Monday, November 21, 2011

Half the man he used to be

"Vainglory" is the pseudonym of a remarkable man.  He is a 30 year old who weighed 538 lb in March 2010.  Today, just 20 months later, he is 257 lb lighter.

What's even more remarkable is that he did this without surgery.

Sometimes I think that all bets are off once you reach a certain weight;  maybe there's something to all those bariatric surgery ads for people who are morbidly obese.  After all, what do I really know about severe food addiction or morbid obesity?  I have spoken to people who have had bariatric surgery and they are convinced this was the only way they could have regained a normal life.

It sounds plausible, though I don't understand why the numerous bariatric surgery centres make their pre-op patients follow a specific diet for several weeks prior to surgery.  And afterwards, there are also strict dietary rules.  The FAQ will often mention that failure to lose weight occurs when post-op patients eat starchy foods.

In other words, the surgery will only work if you stick to a low-carb eating plan.

So what I've always wondered is that if it weren't for the lucrative nature of the surgery, wouldn't it make more sense to have prospective bariatric patients follow a ketogenic (i.e. extremely low carb) diet, together with extensive counselling and support to understand why this is necessary, for, say, three to six months?  Only if that failed, would it make sense to me to start investigating surgical options.

But here is a man who, not very long ago, appeared to be a lost cause.  Something connected in his brain after he learned about the role of carbohydrates.  First he reduced his daily carb count to 100g, then, he cut it even more.

Today, he looks like a completely different man.  Please take a look at his blog.  If a man weighing half a ton can cut his bodyweight in two and transform his life, everybody else can take charge of their lives as well.

You just have to believe that you can do it.  Just like he did.

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