Diet Buddy

How about giving me a Tweet?

There is a condition associated with alcohol called “Alcohol Intolerance”. It is a rare condition but does affect some people mostly asians because of the lack of a certain enzyme that breaks down the alcohol.

But what does that have to do with me?

It has taken some time to find this condition but I believe it is possible to become “Carbohydrate Intolerant”. Now when I researched this it mentioned all sorts of symptoms of which I do not suffer from. The biggest difference is that I do like Fruits and they agree with me.

However, Carbs are bad for Buddy.

I believe that my body does not process Carbs correctly but getting anyone to listen to that is quite odd. The comments are that is impossible.

At the height of my weight I was 370 lbs. Granted, I carried it well being 6′ 3″ but still. I was huge and I felt huge.

Last spring I did start a reduced carb diet and I lost about 50 lbs. But then it hit me.

I was craving foods all of the time and I mean all of the time. I would snack around the house when my family was not watching and I would snack at night after they went to bed. Shame on me.

My weight increased to 350 lbs and I forced myself to stop the binge eating. I know it was slowly killing me but how.

I did try to start the reduced carb diet again but my family felt that I would abuse that after a while and fall back into binge eating.

In December 2009, I was hit with a severe pain in my lower abdominal area and it was killing me. It turned out to be kidney stones. Almost at the same time, during the next couple of days I could not eat without my throat just turning to fire. It was very difficult to swallow and increasingly painful.

So my doctor referred me to an Ears Nose and Throat doctor. After running through his test which including putting a scope up my nose and then down my throat (it was very weird) he determined that I did have a condition.

He called it a form of acid reflux and called it Silent Reflux. In short, I had no symptoms of acid reflux but the stomach acid was still making it way up to my throat. It was also causing damage to my vocal chords; which my voice has been getting more raspy over the years.

He then prescribed some meds and schedule me for a Barium Swallow test at our local radiolgy office.

Now it seems I have a small hydel hernia which actually helping the stomach acid get to my vocal chords.

So the recommendation was to start a Carb Free Diet and no eggs (I love eggs!) Oh well!. When I go back to see the doctor for this I will ask why Eggs and what does Carbs have to do with Silent Reflux.

To date, I have lost almost 50 lbs. I am down to 304 lbs. Woot!

I am eating a lot of meat, which I love by the way. So if you want to treat me to a steal I’ll let you.

Salads are becoming a second appetizer. I am not starving but Carbs are becoming to me what Alcohol is for an alcoholic.

My family has pizza and it kills me that I cannot have any. No French fries, bread. None of the good things in life.

So now it is about adapting my diet.

What about eating out Buddy?
I still eat out but I have to be smart about it. For instance, a friend wanted to meet for lunch but we had to eat cheaply. So we went to Hardees.

I order a hot dog with chili and a burger with chili and bacon. I asked for a form and knife and I took all of the bad stuff away. Sure there was probably a few carbs in there somewhere but the majority of stuff I am suppose to avoid I did stay away from.

My goal is to eventually get down to 250 lbs so I can wear blue jeans again (I hate the big boy version). Again a goal.

Sure it’s torture in the kitchen. But I am not starving. I believe the hunger will go away. Maybe one day I’ll be able to eat carbs again in a more controlled manner. We’ll see. One day at a time and one pound at a time.

Come back and I will list out my various meals in my “Diet Buddy” postings.

img credits: Sheilla May O. Baes