This Trucker Fights Back

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T2 Trucker

T2 Trucker

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Hi Everyone,

Being an American Trucker really eliminates a need for setting up much of bio so I'll fast-track key dates then tell my "inspirational" trigger and take you to the present day.

-Driver since 1983.
-Quit smoking in 1997 to 2000. Gained approx. 100 lbs during that period.
-Divorced in 2000 and took the year off and continued a seditary lifestyle.
-Went back to work in 2001.
-August 2002 came off the road due to Type II diabetes. Bloodsugar was 780, took till March 2003 to regulate sugar and meet D.O.T Medical requirements. Re-entered the workforce and took a local driving job.
-April 2003 to August 2004 I had 7 surgeries for carbuncles - most were softball to grapefruit size. My last 3 were back to back to back in June, July and August 2004 and with the recovery time to each surgery, my employeer let me go and my family doctor and surgeon both suggested seeking disability. Both agreed I could no longer meet D.O.T. reg's for medical approval. I never saw the inside of a truck again since.
-Last surgery in August 2004, I had to use the "special" scale for weighing people over 350 lbs. My weight was 371.
- I applied for Social Security on March 16th 2005 - awarded on July 7th 2005 on first try. I was lucky (kinda).

Now for the 'kicker'.

My parents were to celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary on March 3rd 2006. Like most functions/events/parties/socials, I was looking for an excuse to get out of this one but really, how can one miss the 50th ?? I knew I had to attended, there was just no way around it.

Now understand (as many on here will) I have been stuck to wearing sweatpants or sweat cut-off shorts for the last 2 years or I wouldn't go anywhere I couldn't wear them. I knew my closetful of size 50 jeans wouldn't fit, they haven't in two years and I damn sure knew laying around for this long since being without a job wasn't going to contribute to the cause.

My daughter got aggressive with getting me off the couch and deal with buying some decent clothes so I could look good. We went to JC Penney's on the Wednesday before the party (which was Friday) and no big surprise that they didn't have anything bigger than a 50 on the shelf, so we go to the catalog counter and start thumbing through the pants section. I pick out a size 52 stretchband waist black (obviously) Dockers. Shipping was touch and go as the saleslady said she could only give me about an 80% chance they would be on the Friday truck so we roll the dice and ordered up.

I spend all day Thursday in a panic half praying they don't come on time and half hoping they do. Penny's calls me Friday morning, I go pick up the pants and take them home. Well if this is a blessing in diguise, you will read on and be the judge. Obviously I think you already know they didn't fit. I did have a "Plan B" in place. I have a pair of "dress sweats" (if there is such a thing) for going out to eat (obviously not for dates lolol) so I get all spiffy'd up and attend the party.

The humilation of attending this gathering in sweatpants was my diet/lifestyle trigger. I came home and immediately bagged up about 95% of everything in my cupboards and fridge and hauled them out the trashcans.

I spent that Saturday morning on the internet researching diets and decided a modified 1500 calorie a day with a focus on low carb was for me. Off to Walmart I go with list in hand and diligently select my groceries.

With a diet strategy in place, I knew I needed to incorporate some exercise as well. I couldn't do one lap through Walmart without being doubled over leaning on the cart handle while waiting in line for checkout. I knew I needed to start getting my walking skills back, man I was some kind of pathetic not to mention I was starting to get neuropathy too. This just seemed logical.

My first day, I used ALL 1500 calories and walked mmmmm maybe 10 minutes at tops. Today, I'm presently down to an average of 800 cals a day and walking 2 to 3 miles a day depending on how I feel.

I've only weighed myself 3 times on this diet and last night was one of those times.

I'm down 91 lbs (at least **based on my last known weight in August of 2004 and I can safely say I probably weighed more than 371).

I'll be glad to answer any questions but I have to stop here as I have to go to my tanning session ;)
 
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T2 - that is amazing!! 90 lbs is one heck of an accomplishment!! Regardless of the motivation for losing (and I'm sure that was so hard to deal with), it got you on a healthier road! GOOD FOR YOU!! :)

And welcome to the forum!

Did you say you are currently eating about 800 calories a day? That seems really, really low - are you under a doctor's supervision?
 
I agree with M2M that 800 calories seems really low. But 90 pounds is so huge! you just want to make sure that you are doind it in a way that you can maintain. You've come to the right place for support!
 
Thanks for the forum love you two.

To answer your question: No, I am not under a doctor's care for my diet and yes it is radical but extreme situations call for extreme actions - if you're up for the challenge.

I'm a member of another forum (Diabetic) and here's a copy of what I wrote there:


Honestly I retooled my entire fridge and cupboards. I have unlocked the secrets of catabolics to help me maintain my regular snacks.

My method is pretty hardcore, I do about an 800 calorie a day average now but I did start out around 1300 - 1500 cals a day to get use to the stomach shrinking and maintained my frequency of eating. My calorie reduction now is really just from seeing how I could take some things off the list and see if I could still get by without sacrificing nutrition and hunger.

I had a great sandwich that was a staple during the first month:

2 slices of Walmart brand wheat bread - 120 cals
2 slices of Walmart brand sliced turkey - 40 cals
1 slice of sargento's swiss - 70
Lettuce - free
Brown Mustard - free

total is 230 cals - not bad for a 1500 cal a day diet - BUT I saw a way to reduce that by half by eliminating the wheat bread. I take Romaine leafs and make the same sandwich with the leafs for my bread now. Some days I'll drop the cheese and make 2 turkey leaf wraps for an 80 cal. lunch.

so a typical day for me is like this:

1 banana and coffee for breakfast - about 140 cals

wait an hour and take my first walk of the day - this is just a tune-up walk, usually a slow pace 20 minute walk.

mid morning: 10 strawberries a la naturale` - free

lunch: lettuce wrap with swiss - 110 cals

mid day: 3 or 4 radishes and a carrot or 2 dipped in lowfat salad dressing - free

Dinner: 4 Tyson Chicken Buffalo Strips - 400 cals and a decent sized salad w/ sliced radishes and thin stripped carrots added in - one serving of Ceasar Parm Vinagerette - factor in the catabolic burn in this salad, the dressing is 60 cals, you're darn near cal-free or so low it's not worth counting, now if you used a heavy duty dressing like ranch or french, add the cals accordingly.

wait an hour and do my power walk, I start slow and build up steam and hit full stride about 20 mins in then bust out another 30 mins or more at high speed.

Night snack: Act II Natural Popcorn - 60 cals for the whole bag.

there is a 710 calorie day and got to eat 6 times.

As I said, this is a hardcore diet. It's not for everybody and I don't suggest anyone do it unless they talk to their doctor and have the flexibility to adjust.

Like I said, this is just an example of one day. I have all kind of adjustments and tweaks for my diet

If you can eat 6 times a day and put the right foods in your mouth then there should be no fear of not losing weight.
 
While your calorie count is low... too low i'd say for you... especially not under a doctor's care, that's also a lot processed foods you're eating... are you using a food journal to see how much sodium you're getting? How's your blood pressure?

Your weight loss is to be applauded ... but damn, boy, ya wanna be around to see your goal weight...

Ok,. done playing mother... Welcome to your diary...
 
Hi T2 - that is definitely an extreme diet! I'm glad it's working for you :D

My biggest concern is the worry that my body would think I'm starving it, and go into hybernation mode. How many pounds a week are you losing?

Based on my weight, I can lose 3 pounds a week by eating 1260 calories, it would be SO hard for me to eat much less!

Good for you for coming this far and for being willing to make the change necessary in your life to reach your goals!!
 
concerns

I think the bigger concern regarding your very low calorie level - bigger than your body holding onto the calories and you not losing weight - is that if you do not eat enough calories for your body, you can do serious damage. You can throw your electrolytes out of balance, deplete your potassium, and run the risk of a heart attack. You can starve your muscles and suffer from damage to the muscles throughout your body, including that big one, your heart. No one should eat so few calories a day without being under a doctor's supervision.

Yes, your plan is hardcore, but hardcore does not necessarily equal healthy. 91 pounds in sixteen weeks is more than 5.5 pounds per week on average. Most experts agree that healthy weight loss is about 1 to 2.5 pounds per week. You said extreme situations call for extreme actions, but is your extreme action worth the risk? Do you want to lose weight and keep it off, and do it in a way that does not further damage your body? You came to a support forum, and part of being supportive is to question harmful behavior. Please, please consider seeing a doctor before continuing with this plan.
 
Well this is why I decided to post here. If I can't get knowledge here, where can I get it ?? Good advice by all and thanks for the concerns.

Here is another post I made. A lady asked me how low-cal diets gave me the privilege to not count carbs - this is a bigger issue with diabetics than with straight-up dieters however you will see the outcome ties the two groups together.




Here's the thing about my "diet", Carbs aren't counted because:

- I use catabolics for almost all of my snacks and their carb counts are so ridculously low there is no need to worry about their affect.

- It's hard to exceed the RDA carb intake guidelines (300 grams per 2000 calories) when you're consuming such a low limit of calories no matter what your main meals are. They automatically work in conjunction with each other. It stands to reason if you're are consuming smaller, healthier portions you're carb intake must go lower.

Here's an example of a fear food for dieters that in ones' mind would be taboo for a diabetic AND a dieter. - but -.....

Gnocchi !! you gotta be kidding right ?? Let's break it down.

My package dictates the following:

I have a 4 serving package so I'm going to eat 2 servings for my supper.
I'm going to consume 420 cals and 94g of carbs (pre-ragu sauce) and another 10g when the red sauce is added.
Now I need to add a side dish - so I pick something on the fiber side, peas or beets or a salad and any of those 3 won't exceed 100 cals AND another 20g of carbs max !! so I've used a little over one-third of my daily carb intake in my biggest meal of the day. A meal like gnocchi might make a 30 point spike in my BG but will drop post-walk and will be normal when I awake the next morning providing a don't wreck my night time snack routine.

Knowing I am going to have an unusually starchy supper, I really stick with a lean lunch as preventive maintence. Oh, and always, take that walk after supper !!

To me, you have to have a meal like Gnocchi (insert your favorite "danger" food) once a week to stay successful on your diet but you have to unlock the reasoning of what will work for you now compared to what this kind of food did to you in your over-eating days.

- Accept the fact you're going to have cravings. We (most of us) are going through a change our minds won't easily let go of. For years we acted out the physical effort to fetch foods -usually all wrong in portion and dietary values - and answered the mental stimulus. You still need to answer those cravings on a halfway basis or you will not be successful dieting, it's just a matter of what you put in your mouth that will make the difference.

Like it's been said, it's the changes that makes the weight loss.

I have to admit, I have the passion for my changes and make no mistake about it, when someone compliments your new and improving body it just makes it all worthwhile !!

Nothing is going to break me on my quest to a better body, I just regret waiting this long to get on the ball.

I'll be back for more rebuttal later. I enjoy the feedback.
 
Congrats to you!

Everyone who is on a diet thinks they are an expert, and partly we are because many people have tried everything.

I speak not as an expert but as someone who did turn to a qualified professional expert. I'm not sure that the calorie count is too low, nor am I sure that it will impact your metabolism BY ITSELF. There is a fine balance between calories, protein, fiber, fat and carbs (amongst others).

I guess your calorie count and carb count don't really raise any question to me, it's the in combination of protein.

800 calorie diet would cause rapid weight loss, it should be monitored by a doctor. More so, your heart should be monitored by a doctor. I assume because of your experience with being diabetic that you do regularly see a doctor and that they do monitor your blood work and that you may also have an EKG on occassion?

Good luck! You'll see from my signature line that I too am on 800 calories, but I am on high protein as well.

Epi
 
Hi Epi,

I've read a lot of your posts today and first off, congrats on doing what you're doing. After reading your menu on the other thread, personally I would fail miserably with that menu/diet plan. That's the beauty of this forum, sharing what we think we might like and seeing how others do it in a way that wouldn't work for others. About the only thing our diets have in common are 800 calories and pickles !! lol.

This might be a good time for me to clarify 800 calories isn't etched in stone in my diet. My diet has so much flex to it I have a hard time deciding what I'm going to eat everyday. The one thing that remains constant with me is control and adjustment.

My biggest exploit is catabolics. To me, free food is hard to pass up during a diet and re-entry to post-diet maintence. While I scare the forum with under-nutrition, under-caloried and under-whatever else causing people viewing this to show concern, I can assure you I eat 3 (or more) snacks a day of good wholesome nutritional grown-right-out-of-the-earth foods from the catabolic category. I've traded carrots for potato chips, radishes for cheez-its, strawberries for tandycakes and yes, I eat pickles too.

Now that I've stepped down from a 1500 cal. a day to my unofficial 800 a day I can attribute two reasons why im well under the 1500 cal a day diet.

First, my belly size itself. By now my stomach size is probably at it's normal size so obviously my portion sizes are smaller and secondly, I intentionally eliminated carbs where possible thus shaving off some calories in the process.

Now here's some of the compliments I get a lot "You look so healthy" "your face has great color again" "You have your glow back" and other variations like this. I'm telling you, I eat what I need to in the course of a day and I don't feel like I'm suffering for it either. I've had no ill effects so far, in fact my diabetic dosage has been half of what it use to be for 7 solid weeks and my sugar numbers have been rock steady 80-90's !! Believe me when I tell you all, hurting myself is the furtherest thing on my agenda.
 
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Time to scare the hell out of everyone again ;)

Breakfast: 1 banana and coffee - 140 cals

Mid-morn: 1 Dill pickle, 4 Radishes - All catabolics (free food)

Lunch: 1 South Beach Bar - 100

4pm Snack: 2 raw carrots, 1 Dill Pickle and 10 Strawberries - All catabolics (free food)

Dinner: 15 stuffed mushrooms w/a breadcrumb and grated cheese filling - 300 cals

Tonight's Snack: Act II Natural Popcorn - 60 cals

Total: 600 cals


Exercise: was garage-bound detailing and cleaning my car for 3.5 hours, broke sweat for probably 2 hours especially waxing the car.

I may miss my night walk due to rain as it's not critical since I put in a day on my car, if it stops raining later I might walk though. Since March 4th I doubt I've missed more than 8 days of walking.
 
T2, I'm glad to hear this is working for you and that you're looking at it from a wide perspective :) There are things I didn't take into consideration, and that's how the added protein will help with hunger issues, and the "free food" that I would be counting!

It sounds like you have put a lot of thought and study into what is working for you - staying focused is a GREAT way to get to our goals :)
 
Thanks M2M :)

I do pick up a few calories here and there with sugarless gums and mints but usually limit those to 50 - 70 cals a day.

I give a lot of credit to my stomach size too, i really fill up so much faster now and my replenishment doesn't seem to be as dire as it was in my 'eating like a pig' days.

I'll also admit today is a rather lean day too. I'm getting ready to do a run on meats this week to pump up my protein a bit since I'm an everyday walker.

I know I caught hell for using processed food but sometimes you have to use what you know you like to keep on the diet trail but here's one of my staples I use:

Stouffer's Meatloafs.

6 loaves per box and since I live alone, I'll eat 2 loaves for 3 straight nights which can be a lil boring but I don't like to waste my food so I put up with it. I don't think it's safe to re-freeze this stuff or shelf it in the fridge for more than 3 days.

I'll eat a can of peas or beets with these 2 loaves and will be belly-busting full and stay well under 600 cals for my dinners for 3 nights. I will eat my usual 200 to 300 cal day meals and my catabolic snacks. ;)
 
Twinmom,

I re-read your post and I do take your post very seriously. You are spot-on about the dangers of under-nourishing oneself.

We recently had a story in our local newspaper on a young man who had a gastric bypass go terribly wrong. He started out at 467 lbs and hit 180 in one year to the date. This man really paid the price though.

Like you warned, muscle degeneration is a very real risk as he found out. Short version is for whatever reason his surgery made it impossible to keep down any food. He was virtually living off his body fat for an extended period of time and in the process his muscles degenerated to the point of uselessness even including speech.

Right now he is recovering through therapy and is walking with the aid of crutches and is learning to talk again.

To be honest, I never felt like I have under-dieted or had any ill-effects from my plan and I really think I have been eating better food now than I ever have. It was established on day one that I knew the diet would have to be the stronger focus to compensate for my lack of exercise ability. I ultimately hope to obtain a body that will be more exercise cooperative and I can and will increase more calories later on.

I do appreciate the feedback and I never take these things personally.

Oh and btw, I know my doctor would be thrilled right now and would probably tell me to keep on keepin' on ;)
 
scary stuff

Hey, I just read your reply. I'm glad you did not take offense. I still hope you will at least talk with your doctor. My mom an my brother both work in the medical field. They have both told me stories about treating patients - or sending patients on to the morgue - who came in with heart problems related to weight loss gone wrong. It's scary stuff.

I am a biologist, so I knew quite a bit about physiology coming into this. Many people do not. Massive weight loss like ours (I'm working on 100 pounds myself) is a major body transformation, and one of the most drastic things you can do to yourself, healthwise. The benefits can be ENORMOUS, but so can the risks. I love the support I have found on this forum, and I try to give back by waving my red flag of caution from time to time.

I know you are psyched, and you will definitely reach your goal. I just really do hope that you will double check with your doctor. If there is one thing I do know, it is that I don't know everything! But I usually know who to ask. :D
 
I just love all you guys on here !!

I wish I had found this place on my day one or even sooner, maybe I would've started sooner but be it as it may I'm fast getting addicted to reading this forum and wow the support on here is incredible.

If I come across as "In control" or "this diet thing is easy" or "My diet is the bomb and your's isn't" I'm here to say that I have struggles, cravings, bad days and weakness too. I have been blessed (or a curse :eek: ) with the "I want it bad" syndrome.

Keep on keeping me in groove people, I thank you all !!
 
Hello, trucker. What is catabolics?

I am so impressed by your resolve. Congratulations on your continuing success!

I am diabetic also. How often do you test? What are your blood sugar levels on your diet plan? The doctor told me to lose weight. My triglycerides are 800! I'm 5'1" and 155 pounds. He wants me to lose at least 40 pounds.

Your advice for a post meal walk is a good one. I love pasta and rice but it shoots up my numbers!

My aunt eats nopalitos (cactus) and it gets her numbers really low--80-90. My mom drinks a lot of water and it lowers her numbers, too. I haven't tried anything yet.

Anyway, what is catabolics?
 
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