Dr. Ellis, a 52 year old anesthesiologist, lost 120 lbs over 18 months by retraining his brain (and pancreas) by altering his diet and adding regular exercise to his regime. Be the tortoise, not the hare!
Hello John how are you, and what a blessing and congratulations on the weight loss. Wow. Kelly told me how you lost all this weight and how i needed to look at your website. Well, I need to loose 50-75 lbs myself. I want to give myself one year or less to “Get It Off”, I hope you are working on an incredible book that will bless the entire world, since 142 million people are obese in the U.S. I too am writing a book to debute this year and would love to talk with you about future weight loss book collaborations once your book hits the market. Blessings and let me know much more. The Daily Meal Plan is What I need.
hello, jonh! you are great,congratulatios.I would like to know how you retrained your brain and pancreas.I am suffering with my weight. I try every day and I loose my hope .I became very happy for your goal. From Rio de Janeiro, Hospital dos Servidores,
Doc, What do you do when others in the household are not in a weight loss program? For instance, the wife doesn’t like fish, even the smell of it. I enjoy fish, but have naturally cut it out of my diet almost completely since she is so against it. Also, she is not a very big vegetable eater. How to create meals that both of us would enjoy? I like the idea of plenty of vegetables at lunch and dinner. She is mostly meat and potatoes, pizza, sometimes chicken. Any ideas?
Thanks.
My challenge when I was married was our vastly different schedules – I am early to rise, and generally eat meals at 7a, 113a, and 530p.
Compromises will help – you eat fish at work, for example. Ultimately, you may need to fix separate meals sometimes. If her meals are sabotaging you (you can’t resist the sights and smells), she needs to understand that that is as bothersome to you as your fish is to her. Perhaps if you have your meals prepared in advance, you can resist her (food) temptations better!
It is true, however, that family meals are valuable socially, for raising healthy kids and families.
Good luck!
You know I follow your blog religiously. I was interested in how you manage your blog, you know, the time put into gathering info, where you find the info, how you decide what to say.
I’m interested in doing a blog for non-profits on grant writing and communications, my areas of expertise, so your experience would be helpful to me. Can you email me at your convenience? Thanks.
I have been thinking about what you have been writing, and putting things together. I would be interested in collaborating on publishing something if you are interested.
With your profession, how do you make sure you get enough sleep? Most of the anesthesiologists I know are working nights and aren’t able to get sustained sleep every night. Most reports are saying loss of sleep greatly inhibits the ability to lose weight and to maintain a healthy weight. Are you still doing night work? What do you suggest for those who work night shifts?
I am actually almost finished the first draft of a book.
Regarding anesthesiologists and sleep loss: I practiced clinically for over 20 years. I generally spent 4 nights a month in the hospital, often up all night. In general, shift worker have more diabetes, hypertension, and other health issues. But, on the other hand, physicians, including anesthesiologists, generally enjoy better health than the average of the population. I believe the work stress was a greater factor in my overeating than was the occassional sleepless night.
I had a number of health issues (including 2 neck operations for herniated discs that were pressing on my spinal cord) that ultimately led to me retiring from clinical practice. Unfortunately, I actually gained weight at that time. But those medical problems were part of my motivation to get healthy. So, 2.5 years ago, I went to the Structure House weight loss center in Durham NC for 2 weeks. They gave me the jump start I needed; I highly recommend the program.
Congratulations on your weight loss. I too, went to Structure House in Durham about 5 years ago. Did pretty well then fell off the wagon when I had shoulder surgery. Gained almost all the weight back. I decided I had to do something, so I went back to Structure House this past July for one week for two reasons. 1. Refresh myself on the weight loss strategies and 2. To discuss with one of the therapists why I fell off the wagon and what I needed to do to prevent that from happening again. It was very useful for me, and I am pleased to say that since then I have lost 107 lbs. The program at Structure House really helps you figure out why you eat when you’re not hungry. I recommend it for those who need help with behavioral modification. I found it amazing that so many people are obese over issues that are not about food. Once you put your life back in order, you can stop using food for comfort. For me, exercise is not a burden. It is a great stress reliever. If I can’t go for a few days, I miss it.
I wish you can give me some wisdom on how I can go about losing weight the right way and how should I do it. Please email me with how you went about losing your weight. I really would appreciate it. Thank you,
Shop, cook, sleep, walk, avoid diet foods, soda (diet, too), avoid fast/prepared food. I eat 1-2 lbs of green veggiesevery day. I eat breakfast every day. I the blog and FB page, I constantly share tips. Invest the time to read.
Hello Dr. Ellis,
First let me say that I think what you have done to your body/weight is phenomenal and simply fantastic. I have so many questions and I know you are a busy person and don’t have time for questions. I just would be so forever grateful if you would share what you ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner and even snacks, when you fisrt got started. I am 226, and I was at 160 (gained it all back) I need help. Anything you can share with me would be great. Your Before and After photo is what I see when I open my closet door. Today, I decided I will place them on my refrigerator door for more visibility. Thanks for all you do for so many, and if it’s OK, I would love to keep you up to date with what’s going on with my weight loss.
I am inspired by your website and story and congratulate you on your live change success. So far, I have lost 36 pounds and have hit a wall. For some reason the habits that I developed for the first “easy” 30 are not seeming to work as well. Additionally, exercise boredom is becoming a daily barrier. Does one have to pull up their big girl panties and keep moving forward or is there a different kind of thinking that should be considered?
Hey John Thanks for posting about turmeric. I love your pics on your facebook page. My friend and I are just starting the blog (I am still working out the kinks!) but we wanted to add in a “featured stories” section with personal stories about how different people used lessons from around the world (food, resilience, a memorable trip) to improve their health and well-being. I would love to feature you once we get more followers! It would just involve a brief interview and a photo of you. Thanks!
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Hello John how are you, and what a blessing and congratulations on the weight loss. Wow. Kelly told me how you lost all this weight and how i needed to look at your website. Well, I need to loose 50-75 lbs myself. I want to give myself one year or less to “Get It Off”, I hope you are working on an incredible book that will bless the entire world, since 142 million people are obese in the U.S. I too am writing a book to debute this year and would love to talk with you about future weight loss book collaborations once your book hits the market. Blessings and let me know much more. The Daily Meal Plan is What I need.
See last page of newsletter for daily plan: http://goo.gl/KJrt
hello, jonh! you are great,congratulatios.I would like to know how you retrained your brain and pancreas.I am suffering with my weight. I try every day and I loose my hope .I became very happy for your goal. From Rio de Janeiro, Hospital dos Servidores,
Doc, What do you do when others in the household are not in a weight loss program? For instance, the wife doesn’t like fish, even the smell of it. I enjoy fish, but have naturally cut it out of my diet almost completely since she is so against it. Also, she is not a very big vegetable eater. How to create meals that both of us would enjoy? I like the idea of plenty of vegetables at lunch and dinner. She is mostly meat and potatoes, pizza, sometimes chicken. Any ideas?
Thanks.
My challenge when I was married was our vastly different schedules – I am early to rise, and generally eat meals at 7a, 113a, and 530p.
Compromises will help – you eat fish at work, for example. Ultimately, you may need to fix separate meals sometimes. If her meals are sabotaging you (you can’t resist the sights and smells), she needs to understand that that is as bothersome to you as your fish is to her. Perhaps if you have your meals prepared in advance, you can resist her (food) temptations better!
It is true, however, that family meals are valuable socially, for raising healthy kids and families.
Good luck!
My daugther es 12 yrs old and she crays all night becouse kids from the school make fun or her, how can I help her, please help me!!!
In general, I like this NY Times video about teens struggling to lose weight, but there are several things I would criticize.
http://www.howilost100lbs.com/video-about-teen-obesity
You know I follow your blog religiously. I was interested in how you manage your blog, you know, the time put into gathering info, where you find the info, how you decide what to say.
I’m interested in doing a blog for non-profits on grant writing and communications, my areas of expertise, so your experience would be helpful to me. Can you email me at your convenience? Thanks.
Sondra BJ
Hi John,
I have been thinking about what you have been writing, and putting things together. I would be interested in collaborating on publishing something if you are interested.
A working title. 2 Men: 250 lbs Later
–Eric
With your profession, how do you make sure you get enough sleep? Most of the anesthesiologists I know are working nights and aren’t able to get sustained sleep every night. Most reports are saying loss of sleep greatly inhibits the ability to lose weight and to maintain a healthy weight. Are you still doing night work? What do you suggest for those who work night shifts?
I am actually almost finished the first draft of a book.
Regarding anesthesiologists and sleep loss: I practiced clinically for over 20 years. I generally spent 4 nights a month in the hospital, often up all night. In general, shift worker have more diabetes, hypertension, and other health issues. But, on the other hand, physicians, including anesthesiologists, generally enjoy better health than the average of the population. I believe the work stress was a greater factor in my overeating than was the occassional sleepless night.
I had a number of health issues (including 2 neck operations for herniated discs that were pressing on my spinal cord) that ultimately led to me retiring from clinical practice. Unfortunately, I actually gained weight at that time. But those medical problems were part of my motivation to get healthy. So, 2.5 years ago, I went to the Structure House weight loss center in Durham NC for 2 weeks. They gave me the jump start I needed; I highly recommend the program.
Congratulations on your weight loss. I too, went to Structure House in Durham about 5 years ago. Did pretty well then fell off the wagon when I had shoulder surgery. Gained almost all the weight back. I decided I had to do something, so I went back to Structure House this past July for one week for two reasons. 1. Refresh myself on the weight loss strategies and 2. To discuss with one of the therapists why I fell off the wagon and what I needed to do to prevent that from happening again. It was very useful for me, and I am pleased to say that since then I have lost 107 lbs. The program at Structure House really helps you figure out why you eat when you’re not hungry. I recommend it for those who need help with behavioral modification. I found it amazing that so many people are obese over issues that are not about food. Once you put your life back in order, you can stop using food for comfort. For me, exercise is not a burden. It is a great stress reliever. If I can’t go for a few days, I miss it.
Again congratulations to you.
Your story is SO INSPIRATIONAL! I really need to do this. so many false starts… I hope you could contact me at your convenience.
Thank you.
I wish you can give me some wisdom on how I can go about losing weight the right way and how should I do it. Please email me with how you went about losing your weight. I really would appreciate it. Thank you,
Read the newsletters.
Shop, cook, sleep, walk, avoid diet foods, soda (diet, too), avoid fast/prepared food. I eat 1-2 lbs of green veggiesevery day. I eat breakfast every day. I the blog and FB page, I constantly share tips. Invest the time to read.
Hello Dr. Ellis,
First let me say that I think what you have done to your body/weight is phenomenal and simply fantastic. I have so many questions and I know you are a busy person and don’t have time for questions. I just would be so forever grateful if you would share what you ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner and even snacks, when you fisrt got started. I am 226, and I was at 160 (gained it all back) I need help. Anything you can share with me would be great. Your Before and After photo is what I see when I open my closet door. Today, I decided I will place them on my refrigerator door for more visibility. Thanks for all you do for so many, and if it’s OK, I would love to keep you up to date with what’s going on with my weight loss.
Healthy Regards,
Betty
Hi Dr. Ellis,
I am inspired by your website and story and congratulate you on your live change success. So far, I have lost 36 pounds and have hit a wall. For some reason the habits that I developed for the first “easy” 30 are not seeming to work as well. Additionally, exercise boredom is becoming a daily barrier. Does one have to pull up their big girl panties and keep moving forward or is there a different kind of thinking that should be considered?
Virginia
Hi John,
Since my visit and your suggestions, I have lost an amazing ten pounds.
go, girl!
Hey John Thanks for posting about turmeric. I love your pics on your facebook page. My friend and I are just starting the blog (I am still working out the kinks!) but we wanted to add in a “featured stories” section with personal stories about how different people used lessons from around the world (food, resilience, a memorable trip) to improve their health and well-being. I would love to feature you once we get more followers! It would just involve a brief interview and a photo of you. Thanks!
Delighted and happy to do so.