Our #TFMsuccess story this week features one of our coaching clients, Wayne Luebert.  Wayne is a 60 year old client, who works with TFM Health Educator, Angel Ramos.

First off I want to thank Angel Ramos for asking me to share a little of my story.  I owe a great deal to him and Dr. Fung for helping me find another way to be healthy and lose weight.

My intermittent fasting story starts last year in May when within two weeks of each other 5 different friends told me they were worried about my health.  They said I looked pale and sickly.  I did not doubt them.  At that point in my life I weighed 400 pounds.  I had high blood pressure and blood sugars (116) and cholesterol levels were going up. I knew I had to lose weight.  However, I had tried almost every diet out there.  I tried Weight Watchers, Over eaters Anonymous, calorie counting, and even low carb.  I would be successful for 3-4 months but then something would happen and I quickly went back to eating like I did before.  As I suppose many people feel, I felt defeated and honestly, pretty disgusted with myself.   I did not want to start another diet and simply have it fail again.

I did not want to start another diet and simply have it fail again

Years before I read the book Rethinking Thin by Gina Kolata.  In that book she looks at research that shows diets do not work and that most people gain all the weight they lost back.  She talked about how the weight loss industry was being pushed by big food companies.  Her writing encouraged me that there had to be something out there to help; something that was more effective in getting healthy.  I don’t know how it happened but I ran across Dr. Fung’s YouTube videos on the Etiology of Obesity.  It was a god send!  I devoured the videos and watched others.  I read up on intermittent fasting and it really made sense to me.  I did not want to start a fad diet and so I did a lot of research into whether the science Dr Fung presented was legitimate and what I read was pretty convincing.  It also matched my experience.  It was a great relief to know I was not lazy or weak willed.  I bought Dr. Fung’s book The Complete Guide to Fasting and got started.  I did contact both my primary care Dr. and my cardiologist and told them I was going to start IF and they both said don’t do it, just limit calories.  Well, I ignored them and am thankful I did.

It was a great relief to know I was not lazy of weak willed

I started slow with trying the 16/8 approach.  I still remember how hard it was to wait until 4pm to eat that first day.  I WAS HUNGRY.  But as I kept at it I slowly started going longer between feasting.  I had joined the TFM program and Angel began challenging me to keep pushing.  I went to several 24 hour fasts per week and then to two 48 hour fasts a week.  The weight came off and I learned two things.  The first was following IF was actually easy.  I just did not eat.  I did not have to think and stress every meal about how many calories I had eaten and could I cheat today or tomorrow.  Instead, I just did not eat and was not tempted much by snacks.  The other thing I learned was that hunger was not as hard to manage as I thought.  I learned, as many of you already know, hunger comes and goes.  It does not get overwhelming.  I learned how to ignore it or simply cope with it.

I spoke with Angel at least once a month and he was able to answer a lot of questions.  I continued to read and try to find new information about IF.  It was satisfying to find no real credible objection to IF.  It continues to be shown to be a healthy approach to eating and weight loss.

The results are very satisfying for me.  I have been able to stay on the diet for over a year.  At this time I have lost 115 pounds.  I am hoping to lose another 70-80.  I am on a 7 day fast right now and feeling great.  My energy has been up and I have had no negative side effects, except mild constipation.  My blood sugars are down to the mid 80s and my cholesterol is within the normal range.

When I started out I did spend a lot of time trying to manage my hunger.  I did buy bone broth and tried several home made recipes.  I stocked up on cilium husks.  I started to drink green tea.  For me, the bone broth was not helpful in the long run.  I simply did not like the taste and I eventually stopped drinking it.  The same for cilium husks.  I have continued to drink green tea however and it helps.  The best thing I discovered was to increase my fat intake.  I listened to Megan talk about how we should try to consume as much good fat as possible when we are feasting.  I have started pouring avocado oil on my all my salads in addition to the dressing, and to put it on my bacon and eggs.  I use both olive oil and avocado oil in my home made salad dressings.  It really helps with feeling satiated after a meal and my cravings to snack go away.

My friends are all impressed.  In fact several of them started to fast and eat LCHF too.  They share their success stories of lost weight and feeling more energized with me.  I went for a check up with my primary care physician and she was very impressed and said she was seeing more and more people who were successful on IF. So, thank you Angel, Dr. Fung, and TFM.  For the first time in my life I feel healthy and in control of my life.

The TFM team would like to thank Wayne for sharing his story and inspiring so many other people to regain control of their health!
Click here to learn more about the TFM Personalized Coaching Program.

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By The Fasting Method

For many health reasons, losing weight is important. It can improve your blood sugars, blood pressure and metabolic health, lowering your risk of heart disease, stroke and cancer. But it’s not easy. That’s where we can help.