Within the next few weeks, I’ll be begin publishing a new podcast: “Wags + Weight Loss, starring Abbie & Micha.” Abbie and Micha are BFFs, and live in the Northern California Bay Area.
Micha and Abbie looking fabulous.
As my main project while awaiting publication of my book in October 2017, I’m hoping to help these ladies achieve the fabulous life of their dreams by coaching and mentoring them to their optimal weight in this weekly “reality” podcast.
The podcast will be based on my experience and success in achieving my optimal weight and health, by transitioning from the standard American diet to a whole foods, plant based diet while engaging in light to moderate exercise by walking a dog for a half an hour, twice each day.
In my case, I lost ~140 pounds during 2011 in just ten months, while also reversing my type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and normalizing my glucose and cholesterol, by adopting a shelter dog and plant based diet on the advice of my Naturopathic doctor. I’ve now maintained my health and weight at the same level for 6 years.
Abbie is 45 years old, and starting this program at 232 pounds. Micha is 43 years old and starting at 252 pounds. Let’s all begin by applauding their courage in agreeing to do this program publicly, in the hopes of inspiring others to make similar positive changes in their lives.
The purpose of this experience is not just to lose some weight – but to get all the way down to their optimal weight by the end of 2017. But how did we determine their optimal weight, or goal weight? I asked each of them, “What was your weight at the point in your life when you felt most attractive?” Both Abbie and Micha replied that was about 150 pounds, or their approximate high school weight. It is very possible that they may go below that – in my case I never thought I could possibly go below 220 pounds, but ended up at 175 pounds – but for the purpose of this podcast, we will establish the goal weight for both at 150 pounds.
Abbie’s rescue dog Niko eagerly anticipating our new podcast, with her cat Cici looking less enthusiastic.
As an incentive to stay with this program to the end, I will donate $1000 each to the animal shelter or rescue of their choice when they achieve their 150 pound goal weight. Abbie has chosen Animal Rescue of Tracy as her charity of choice, and Micha has chosen the Love and Second Chances Northern California All Breed Rescue as her charity of choice. To restate, I promise to donate $1000 to Abbie’s charity when she reaches 150 pounds, and the same amount to Micha’s charity when she does the same.
Micha’s rescue pup Pippen conserving energy.
What Abbie and Micha and I plan is to have a weekly conversation on Skype every Monday morning, which I’ll record and publish as a weekly podcast. Each weekly podcast will begin with a weigh in. Abbie and Micha will report their weight, and we’ll talk about results and what worked and what can be improved. We will track their weight each week. We’ll also talk about recipes, pantry makeovers, the best products and cooking techniques for plant based cooking, the thrills of weight loss and any failures we may experience, and importantly, Micha’s hair and adventures with our rescue dogs.
I expect both Abbie and Micha to begin losing 2-3 pounds per week to start. These results will taper off as they approach their goal weight, but they should still lose at least 1 pound per week until they ultimately achieve their goal weight. Is this weight loss feasible? Absolutely. As a recent example, my high school sweetheart (Jaye) and I reconnected at the beginning of September 2016, and were married in December of 2016. When we reconnected, Jaye weighed 197 pounds. In just five months since then, by eating the same foods I eat, Jaye has dropped from 197 pounds to 139 pounds, a total weight loss of 58 pounds. She is now only 4 pounds from her goal weight of 135 pounds, which was her high school weight. According to Jaye, even better than her weight loss and new feelings of self-confidence is how amazing she feels every day – she tells me it is the best she has ever felt in her entire life.
Jaye’s recent 5 month weight loss results.
The plan followed by Abbie and Micha will not involve any extreme or even hard exercise. In fact, I will discourage extra exercise, beyond walking their dogs for a half an hour twice each day. This light exercise is based on my experience that doing more before they achieve their goal weight will reduce their chance at achieving their goal weight. And that is because attempting to engage in strenuous exercise while significantly overweight is unnecessary for weight loss and creates a high risk of burnout and injury. We’ve all been there – starting a New Year with resolutions and high expectations, which are soon abandoned by over doing it and then backsliding based on burnout or ending with an ankle injury, or worse. On this program, most of the weight Abbie and Micha will lose will be due to reduced calories and an increased metabolism from strictly following a whole food plant based diet. But light exercise in the form of walking will still be required for their metabolism to work properly.
In addition to helping Abbie and Micha, the purpose of the podcast will be to (1) help other people around the world understand how helping animals helps people and how dogs rescued from shelters can help transform and enrich human lives, and (2) provide step by step guidance on how to lose 100+ lbs by transitioning from an omnivore diet to a whole foods, plant based diet.
Would you like to lose weight? Would you like to get back into life, to achieve what others tell you is too difficult or impossible? Then please follow our podcast, join us, listen each week, and become the awesome person you’ve always wanted to be! But first, please:
- Be under a doctor’s supervision. Whether you think you need to be under a doctor’s supervision or not, you will want to record your progress, starting with a comprehensive medical exam and tracking your weight on a weekly basis.
- Watch these films on Netflix:
- Acquire and read these books:
- How Not to Die: The best, most complete, comprehensive book on how a plant based diet will maximize your lifespan and reduce your risk of preventable disease, including cancer, obesity, and Type 2 diabetes. Includes an easy to follow guide on what to eat to add years to your life. Greger, M., M.D., & Stone, G. (2015). How not to die: Discover the foods scientifically proven to prevent and reverse disease. New York: Flatiron Books.
- The Starch Solution: A complete primer on how to practice a whole food plant based diet without added oil or sugar. McDougall, J. A., & McDougall, M. A. (2012). The starch solution: Eat the foods you love, regain your health, and lose the weight for good!New York: Rodale.
- The Forks Over Knives Cookbook:A great collection of fast and easy recipes that can be prepared from common ingredients in 20 to 30 minutes. Sroufe, D. (2012). Forks over knives–the cookbook: Over 300 recipes for plant-based eating all through the year. New York: Workman Publishing.
Please keep checking back for this new podcast, which will launch before the end of February 2016!
