January last year I eliminated wheat,cornstarch and sugars.
I started Dr Dalhqvist's way of eating
Jan 28th at 205lbs Target weight 160lbs was achieved July 2008 and since maintained.
Height: 69inches
before after photos on Jimmy Moore's forum
I think we all know what the waistline in the before  photo predicts.
2.25lbs lost each week over 20 weeks. I lost a bit more after but then restarted drinking red wine and that seems to have stopped further weight loss.
Because I suffer from late effects of polio I am unable to exercise much so all this weight loss was through changing the TYPE not amount of food I was eating NOT by increasing the exercise I do. Those who can exercise will obtain extra health benefits but extra calorie burning is IMO the least of those advantages.
I found eliminating wheat stopped my food cravings. I didn't snack between meals. Reduced hunger also meant it was easy to Intermittent fast when I thought weight loss may be slowing.

I didn't calorie or carb count at all.

I did start using Coconut oil.

I had previously corrected Vitamin D, Omega 3 status I think reducing Omega-6 Linoleic Acid vegetable oils also improved matters
Stephan WholeHealthSource "Omega-6 Linoleic Acid Suppresses Thyroid Signaling"

Looking back I really don't know why I resisted eliminating wheat for so long. I had been reading this blog for long enough so I can't say I didn't know.

Your three points for greater weight loss are commendable.    Having been a D.C. and cert. personal trainer for over 15 years, I only wish there were more of a push to educate the public, i.e. "weight loss" vs. "body contouring" and "deiting" vs. "proper nutrition", in order to inform them about the realities of mere weight loss and dieting vs. proper exercise and proper nutrition.  This is something I go into in my book (StrategicBookPublsihing.com/TransformingBodyMindAndSpirit.html) and have always educated clients on. Thank You, Dr. David Robnson

I would like clarification on the thyroid levels mentioned in some of your posts, as well as the Hunt Study.  Should the tsh level be at 1.5 or below?  Is the higher the level the higher the risk of heart attack? I'm on thyroid rx(armour90mgs)and my test shows levels in the normal range, not sure the exact level but I will check.  If I am higher than 1.5 tsh should I lower my dose to bring that down?

Thanks.

The essential first step to permanent weight loss is to have a doctor scare you to your core. Without that crucial step, diets are foredoomed because of the magic of denial. As long as you believe that somehow, despite all your bad habits, you might prove the exception and not have to pay for your foolishness, you will not change permanently.

Isn't slower weight-loss healthier? I believe that if someone's morbidly obese and/or obese and suffers from CVD (-risk factors), losing weight ASAP is the way to go.
But if someone's rather healthy and only a little on the chubby side? I'd rather go with slow weight-loss whenever possible. When CRd animals lose weight too quickly, many if not all benefits of CR are lost. Maybe strict CR as a life extension diet is not comparable to a simple obesity avoidance diet, but I believe caution won't hurt.

Notice that Dr. Davis did not say anything about calorie restriction.

Nine months ago I stopped eating anything with any amount of grains, sugar, starch, or HFCS.  I even abstained from eating any of the very sweet fruits like bananas, mangoes, or oranges.

I'm a 5'9" 47 y.o. male and I had started at 192 lbs., had 15% body-fat (skin fold method), and had a 34 inch waist.  I'm now at 167 lbs., have 6% body-fat, and have a 29 inch waist.

The volume and intensity of my exercise routines remained about the same. I believe I have gained a small amount of muscle while losing a significant amount of abdominal fat.  I used no kind of fat burning supplement.  I can actually see my abdominal muscles for the first time since I was 16 years old.

And the biggest irony is... my total daily fat and calorie intake over this period of time went up!

I only wish I had known about the connection between unexplained fluctuating weight and the thyroid, instead it took many years and in turn much weight gain before my official diagnosis of hypothyroidism. No wonder none of the diets I had tried had worked!!

After my heart scan it was obvious I needed to lose weight - that was about a year ago.  Along with your recommended supplements I did change my eating habits to significantly reduce fat consumption, especially saturated.  That seemed to carry a calorie reduction along with it and. The weight loss was a painless and respectable 20 pounds (210 to 190) along with the amazing reduction in cholesteral, tryglicerides, etc.  I can't wait to see heart scan results in June.

Have you personally tried Fat Fasting?  The 90% fat diet.  I use that to jump start some seriously fast weight loss (like after having babies, in my case.)  When I do this I go for a few days of "Fat Fasting" followed by a few days of normal low carbing (40 grams or below/day)  I've also thrown IFing in the mix, too.  Needless to say, those 3 things took the baby weight off nice and quickly and I kept muscle, too!  I'm now pregnant with my 3rd and I'll be returning to these shortly after giving birth to get to my desired weight/size, now that I know what works...it won't take as much work, though, as I'm keeping a much lower carb, whole foods diet while pregnant than before.

@Megan--

Dr. Atkins promoted the "fat fast" for those who had trouble getting into noticeable ketosis. It works really well, but is usually recommended as a pretty short-term endeavor.

Interestingly, Dr. Eades talks about an "all meat" diet (along with Intermittent Fasting, which I believe is a revolutionary concept-- especially when combined with Paleo/low-carb) for times when weight loss has hit a plateau. This appears to be safe and effective, even for extended periods (see Stefansson, 1929).

Dr. Jan Kwasniewski (the Optimal Diet) promotes fat intake of 70% or above-- with spectacular results.

great blog. I’m on a diet right now, so this really helps

http://f07928-c3omazme8bd-bkbnh0u.hop.clickbank.net/

Thank you for the useful information. Nice blog!

Hi Dr,

great read i agree people wanting to lose weight ideally want to see results early on in the program,
if it takes a person over 3 months to lose 1.2lbs it is highly unlikely they will continue to give 100%

Hello Dr

interesting read there... i agree with what Ted said it's certainly not how much you eat it's what you eat i'm all for a snack so long as it's an apple or something like that

Great information here, i have just started a diet.. and i agree coconut oil is better for you.. thanks for the tips this will help me..

Your post is really great. Its will be help for those person who wants to lose weight. Thank you

Sorry, I completely disagree with your recommended weight-loss. Twenty pounds in 30 days for an average, overweight/obese American is not optimal. And 90% fat in the diet, especially saturated fat (coconut oil!?), is NOT heart-healthy!

Um, I call BS on this whole post.  Don't believe a word of it.  The people who lose weight on it are people who will lose weight on any diet.  But there are people like me and others who post on your website -- who you ignore because they don't fit your pattern -- who don't lose weight on this diet.  Sucks to be us, right?

Regarding the hamburgers: Was the blood sugar increase due to some sort of recipe used or did you purchase the ground beef not knowing bread was added to it? A strange place to find it I'd say! I'll probably switch to grinding my own now.

Doctor Davis... YOU ROCK!!

I'm a T1.5... who lost 78lbs, I have normal blood sugar ...for non-diabetics.

NO meds, NO insulin... Keep Spreading the word... to ALL.

Love your blog ...

Steve

I can pretty much count on higher BG readings when I eat at group meal gatherings away from home, unless I bring and eat only my own food.  I don't normally eat much processed convenience food, so I forget that boxed heat & serve breakfast sausage links can be full of sugar.  I also now know to steer clear of table grapes and fruit trays (I used to make sure to have fruit with the bacon or sausage and eggs for breakfast to deflect the comments from others, but now I don't bother with the fruit  because it's always too high-sugar.  

At restaurants I ask for dressing on the side if I use dressing at all.  I dip my fork in the dressing before spearing a bite - that provides enough flavor without all the dressing.  Most of the time I avoid the dressings because they are made with soybean or canola oil anyway.  I ask for Olive Oil and Vinegar - not vinaigrette, which is often sweetened.  

At home I always make salad dressing or simply toss with EVOO and a good vinegar, freshly ground SS & BP.  It's been years since I bought salad dressing.  Homemade is a breeze to make (even Ranch style) and economical, too.

Frozen yogurt is far worse than full fat high quality ice cream.  Frozen yogurt almost always has more sugar and no fat or eggs to slow the absorption of the sugar.  Homemade ice cream is the best because you can control the sweetness level and use more cream and egg yolks (commercial is too sweet-tasting for me anymore, BG notwithstanding).  

OJ - like a glass of pure sugar - absorbs into the blood stream nearly instantly.  I have a valencia orange tree in my garden but I don't dare drink the juice straight.  I put a tiny splash of freshly squeezed OJ or drop a squeezed orange wedge in a tall glass of Gerolsteiner sparkling mineral water (good source of magnesium).

BBQ sauce & catsup - loaded with sugars - watch out for honey mustard sauce, too.

Here is a link to a recent study that says vitamin D has no real link to heart health. Perhaps you can comment on this.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6205AQ20100301

Michael

I looked at the back of my vinegar and it has 5 grams of carbs per tablespoon, 2 of which are sugars. But the only ingredients listed are red wine vinegar and grape musts.

Michael,

That article isn't talking about a new study per se, but rather a review of several select studies. In other words, it's not really providing any new information. It's a (biased) interpretation of a sampling of the existing data.

I found this quote from the article to be pretty funny:

"Now, if there are specific instances of vitamin D or calcium deficiency, then that's a separate issue that should be discussed with a personal physician."

Uh, except it's hardly a separate issue since nearly everyone is deficient in vitamin D.

David

grape musts? That should have given you a clue. Grapes are very high in sugar. It always comes down to the same thing: Always read the labels. Carefully. Never trust anything that is processed. Not even if you buy it in Health Food shops.

You don't need to test your blood sugar.  You can figure whatever your favorite carbs are, those are the ones that are spiking your blood sugar the most.  

Mostly this is because you ingest those in greater quantities since you like them, but partly because you choose those because the blood sugar rushes feel good.

"You don't need to test your blood sugar. You can figure whatever your favorite carbs are, those are the ones that are spiking your blood sugar the most."

No. This is not a reliable way to go about things, as it isn't always true. It's never good to simply trust your feelings. Being objective with a glucometer isn't difficult or expensive. There's nothing to lose.

re hamburgers, also watch out for worcestershire sauce! Just discovered (much to my dismay) that the brand I had been using contains molasses and high fructose corn syrup. Yech!

Michael said...
"Here is a link to a recent study that says vitamin D has no real link to heart health. Perhaps you can comment on this.
Calcium, vitamin D pills don't help heart: study"
The RDA for Vitamin D is set for bone health. Therefore, an RDA dose of Vitamin D makes no difference to anything except bone health. It takes a dose about ten times the RDA to be effective elsewhere.

If you give people one tenth the correct dose of a medication, would you be surprised that the medication is ineffective?

Nige.

so easy to make homemade tomato soup, still a little high in carb's but nowhere near store boguht, handy if you absolutely must have a bowl of tomato soup.  Use tomato paste, water and some heavy cream and salt to taste.  you don't need the cream, but it tastes better.  One of the fastest "homemade' soups.  Keep in mind that tomatoes do have carbs, about 4 per 2 tbsp of paste.  You can add splenda to sweeten a little

It's infuriating that sugar and starch show up in places you would least expect them.  You have to read labels very carefully.  I've been burned by failing to read labels.  Even better, eat real food prepared from scratch.