real stuff, butter, olive oil, cream).

I do a mostly lo carb diet and really don't miss bread. It looks like cardboard to me now.

I'll have to take a look at this book...sounds interesting. I used to work with a lady who wouldn't eat anything out of a can or box, only natural stuff and she was one of the most naturally thin and healthy looking people I know.

Ah but....she also exercised. Any diet should include exercise to be most efficient!

[bobby_hamrick 0]

I eat real butter, olive oil, Sour Cream and always use 2% or whole milk which is only 3% by the way.

Real cheese also.

I have lost weight slow but steady.

I love red meat and have a steak most every week. Med/rare.

I am most successful when I cook and eat at home. It is when I find myself eating out all the time when I struggle to lose or actually gain. Its a terrible cycle for me. Preparing at home is key I believe.