food glorious food.

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This week’s guest chef is a blogger I recently discovered and immediately adored. Kevin blogs about his weight loss, sure, but also goes way beyond that sharing everything from personal insights to nutrition tips to workout routine suggestions.

Im honored that Kevin made the time to share his thoughts with us and encourage you all to visit weightladder and read even more.

I am an athlete at my core… Yes I know my blog Weight Ladder says that I weighed 390 pounds 10 weeks ago, but that is the manifestation of a lifetime of bad eating habits mostly masked by playing 4 hours of basketball a day until ~21 years old. From the point of stopping competitive basketball until 10 weeks ago I slowly but surely packed on the pounds.

10 weeks ago I started a food based medically assisted weight loss program because at a charity auction the 1st month of such a program had not received any bids… I knew I needed to lose weight for my wife and my child, but most importantly for me and so without a single bid other than mine placed on this life changing item I had procured my starting point for pennies on the dollar.

Was I shocked (disgusted might be a better word) when the initial weigh in produced a scale reading of 390 pounds. But if shock/disgust is what it takes to be committed so be it. I am on the road to recovery.

I would like to share 3 of the food tips (all involving almonds) I have learned over the last 6 weeks in terms of eating a limited diet, exercising, and portion control…

1. Always eat some protein, preferably salty protein directly before exercising… For me I choose 5-10 almonds (1 to 2 protein servings on my
diet for which I get 14 proteins a day.) The protein helps fight fatigue, but why the salt? When exercising you will lose salt to sweat, water alone
when you are low on salt has a hard time getting into the blood stream. I found this out the hard way when I had my dehydration event.


2. When you know you will be in a tempting situation come prepared… For example, when going to a dinner party drink plenty of water before hand and
15 minutes before arriving have 5-10 almonds. The almonds help curb any hunger and allow you to concentrate on the company and not the food.

3. For me late evening portion control is the hardest part of this diet…I strive to not eat after 6pm which is not always possible and even when it is I am sometimes hungry before bed. The solution is a very small portion of lean protein (5 almonds) and chicken broth. The almonds provide the sustenance and the broth the sense contentment. One serving of fat free chicken broth has 10 calories. I warm the broth in a coffee mug and add a few spices. Although just plain broth is excellent as well, I like to spice
it up — adding black pepper, cayenne pepper, and/or tapatio hot sauce depending on my mood.

I have seen some drastic initial results (46 pounds in the first 6 weeks) and a I have a long way to go. My doctor thinks there is no reason that these results shouldn’t continue as long as I stick to what has worked thus far.

For me, I feel so much better eating healthy and exercising again that I have no doubt I will be able to finish the program and permanently change my eating habits.

Thanks so much, Kevin.

You’re now an honorary member of the Bumbling Band & I know I speak for all of us when I say we look forward to cheering you on to continued success.

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Comments

  1. Wow, I get to be first! There IS some virtue in getting up at 3:30 a.m.!!!

    Kevin, congratulations on wonderful results so far! I’m sure they will continue, too…and I will definitely be watching and cheering you on.

    I love the tip about late-evening eating; that’s a big trigger for me. But I love almonds and I love chicken broth, so I’m absolutely making that my evening snack from now on.

    Thanks for sharing!

    V.

  2. Congratulations Kevin! I am Woo-hooing for ya all the way!!! I truly believe that good or bad, everything happens for a reason. You were meant to win that auction! 🙂

  3. Funny, I’ve been eating more almonds lately myself–they really are a satisfying snack. The seem to hit the spot even when I think I’m craving carbs.

    Sounds like an awesome start to a really healthy life-style change. Good, luck, Kevin!

  7. Way to go Kevin! You are doing a great job!

    And thanks for all the tips. I found the first especially fascinating. I’ll give it a try.

  11. Wasabi peas are my absolute weakness, I adore them!

    Fanastic results in such a short time – congratulations and all hail the power of protein. I have to admit if I didn’t eat after 6pm I’d definitely be in bed by 8:30pm – no way could I last any longer!

    TA x

  12. Thanks for sharing with us, kevin. Sounds like you’ve got an uber-strong mindset and can.will go far. Chicken broth IS yummy…you can havethe whole can for 15 cals. the 5-almong thing sounds teeny to me, but if it’s helping you jumpstart, than more power to you!

  13. Wow – what an incredible story. I wish you the best of luck with your efforts. And thanks for the tips about almonds – I eat those puppies like they’re going out of style:)

  14. Almonds! Yummo – I have a huge container in my pantry that I keep forgetting about.

    Best of luck Kevin!

  15. You guys are a bunch of early risers… Then again being on the west coast I am at a disadvantage…

    @MizFit Thanks for the opportunity

    @MizFit Readers… I hope you enjoyed the guest post… Feel free to stop by my website anytime… Love the comments.

    @WeightingGame

    5 almonds IS A TEENY amount… Eat them 1 at a time. The 5 almond tactic is not about eating a meal. It is about hunger control and proactively avoiding cravings.

    @Rachel

    I need to look at the nutritional information on wasabi peas. They are awesome, that would be great if I could eat them… The other snack I found recently is dry roasted Edemame.

  16. Thank you for a great manageable tip. I have that later evening need to eat me something thing going on – last night: meatloaf. (I know…I know).

    Going grocery shopping and adding almonds to my list along w/the chicken broth. Great idea.

    Thank you!

  18. GAH! i keep trying to figure out when you post so i can be in the top, oh i dunno, 50, but i cant pin it down. you walke up at 2 in the morning to get these up, huh?

    that had nothing to do with anything. i appologize, kevin, i will check out your blog now and stop being rude.

  19. I like the chicken broth tip and will try it. Many a night you can find me standing in my pantry eating rice crackers (or worse) straight out of the bag…

  21. Congratulations Kevin!!! You inspire me!!! Great tips and I like the almond tips 🙂 especially before a workout! Keep up the good work!

  22. Ooh his site looks good. I really like almonds but I rarely have them in the house… I always figure that I’ll end up eating way too many because I love them so much. But maybe I’ll pick some up today and see if I can’t get my portions under control:)

  25. Sagan? I have to out myself as an almond-a-holic (“Hi MizFit!”). For a while I only bought the 100 calorie packs (even with the extra money & wrapper waste) so that Id at least be aware when I plowed through 5 or 6 servings in an afternoon.

    The next step for me (TMI? who can say.) was to preportion them out into baggies and now Im proud to say I can grab a handful and STOP.

    A long way of saying that, even though you are leaps & bounds better than the Miz. when it comes to living GREEN, you might wanna try the individual packs to begin with!

    M., who is longwinded for a thumbtyper…she knows.

  26. Hi Kevin! Congratulations on feeling so much better!

    I think I might be the only person in the world who doesn’t like almonds. (Well, I like them roasted and salted, but that sort of defeats the “healthy eating” purpose, yanno? LOL)

    But if there are any other almond- haters out there, hazelnuts are WAY tasty. They are made of awesome, even raw. (But if you’re on the “raw nut” bandwagon you should know that raw cashews are YUCKY. They’re MUSHY. *shudders*)

  27. Wow! What an overwhelming response… Thanks for the support.

    Anyone with a blog want to exchange blogroll links? Email: kevin at weightladder dot com

  30. Kevin, I love your site and wish you continued success with your weight loss. You’re doing great!

    I couldn’t agree more about weight loss requiring a whole lifestyle change. I was Shape magazine’s Weight-Loss Diary columnist last year and it was a really eye-opening experience. I blog about maintaining my weight loss at http://www.fitinreallife.com.

    I’m a huge fan of almonds, too! Thanks for sharing your story with us.

  31. Congratz! 46 lbs, thats amazing!

    I love almonds, all kinds of nuts really. I also really likey pumpkin seeds.

    @sagen I second the individually packaged almonds… trader joes has some that are good. Baby steps?

  32. I love and, more importantly, appreciate how supportive, encouraging & welcoming you guys are.

    M.

  34. Almonds huh? I like that idea 🙂 I LOVE almonds. The struggle for me is portion control, so I may have to give this a try.

    BTW, you would be so proud of me MizFit! I worked out today! My legs and upper body feel like jell-o 🙂

  35. Blown away. Thanks for sharing this. LOVE that he “purchased” this at a charity auction…..by default. Classic. The universe sure lines up some pretty humorous ways of making us pay attention!

  37. Salt+workout tip: fascinating.

    THANKS!!!

    And congratulations on your new healthy lifestyle! Yay for you!

  38. wow, 46 pounds in 6 weeks??? that’s incredible! that’s like biggest loser style right there. and almonds before working out? that’s a great tip, i’m going to have to try it!

  39. Congrats! I like dill pickles for my salty-craving fix, and have you tried Trader Joe’s tamari roasted almonds? tamari is what soy sauce is made out of, so oddly enough, they taste like stir fry!

  41. i know chicken broth is good, but lately i am big on miso (i just completeled an international course in culinary school). Its usually just 20-35 calories per bowl and u can use the powder or the paste straight up. I add some stipes of wakame (seaweed) or nori (sushi wrappers) for an extra health boost and flavor. Its nice also with some sliced shitake mushrooms and little tofu cubes. filling and yet light on calories.

  44. Thanks for the reminder about almonds – i used those to great effect last year when losing 40 pounds. I’ll have to get those back into my diet this year!

  45. OK I’m number 46 and like a week late…Kevin, that is so awesome. A true inspiration and motivation. You prove that it can be done simply by living a healthier lifestyle. Thanks for sharing your story with the world.

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