Weight Gain - Editor's Choice

Hi all,

At a check up in July my husband had some bloodwork done. His bad cholesterol number was a concern. Due to a bad family history (his father died of a heart attack at age 37) the doctor wanted him to get a calcium score test done. Well the results of that were not good either. He had evidence of significant plaque in all four arteries of the heart. His doctor gave him two options - statins or a gluten free, no sugar, whole foods vegan diet.

Well, my husband did not want to go on statins. He is 55. We have seen what they did to our parents.

So he started eating vegan, gf, ns (no sugar). I, for the most part, have joined him. (Due to alpha gal allergy I can't eat mammal products anyway, and it wasn't much of a change for me.)

He has been eating this way for 3 months with very few exceptions. I have enjoyed being more creative with vegan cooking. I don't really feel like going to much trouble to cook for just myself, but I do love to make food for others.

He goes back in January for more bloodwork. I don't know how his cholesterol is or if this has improved the issue with plaque in his heart arteries. (I'll let you know, though! )

What surprised us both is that he has lost 40 pounds in the last three months, without even trying (about 15% of his weight.) He has had to buy new clothes.

This is the lowest weight he has had since our first year of marriage (1989.) He has been on diets before. He did the no carb/low carb diet 20 years ago (Atkins) a couple of times but he couldn't bear the diet long and he always gained it back pretty quickly.

My husband is a meat and potatoes kind of a guy. He loves a good burger. So he is surprised himself by how content he is on this diet. Eating out is harder but we have found options. He now loves Smoothie King. Chipotle works, too. There are lots of plant based meat substitutes that are close enough to the real deal that he says I could have fooled him. (I read a lot of labels as being meat free or dairy free doesn't necessarily mean it is particularly healthy.)

He eats oatmeal for breakfast nearly every day. I put bananas or fruit in it with erythritol/stevia sweetener. We have found that oatmilk in coffee is our favorite dairy alternative.

For lunch he eats hummus with sweet potatoes crackers, cashews, raw carrot sticks with guacamole. I send two apples with him and he eats them for snacks most days. Sometimes I have leftovers to send with him.

Dinner - chickpea pasta with a veggie marina, stir fry, beans and rice (with gauc and fried onions/peppers) etc. I serve lots of salads. I learned to make California rolls with brown rice.

He has a sweet tooth. I told him I thought it would get better and surprisingly it has. He does drink Stevia flavored carbonated drinks for a treat. He drinks a glass of wine with dinner a couple of times a week but has completely cut out beer (which went very well with burgers or pizza. :) )

His snoring has reduced by 90%, even when he ends up sleeping on his back.

His blood pressure has gone down and the doctor gave him the go-ahead to cut his blood pressure medicine in half. We hope he can get off of it eventually.

I have known him a long time. I have never seen him so faithful to a diet or so motivated. I am very proud of him. We are hopeful to move to sometime more Mediterranean down the road, as in, add in some chicken and fish.

I think there are many factors involved in the success of this diet for weight loss. He wasn't even doing it primarily to lose weight. He has not done any sort of fasting with it. He doesn't skip meals and eats when he is hungry. He snacks (on healthy stuff) when he is hungry and needs one. He has not increased exercise. He work in construction so he isn't sedentary, but he doesn't do much in the way of cardio. He may be eating less calories. The calories he consumes may be more efficiently used. It seems likely that he has less overall inflammation and perhaps that is a factor.

The weight loss has leveled out now, and that is fine.

Meanwhile, he said I could share his success story!

~Mama to Many~

I have hypothyroidism and for years I fought to lose weight. I tried every diet out there, exercised everyday for 2-3 hours a day. I would lose 5-20 lbs and gain it all back, plus some. I finally saw a dietitian and found out I was doing it all wrong. She explained that people with thyroid issues, can't digest food fast enough, if large volumes of food are eaten. So I was put on a six mini meal a day plan. I was also told no more than thirty minutes of cardio. I did this and very slowly the weight was coming off. I wanted quicker results and saw an article about ACV, baking soda, and lemon. I have hypertension and opted out on baking soda.

I started drinking 2 TBSP of ACV in 4 ounces of water, three times a day. Immediately the pounds started melting away faster with the program I was on. I went from 259 lbs down to 197 lbs in six months. Even my blood pressure dropped to normal, my cholesterol levels were normal, and the inflammation in my joints were gone. If not for weight loss....do it for your health. It's worth it!!

Fasting 5:2 Diet

This is incredible! I have tried EVERY diet out there, doing research for years on nutrition and diet, went gluten-free for a while, went vegan, but could not lose those those last stubborn 10 pounds. I started fasting 22 hours, two days per week, and my life has changed. I am under 130 for the first time in a decade and ALL my old clothes fit again. Words cannot describe what it feels like to feel like your old self, and more importantly, feel in permanent control of your weight--it's been years of desperation and yo-yo dieting. Not to mention what it does to your mood!

I fast on Mondays and Wednesdays(or Thurs, depending on plans). I eat a full meal the night before around 7:30 and then eat 22 hours later around 5:30. I drink coffee in the morning and maybe another cup of coffee or tea around 2:00(I set an alarm on my phone) and just sip water casually throughout the day. Life changing. It's so much easier than you think just to skip a couple meals and just say to yourself, "I'm not very hungry" than it is to constantly stress about planning meals and waste time and energy counting calories. Just find projects to focus on and keep your mind distracted and you will be fine. Sipping water also prevents hunger pangs so it's easy to forget you are even fasting.

Prayer and/or journaling during these days is the easiest way to transform your mind while transforming your body. Just purge every thought out on paper and don't sensor yourself(you can always burn it! ) But try fasting, it will seriously get you off the diet roller coaster and completely reset your taste buds for healthier eating. Trust me, you really can do this!

I'm of normal weight usually but have a tendency to add pounds when I stop working out and eating poorly. Just this month I did just that...due to a terrible sinus infection I didn't work out for 3 weeks (normally I work out 3x/wk) and ate poorly...sweets, no fruits/vegetables, etc. Normally my diet includes a huge salad each day and eggs for breakfast, etc. This time I was eating leftover brownies (for breakfast! ) and was too tired from being sick to make my salads, so no veggies at all. And...I had already gained a few extra pounds prior to getting sick.

But I constantly ate ginger for those 3 weeks to help with my sinus infection. Once I got better and made it to the gym weeks later...I braced myself once I got on the scale, preparing myself for the news since I was already a few pounds over...so knew it was now doubled. Shockingly...I had lost 4 pounds!! (That's a lot for me as I'm about 120lbs, 5'3")

I kept thinking it was the scale but it's the same scale I always used. Then I noticed how lean my arms were and knew it was real.

I racked my brain for what supplements I was taking consistently that might cause that and realized it was the ginger. I had ACV and iodine and Vit C occasionally...but it was ginger all day every day for weeks.

I googled Ginger and weight loss as soon as I got home just to see...and sure enough the articles are there.

I used fresh ginger and went through several good size roots. I would slice off the skin (to avoid pesticides) and then cut about 3 pieces an inch or two long...and a couple millimeters thick (so a few thin, 1-2 inch long pieces). I would simmer them for 10-15min in a few cups of filtered water and drink it hot like that or add a green tea bag (for my morning cup) and drink it as ginger-green tea (I never added honey or anything else). Sometimes I'd do that twice a day.Then I would also EAT the boiled ginger pieces throughout the day. I sort of gnawed on them as I worked (they helped with my cough and opened my sinuses). By the 3rd week (b/c I was back at work and didn't have time to boil ginger tea

Then I would also EAT the boiled ginger pieces throughout the day. I sort of gnawed on them as I worked (they helped with my cough and opened my sinuses). By the 3rd week (b/c I was back at work and didn't have time to boil ginger tea so I was just taking small slices of the raw ginger and eating them straight like that...chewing gently to ease into the burn...maybe just 1 inch of the raw, uncooked per day.

Hope this helps someone. I think many ways of preparing the ginger will work...and it's portable so can go anywhere. Just slice it ahead of time. I never tried adding honey or the crystallized versions...just the raw.

Hello,

I have been trying to lose about 8 pounds for the past few years and have been very unsuccessful despite regular exercising and eating a healthy diet. I had been taking lugol's iodine drops daily on and off for years, but decided to switch to potassium iodide tablets I had in the cabinet that I had ordered after the Fukushima nuclear disaster (but never tried).

A few weeks after starting on the potassium iodide, I got on the scale and noticed I had dropped 7 pounds. I couldn't believe it. After trying so hard to lose weight for years, it came off with no work.

I take 1 potassium iodide tablet (32.5 mg per tablet) once a day. Morning or night, doesn't matter. On days I fly and go through x-ray security machines, I take two tablets.

Lately I have felt I don't need to take the iodide every day and now take it every 2-3 days. My weight has not gone up. I think that the potassium iodide gave my thyroid what it needed and thus sped up my metabolism. Yippee!!

I really hope this helps people who have similarly tried many remedies, diets or exercise with no success.

P.S. I could not find a large bottle of potassium iodide on amazon when I ran out of my first bottle, they only sell small batches for nuclear disaster preparedness kits for some reason. Search "potassium iodide tablets" on google and you'll see websites that sell 120 tablets for under $10. I got my bottle on iherb. It lasts a long time!

I have been on a weight loss plan (diet and exercise) for the past 8 months, losing weight slowly and steadily. I had been taking a tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) with dinner for months as a general tonic. After reading all of the great things that ACV can do here on EC, I upped the dose to 2 tablespoons in a glass of water, several times a day (3 to 4 time a day). I started to feel it in my teeth at that dose, so I recalled reading on Earth Clinic that adding baking soda to the ACV will help prevent the wearing down of the enamel on the teeth, but won't diminish the effectiveness of the ACV. So I started adding a little baking soda (I mean a little...I used the handle of the measuring spoon to scoop a little out...I'm guessing about 1/8 teaspoon or less).

Since I had been dieting already, weighing and measuring my food, and nothing had changed, and I know what kind of weight loss to expect, I was surprised at a sudden loss of fat around my midsection. I was trying to figure out what caused the sudden drop and the only thing different was the addition of the baking soda (I had been taking the ACV for months already, and the increased dose for weeks). So I kept taking the baking soda and I continue to have faster weight loss results with the baking soda, although it has only been a few weeks. For people already dieting, I think that taking a little baking soda, or baking soda with ACV is a worthwhile addition to your plan. I would take more, but I actually like the taste of ACV and I don't want to eliminate the flavor entirely. :)

In the last 8 months, I lost about 35 pounds, but an additional 3 pounds in the past week and a half. I lost 7 inches off my waist during that time, and an additional 1/2 inch in the past week and a half. Results are supposed to slow down, not accelerate, the longer you are on a diet plan. Not too bad for a 49 y.o. guy. I may try adding more baking soda by itself (as to not ruin the flavor of my ACV.).

Thanks,

Will

I am a believer! I thank God for you. I stumbled upon your website because I was looking for a natural way to lose weight. I was at my wits end. I started reading all of the ACV reviews and they gave me so much encouragement. I had some organic ACV in my kitchen so I started the regimine two weeks ago. I started at 215 lbs and this morning I weigh 209.8! So far I'm down 6 pounds!! During this time my husband and I went out for a special dinner and I had wine, bread, a steak dinner, mac and cheese, and cheesecake for dessert! I have not dieted or worked out once. I take 2 tbls with 6-8 ounces of water 3 times a day and the weight is slowly but surely coming off. Before I would have been so discouraged because I wanted the weight to come off quickly. I have now realized that, like the turtle, slow and steady is the way to go. Along with the weight loss I have also noticed other benefits as well. My skin is glowing, the whites of my eyes are "whiter", I am post-menopausal and would wake up several times throughout the night but since I started taking ACV I sleep without waking up (unless I have to make a bathroom run), and my energy is through the roof! I am so very happy for the weight loss and the other benefits from ACV. This is some amazing stuff! I will continue to take it for life!

I have been struggling with my weight for a long time. I became hypothyroid after the birth of my second son. My weight skyrocketed up to 260 on my 5ft 10 inch frame. I was getting joint pain, back pain, no energy, irritable bowels, depression..so I began eating more whole grains,vegetables, took multivitamins, ate natural yogurt each day, exercised every day..nothing worked. then I read this book written by a doctor from vermont in like 1958 about apple cider vinegar. Sounded weird but I have tried weirder stuff so I began drinking a teaspoon of it in a glass of water with a teaspoon of honey. That was one month ago. My weight is 239. thats 20 pounds in a month. oh, I am 38 years old.

I have been drinking apple cider vinegar for about six years. What I noticed right away was I don't have any of joint stiffness and pain. When I stop using it for more than 4 days, the pain returns to my back and neck. I also noticed that my weight is always perfect for my height 5'6", 127 pounds, 54 years old. The vinegar removes the excess salt from your body when you sleep, so no bags under the eyes when you wake up in the morning. I drink two tablespoons of acv with 16 ounces of water, two hours before bed, it removes toxins in your body while sleeping, so no swelling in the joints, no bags under the eyes from excess salt. It is a natural weight loss, as well as rotor-rooters the arteries, so good for your heart. also keeps your body from getting sick. I love it! Carolynne

Hi, I found this site and am amazed by what I am reading. My mother always told a story of how in the thirties, my uncle was a little boy and desperately ill. The doctors could not figure out what was wrong or how to help him and finally told my grandparents to prepare for the worst. Apparently all he kept asking for was vinegar (my mom never specified if it was ACV) and when things looked really bleak, they decided to let him have it since he never stopped asking for it and since there was no real reason to deny him, however bizarre it seemed to give it to him. He apparently struggled to drink it, but got through a whole bottle in a few hours despite his weakness. The fever suddenly broke and he fully recovered, and to this day no one in my family really understood how. Now I'm getting a clue as to why! So, I thought I would try the honey/water/AVC drink three times a day- today is day 5 and while I didn't see any real weight loss until today, today my jeans are suddenly loose! Also been using it as a toner and guess what! No trip to the dermo like I planned because my pores are getting smaller on their own! Depression doing a lot better too - though the jury is still out on that since today I was a bit down after a few up days - will check back in and let everyone know- but WOW! I'm amazed! My little uncle was really on to something, clearly!

I take ACV 2TBS in 8oz water taking sips all through the day. I was bloated all month and had water retention 10 days before my period. I was miserable i tried everything, diet change, pills homeopathic, and my husband is a physician and he gave all kind of medicines but still everything just could not solve my problem. i was annoyed all the time because i do not know what my exact size was and i was restless all the time , never comfortable, in sitting or lying down. Then looking for cure on internet in homeopathy somebody mentioned earth clinic, and i went to the site, and from that day my life changed. After reading about ACV I got up and mix one TS in one glass of water and without thinking i drank it. After 10 minutes my head suddenly clear and then my migraine was gone which I have been having for the last 10 years every week and i do not know how many pandols i have taken for that.----Well for the last 2 months, I am bloat free, water retention free, migraine free, and i am feeling comfortable for the first time in last 10 years. I have lost 10 pounds and I know my exact size now. Plus I had very bad dandruff and hair acne and twice a week I have been washing my hair with ACV and after two months I am free of dandruff and acne. There was no change initially except my migraine was gone but suddenly after one month before my periods i started noticing changes. No bloatedness and water retention and i had lost weight. I am thankful to all of u, whoever started this site. This has truly helped me. My doctor husband cannot believe it.

Just try it. Even if u don't see results initially it will show some benefits, later. I am hooked for life and i am giving it to my teenager son and daughter.