My weight loss, and a back story

If anyone has paid attention to any of my posts, you know I am a student at CDL school here in Ohio. You also know my step father is a 20+ year driver as well. What you dont know is he is a diabetic who controls his sugar with diet only. No meds. Now I dont know his numbers, all I can say is prior to moving out, he weighed around 250lbs, is 6', and is in mid 50's. He is now down to around 180-190lbs and says his blood sugar runs around 100 or so after about 2-3 hours after a meal. Now being that he is my step father, and him and I have no direct connection in genetics, I modeled my own life after his. We both drank Pepsi like it was water, and we both ate whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. Today my step dad has great health, and from talking with him his numbers are all in the normal to good levels. He doesnt drink pepsi any longer, its Diet Mt Dew for him, nasty #### in my opinion. Oh and we both smoke. Him 1 pack of menthol Kool 100's a day, me 2-3 packs of Marlboro lights a day depending on stress. Oh and lets not forget, my mother is a full on insulin dependent diabetic with an insulin pump attached to her. My biological profile for my family is diabetes. So im pretty sure I am going to get diabetes at some point.

Now that you have the back story

For me, since I got out of the navy in 2004 ive ballooned from 212lbs to 275lbs as of sept 2013. That is when I decided to start doing something about my weight. I started eating less. By less I mean I went from eating 2 pork chops to eating 1, eating 2 large spoonfuls of mac and cheese to 1, from eating one large butter bowl of cereal to eating one small bowl. From Sept to Jan i went from 275lbs to 245lbs. I didnt do any working out what so ever. I just did my normal job, and ate less.

On Jan 26 the day of my 13th anniversary I decided after more than 20years to stop smoking, I didnt do it easily either. I had to have help and that help come in the form of a high end Ecig/vaporizer. February comes around and I made my decision to start looking into CDL academy's. Once I made my choice, I signed up after having a week long discussion with my wife. While at my mothers one day, I was seriously thirsty and nothing I was drinking was satisfying that thirst. My mom forced me to check my blood sugar. And sure enough, it was 375. And we checked it several times. 375 was the lowest...That was the last day that I had drank a full flavored soda. Since then its been water, Diet Dr Pepper, or Diet A&W Root Beer (those are the only diets I can stand to drink). With the assistance of my mother in giving me about $1000 in testing strips, alcohol pads, lancets, and a glucose meter, I started checking my blood sugar religiously. At waking up, 2 hours after each meal, and at bed time. I had my dr appointment 2 days after this, and had a full profile ran. Results were my A1C was 9.2 my blood sugar at the time was 221, my HDL was was 135, my LDL was 42, my liver had some elevated levels, and my thyroid was low. End result was my drugs.....he had me immediately start taking metformin at 500mg 2 times a day. Over the next month my levels started coming down. At my check up 2 weeks ago my levels were an average of 136, still high, but far better than they were a month earlier. He says to continue on with what I am doing and continue to work towards eating less. He wants to see my weight down to around 200. Oh and as a last bit, my Dr wanted more blood work done to check my testosterone levels. He was concerned that I might have low T as I seem to have a lot of the symptoms that a lot of men with low T have(night sweats, reduced muscle mass, low libido, and decreased energy) I have all of these. And sure enough my results come back that my T levels are 212. Normal is subjective as it is interpreted by different dr's. Suffice it to say that my age (36) should have an average of 600+.

As of tomorrow, I will begin a new weight loss regime that comes from a friend of mine. He is a biology student at North Carolina University working with an Endocrinologist professor who studies the male metabolism and different drugs with different metabolic conditions such as type 2 diabetes. This regime consists of 3 natural herbs that have proven to be effective at weight loss and energy increasing. This thread is going to be dedicated at my weight loss and how these herbs and my testosterone treatments have effected it.

I am by no means saying the below regime is my own, the idea and credit belongs to the poster at the below forum. I am merely posting this here as a meaningful way of assisting others if they so choose. Doing research on the web i have found the below to be an excellent way to increase ones metabolism and increase ones natural fat burning process. Great care should be exercised as to avoid injury or a visit to the hospital.

The below information is taken from Steroids.com forums from a post detailing the exact regime and how its completed. There are many people who have posted successful results of this regime, and like i said, my buddy used this regime, and swears by it to shed his fat till he hit his plateau and had to step up to a different fat loss regime. Information in italics is straight from the forum.

http://forums.steroid.com/supplemen...oss-protocol-using-over-counter-products.html

The list of herbs are below and the effects or what it does for the body
Chromium Picolinate
We all have cravings, especially for starchy foods and sweets. Acting on these cravings above moderation raises insulin levels. That's a surefire way to increase fat cell size. Couple that with a chromium deficiency and you can pretty much forget about fat loss. Unless you burn an astronomical amount of calories daily (most of us don't), you'll gain fat and even potentially become a diabetic. Chromium can and will balance insulin levels and inevitably leading to a smaller fat cell. The insulin-sensitivity-regulating mineral will help redirect your appetite away from sweets and starches because you're finally balanced and able to properly process and metabolize sweet foods, starches, etc....
Warning: Consult with your doctor if you are diabetic before supplementing with Chromium

Synephrine
In many ways, this is actually pretty similar to the popular Ephedrine. Much safer, however, dosing still requires caution. I can say this from experience. It's considerably powerful. To give you an example of the measurement used, I've attached an image of the micro-scoop used for a single dose. I almost laughed when I saw the dose, but I followed instructions and it works. It works right away, I could feel it in less than 20 minutes. I also attempted tripling the dose and that didn't go over so well.

Anyway, Synephrine is derived from both plants and animals. When looking for it, you may find that it's labeled as "Orange Extract". Synephrine will increase your metabolic rate by increasing lipolysis. So all great news so far. Get on amazon to find it, you can get 5 grams pretty cheap and considering the 20mg high dose, this will last you for a very long time. Just mix it with some water drink it.
Warning: Check your blood pressure while using this. Do not use if you have HBP.



EGCG, Green Tea Extract

I drink diet green tea everyday as part of my liquid intake. But supplementing with an extract in pill form will yield much more effective dosages. Most folks who claim no results from green tea are the ones who run to the store, purchase some Lipton tea bags and have a cup of hot tea before bed. Forget that nonsense. High doses are required for green tea to make a difference. Let's see how...

You may have heard the abbreviation: EGCG. This is Epigallocatechin Gallate. The main component in green tea. This component has an effect on your daily energy expenditure, as you'll burn more calories than you normally would, even at rest. Drinking Lipton tea will not provide enough EGCG.

Important information regarding purchasing this product: You need to be careful when purchasing green tea extract, many of them out there have low percentages of EGCG, so be sure to read the label very carefully and look at the content. Do not search for green tea, search for EGCG as those specifically labeled with the abbreviation will typically have the highest content. For the protocol, you need 600mg of EGCG. I recommend NOW foods, they carry a product that contains 200mg of EGCG per pill. So for our protocol you'd be taking 3 pills.


The Protocol:

Chromium: 800mcg daily
Synephrine: 10 mg (1 scoop), for 3 days, if you feel OK, increase to 20 mg (2 scoops)
EGCG: 600mg daily (that's 600mg of EGCG, not to be confused with total green tea extract)
links to the items that I purchased are below

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IAEIBX6/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IGJEKUS/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NKI0V8/ref=oh_details_o00_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DNV5CA/ref=oh_details_o00_s01_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

So I started my weight loss regime today. I started with 800mg of Chromium Picolinate, 400mg of EGCg, and 10mg of Synephrine HCI. My weight as of this morning was 233lbs. Im starting with my BMI right around 30%. Last Dr visit the other day they had me at 30.2%.

It has been about an hour since Ive taken my supplements, and I can already feel a bit more energy. It is said that the Synephrine works in a similar manner as Ephedrine in that it is fast acting. If so, then the feeling of fidgeting is what i am feeling. My Blood pressure directly after taking them was 126/67 at 66 heart rate. My current blood pressure an hour after taking it is 129/75 at 68 heart rate. Now those are negilable readings and probably mean nothing at this time.

It is best to not work out right after taking the Synephrine as it is known to increase blood pressure. Also as stated above, DO NOT TAKE it if you have high blood pressure.

 

I havent had a cigarette in 12 weeks for sure. I am still getting my nicotine via a vaporizer/Ecig. Regardless what the FDA thinks, they are safer and they are a means of quitting.

I agree that it is the sugar that is getting to us. I used to drink nothing but Pepsi daily. I was good for anything from a 2 liter plus another 6 pack of cans a day. Seldom did I drink water. Diet soda isnt nearly as bad as the regular stuff. But I am drinking more water.

I am on Metformin for the time being, the doctor hasnt officially come out and called it diabetes yet. He wants to give it 6 months and me get my weight down before he officially renders a diagnosis. He seems to think that all the soda and unhealthy eating has built up sugar into my body and wants to see if I can get my blood sugar down in the mean time, I am eating less. Not so much better, just less. I am not eating as much, and getting some exercise. Once I am back to where I was prior to getting out of the Navy, which shouldnt take too long, I should be feeling better and have better results overall. I will continue to post results here of how I am feeling and what I am seeing.

 

Well it depends, my weight is hanging out right at 240, but I'm losing body fat because I'm doing pant sizes. I'm currently down to 38s and they are getting loose now to. I'm just getting into my trainers truck with my first trucking job, hoping I'll be here for some time in flatbedding. This way the tarping and strapping will assist in my weight loss. My current goal is 200lbs