Almost two years ago i was worried about my blood pressure. after putting it off for the longest time, i decided to visit a doctor friend. he had my blood tested for everything. the results confirmed that i indeed was hypertensive... with a bonus...i was a type 2 diabetic as well. the double whammy depressed me for some time. it made me realize how bad i took care of myself.
i used to be an athlete back in school and was pretty healthy. had a big appetite but burned food more than i ate. fast forward to ten years later, i gained so much weight. same huge appetite, different activity level. make that zero activity level. my weight caught up with my appetite. i ballooned to about 260lbs. it was then i decided enough was enough. i altered my diet and lost 70lbs in a year. i dropped pork from my diet, cut back on the rice and worked out 6 days a week. that lasted all of 3 great years...
then my wife and i got pregnant. she gave birth to the baby. i did not. lose the added weight, that is. fast forward to 5 kids later, i was back to my old weight plus more. i reached 280lbs. i gained the weight in the 5yrs i just let go and ate whatever i wanted.
and so we come to october of 2008. i went to my diabetes doctor and my cardiologist. they told me the consequences of my actions. jaw action. thing is, i knew what they were gonna say. my wife's been telling me about it. my mother,who's a doctor, told me about it. my friends told me about it. heck, i read all about it. cardiac arrest, blindess, limbs cut off. i knew all this but wasn't doing anything. at all. then something just snapped. probably God tapping me on the shoulder telling me enough's enough.
that fateful night in october i said, i need to get my mind straight and do something about this. so as a last hurrah, i went to this mongolian barbecue joint and got the biggest bowl they had for dinner. asked for a lot of rice then finished it. i was so full i was dizzy.
that was the last time i had rice. the day after, i dropped all my simple carbs. dropped my rice, which i really really really love, white bread, pasta and everything sugary from my diet. it was craaaazy in the first 4 days. i had headaches. i was cranky. i had mood swings.
the moods and headaches lasted all of 5 days. after which, i did not even look for rice anymore.
so far i have lost 30lbs and counting. without exercise. now, the wonderful thing about it is that i haven't had a hungry moment since october. i eat every 2-3hrs. my altered diet did wonders to my blood sugar and blood pressure as well. my sugar's low and so is my blood pressure. you see, my diet allows me to eat all the fatty food i want and still keep my cholesterol levels down. i've had a few blood tests to prove my diet's working for me. my metabolism's on overdrive hence the weight loss. ain't no expert but it works. for me. it's almost like a modified atkin's diet only that i do have complex carbs. i have whole wheat bread instead of white. no rice still. i could probably have brown rice but i'd rather not.
i still eat white bread once in a while. mcdonald's double quarter pounder, hot dogs. but that happens rarely. i call them cheat days. but absolutely no sugar breaks. i don't cheat on those.
sometimes, when my wife has garlic rice for breakfast, i get her plate, hold it up to my face and inhale deeply... ahhh.. the smell of what was but never shall be again...
