Weight loss study (X) Appendix

As I promised before, I will put out an appendix at the end of the “Weight Loss Research” series to give a complete account of my weight loss process, specific methods and tools for this round. It should not be considered as a universal method, nor should it be considered as the way you should immediately refer to the implementation of weight loss, but only as a reference for your personal decision. Otherwise, it deviates from my original intention of writing the Weight Loss Research series, and may not be good for your health.

I decided to lose weight on the morning of October 12, 2020. The day before I had attended a young friend’s birthday party, during which we drank too much red wine and aged moonshine and ate too much braised pork and fish. Anyway, early the next morning I found my weight had shot up to 106.2 kg, and my blood pressure and glycemic index had exploded. In the past, one or both of them were on the high side, but there was always a normal one. Now it’s a total collapse, which makes me very sad because all of these numbers look horrible. If the reversal doesn’t happen, good food and good wine will be far away from me, and the same will be true of the good life in the world. It was hard for me to imagine how that life would continue after hemiplegia, blindness or amputation, and on that morning, I felt the future was bleak.

Since the afternoon of October 12, I have been searching the Internet to analyze all kinds of information about weight loss. Over the years, similar information had come to me, but I had never really looked at it because I felt it was so far away. When the vision of a wheelchair in the dark appeared before me, this time I was motivated enough to study and research seriously. Because my own weight has gone through many ups and downs, historically having reached a high of 120 kg and a low of 86 kg. Only because I had experienced fitness in my early years, my whole body was muscular and visually not flabby and bloated like ordinary fat people, so I always felt good about myself and didn’t care too much about my weight, thinking I must be an exception. Through my studies, I finally realized that my fat was endangering my life. Whether I was a fit fat person or a flabby fat person, there was no essential difference at this point.

In my past experience, I used to walk from Kunming Wujiaba Airport back to my home near the department store in Kunming every day, a distance of about 7 km or more. After the walk, I would go to Congee King for a bowl of skinny pork congee with a side of fried greens with black bean pangasius. This process was maintained for several months and my weight was successfully reduced to 86 kg. Of course, I can replicate this method and do it again. If it worked in the past, then it makes no sense that it wouldn’t work now. But that was over a decade ago, when I was in my early 30s. And the key point is that the method eventually failed. It was unlikely that I would walk home every day, not to mention that it was unsustainable given the winter temperatures and air quality in Beijing, and it was unlikely that I would be able to make the same stir-fry with black bean pangasius, which I thought had consumed my share of the dish for the rest of my life after all that time, and it was not a life one should live with a congee and a vegetable. For me, after more than a decade, I needed to find a way to lose weight that would be sustainable, but not turn into an austerity exercise, so that I could minimize weight regain.

After an intensive study, I first chose the Low Carb Diet + 186 Intermittent Fasting method. The analysis is as follows: my weight, blood pressure, and blood sugar all exploded, and general logic would suggest that weight is the core of all problems. But through my studies I realized that weight is only an external sign, a result of unhealthy living. It is difficult to make a qualitative change in the short term, and if I focus on weight as a goal, then history is likely to repeat itself - painful exercise and dieting, resulting in short-term weight loss, then resuming my old life and rebounding or even surpassing my previous weight. Then, if weight is only an external sign, then the only thing I can regulate is insulin. After lowering insulin secretion, the body no longer prevents lipolysis, then weight loss will become a reasonable collateral effect.

So, I adopted a low-carb diet and massively reduced my intake of high carbohydrates. At the same time, I also control the eating window to give my body a longer time to rest and be under a low insulin state. At this point in time, my body was like a war-torn sandbox, broken and shattered, and I needed to let it recuperate and rejuvenate. I needed to let it recuperate and recover. Similar to the old practice of taking a big bowl of skinny congee every day to spike my blood sugar and turn on my insulin to the maximum just to lower my calorie intake, I completely gave up this time. Starting around October 15, I only ate two meals a day. One lunch meal, eaten around 12-1pm, and one dinner meal, eaten around 5-6pm. The meals were all the same: 1) a large Greek salad with vinaigrette, which required a leafy diet and more than 3 different vegetables; 2) two double-sided fried eggs; 3) a grilled chicken breast or a steak or 5 slices of fried bacon. No staples, just black coffee or tea, and a small handful of nuts when hunger is really unbearable.

This went on for close to two weeks. I was not averse to this diet, partly because I grew up eating lettuce at home, and salads were not a difficult food to accept, and I also liked the flavor of the marinated olives and feta cheese in them; on the other hand, my body did not respond well to lower carbohydrates, but rather the reduced meat supply would make me feel angry from time to time, so I felt happy to have pure meat available at every meal.

During this process, I noticed two changes in my body. One was due to the large amount of raw vegetables and reduced salt intake, causing my blood pressure to drop quickly, from 170/110 to 115/80 very quickly; the other was that after completely stopping the high carbohydrate and sugar intake, the vegetables, eggs and meat had very little disturbance to my blood sugar, which returned to normal almost the day after starting this meal combination. Subsequently, the pre- and post-meal blood glucose difference was reduced to within 2, and the curve as a whole became very flat, eliminating the up-and-down peaks and valleys. Another suspicion I had here, but did not verify, was that too much salt and MSG had been added to the vegetables in Chinese food, the former having a jacking effect on blood pressure, and the latter on insulin secretion.

I was encouraged by the positive feedback of seeing my blood pressure and blood sugar drop and gradually return to normal. At the same time, my weight slowly slid down, which was an even more pleasant surprise. Since the feedback from my body was so encouraging, I also felt the need to start exercising to speed up the process of breaking down fat and building muscle and cardio. Before that, I tried to walk 10 km home from work on Friday. I found that my body did not have any adverse reaction and confirmed that I still had plenty of energy. Then for two weeks in a row, the weather in Beijing on Fridays was crisp and clear in autumn, which made me think it was some kind of auspicious sign. Therefore, I started walking 10 km outdoors on Fridays, and normally walked more than 10,000 steps a day on my home walker, burning 700 calories.

Not long after I walked, a vendor saw my article on fasting. They sent me a set of 15-day ketogenic diet products to try. At that time, I analyzed my food composition and felt that the difference between the ketogenic diet and the ketogenic diet was not that big, just that the amount of fat intake was a bit worse. At the same time, the ketogenic diet was analyzed to have the effect of improving fat burning efficiency, so it would be good for my knees to exercise a little less. So, I went on the ketogenic diet for 18 days straight.

Since I had a low-carb diet and physical activity as my foundation, I entered the ketogenic state very smoothly. This package consisted of a fat-rich shake for breakfast and a lunch of your choice, although a low-carb diet is recommended. In the afternoon there is a bottle of fat-rich Bulletproof coffee, and for dinner there is an energy bar plus a packet of powdered fat, brewed as a drink. In this way, I had the same lunch as before, but skipped a dinner and replaced it with an energy bar and energy drink. Both were high in fats, but fortunately they tasted fine and were easy enough to fix in less than 3 minutes. Using the included urine ketone test strips, I quickly confirmed that I was in a ketogenic state and that my body was turning to metabolize a lot of fat. I remained very careful about this and gave myself a standard: if the test paper showed a 5 + sign, then take carbs immediately to drop the ketones. But I was lucky the whole time, only reaching a maximum of 4 + signs, and more often between 3 + and 4 + signs, which is relatively smooth. After the ketones were used more efficiently in the later stages, I could usually only reach 2 + numbers.

Basically all of the ketosis I went through. I didn’t sleep very well throughout the process, and at my worst I was waking up every hour at night, lamenting how an hour had passed for such an effort? Then there was the headache and nausea, not terribly severe, but noticeable. But compared to sleep, these two symptoms are much simpler to deal with, take a bottle of sparkling water with a little sea salt and drink it, you can get relief within ten minutes. The mildest symptom was a rash, but it was so mild that by the time I noticed small patches of red rash on my skin, it was almost healed. As for the legendary hair loss, I really didn’t experience it, probably because I didn’t have many in the first place and couldn’t lose them.

During the ketogenic process, I started to lose weight at a rate visible to the eye, and the decline curve became steep at this stage. At the same time, my blood pressure remained normal and stable because of exercise and less salt, while my weekly blood sugar average dropped to 4.5, sometimes dropping below 3.9 at night to trigger the warning. Because of the lack of high carbohydrates and salt, the muscle’s ability to carry water was reduced and a lot of water was excreted through urine. That’s why the weight loss was fast at the beginning and stabilized later. But from the beginning until now, my test results were saying that my body was low in water and I was advised to supplement.

After the ketogenic diet ended, I returned to a low-carb diet. After all, eating energy bars for 18 days straight was a huge test for myself. Considering the rise in calories in my diet and the gradual recovery of my strength, I upped my exercise to walking 10 km per day as a way to burn more calories and improve my sleep quality. The weight continued to drop again after a short period of hindrance and did not hit the wall. But then I noticed that after a two-hour workout, my blood sugar rebounded and my skin was cold. And generally speaking, it is only normal for exercise to deplete glycogen and for blood sugar to drop after exercise. I went to check the explanation of the internal medicine doctor and talked about that if the exercise intensity is moderate, the blood sugar drops; if the exercise intensity is too high, the blood sugar bounces back and returns to normal after half an hour of rest. So, I started to adjust my exercise and diet again to help my blood sugar stabilize.

Currently, I am very close to my first stage goal of 10% weight loss, 10.6 kg. The massive muscle loss I was previously most worried about did not occur, and I still maintain 63.7 kg of muscle and 3.5 kg of bone to date. Body fat percentage has dropped from 34% to 30%, indicating that most of the weight lost was fat, and some water. The remaining 30 kg of fat is still a long way off for me. However, as my blood sugar and blood pressure continue to return to normal, it shows that my body functions are changing for the better.

I’m not worried about diet in the next phase, as I can maintain this meal structure for a long time and it doesn’t feel deliberate. I’m more worried about the amount of exercise. I’m happy to walk 60 miles or more a week, but I don’t know how long I can maintain it. And whether it will be interrupted by injury during exercise? Therefore, I may consider other forms of exercise such as strength training and swimming after my weight drops to 90 kg. It’s best to be able to alternate and try not to let your body fully adapt. From time to time, you have to pump it up and hit it cold, lest it count the physical exertion and caloric intake and make a balance again.

I hope this content is useful to you. The following, the relevant supplies and equipment.

1. walkingPad walking machine The machine I’m using is a C1 model, with data displayed on the remote control instead of the walking machine panel. The remote control LCD panel is easily damaged, not as strong and durable as the new one. This walking machine can be folded, so it is very convenient to use, and does not take up too much space in the house. Only the maximum speed is only 6, and no armrests, there is a certain risk of movement.

2. Ideal Fuel 15 days set I use the Ideal Fuel kits for my ketogenic diet and rely on them for breakfast and dinner. Evolution within this space has been rapid, from the earliest bulletproof coffee to the full range of ketogenic foods that are now becoming more and more palatable, at least in terms of taste and texture. Moreover, this one company is not a very extreme ketogenic diet enthusiast, allowing users to decide on their own lunch, which also makes it easy to stick to it throughout.

3. Nike running shoes Not this pair, it just looks like it. I have three requirements: lightweight, with arch support, and a wide heel. This makes it easy for me to exercise for a long time, to ensure that the foot has support, and then not easy to lose balance and fall. Because running shoes require 500 km a change, so I still want to buy a simple and practical one.

4. Abbott instantaneous sense automatic blood glucose measurement instrument I have already recommended this dynamic automatic blood glucose monitoring meter before. It automatically acquires blood glucose data every 5 minutes and stores data for up to 8 hours continuously. It uses a carbon fiber needle to pierce the subcutaneous tissue fluid for blood glucose measurement. It can be worn for a long time, and each probe supports 15 days of continuous operation. Blood glucose meter supports dual mode of probe and test paper. Biggest disadvantage 1: expensive; 2. European product, APP and desktop support for Chinese users is quite bad. The biggest advantage: it can establish the intuitive connection between food intake and blood glucose change, and the intuitive connection between exercise and blood glucose change at the fastest speed.

5. Omron home upper arm blood pressure monitor This will not be introduced, basically home have.

6. the heart of intelligent weighing scales I know the owner of this Guangdong company. Five years ago he gave me two of their scales, I have been using it now, except for the need to replace the battery no other problems. In addition to measuring weight, you can also measure body fat percentage, fat mass, protein mass, water content and other data. Accuracy is not known, but long-term use, even if not accurate also know the general trend. Can be connected to WiFi, synchronize data to the small program.

7. British LEBETE steak frying pan Thick cast iron pan, frying steak with sufficient heat and beautiful patterns. The most important thing is that the price is $99. But the handle may be very hot, need gloves; the weight is also very heavy, not suitable for delicate girls.

8. Steak

Don’t worry, this beat me to death, I can’t write it. You all rush to buy, so what else can I buy? The eight immortals crossed the sea, we each show their own skills. In short, your own home made steak, and the equivalent quality and taste of restaurant steak, the price is a quarter of the latter.

Disclaimer

The above list of facilities and equipment is only displayed to illustrate my personal weight loss experience and does not represent my recommendation or endorsement of the products. The display of the above products is purely personal and no advertising or referral fees have been charged to the manufacturer as a result, so it should not be considered as advertising or commercial behavior either.

The full content of the above, is entirely for my own personal situation, after the action taken by my own research, it should not be regarded as a universal method, nor should it be regarded as the way you should immediately refer to the implementation of weight loss, but should only be used as a reference for your personal decision.

The publication of all the contents of the Weight Loss Research series does not imply that I believe the methods mentioned therein are the only, correct and effective way to lose weight. Each person needs to take the time to study themselves and on that basis specify the right way to reduce weight for themselves.

(End of full series)

Title photo photography by Victor Freitas

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