Shedding the Weight: How I Lost 50 pounds in 2 months While At My Desk.

It's true. I lost 50 pounds in 2 months. I didn't tell anyone I was trying to lose weight mainly because I wasn't so sure I would be successful. What I did, while simple, was difficult. It involved long hours working at the keyboard and Friday night pizzas. So I'll break it down into some components.

How It Started

One morning I woke up, did my little daily rituals, and tried to put on my jeans. This isn't a normal task for me - I'm usually in shorts while working/playing - so I was surprised when I couldn't put on my jeans. At all. Period. So that morning, in front of a full length mirror, I got pretty critical. I'm 35, soon to be 36, but I'm not old. I have no excuse for being heavy. I often got 'Bravo Zulus' in the Navy for being in shape.

The first, and probably the most important step for me: I decided to lose the weight.

First stop - a new pair of jeans. 34 inch waist. Then some reading. Everyone had always talked about water, for example, as a way to lose weight - but I drink water. One thing I did unearth on water is that when you don't have enough, your kidneys end up doing some of the work of the liver in removing burned fat byproducts. That made sense. So I started drinking more water.

I also read up on the Atkins Nutritional Approach. It's interesting, but it didn't seem to fit what I wanted to do. I did, however, want to induce Ketosis for 2 months, so I decided to follow some of the guidelines. I therefore limited complex carbohydrates, sugars and other things - fairly simple to write, but not so easy to do. Worse, 2 pieces of bacon with an egg-beater omelet just didn't seem right - so I upped the bacon a bit. I am, after all, trying to lose weight - not torture myself.

Last, but not least, I decided to stop eating Kentucky Fried Chicken - probably the only fast food in Trinidad and Tobago - and also stopped drinking soda. Nothing carbonated. To keep track of my weight, I used two systems: My belt notches (which are now back to the smallest setting) and a scale at a local pharmacy which I would walk to. I was shocked to find out that I weighed 225 pounds. No wonder I couldn't fit in my jeans. While I was at the pharmacy, I saw some SlimFast. I read up on it, and thought it was worth a try. I anted up the money and got some Slim-Fast Optima Meal Shake Mix (Chocolate Royale). Who knows. Maybe it would work.

A pound of fat is roughly 3,250 calories. To lose a pound of fat, that has to be burned somehow. Ketosis, exercise and diet were what I decided .

The Social Aspects

In my life, many things are done around meals in restaurants. The first thing I simply had to do was stop eating all the food I had been eating - and that meant giving up many pleasures of the palate. It also meant not having the Sunday brunches with an uncle, hanging out with my 'eating buddies', and also not having temptations in the refrigerator.

My friends and relatives weren't worried about my weight. I was. I still am. So it made socializing simply impossible in some instances. To some people, that would be a high cost. To me, it wasn't. I'm perfectly happy with a quiet place to think.

The Store

My first trip to the grocery store included stocking up on Yogurt, milk (for the slimfast), and bacon to help me get to burn fat. I needed things that would fill me and yet allow me to lose weight. Granola bars and Egg Beaters were two additions that were on impulse. Meats were the staple, to force my body into ketosis and keep it there.

What Worked, What Didn't

After the first week, I realized that yogurt was a bad idea. It tasted good but was not filling or satisfying. I'm sure that there are many people who do find those 8 ounce plastic encased yogurts to be filling and great, but they didn't even cover 'snack' for me. In that respect, they were not only useless - they were a liability. I'd eat 4 at one sitting. That's not good. So no more yogurt.

Granola bars worked, but were temporary fillers. Instead, it was mainly eggbeater omelets and bacon as the meal of the day, and two cups of Slim-Fast Optima Meals a day. I cheated though. I used 16 ozs of milk. I still do.

Exercise? Not that much, really - daily walks and yardwork combined with being tied to the keyboard. One thing I did find was getting a new pair of running shoes was the best thing I did in this regard - walking with extra pounds had been hurting my feet, but I hadn't connected this to my weight.

Weekly checks on weight also helped, because they can be inspiring. When you see weight going down, you feel better because you see results. I never set any goals other than (1) fitting into my jeans, (2) Liking what I see in the mirror. I've got (1). (2) will come.

Will This Work For Other People?

Probably not. Everyone who has been seeing me lately has been asking my advice - surprised at how much weight I have lost, etc. It is a bigger issue than I thought it would be for people - I didn't realize how many people were trying to lose weight. So I tell them what I did, but I also tell them that the single most important thing I did was make up my mind and stuck to it. I'm still sticking to it, heartened mainly by how fast the weight came off (I've been surprised).

What I do know is that everyone is different. I also knew pushing ketosis came with risks, and I kept tabs on myself as best as I could. Rapid weight loss isn't healthy even if the goal is to be healthy - you need to keep an eye on yourself, and while I didn't do it - you should talk to a doctor (I have some medical training, so I wasn't as concerned).

If you want to lose weight, make up your mind. Get a plan together. Stick to it. Monitor yourself. If what you're doing doesn't work, maybe you're in a plateau or maybe what you're doing isn't working. Talk to your doctor. Just because fat is a health risk doesn't mean you should risk your health to lose it.