Our Old Friend, The Late Night Binge

There is nothing quite like watching reruns of your favorite TV show while inhaling a big bowl of ice cream. It’s relaxing and satisfying. You can forget all your stresses for that short period and just “veg”.

I suppose there is just one problem with all that. The “veg” part. Ironic that we have coined the term “veg out” for someone who needs to relax and do nothing. It should probably be “fat out” or “chubbify” – something more descriptive of the actual results of that action.

A few weeks ago it hit me that this period of the day was when I consumed half of my daily calories. Well...nearly half. It was so easy to have dinner and then snack all the rest of the night. I realized that putting a stop to this may just be one of the most effective solutions to weight loss.

It has been 2 weeks now. I can’t eat anything after 7:30pm. I can drink water or juice, but nothing else. I’ve lost 6 lbs in the last 2 weeks. I’ve also been exercising several times a week, but I’ve been doing that for a few months. This new epiphany just may be the final element to forge my magic bullet.

Dude, you're insane

So -- after a semi-normal weekend of eating junk, and feeling the ill-effects that junk food causes to your mind and energy levels, my wife and I decided to cut sugar out of our diets completely. No foods with sugar as one of the primary ingredients (ranked 7th or higher in the list of ingredients) and no artificial sugars, which we all know is far more unhealthy for us than natural sugar. The exceptions to this new crazy idea were that we could have a few natural sugars, such as lactose in milk, and fructose, in natural fruits, and finally - honey. Yes, that would be our saving grace when in desperation.

The next question was how long we'd try the diet. We wanted this to be a change in lifestyle, not just a 30-day challenge. We decided on one year. This is where the title of this post comes in. When family and friends heard this news, they said something to that effect.

It has been over 3 months now. Our post-meal cravings for sugar were very strong for a few weeks, but have gotten less and less noticeable. We both feel a significant physical and mental change. Now the challenge is enduring another 9 months! We did make Thanksgiving and Christmas Day our only free days -- I haven't been this excited for Christmas since I was 7!

A Short, But Fat Introduction

I suppose a proper introduction would be appropriate. I'm the "Desk Job Junkie" -- a 29 year-old male who hopped right over the "pleasantly-plump" stage and landed into the "unpleasantly-plump" category.

Have you ever thought about WHY you're overweight? Ok, stupid question. You probably ask yourself that question as often as I do. So -- let’s make a list of reasons we think have contributed to our obesity. I’ll start:

My dad died of a brain tumor when I was 8 years-old.
I received very little emotional support being the seventh of eight children.
My mom remarried a man who tried to love us, but also resented us for many (some valid) reasons.
My older brother died in an accident when I was 18 years-old, then my little brother two years ago of sudden heart failure (training for a marathon).
I work 10-12 hrs a day in front of a computer and the few remaining golden hours are spent with my wife and two little ones.

I could go on, but you get the idea. Although some of the items in this list may be more extreme than yours, I’m convinced that we eat food to fill an emptiness. With the loss of a father at a young age, I immediately began to try and fill that emptiness with whatever positive stimulant I could find. Food. It releases dopamine from your brain to create a sense of satisfaction or fulfillment throughout your body. I couldn’t stop eating food because, much like a drug high, soon the dopamine would wear off and I would have to face the emotional emptiness again.

But wait, it gets worse. Once your body starts getting multiple, heavy doses of dopamine each day, the drug-like buzz becomes less potent and you need more. We become desensitized to our bodies natural feelings of satisfaction and fulfillment and crave more and more.

Being a chub isn't pleasant. I feel it limits my ability to enjoy life to the fullest. Every day I wonder how much more "pleasant" life might be if I were free from this effin' (one of my favorite expletives) weight.

So --- rather than give up and go binge on a gallon of burnt almond fudge, I think it’s about time to fight these demons and reclaim the life we deserve and crave so badly...crave more than any chocolate smothered fat-bomb out there.

We want you to join us on this blog. The only way to overcome is to create a network of peers who are in the same boat (capacity overload!) with the same goals. You don’t have to disclose your name --- just EVERYTHING else :)

Wouldn’t it be wicked cool to tell people that you lost all your fat because you had a strenuous and grueling blog regimen?! Join us today!