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Dropping Down...weight wise:
Back in the late Summer of 2009 it was discovered that I was Pre-Diabetes II and had high Blood Pressure...that was 15 years ago. I went on a somewhat D2 Diet, and cut back on lots of things, beer drinking was not one of those "things". By the Spring of 2010 I had just turned 61 and my weight was hanging in the 183-187 range, that was down a good 30 pounds and I was satisfied with that...after all I was into weight lifting and could only drop so far {at least that's what I told myself}. Over the next 15 years the weight fluxed between that 183 and 200, usually the lower number in the late Summer and high numbers around the Christmas Holiday Season{no surprise}. Meanwhile I had developed full blown D2 and was on Metformin and 2 kinds of BP Meds, part of the Blood Pressure was my 'White Coat Syndrome"...every damn time I visited the VA Clinic in Columbus my BP was through the roof...I could never convince them that my BP was usually not that high, but was somewhat above normal...but the handful of doctors and nurses just looked at me with Jaundiced Eyes.
Anyway the Metformin doses increased and the PB Meds doses did likewise...the weight as I entered 2024 remained pretty steady between 183-195...still, now that I was turning 75, and just a shade over 5' 10" ... I became bound and determined to rid myself of another 15 to 20 pounds and get down to about 175, while losing the weight and dropping the A1C and Bad Cholesterol numbers too...
In 2023 I had a new VA Doctor, and I call her "Doctor Helen" since I cannot pronounce her last name...she was more open to my "White Coat" and my claims my BP was overblown. Last winter they hooked me up with a pad and new BP Home Monitor which went directly to the VA ...my numbers were indeed better, Blood Pressure wise at home...but still no lowering of the Meds, at least not yet.
On my first visit to Columbus in April, Dr Helen was out of town at a conference, and the new guy, was OK, however my blood worked sucked...A1C was way to high at 8.6 and my Bad LDL was 84.
Fast forward to July, vacation with son, his wife, and 3 grandsons for a couple days at Hilton Head Island, the solo to Flagler Beach for some beer drinking, cigar smoking, and fishing...a bit of soul searching too...I wanted the damn weight to drop a bit, but most of all I wanted those A1C numbers down, along with the LDL numbers.
So August 1st upon my return I did a bit of research and discovered the KETO {which I had tried and found it a waste of my time} offshoot the CARNIVORE Diet...basically meats, cheese, perhaps a green veggie or two, but not much else...Beer? Not really but maybe extra lite beers with few carbs...worked for me, because at my age, I'm not giving up beer completely nor good quality hand rolled cigars. So off I went on the Carnivore...meats, even deli, plenty of cheese, and "Diet" beers, plenty of flavored water and gallons of coffee. The so called "Health Experts" hate this diet...well I don't know if it will increase my life longevity, but the results on October 16th at the VA, with Doctor Helen back, were something that she said "Made Her Day"... and personally I feel as good as I've felt in years...170 from a top weight of about 220 in my weight lifting and fried food/any beer I could find days, is something I wish I had discovered 20 years ago.
Even though my BP there was still somewhat high @ VA...147-76, when I showed her the screen shots of two days worth at home testing, the numbers were actually way too low. On the other hand, my weight had dropped from 198 in street clothes in April to 173 now, the A1C took a dramatic dip from that 8.6 down to 6.2 and the Bad LDL dropped to 56 from 84. Amazing...she was amazed and dropped my one BP med to 1/2 dose, which will be dumped completely after a PC/Phone conference on November 13th...if the numbers remain low, and so far they have, I was in the 80-96 over 53-60 range today, so I've taken it on myself to dump the one BP med totally...and see what she says next month.
As for the diet, I did midway thru give up the Deli Meats and most of the cheese...instead opting for Burgers, Chops, Fish, Eggs, and no skin Chicken breasts, along with some Bratwurst ...a few green veggies remain, along with the coffee and sweet water. I did buy some darker Christmas Ales, and have sipped those for the past week...NO weight increase thus far...
So a Cat Scan in early December to check heart and carotid {the one that I didn't get "cleaned" out} back at VA...and hopefully I can dump or at least reduce the Metformin intake by Christmas...The ONLY Drawback of this diet is you have to adjust, I did get quite a bit of constipation and not wanting to drink the sugar and carb loaded Prune Juice I opted for some mild laxatives, which seemed to overdo things, but so far I'm managing to find the happy medium...
Hopefully I will never go back, most diets don't work long term, this one however does seem to reduce your appetite and so far I have no desire to return to those days of Breads, Added Sugars, Chocolate, Pies, even Cheesecake, and frankly the Dark Beers and Ales, so far, after a week are not even that big a deal...
If I fall off this wagon, I'll let you know, right here...
Back Later>>>>
Photos-Me at 62 back in 2011..I was still pumping iron and weighed in about 195, the other photo is an AI image of me of how I wanted to look when finished up with this diet, at least size wise, and I pretty much hit that nail on the head. The key will be to moderate and keep it below 175..and the photo below was me and the two older grandsons at Great American Ballpark in late September weighing in at about 177, with still a handful to lose. Grandson on the left was again participating in "Champions Day" at GABP, he finished 6th overall out of some 1300 participants at the various Red's Camp this past summer, he had finished 9th back in 2022, so he is into baseball, like the his uncle, his dad, and both grandads ... but it appears, if he stays focused, he will be the best of the lot.
