
I attribute my success to several factors:

Very low fat.  Except when someone else has cooked a meal for me,
I only eat fruit, vegetables, and whole grain or bran cereals.  I
estimate I only get about 5 to 10 percent of my calories from fat.

Very little sugar or salt.

Very high fiber.  Most Americans get about 10 grams.  25 to 35 are
recommended.  I get between 50 and 150.  Sometimes 200.  (I've heard
of people taking fiber pills.  It seems unlikely that pills can
contain enough fiber to make a difference.  It would be about as
likely as someone getting fat by popping fat pills.  Tablets are
just too small, unless you snarf down hundreds of them daily.)

My "clean your plate" conditioning works *for* me.  Eating the last
10% takes half my eating time, and gives satiety a chance to catch
up, so I don't still feel hungry and go start eating something else.

I don't eat when I'm not hungry (unless I'm sure I'll get hungry
shortly, and eating won't be practical then).

I bike to work, 22 miles a day, year round.  Fast.  I also bike to
stores, movies, and everywhere else, as I've never owned a car.
I estimate this burns about 1000 calories a day.  It also helps
build and maintain muscle mass, prevent insulin resistance (diabetes
runs in my family), and increase my metabolism.  (Even so, my
metabolism is so low that when I'm at rest I'm most comfortable
with a temperature in the 90s (F), and usually wear a sweater if
it drops to 80.)  Cycling also motivates me to avoid every excess
ounce.  (Cyclists routinely pay a premium for cycling products that
weigh slightly less than others.  But it's easier and cheaper to trim
weight from the rider than from the vehicle.)

There's no question in my mind that my metabolism is radically
different from that of most people who have never been fat.  Fortunately,
it isn't different in a way that precludes excellent health.

Obviously, I can't swear that every obese person who does what I've
done will have the success I did.  But I've never yet heard of one who
did try it and didn't succeed.


I'm sure everyone's weight cycles, whether or not they've ever been fat.
I usually eat extremely little salt.  When I do eat something salty,
my weight can increase overnight by as much as ten pounds.  It comes
off again over a week or two.
-- 
Keith Lynch, kfl@access.digex.com