Week 2 – The game plan

I realize most of you are familiar with what the 60-day turn around is, but in case you’re not, here’s a quick overview. Diet and exercise. Its actually pretty simple.

The diet: Not a typical weight loss diet. I haven’t been counting calories at all. I’m pretty much eating the same amount of food as I usually would. The only difference is that I’ve eliminated (not decreased, but really eliminated) sugar and grains from my diet. It has been very challenging for a few reasons. The most difficult is that most people, as I was (am?), are addicted to sugar. The headaches and fatigue that first week were a sign that my body was addicted. My wife Amanda just had a dream this week about sugar. Her dream was eating half a sandwich for lunch (which she said was amazingly good) and then receiving a message from me that I wouldn’t be home for dinner because of work, so she made herself spaghetti for dinner. Then she made  some brownies for dessert.  Despite her cravings ( and dreams ) she has stuck to the diet with me. Having her support has definitely helped me so far.

The second reason avoiding sugar is so difficult is because it is in everything. There are plenty of foods that sugar has no business being in, but it’s there. We spend a lot of time reading labels now, checking for sugar (or its alias’) and the amount of carbohydrates/sugars in the nutrition facts as well. It can be frustrating at times, but so far it has been well worth the effort.

The exercise: I’ve seen a lot being written lately by other sources, such as Dr. Mercola, about the  benefits of high intensity exercise. This is something my brother, Dr. Eric, has been preaching for nearly a decade now. Amanda and I have been doing Crossfit the past two weeks. The first week was extremely hard. After our first workout we could barely move. The second week wasn’t much different, but we are enjoying it.

So after two weeks of following the diet and exercising, I definitely notice a difference in me. Even though  I’m pretty much sore and fatigued all the time from the Crossfit, I have noticed having more energy. I mentioned above, that I have been eating the same amount now, as before. Well that’s not entirely true, because my appetite has actually seemed to decrease. The last few days I haven’t eaten as much, but it wasn’t depriving myself for the sake of losing weight, against my true desire to eat. Instead, I just didn’t feel like eating (a pretty new feeling for me). Things are going well.

After two weeks, I’m down to 220 lbs.

– Dr. Mark