Ever since my childhood I was always a “heavy” person. I struggled with my weight but until my forties was never considered as obese but rather as being on the heavy side.
It all changed when the forties hit and I started loosing control of my weight. when I was discharged from military service (at the age of 30) I weighed about 80 Kg, not light but not obese either. Flash forward to the year 2010. I am 45, Self employed, in the process of raising 3 kids and providing for my family. My weight is 102 Kg which is, based on my overall frame, looks slightly overweight but still nothing dramatic.
I go on a low carb diet, lose weight until I weigh 100 Kg at which point I break and start a gaining rampage. By mid 2012 I weigh 111 Kg.
In 2012 I’m hospitalized due to ramifications of Lyme Disease. The hospitalization is for a month and a half during which I loose weight on hospital food. When I’m discharged I subscribe to a gym, hire a personal trainer and because I work at a startup company with lax attendance requirements, devote 2.5 to 3 hours a session, 4 days a week to the gym. As a result I’m loosing weight and in 2013 I weigh “only” 94 Kg. Then the startup company closes down.
I find a new job, this one with strict attendance requirements so cant devote any time to gym. I fall on the well known routine of getting up before sunrise, driving to work, working up to 12 hours a day, driving home and collapsing in front of the TV. Eventually going to sleep as there is an early wake up tomorrow. Immediately I start gaining weight which reaches a peak of 120 Kg recently.
In 2011 I buy a Nokia Health scale which is a WiFi equipped device. I find it can tweet every time I measure my weight (daily) and hope to be exposed to some friendly peer pressure to watch my weight. Unfortunately it does’t do the trick.
In 2012 I discover on Indiegogo a revolutionary arm band – Healbe Gobe. This arm band can measure your heartbeat, hydration, stress level, the amount and quality of your sleep and most importantly the amount of calories you expand and the amount of calories you eat. It works like a charm and I keep myself at a negative caloric balance (expand more than I eat). This doesn’t do anything for my weight.
Then on Indiegogo again I discover Modius. This is a head band that stimulates your vestibular nerve and this stimulation is supposed to contribute to a weight reduction. According to their campaign the inventor had lost about 20 Kg of his weight without altering anything in his life style. I wait for the perk to arrive and once it arrives in November 2017 I start daily sessions, every day without skipping for an hour a session at its highest setting. Again this doesn’t do anything for my weight.
In the interim I do a genetic mapping using 23andMe. I use promethease to interpret my genome and learn that based on several genetic markers I have a tendency of x2.5-x6 as compared to the average population to be obese. Unfortunately no surprises there 🙂
I perform a genetic mapping of my gut microbiome using DayTwo. I learn that a certain microbe that is responsible for cellulose digestion which in a normal humans comprises about 2.75% of the gut microbiome in my case exceeds 25%! I realize I’m a relative of cows and elephants in my ability to digest cellulose 🙂 Small wonder I have a constant complaint that even smelling food makes me gain weight. Stuff that’s almost indigestible by humans contributes lots of energy to my personal food utilization. Small wonder yet again 🙂
About three month ago I discover TestMax Nutrition. This is a meal plan (diet) designed especially for men. You cook in bulk a single portion for the next seven days. Its quite easy to cook and can be done with in an hour a week. This is combined with a nutritious smoothy in the morning and a salad in the evening. I am now following this 6 month plan and so far it seems to lead to a nice weight loss however based on my previous results I’m cautious with showing to much excitement. Now I am on a combination of this meal plan and Modius and it does seem to do the trick but despite my optimism I’m being very cautious!
Yesterday on Indiegogo again, I discover Lumen. This as a pocket size device that analyzes your breath and deduces what your body is consuming for energy right now. It is also supposed to give you dietary advice for the whole day and monitor your implementation. It is supposed to ship in March 2019. By that time I hope to have lost a nice chunk of my over weight fat and use this device for weight maintenance.
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