[Vision2020] How I lost 28 lbs and counting, without much pain

[Christopher Witmer]

Dear Tom Ivie,

I'd be more than happy to write about how I lost the weight and post it
here, because it really is interesting. I could give much more detail, but
in a nutshell, I did the following things --

1) I started a regimen of moderate exercise -- brisk walking for 30 minutes
per day. Anything you can do on top of that is icing on the cake but not
absolutely necessary.
2) I started to really chew my food -- in the old days the "30 times per
bite rule" was for more than good manners; it was for good health too.
3) I reduced my fluid intake, although not drastically.
4) I reduced my consumption of alcohol and coffee.
5) I reduced my intake of sodium as much as possible, and not just of salt;
a lot of artificial sweeteners and food additives are high in sodium and you
can probably get enough sodium in your diet even if you are trying to avoid
it.
6) I tried to eliminate sugars, expecially refined sugars, as much as
possible.
7) I tried to eat my fruits and veggies raw as much as possible, and always
at the beginning of the meal, because the enzymes aid digestion.
8) I did not cut out any major food category entirely because that drove me
crazy with both the Atkins diet (which eliminates carbohydrates) and the
Pritikin/Ornish diet (which eliminates fats), and I wanted an approach that
I could maintain for the rest of my life.
9) I did however try to cut down on fried foods quite a bit.
10) I researched every nutritional supplement and food that is recommended
for cardiovascular health and started to supplement with them. I found out
that there are a lot of foods that really do seem to tend to burn off fat.
I'm not sure just how they work, but I feel quite certain that somewhere in
this combination of things that I'm eating and supplementing, there are some
substances that are, in combination with the moderate exercise, really
boosting my metabolism so that I shed 28 lbs. in the last four months,
without really feeling like I was working at it.

These include, in no particular order:

Capsaicin! Capsaicin! Capsaicin! I consume close to a pound of dried hot
pepper powder each month. Plus I like to use ULTRA-HOT habanero pepper
sauces that are LOW in sodium. The sauces I use actually have pure capsicum
added because I just can't get them hot enough otherwise.
Ginger -- fresh, raw. Just peel it and eat it.
Garlic -- the real thing, raw, when I don't have meetings with people the
next day, and deodorized garlic oil capsules otherwise.
Onions -- raw, as much as possible. Onions are great for health.
Pomegranate juice. Expensive but a little bit goes a long way -- a few
tablespoons each day is enough.
Flax seed oil -- I would eat the whole flax seeds if I could get them.
Mushrooms, especially Japanese maitake mushrooms, raw.
Green tea -- very good for health. After I have used it for tea I then eat
the used tea leaves. (Not all green tea is amenable to this -- only the
finer grades, free from small stems.)
Black vinegar made from brown rice -- vinegar in general is very good for
you, but the flavor varies immensely depending on how it is made. White rice
vinegar actually fools the tongue into thinking you're consuming salt, while
black vinegar made from brown rice has a sweet flavor with no saltiness and
I can use it as a salad dressing all by itself. I'm sure there are many
other good vinegars out there but at least one of them should be consumed in
fairly large quantities. I think I consume about a quart of vinegar each
month.
Multiple vitamin without iron
Co-enzyme Q10
Vitamin C
Vitamin B complex
Lecithin
Fish oil with EPA & DHA
Vitamin E
Ginseng
Oatmeal
Unsweetend cocoa powder (in drinks) and unsweetened chocolate
Cinammon -- plain cinammon is fairly sweet and quite a "fat burner"
apparently. I make a drink by mixing plain cocoa powder and cinammon
togther.
Large amounts of, and a great variety of fresh veggies, as raw as possible.

My goal is to lose another 15 lbs. and I'm confident that I will be able to
do so, and to keep it off permanently.

If anyone has any hot leads on foods or supplements that are good for
cardiovascular health, please let me know!

Thanks,

Chris