Over recent years, some of it told by this blog, I have had periods where I have done a really good job of controlling my diet. In turn, this means keeping my blood glucose levels in check. For me, I have already accepted that I am overweight – I’m fat. I will probably always be fat to some extent. But, I still want to control my eating, because my main goal is to keep my diabetes in check. Keeping my diabetes in check will generally mean that I’d lose more weight, but losing weight is not my primary goal when it comes to eating in a healthy way.
For the last 8 months or so, I have again let my blood glucose levels go out of control. It is so frustrating to me. I have to work really hard to get my glucose into a reasonable or even normal level, so why can’t I maintain it once i get there? I find it so frustrating! Over the last week or so, I have again started making efforts to get back where I should be with my diabetes. I certainly don’t want to let my glucose levels get out of control, why would anybody want that? If I continue to do that, it will lead to medical problems, complications, even an early death. Hey, I have kids as young as 7 years old. I want to be around to see them when they are adults. Not to mention wanting to see the day when my wife and I can retire at our newly purchased land on Samal Island. But, if I don’t get my health in control, and keep it there, I will probably never see those things that I long for.
My Dad died when he was only 55 years old. I’m 45 now, and I certainly want to live longer than my Dad did. I want to be here for another 25 or 30 years. At the weight that I’ve carried all of my life, along with high blood pressure and diabetes, I feel that I’ll be lucky to make it to 55 like Dad did. That is something I have to change.
Like I said, for a week now, I’ve been making steps toward better health again. First thing I did was to move my exercise bike into my office where I spend the most time during the day. They say that it’s a good thing for you to take a break from the computer once per hour or so. So, what I do now is to take that once-per-hour break and during that break I either lift my dumbbell or ride the exercise bike. I alternate the two in order to work different muscle groups. My next step was that I made some modifications in my diet. I have started eating 5 defined meals or snacks per day. Before I ate only 3 meals, but I’d have constant snacks between meals it seemed. Now, I eat smaller meals, but 5 times per day. Usually my biggest meal of the day is for lunch now. My dinner is usually just a salad. And, I don’t eat anything after dinner. I generally eat at around 7am, 10 or 11am, 2pm, 5pm and 7pm. The mid-morning and late afternoon times are smaller snacks. I try to keep the snacks healthy too. I like to have a small amount of peanuts, or some tuna sashimi, or smoked salmon at those times.
One thing I intend to do is to write in this blog regularly. I find that if I have to write down what I am up to, it helps keep me honest, and on track. I don’t want to sit here and list a whole ton of junk foods that I just ate! That would look bad, and worse it would make me feel bad just writing that down!
So, my goal for now is three-fold:
- Continue to control the diet that I am eating.
- Increase the amount of exercise that I am getting.
- Blog about my health regularly.
I feel that if I can do these three things, I can re-gain the healthier lifestyle that was living about 2 years ago.
Hi Bob I’ve been cruising around your web site and found my way here. Congrats on your efforts to reduce. I know how difficult that can be. I guess your issues are compounded by perhaps some genetic considerations?? which makes it all the more difficult. Two days ago I was in Metro Gym here in Davao and there was a guy there who is 5’7″ and weighed as much as 480lbs about a year ago. He has started to agressively work out daily and is now down to 380lbs. He still looks terrible and would be a perfect candidate for that Biggest Loser show but he is making a great effort and losing about 10 lbs a month. I think it is awesome to make this commitment and I hope in a years time he in under 300lbs and still heading south.
Now I have a sensitive question to ask you. I notice that your children are overweight bordering on heading to obesity and at a very young age it doesn’t appear to be a good way to start out life. Fortunately, they are young and can lose it very fast with proper diet and excercise. The point I am making is just because they live in the Philippines doesn’t mean they have to eat like a Filipino. I am making an assumption of course that they eat lots of rice, sweets and breads. All terrible carbs amd sugars. Especially since you have Diabetes I would be particularly concerened. I am not trying to be your doctor or lecture you but I would be freaked out. I wouldn’t let them near any of those things and would instead force down their throats the great friuts and veggies this country has to offer. And no pork but only fish and chicken which has plenty of protein. And no fast foods. Yes I am sure you know all this but maybe a little kick in the butt won’t hurt. I expect the same from you if the shoe were on the other foot.
End of lecture. I notice that this guy Ferguson who writes on your site has a little bit of suicidal tendecies. The guy has Lupus and eats and drinks only about the worst things imaginable with a disease like that is tempting fate. Seems he would like himself more especially living in a country he seems to love lots. Oh well. Maybe I should mind my own business. Funny thing when I was full time back in the states I was always the father hen to my good friends. It is only now many years later they thank me for being such a pain in the butt.
Fair enough. I don’t see validity of it but you have the right of course to use it as an argument.
I guess since this blog initially is all about your health I would like to know what your large size is attributed too since childhood as you mentioned. Additionally, I see many large/grossly overweight people here in the Philippines and eleswhere is the world and they all seem to have overweight children. I am thinking that this comes directly from the parents possibly in not caring about what their children eat or how much exercise they get in a way copying their parents. I can’t imagine this is purely a hereditary issue. I know that if I was in this position being an overweight individual, I would do everything in my power to keep my kids in good shape. I have a little girl and I will not allow her to go near rice and I stricly limit her intake of bad carbs and sugars. It seem to be working. So I am curious on your take on this without getting your kids involved in the discussion. Treat is from purely a generic point of view,
I feel and I am sure many others would feel this is an important discussion topic considering the scope of this blog and deserves some attention.
Looking forward to hearing your view points.
Thanks. I appreciate your candor. I could easily be overweight and once I was for about 3 months 20 lbs overw my ideal weight and that was just before I moved to the Philippines. I wanted so much to look good to the hotties here that before I came I exercised feverishly and lost the 20lbs in about a month and haven’t seen it since. What a surprise to me when I found out women here seem to prefer more rotund men.
Now I seem to be putting on some weight again but I get harrassed in a nice way by my wife and I force myself to stay away from the dangerous foods. I find myself drinking a red coke from time to time and I rarely if ever in my life drank coke before. Got to watch those slips ha ha.
I am one of those personalities that doesn’t know the word no when it comes to getting what I want. I can drive (talk) a person to drink to get my way. But I do it in a nice way without seriously infringing or hurting others unless they deserve it. This has brought me tremendous success and many good friends. You seem to be the same. I have read your site often and you are an extremely confident, highly intelligent and assured individual. You seem to enjoy being in control and like to be an authority figure. So Bob I know if you put you mind to it you could lose the weight. You just got to want it bad enough.
Hi, Bob. I, too had a weight problem despite being Filipino although I have lost all the excess weight now just by walking, nothing fancy.(please see below the other reasons.)
Steve, Calories are not the enemy in putting on weight. It is FAT—yes, animal fat! That’s how I lost a great amount of weight, when I cut down on meats, butter, fat of pork. When i refrained from eating meat for three months, my weight simply dropped! I eat lots of bread with jam but no butter.Butter is also a big no-no.
I think Steve has absolutely no real concept about the true causes of obesity. I have heard it so many times from people who have never had a weight problem. They all talk of how simple it is if you “just want it” Those to me are always the sign of someone who truely has no idea of the real challenges facing people with a weight problem.
Hi Bob,
I congratulate you on your weightloss accomplishments.All your websites are excellent and I read them regularly.Jaime-I agree with you on limiting meat in the diet but must say bread is one of the major contributor to weightgain.But of course with vigorous exercise everyday that will take care of it.Steve-Grains are a very important part of good health-but whole grains like wholegrain brown rice etc over white milled rice.You can try this-it works wonders-along with daily exercise and eating well try eating a good portion of daikon radish(the long white radish at bankerohand market?spelling) with lunch and suppper-daikon has been known to melt fat and nutrilize toxins by the chinese and japanese for hundreds of years.Regards Will
Hi Bob, I enjoy reading your blog and find it very informative. I am a Filipino and also had weight problem. I’m 50 yrs old and last january 2009 I weighed 220 lbs. Now, after 3 months, I loss around 25 lbs which really makes me feel good. How did I do that? I cut fatty meat, no butter, very, very little sugar, no cakes and I eat at least 5 times a day in small amount. I eat a lot of fish, vegetables and fruits. I used to drive my car to work but I dropped this as well instead I take public transport to work which gives me minimum 30 mins of walking daily. It really helps. Regards Leo
Hi Steven – I’m surprised to see you here! Thanks for stopping by, though.
Steven, if you want to lecture me, I really don’t mind – I’m a big boy, and I can handle whatever you want to say. However, you really don’t need to bring my kids into the conversation. While I blog pretty openly about my life, I don’t write about health issues for my family, and you don’t know anything about my kids, their medical history, their growth history, etc. I would prefer to leave my kids off limits.
Steven – I can truly say that I do not believe that there is a single person in the world who wants to be overweight. I have struggled all of my life to be thin. I went to weight watcher’s when I was in 3rd grade, and since then have been trying many different ways of losing weight. When I was 17 years old, I had a very traumatic event happen in my life, and within a year, I gained a large amount of weight. I believe that this event had some kind of affect on my that caused me to put on extra weight. I don’t know what the affect was. I finally was able to emotionally deal with this traumatic event about 2 years ago, and I have lost considerable weight since then.
Steven, you may not be overweight, but I am sure you have things about yourself that are not perfect. We all have issues of one kind or another, and I hope that you also have success in dealing with whatever may be bothering you too. Good luck.
Hi Steven – Being 20 lb overweight is not what I am talking about. 20 lb might be uncomfortable for you if you have never been overweight, but it is not a lifestyle-changing weight. When I moved to the Philippines I was about 250 lb overweight. Today, I am about 90 lb overweight, having lost 160 lb in the last few years. So, not only “can I lose weight” I am indeed losing significant weight. I am at a point now that being overweight does not control my life anymore, and I like it. I will probably never be at a perfect weight, and that is OK with me.
I don’t feel that I am a person who needs to be in control, or overly authoritative. When it comes to running my various websites, yes, I do so with a lot of control, because this is my business. It is how I pay the bills. I make money in no other way, so I am careful to keep things running smoothly. You probably do the same with any business that you may own.
Hi Jaime – Being overweight is certainly no fun, and I congratulate you for overcoming it. I also enjoy walking and other types of exercise.
Hi David Blanks – I agree with your feelings. Steven obviously doesn’t understand what it is like to be overweight, I don’t think he has had the problem before. It is not easy, I agree with what you say.
Hi Will – Thanks for stopping by and for commenting. Happy to add another visitor and participant here.
Hi Leo – Thanks for stopping by and for commenting. Your program and mine are similar. I’ve altered my diet and increased my exercise. I feel a lot better too. I hope you do too!