Two questions about my weight loss journey

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How did you lose 32 lbs and how did you figure out about the vitamin deficiency?

Been away just checking back on this thread.

I've actually lost over 50 pounds so far but have another 90 to go to get to where I'd like to be. My all time high was 282 and I was to get down to 138, which is not my lowest adult weight (120) but is low enough. I would frankly be okay with 150 and I suspect with the weight training I'm doing that might be where I settle out.

I lost it by doing a number of things.

Got on HRT to resolve a decade of crippling insomnia which drove my cortisol levels and made me feel ravenously hungry ALL THE TIME.

Got my vitamin deficiency properly diagnosed - this took forward, doctors didn't want to look for horses when they could look for zebras! I had multiple MRIs, spinal tap, all other kinds of tests for autoimmune (at one point they thought it was MS without detectable lesions) and other disorders and it was the 4th neurologist I saw who, as she was patting me on the head and telling me it was just really bad menopause, decided as an afterthought to have me stop for bloodwork on the way out of her practice and that's how I found out I had undetectable levels of B1/Thiamine, which is critical for muscle repair/growth and without which my body had basically suffered years of muscle wasting disease along with the spectrum of neurological issues that come with dry beriberi, the form of thiamine deficiency I had. Luckily I didn't develop wet beriberi, which attacks the cardiovascular system and might have killed me before the doctors figured it out.

They told me that thiamine deficiency is rare in the developed world, but they were lying - or relying on old shit they learned in medical school decades ago. I found recent journals articles in medical journals detailing the relatively high prevalence of thiamine deficiency in obese patients presenting for weight loss surgery. Mine likely was tied into post-cholesystectomy syndrome which created absorption disorder that made it difficult, I guess, for my body to retain the water soluble B1 even though my diet was fairly rich in it.

What I've done over the last couple of years of self education on biochemistry and then focusing on nutritional biochemistry is to revamp my diet to a largely plant based, very fiber rich diet. Fiber stimulates the natural production of the hormones that people get stimulated by injection instead when they take Ozempic, et al. Fiber slows digestion which makes you feel fuller longer and fiber also is the ONLY way to get your healthy gut bugs to make short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) which are critical to health in many ways we understand and other ways we don't yet understand. All I can say is that since I started this fiber focused plant strong diet, I'm feeling better than I have in years. Food is NOT the first thing I think about when I wake up and I don't think about it all day long anymore either.

Did you know that purple popcorn has more antioxidants than blueberries? I eat popcorn for dinner 3-4 nights/week, in part because I typically eat my larger meal earlier in they day either at breakfast or lunch and also because people who eat more whole grains live longer and popcorn is a very filling, chewy, engaging meal and if you dress it with herbs and such rather than loads of butter it is super healthy.

I learned to really like - and prefer - whole wheat pasta and whole grain brown rice. I learned to refrigerate pasta, rice and potatoes after cooking in order to boost resistant starches and better feed my gut bacteria. I learned that keeping my whole grain seeded bread in the freezer also increases its value to my gut bacteria after it's been toasted too which also boosts resistant starch. Basically I learned to make foods that please my mouth but which are also super beneficial for my gut bacteria, who I now realize are responsible for my physical and mental health more than anything else. Oh except SLEEP - that's the fundamental core to my whole health recovery journey, getting 7-9 hours nightly no matter what. Nothing else is more important than sleep.

Some people I'd recommend reading if you're on a health recovery journey: Dr. Robert Lustig, Dr. Michael Greger, Dr. Will Bulsiewicz - they are real MDs with no real agenda other than to spread health. Dr. B is now selling a probiotic but I don't buy it because I get all of my pre and probiotic action through foods but some folks don't tolerate fiber as well and might need a supplement. Other than that none of them are selling products, they are part of the movement of physicians trying to create a food revolution in America - because food IS medicine. Also worth checking out is the Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine podcast The Exam Room with Chuck Carroll - it's focused on a plant based lifestyle for health.

I am not 100% plant based so not militant about that, but I definitely have recognized that my body likes plants better than animal products. I do still consume some dairy, eggs and meat but FAR less than I used to. And now I consume almost zero ultra processed foods other than the healthiest whole grain seeded grocery store bread (Dave's Killer Good Seed thin sliced), I batch cook on weekends so my fridge is always full of healthy nutrient dense foods.