Weight Loss

[Paul Wolfe]

So my friend Dan recently turned me on to a book by Dr. A. Scott Connelly MD called Body RX. It's a "diet" book of sorts. Actually it's more about changing eating and lifestyle habits for a permanent, positive change in your health.

I haven't actually started the program because I want to completely read the book before I start (I'm anal that way). I did come across an interesting fact that has helped me deal with the weight I've gained since my injury.

Prednisone is prescribed to treat pain and inflammation associated with conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and asthma. Anyone who has ever taken prednisone knows that one nasty side effect is that one gets fat very quickly. Regardless of what you eat, prednisone promotes the burning of muscle for fuel, which rapidly consumes lean mass. If you use prednisone too long or too often, you will become weak and flabby no matter how little you eat.

Guess who has been prescribed prednisone repeatedly over the last 2 1/2 years of back injury? No wonder I cant' lose weight no matter how hard I have tried, and it's no wonder I've gained 50 lbs in the last year. Apparently it takes a while to get this stuff out of your system, so I may have a little longer to go before I can get skinny.

Even if nothing ese in his book is effective for me, that little bit of information has helped with the depressing thought that I'll be fat forever. Now that I know that drug was part of the cause, I've dumped all the pills out and won't take it any longer. There are other pain killers that can help with inflammation and pain.

Anyway, I recommend this book to anyone who is concerned about theire health.

[Alex]

xx123456

[Paul Wolfe]

Well, the job I had involved a lot of twisting and bending and getting into less-than-natural positions to do work (I was a hotel maintenance guy who had to fix everything). So I stretched and twisted my back for ten years. Then one night in March 2005 I was sitting in a desk chair that was supposed to tilt back. I tried to tilt it like anyone would by pushing with my legs an using my back to make the chair tilt. Unknown to me, someone had locked the chair in place and instead of tilting, the thing rolled out from under me. I went straight down and compressed the lower vertebrae in my spine.

This compression caused the discs between the vertebrae to bulge outward and push n the nerves running down my legs. The pressure on the nerves gets so bad that it is very difficult to walk.

I've had three surgeries - 2 to cut the disc where it pushes on the nerve and 1 to actually remove some of the bone so that the nerves will have more space. Each surgery has helped, but not eliminated the issue. I had an MRI last week to see where else the nerves might be binding, so maybe the end of this is near.

The thing with the back is that all your nerves run through the spine. once damage is done, however slight, it only gets worse if not treated soon enough. Chiropracters can do wonders (I'm going to a chiropracter this afternoon to aleviate neck and shoulder pain), an MD would require an MRI to determine the extent of damage, because x-rays only show bone damage, not tissue damage.

[Sarab]

Good luck, Paul. I hope that the end of your pain will be near, and they can fix it.

[NicDots]

When I was about 14, I was presribed a medication that made me put on weight. Naturally, at that age, being fat is such a huge no no and nearly a death sentence for a girl where I live where everyone has to be hot all the time and if you're not, well, you get harassed and made fun of. So naturally, once I got off the medication, I freaked out and really...sort of took off the weight in a bad way. I got really way too thin and was hospitilized for a little while.
Needless to say, that was a long time ago and I'm relatively normal right now although sometimes I backslide a bit, I'm on pretty solid ground thanks the my buddies and family.
Anyhoo, I really have a big problem with most doctors. They just want to dope you up. They don't even want to FIX the problem, they just want to mask the problem and get rich off your health insurance policy.
I've got back problems too and was on some heavy duty pain killers for a while, which was a mistake. Now I just live off ibuprofen and lounge in the hot tub when things get really bad.

Anyhoo, essay's over! Paul, I wish you the best. Being in pain totally sucks and I hope you can get yourself sorted.

[Paul Wolfe]

Anyhoo, I really have a big problem with most doctors. They just want to dope you up. They don't even want to FIX the problem, they just want to mask the problem and get rich off your health insurance policy.

Funny you say that, because I went to a chiropracter this evening to look at my neck. I've had excruciating pain running down my arms into my hands. When it's not pain it's numbness so that I can't use my hands.

So the chiropracter checked me out and determined I have Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, which you can learn all about by clicking on that link. After his explanation of what the problem is, he explained that with 2 more massage treatments from him and some stretching at home, he can eliminate a problem I've had for a year and a half. After that, I'll be cured and won't have any more problem with this issue.

No drugs, no long term therapy. I like this kind of doctor!

[Stiltzkin]

he explained that with 2 more massage treatments from him and some stretching at home, he can eliminate a problem I've had for a year and a half. After that, I'll be cured and won't have any more problem with this issue.

No drugs, no long term therapy. I like this kind of doctor!

[Cpt Matt Sparrow]

This is great news Paul!

[NicDots]

he explained that with 2 more massage treatments from him and some stretching at home, he can eliminate a problem I've had for a year and a half. After that, I'll be cured and won't have any more problem with this issue.

No drugs, no long term therapy. I like this kind of doctor!

That's awesome , Paul! I wish there were more doctors like that in the world.

[Paul Wolfe]

Five days in, I've lost 4 pounds... nothing major. BUT the measurement around my stomach (the fattest part of me) was 50 inches on August 13 and it is 46 3/4 now. That means a lot more to me than the actual weight... it motivates me to work harder. I wouldn't even have checked except that my wife said she thought I looked like I lost a little weight...

I'll keep you posted.

[Sarab]

Congratulations, Paul! I know the inches mean more than the weight loss.
Keep it going!

[cableguyxx]

[Paul Wolfe]

Geez Darin, sounds like you have my kind of luck!

[cableguyxx]

[Paul Wolfe]

Here you are.





Here is the Wiki article on the author.

From the intro of the book:

How would you like to have a great body-the kind of body you never dreamed you could have?

If that sounds inviting, then this book is required reading. The fitness and fat-loss program outlined here will show you how to change your body composition, radically. What is body composition? It's the ratio of lean body mass to fat mass, and as you can well imagine, it's lean body mass you want. Moreover, Body Rx can teach you how to burn off fat without depleting lean body tissue. Other diets chew up the beneficial parts of the body in order to bring about weight loss

I've devoted the past three decades of my life to the science of metabolism. From my earliest days studying and researching at Harvard and Stanford, I've been investigating how the human body uses nutrients. I've studied how we make fat, how we burn fat, how we make muscle, and how we stay in shape. I've put my research to work in the intensive care unit, helping dreadfully ill patients return to health. And I've put my research to work also helping elite athletes, bodybuilders, and the fitness-conscious achieve peak performance. And now you can put it to work for yourself.

Before you dive into this program, here are some tips to make the Body Rx 6- Pack Prescription work for you

* Don't count calories. I know you've heard that before, but this program is not about calorie deprivation. On my program you'll probably be eating more calories than you ever have eaten before. And you'll be eating satisfying foods like dairy, meats, fruits, and vegetables.

* Get off the treadmill. My exercise philosophy revolves around strength training. You get all the benefits-even the healthy-heart benefits-of aerobics from strength training, in addition to a lean, sculpted body that is impossible to achieve on aerobics

* Tailor this program to fit your needs. I've set up my program to work for you even if you follow only part of it. While I love exercise (1 am as comfortable in the weight room as I am in the operating room), I have to.level with you: You can get seventy percent of the benefitof the Body Rx 6- Pack Prescription from the nutrition program alone. If you know right now that there is no way you will ever step into a gym, don't even bother to read the chapters on exercise. Instead, read the chapters on nutrition two or three times.

* A note to women: Our culture bombards you with destructive messages. Obsessive calorie counting, endless aerobics, and insane dieting advice have contributed to an epidemic of obesity. Women must pay attention to muscle and metabolism and startthinking differently about their bodies.

Even if you listen to nothing else, listen to me on fructose. Over the past twenty years, the degeneration of our food supply brought on by industrialization has dramatically accelerated. As the obesity epidemic grows, the changes that have been made in our food supply have outpaced our ability to adapt metabolically. While it is tempting to blame a sedentary life or out-of-control eating habits, the truth is simpler. Our eating behavior has remained basically the same. So what's the problem? The food supply is no longer appropriate for our bodies. I believe the key problem is a ubiquitous additive that has invaded our food supply over the past two decades: fructose. Even if you listen to nothing else I say, read and reread the fructose chapter. The tiny changes it recommends will make a huge difference to your body composition.

As a physician, I had the responsibility to save the lives of patients in my care. As I expanded my work out of the hospital and into the world at large, my mission grew. I discovered that the lives I can save in the operating room are just a fraction of those I can save in the world at large. I'm a metabolism scientist with one foot in the medical world and one in the weight room. I want to teach you what I've learned from both arenas. As a physician, I'm going to offer you a prescription for optimum nutrition. As your trainer, I'm going to whip you into shape. As a result, you're going to have the body you never dreamed you could have.

He's in good shape for a guy in his 50s: