Dr Bernstein diet is a low carb, low fat, low calorie diet. What little food you eat is lean protein with very little carb and some vegetables. You can have a couple of fruit as well. You get about 900 to 1200 calories per day. If you can stay on the program you will lose weight in a hurry…..3-5 lbs a week is common.

I should mention that you get a vitamin injection every visit (3 times a week) This injection is a trade secret but is basically B6 andB12 with whatever thrown in…..I have asked but got no more answer than that. It does seem to help….maybe they throw a little clinical speed in there…..hehe….

You get regular blood work and meet with their Dr. on a regular basis….each visit is with a nurse and you do go over your file and they check your food record…..yes they make you keep a food journal as well.

The hardest part for me is that this low of calories really turns my demons loose…..I get a really bad case of head hunger on occasion but I think I can handle it better this time. With the knowledge that I have from the clinic and from many discussions with the group I have a much better understanding of the mental part of weight loss. The Dr. B clinic does nothing in this aspect of their program and I think it is a real mistake. As we have talked about many times at meetings the mental part is so important. If you can’t get your head wrapped around the weight loss you are not going to succeed.(IMO) At least the Edmonton clinic is making a effort at addressing this issue…..I think they need to pursue it more but they seem to going in that direction.

Oh and thanks for the support…..it is huge help.

Well…..I’m done the first week of Dr. Bernstein and things have gone well…..took me till yesterday to get into ketosis but finally made it. I have lost around 10 lbs from my first weigh in but a bunch of that was water….still 10 lbs is 10 lbs and it feels great to finally be moving the scales. The challenge is to stay dedicated and stay in ketosis and the weight will fall.  By staying in ketosis the hunger is manageable and you feel pretty good. If you let yourself fall out of ketosis the hunger returns and you have to go thru the painful couple of days to get back into ketosis. It is much easier to stay dedicated and committed and ride the program as long as you can. I will be in Edmonton racing for the weekend and I have to do some food planning so I can have enough Bernstein food to get me over the weekend.  

The cost of the Dr. Bernstein program…..It is $599.00 for 4 weeks….or $50.00 a visit. It is not cheap but maybe that is what makes it work……if you spend that much money you have that much more incentive to stick with the program. The accountability aspect of the program works for me as well. You know that you have to get on the scale 3 times a week and you want to see a weight drop each time so you have to stay in ketosis. It’s as simple as that…..the same as any other diet…..it works if you stick with it. By using my band and all the knowledge that I have acquired the last couple of years I have a reasonable chance at losing this weight and keeping it off. I will be giving it my best shot.

I should give some background on my weight loss surgery…..I won’t give you all the boring details on how I got obese……let me say that there was a lot of vodka and cokes with a lot of chips, and peanuts etc as well as a good amount of cheeseburgers thrown in. You get away with some of this when you’re young but when you get into your 40s and you are not as active the weight just gets out of control.

I tried a lot of different “diets “after I got obese and started eating better….but was unable to get (and keep) much weight off. When I turned 50 years (2004) old I was 340 lbs. I went to my Dr. and asked what could be done…..we had already tried all the conventional “treatments”. Dr. Carson asked me what I knew about WLS. The truth was I knew nothing about it other than I have a niece that had gastric bypass and had great success with losing weight as well as maintaining her goal weight. Dr. Carson then told me about the bariatric clinic in Edmonton and how they had started a lapband program to go with their RNY program. He asked if I wanted for him to put in a referral for me and see what they had to say. I thought that there was no harm in checking it out so I told him to go for it. I heard nothing for close to a year and had pretty well forgotten about it when I got a call from the Royal Alex in Edmonton and was scheduled for my first appointment at the end of August 2005. I went thru the program and had lap-band surgery on August 01 2006. My weight was 300 lbs at surgery. I have lost 60 lbs to a low of 240 at Christmas 06…..and maintained that weight till Christmas 07 when I went on binge and gained 10 lbs and have stayed at 250 lbs since.

The problem that I have with my band is that it does not curb my hunger…..it restricts how much volume I can eat but does not stop me from being hungry. This is not the norm…..most banders feel full when there pouch is full. I can eat till I have to throw up and still feel hungry. But that is for another post. I am working with Dr. Davey and Dr. Birch at the Royal Alex and we are trying to sort this out. I will keep the blog updated if and when there is any change……good or bad.   

I,m not sure how I’m going to lose any more weight when I am hungry all the time. My band is giving great restriction and Dr. Birch is reluctant to give me another fill…..and he is right….any more fill would be uncomfortable tight. So I am going to have to exercise the weight off. I don,t have any other options other than the Dr. Bernstein diet and I want to save that for my “last chance”. The thought of going to a gym is just plain ugly for me for me…..I think that wasting time at a gym is just that… wasted time…. so I think I will ride my pedal bike as much as possible and look into a elliptical trainer of some sort so I can work out while watching a ball game. Thats the plan anyway…..see what I can do.

I had to take my pedal bike into Sports Check and get the rear spokes tightened. The rim had gone out of round…….i guess from carrying my 250 lbs around. I want to get into a regular schedule of riding every night. If I am going to lose any more weight I need to get into a regular exercise program. I think I will start off with some bike riding around the block……don’t want to rush into this…..hehe……maybe strain something. There is still a foot of snow but that will melt by the weekend and then there is no more putting this exercise thing off. i either exercise or settle for 250 as my low weight. I do think I can get down to 230 range with some work.

Boy this has been a struggle getting some pounds off. I was down a few lbs ( by starving myself) but i ate 2500 -3000 cals on Sunday and put those lbs back on. I am getting really tired of this……starve yourself for weeks (1500 - 2000) and maybe get 1-3 lbs off and go back to 2000 to 3000 cals for a coup[le of days and all that hard work is gone. Really frustrating….I have a appointment on Monday with Dr. Birch and I will beg for a small fill. As long as I am this hungry I will not lose any more weight. If the next fill does not curb my hunger, I am in trouble because I do not want a tight band….

Well……i ground off a few lbs this last couple of weeks…..been a hard go but need to get a few more pounds of for summer. I am going to be doing yard work tomorrow and that will help with a little exercise. The yard needs a good cleaning and thatching and then try and aerate next weekend. I want to get some fertilizer down when i get a chance. This spring work takes a little time…..especially a four acre lot. I love my acreage in the country but the yard work takes a bunch of work but it is worth the effort.

ON my way to the support meeting I stopped in at Steve and Andrew Richards at Mulhurst Bay and had a look at the Lees-ure Lite trailers. Nice looking units but are $6000.00 for a new one. That is in line but still a lot of money. If a guy uses it you can pay for the trailer in a couple of seasons. It would be perfect for a snooze after lunch or a break whenever you need it. There quick to set up, have a fair amount of room (for a bike trailer). I would probably want to catch a room every second or third night and get good night’s rest (especially if there is any bad weather. Then just stay in roadside pullouts for a night or two (this is when I’m covering miles). Use truck stops to shower and make some miles. I probably could put an inflatable raft and small motor on the top of the trailer but then you would have to unload them every time you fold out the trailer. This would be fine for the shorter riding and longer stays. I will see how the play funds are hanging out this summer and if thing are good this might be my next toy purchase.

The Richard boys are also into trike conversions. Check out their site www.trikezone.com…….