I’m Fat Girl Typing and this is my blog about my adventures
on the WIO diet. I’m 27 years old, 5’6”, and as of today I weigh 251lbs. I have a metabolic age of 50 and body fat
percentage of 50%.
My goal: Get healthier, gain muscle, and lose 30lbs before
August 10th when I go to Disney World with my brother and his three
kids.
I heard about the WIO (Your Weight is Over) diet from my PA,
Todd when I brought up that I was thinking about preparing to try to
get bariatric surgery for weight loss. Todd asked me to give the guy name Rich
a call about the WIO diet because he’d had patients see success in the past and
hoped the same for me.
Here’s some background on the WIO diet. It’s a low carb,
high protein, high fiber diet. It’s also
uses a meal replacement protocol (MRP) shake.
It’s designed to put your body into ketosis (no real relation to ketoacidosis),
and it is designed to combat metabolic disorder. There are four stages to the diet, and I’m in
stage I right now.
In stage I, I’ll drink 3-4 MRP shakes, have a couple of
salads, and 4-7ounces of protein every day.
The shake is made up of almond milk or coconut milk or soy milk or Hood
milk, water, MRP powder, ½tsp of UDO oil (an oil containing omega 3, 6, and 9
fatty acids), and an optional flavoring.
As a fat person, I consider myself a lay expert about weight
loss. Friends, coworkers, even well-meaning strangers are quick to explain the
basic tenants of calories in, calories out whenever given a slight segue in a
conversation, and I also know the basics of most fad diets (though I don’t do
them, that’s why they are a fad), and more mainstream diets like South Beach or
Atkins. I get nutrition. I understand
what needs to be done to be healthy, and I think there are many roads to get
there.
Here’s some more background info on me: I’ve been overweight my whole life (genetics
and a very deep, personal, emotional connection to food played the biggest
role). Growing up fat was one thing, but that fact that I am super nerd and was
a teacher’s pet did not lead me to create a close personal relationship with
peers (thus the connection to food). My
weight started spiking in college with a meal plan that included all-I-can-eat
tater tots. Months of severe depression led to emotional eating, and a final
diagnosis of chronic severe depression solidified my existence as a morbidly
obese individual.
More information on my health and lifestyle: I don’t have diabetes
or high blood pressure. I’ll let you know about my cholesterol, insulin levels,
etc. once I get my blood panel back from my doctor. I have a sedentary lifestyle (currently I am
typing this from my comfy bed; one of my two cats is kneading me in order to
seek out weak points (credit for that last part goes to TheOatmeal.com). I have a sedentary job that involves much
typing, glorious typing, and learning.
Back to WIO --
Today I met with Rich Hart at Elevate fitness in Orem, Utah. I drank my first MRP shake (vanilla with
peanut butter flavoring). It is
definitely NOT the best thing I’ve ever tasted, but I think I can stomach it. I paid for my vanilla MRP, UDO oil, shaker
bottle, and peanut butter flavoring. My weekly
cost for the program is $80 and includes fitness coaching, a workout plan, gym
membership to Elevate, and group training with other WIO clients and Rich. There is a $150 blood work fee, but I avoided
that by going to my doctor to get my blood work done.
Rich explained to me about what to expect the first week on
WIO. He gave me a list of when to drink my
shakes, and when to have the steak and salad (protein and veggies). I took that
list and went straight to the grocery store to buy food on the “safe” list (I’ll
ad d the full list in another post).
First, I do not care for most vegetables. I’m a fruit,
potatoes, grains, and meat kind of woman. I’m a “beige and meat” eater; think
of your average plate of food at a buffet – beige roll, beige potatoes, and
meat (which may also be beige, chicken nuggets, country fried steak for
example).
Vegetables and I have a tenuous relationship. Unfortunately,
vegetables are a backbone of this diet, but the WIO diet wants above average
vegetables, the heavy hitters, the spinaches, the broccolis, the kale, the
cucumbers of the vegetable world, not average grains masquerading as vegetables
(corn anyone), and vegetables so fruit-like they may as well be fruit; I’m
talking to you tomatoes – I mean, really, a “grape tomato” a “cherry tomato” you
must really want to be a fruit, oh wait, technically you ARE a fruit.
Back to the grocery store, here I am at Target contemplating
the vegetables I can possibly will myself to eat. I end up with a couple bags of spinach, some
romaine lettuce, a cucumber, frozen broccoli, and frozen cauliflower. I picked up
some Wholly Guacamole which isn't on THE LIST because it didn't have any carbs. I’m waiting to hear back from Rich about if
that was a no-no.
Protein is a big part of a ketogenic diet like WIO, so I had
a plethora of meaty goodness to choose from. I bought shrimp, turkey burgers,
hamburger, roast beef, and I have chicken breasts in my freezer at home. My
cooking skills rank at recent college grad, single level, so although I could’ve
bought a larger variety of sea and land creatures I stuck with the few things I
know how to cook enough not to kill me.
Philosophical moment: Rich says that this is about a
lifestyle change, not just weight loss. That’s super important when it comes to
long-term weight loss. I want to get healthy and weigh less and I want to stay
that way. I’m a food addict and I will always have that part of me no matter
how healthy I become. Rich believes in the mantra – eat to live don’t live to
eat. I live to eat, but I’m not sure if I only want to eat to live when so much
of my life is tied up in living to eat.
