Reporting weight loss success! Thx to this forum!

[C33]

Hi everybody,

A few months back, I got motivated by a few threads on the health and fitness forum. One of them was called the "Wardrobe experiment"( the goal was to have a special outfit in a smaller size to motivate oneself towards losing weight), and also, I was inspired by someone ( sorry, don' t remember who?) who said that they dropped weight by giving up dairy.

Of course, I was also very inspired by Steve's experiments in changing his sleeping patterns and trying things for a short period of time to see how they work for you.

So I decided to do the following for 2 weeks and see how I would feel:
- Stop dairy cold turkey except egg whites for protein.
- Stop eating wheat.
- Drastingly reducing my calories( 1000 TO 1200 Daily)
- Reducing alcohol consumption to once a week
- Exercising daily ( failed at that one, but did achieve 6 times a week for 2 weeks)
- Tone up with Callanetics to get long, graceful limbs.

Results:

After the initial 2 weeks, I have been avoiding dairy for 3 months, and still going strong, with minimal relapses ( A few times in 3 months=2 cafe lattes, 2 serving of mashed potatoes, shortbread cookies with butter). Most of the time, the relapses were because I forgot these foods had dairy in them. Ex: Shortbread cookies.BENEFITS: Improved breathing, better digestion.

After the initial 2 weeks, I am still not eating wheat, same thing, have had some relapses, but I am still consciously avoiding it. BENEFITS: Skin allergy I have had for 22 years has totally cleared up.( I still don't know if this was caused by wheat or dairy).

Visualizing a special event and buying a dress in a smaller size for it, buying clothes 1 to 2 sizes smaller/ exercise/ Callanetics/ reducing calories: BENEFITS: 9 kilos weight loss, posture and muscle tone improved drastically and feeling much better and healthier physically and emotionally.

This is an ongoing project and my goal hasn t been reached yet. I just wanted to acknowledge the positive impact that reading this forum, getting great advice from its members, sometimes feeling so self indulgent asking for help for minor problems, has had on my success.

[Cath]

Congratulations!!!!

[Iff]

Congratulations indeed... and good luck on the remainder of your journey.

[bluesharpist101]

good job, but on a side note, what is so important about giving up dairy, how does that affect weight loss?

[Stargirl]

Great job!

One question, why give up wheat?

[Shamou]

That is fantastic C33... more power to you...

.

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

Congratulations! What a fantastic success story.

A lot of people seem to have mild allergies to wheat and dairy.

You wouldn't really realize how they affect you until you cut them out. I don't necessarily think it has as much to do with weight loss as with decreased fatigue, skin and digestive issues. These things clearing up can certainly affect you in positive ways that might aid in weight loss. Also, unless you are eating all skim dairy products, you will certainly cut down on fat which would help with slimming down. When I quit drinking milk, I found out I had much less trouble with what I had believed to be seasonal allergies. I also had much less trouble in the tummy area.

I would even go so far as to recommend everyone do a trial off wheat and dairy (maybe separately). You might find a lot of benefit. I will try to find some sources to back it up.

Edit: A couple of things to look at regarding wheat and dairy.

Wheat Allergies

Dairy Allergies

Washington Post Article about dairy and weight gain

These are by no means the final word. I mean, they are just a couple of quick things I found...for anyone who might want to look into it further. I am not posting them as gospel fact, so please don't attack.

[bdp]

Why avoid dairy for fat loss? It boils down to sugar, salt, and fat content.

Look up the nutrition facts for some dairy products, especially cheese and milk. Most of them are packed with either fat, sodium or sugar (or all three), which all encourage fat gain and inhibit fat loss.

Some will say the answer is skim milk--but skim milk still has half as much sugar as Pepsi.