How To Lose 85 Pounds, One Food At a Time

I’m almost done with my battle against obesity. I hit an all-time low nine years ago, which led to the consumption of lots of fast comfort food and alcohol. When I finally dusted off my scale two years into that binge, it revealed the cold, hard truth: I’d gained 100 pounds.

It took another three years before I visited a doctor. With a family history of heart disease on one side and diabetes on the other, I was told, “If you don’t change your ways, you’ll be lucky if you just have a mild stroke in the next five years.”

The message was clear: Drop the weight and change your eating habits, or life as you know it will cease to exist.

Two years later, I’ve lost 85 pounds, and I’m working on the last 15. The number-one question is always how I’ve done it. While I started out trying various diets, none of them ever presented a sustainable way of living and eating, which resulted in yo-yo weight gains. What has resulted in the long-term, largest amount of loss is consistent exercise (I work out for an hour, at least five times a week) and changing my diet, one food at a time:

Photo: Courtesy of the author.

High fructose corn syrupI started here because it’s pervasive. I had to scrap everything in my pantry: pasta sauce, salad dressing, bread, breakfast cereal, juice, crackers, even cough syrup and some vegetable soups. I relied heavily on packaged, processed foods, so it took almost a year to accomplish, particularly when traveling. Once a week, I just removed one more thing.

Cook at homeI can live and die by Seamless, but a weekly run to the Farmer’s Market and Fresh Direct followed by a Sunday night spent cutting and cooking keep me honest. It’s cheaper and makes a world of difference when you’re watching what you eat.

Fast foodI used to live and die by the drive-thru, so I had to start taking a different route home. There’s no other alternative other than to stop eating it. I had a couple of items from one of the chains about six months ago after nine months of abstinence and promptly erupted into hives. It’s off the menu—for good. 

Vegetarian/vegan/raw fareCookbooks like The Kind Diet and The New Moosewood Cookbookhave really helped, and I love cooking blogs like Cookie and Kate, which is filled with whole food and vegetarian dishes. I try one new dish a week. I’ve also learned that just because it’s vegetarian/vegan/raw doesn’t mean it’s low in calories. Salads? Chow down. Guacamole? Slow down.

tags :

there is the best the greats way How To Lose 85 Pounds, One Food At a Time