How I Lost 100 lbs. Summer Newsletter August 2010 Issue II Vol. I

IN THIS ISSUE:

• BEWARE OF THE SALAD BAR!

• HOT SAUCE

• SALT LURKS IN MOST PREPARED FOODS

• MAINTAINING MUSCLE MAY BE AS IMPORTANT AS LOSING WEIGHT – OR MORE

• WHAT WE EAT IS 2/3 THE BATTLE – EXERCISE IS 1/3

• BOOKS WORTH SHARING: THE STRUCTURE HOUSE WEIGHT LOSS PLAN

• MY EATING PLAN

Thankfully, I did make a positive change and that is half the battle. In this newsletter, I will show you the eating plan that worked for me. You can find more useful articles and blogs on my website: www.HowILost100lbs.com. I am so proud of all of you who have used this successful program to your advantage.

Keep up the good work and look good in those summer clothes!

~ John E. Ellis, MD

BEWARE OF THE SALAD BAR! Contrary to popular belief, many salad bars are not your friend. Lettuce is not very filling or nutritious. Most people can’t eat enough raw broccoli to get full. I usually cook 1/2 to 1 pound of green veggies for each lunch and dinner, with 1 teaspoon of olive oil.

How to stay out of trouble at the salad bar: • Avoid (or severely limit) cheese and bacon, which are high in fat. • The same for dressings – on the side, dip your fork in it. • Try to get protein from beans, tuna salad, and chicken salad,

although these salads are often overloaded with mayo. • Avoid anything “crunchy” or “crispy” = FRIED. • Avoid pasta salad slathered in salad dressing. • Avoid fruit in “syrup” = SUGAR.

 

Summer Greetings, Friends!

Things are hot this summer all across the country. Whether you are just tuning in to How I Lost 100 lbs. (www.HowILost100lbs.com) or if you’ve been following along the whole time, welcome to our hot summer newsletter. In case you’re just popping in for the first time, I lost 125 lbs. in 18 months without surgery, medications, or any fancy tricks! Stay with me and you too can learn tips and tools to help you lose weight.

Although I’m a 52-year old physician and cardiovascular anesthesiologist, prior to losing all that weight, I had allowed my own health to fall by the wayside. Work was stressful. Food relieved stress. I was tired and had sleep apnea. I didn’t make time for exercise.

After a number of health problems, I stood on the scale one day and realized I had let myself get up to 337 lbs! That is not exactly “practicing what you preach.” How could I tell my patients to lose weight when my own had ballooned out of control? That would have been very hypocritical.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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www.HowILost100lbs.com

HOT  SAUCE,  OH  HOT  SAUCE,    HOW  I  LOVE  THEE  SO  MUCH…  

ON  VEGGIES,  ON  SALMON    IT’S  JUST  THE  RIGHT  TOUCH  

My father’s family came to the US from the British West Indies (Nevis). Use of hot sauce was very common in that culture. Although as a child I disliked spicy foods, as an adult I have acquired a fondness of the taste. Perhaps I have inherited my family’s love for spices.

As I began my weight loss journey, I became more intentional about using hot sauce in preparing food. I did this for two reasons. The first was to slow me down, since I still have a tendency to eat too fast. The other was to find something besides fat to make food taste pleasurable.

Several studies show that capsaicin, the active ingredient in hot sauce, can cause people to feel full earlier and therefore eat less food. According to Science Daily:

HOT  SAUCE  –  A  LOVE  AFFAIR    

“Scientists are reporting new evidence that capsaicin, the stuff that gives chili peppers their kick, may cause weight loss and fight fat buildup by triggering certain beneficial protein changes in the body. Their study could lead to new treatments for obesity…

The capsaicin-treated rats lost 8 percent of their body weight and showed changes in levels of at least 20 key proteins found in fat. The altered proteins work to break down fats.”

There are a number of sauces that I enjoy. I even travel with them so that I can continue to stick to my diet without food tasting bland. My favorite hot sauces include: Sriracha (a Vietnamese-inspired garlic/chili sauce), Marie Sharp’s (recipe from Belize), and Cholula (Mexican); among others.

Salt  Lurks  in  Most  Prepared  Foods…  Beware!  

 NY Times article on the salt industry’s “push-back” against those seeking to limit salt added to prepared foods.

“By all appearances, this is a moment of reckoning for salt. High blood pressure is rising among adults and children. Government health experts estimate that deep cuts in salt consumption could save 150,000 lives a year.

Since processed foods account for most of the salt in the American diet, national health officials, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York and Michelle Obama are urging food companies to greatly reduce their use of salt. Last month, the Institute of Medicine went further, urging the government to force companies to do so.

Beyond its own taste, salt also masks bitter flavors and counters a side effect of processed food production called “warmed-over flavor,” which, the scientists said, can make meat taste like “cardboard” or “damp dog hair.”

Salt also works in tandem with fat and sugar to achieve flavors that grip the consumer and do not let go — an allure the industry has recognized for decades.”  

       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

www.HowILost100lbs.com page 3 Maintaining  Muscle  may  be  as  Important  as  Losing  Weight  –  if  not  More  So!  Half of my workouts are aerobics (walking, treadmill, elliptical), and half are resistance (floor exercise, Pilates, weight training). Generally, I do two 30-minute sessions of aerobic and two 45-minute sessions of resistance training per week. I do half weight training so as to build muscle. It has been encouraging that as I have lost weight, I have been able to increase how much I can leg press.

Muscle helps burn calories 24/7/365. As we age, we tend to lose muscle. Two new studies suggest that low muscle mass is associated with diabetes. Diabetics are more likely to have sarcopenia (low muscle mass). Those with low muscle mass are more likely to have high blood sugar and pre-diabetes, especially if overweight.

Is this cause or effect? Regardless, low muscle mass leads to frailty, disability, and loss of independence. Diabetes is a devastating disease that is growing rapidly in the US and around the world. It can cause heart attack, stroke, impotence, kidney failure, blindness, and more.

Most people trying to lose weight focus on just trying to limit food. If they do exercise, it tends to be aerobic, rather than focused on building muscle. Short-term calorie restriction “dieting” without exercise may be particularly dangerous and sets you up to gain even more

fat afterwards. An excellent article by Sheri Colberg, PhD, “Sarcopenic Obesity: Just One of the Many Potential Perils of Weight Loss Without Exercise:”

“One main problem with large amounts of weight loss after you reach middle-age or older is that these losses consist of about 75 percent fat and 25 percent muscle for typical dieters, but when you gain weight back afterwards (which is extremely common within six months to a year), a larger percentage (up to 85 percent) of your lost weight is regained as body fat.

Having less muscle also lowers your caloric needs, making it easier to gain weight even when you’re eating the same number of calories after your diet as you were consuming beforehand.

Furthermore, people who frequently cycle between weight loss and regain eventually will have insufficient muscle left to carry their extra weight, making them become one of the “fat frail” with sarcopenic obesity likely to have a reduced quality of life.”

Ladies should do resistance training, also.

1.

“I started changing little things in my life regarding the way I ate,” says Wildberger, who would opt for, say, grilled vegetables instead of rice and beans at a Mexican restaurant. “All of a sudden, the weight started coming off.”

Wildberger has since lost 37 pounds, just a few shy of her goal of 154.

What I realized when I read this story is that people falsely believe that simply by exercise, the excess weight will just melt away without changing any of their eating habits. This is not the case. You must do both, but the focus is on changing your eating habits and then adding exercise for enduring results.

“I thought; ‘OK, I can do this. All I need to do is go exercise’; recalls Wildberger, a 48-year-old Allen mom of two. “I play tennis, but I thought if I got a personal trainer, I’d be able to lose weight.”

After three months of dedicated, regular exercise, she saw no real improvement on the scale. Once she realized it wasn’t working, she told her trainer she was going to start a fasting program. He said, “Wait a minute, don’t do that. Why don’t you go see our nutritionist here?” she recalls.

With skepticism, she agreed to meet with registered dietitian Summer Lamons, who devised a reasonable eating plan.

An article in the Dallas Morning News explains a lot of what I believe. Exercise alone will not guarantee weight loss (except perhaps if you are Michael Phelps).

The point is this: We must change what we eat. Not starve or deprive ourselves, but change THE FOOD we actually eat.

What  we  Eat  is  2/3  of  the  Battle  –  Exercise  is  Only  1/3    

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Books Worth Sharing: The Structure House Weight Loss Plan

“Achieve your ideal weight through a new relationship with food”

This highly rated book by Gerard Musante talks about emotional reasons behind overeating and the bad habits that contribute to obesity. Overcoming one’s relationship with food is the best place to start; therefore this book is not just another diet plan with a get-skinny-quick gimmick. The common sense approach discusses food triggers, coping methods, and ways to stay on track. I was fortunate enough to be able to spend 2 weeks at Structure House, but you can learn all about the program in the book.

There are menus, but my eating plan below has all you need to get started on your new eating regime. What I like about this book is that it’s more about a lifestyle overhaul – that includes your mind, body and spirit – not just another diet book.

Go on Amazon to check it out for yourself: At prices as low as $2.54 for a used paperback edition, The Structure House Weight Loss Plan is a book that everyone can certainly afford to add to their summer reading.

Dr. Ellis Weight Loss www.HowILost100lbs.com

email: drellis@howilost100lbs.com 773-661-4072

 

My Eating Plan Breakfast: oatmeal 2/3 cup, 2 scoops protein powder, lots of cinnamon, skim milk 8 oz, tablespoon dried cherries or raisins

Lunch and Dinner: nuked green veggies (lots ~1 lb) w/ teaspoon olive oil , balsamic vinegar, and spices (no salt); fish/chicken/meat spiced and nuked/steamed without oil; 2 sweet potatoes nuked with cinnamon, or 1/4 cup – 1/2 cup brown rice.

Hot sauce, green tea (5 cups/d), cinnamon, ginger and garlic are my friends.

If I get hungry between meals, apples and other fruit (no juice!) are my #1 picks.

 

Here’s me after I lost over 100 lbs in 18 months!