Eat Fat, Get Thin

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On a lazy day home alone, I was laying on the sofa, flipping through channels and stopped on PBS. Mark Hyman, M.D., a doctor from the prestigious Cleveland Clinic, was talking about carbohydrate and fat addiction and listing the symptoms of FLC syndrome. (Feel Like Crap syndrome). Fatigue, being cold all the time, depression, low sex drive, irritability, brain fog, pain and no ambition. My husband was experiencing all of it. I sat up and listened up.

Dr. Mark Hyman is a Functional Medicine M.D. Functional Medicine is kinda like Holistic or Integral medicine. Instead of treating patients symptoms, he treats the cause of the malady. Most obesitiy, Type II Diabesity, High Cholesterol and Heart Disease is caused by diet. Not just the "bad" refined carbs and sugar that we eat. The toxins in the food chain like chemicals, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, preservatives, artificial sweetners and "new" lab made oils our bodies don't know how to process.

I hit the record button, of course it was too late to get the whole show, but I later watched it with my daughter then husband. They were both skeptical, calling him a quack.

It's not a crazy diet eliminating whole food groups. You eat mostly vegetables plus grass fed, free range or wild meat, fish, poultry, eggs, nuts, berries and natural fats. A cross between the Paleo and Vegan diets he calls Pegan.

My husband was put on a low fat diet two years ago after being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. I've been so concerned about his nutrition because he basically was only eating salads, dry cereal, popcorn, pretzels, baked chips, pancakes, peanutbutter powder & jelly sandwiches and egg beaters. He always wanted to eat out and ordered things with sugary sauces. He has become very miserable and had gotten really sick with a lingering cold. He coughed so hard his eye bled. Several times!

I had my babies in my 20's, lost the baby fat and my weight was normal until my late 30's when it started an upward overweight climb. At one point a few years ago, I was one pound away from obesity. I did the Atkins diet and got back down--temporarily. I couldn't sustain it and was addicted to highly processed delicious carbs like pasta and cookies and ice cream.

Since my husband began his low fat diet, I've been snacking on his highly processed chips, eating cereal with skim milk for breakfast and sometimes dinner and have become a voracious cookie monster. Store bought. We gave up artificial sweetners and the pounds were packing on me from sweet tea and soda pop.

Last Monday, my athletic husband and I started the Eat Fat Get Thin diet. It took me a few days to read the book, shop for the foods and I'm still waiting on some of the supplements. I'm not taking them all, but there are some I want to try. I am overweight. I enjoy yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi and I run. I've been told by my doctor I'm deficient in Vitamin D. That's no surprise because I avoid the sun and use sunscreen. I've been battling Melanoma since 2005. I'm taking Vitamin D3, a multi vitamin, Krill oil because I don't eat fish, plus a few other supplements Dr. Hyman recommends.

Today is weigh in day. I lost 6 pounds the first week. My husband lost 10. He's already at a normal weight, but he can go lower and still be at a healthy BMI. I'm now only 10 pounds away from the top range of a healthy BMI. I want to go a lot lower of course.

We're in the detoxification stage of this diet for 21 days and no it hasn't been pleasant. But detox from any substance is bad. Today is the first morning I've had noticeable ambition and energy. Heck, I'm even blogging, something I haven't really bothered much with in a long time.

My insatiable appetite is slowly being reigned in. I actually like the food on this diet, perhaps because there is such a variety. There is no calorie counting or portion measuring. I get to eat nuts and berries from day one, something I've never been allowed on other diets. I love nuts and berries.

Yes, I'm still missing bread, pasta, ice cream, cookies, cupcakes and tortilla chips. But so far, I haven't cheated. The steady weight loss is keeping my eye on the prize.

Check back, I'll keep updating my progress here. Wish me luck!