Kelowna Ideal Protein Weight Loss Program – Maggie’s Testimonial

I’ve shared some inspirational stories about Maggie’s weight loss journey. She reached her goal of 135 pounds! She lost 74 pounds in just over 8 months. And she did it with a smile on her face the whole time.

Maggie was kind enough to write a testimonial for us, here it is:

“I started this journey in the spring of 2013, when I decided to do something about my weight once and for all. I was afraid of failure, since I had failed at weight loss before, many times. I have always been able to do whatever I set my mind to.... except that I had not been able to lose weight and keep it off. I was afraid of failure, but, I had heard of the successes of the Ideal Protein Plan, so I decided to give it a try. I went to the Paradigm Weight Loss Centre in Kelowna and decided that this was the plan for me. The councillors were great and the price was very reasonable, especially when compared to other places that I had checked out. The Ideal Protein diet was easier than I had expected. I lost 12 pounds the first 2 weeks and I continued to lose every single week. The plan was easy to follow, the foods were fun, and I was amazed at how little hunger I felt. The cravings seemed to be gone. When I started Ideal Protein, I weighed 209 pounds and now I am under 135 pounds. The year 2013 was the luckiest year of my life, because I found the Paradigm Weight Loss Centre.”

I have no doubt that Maggie will have no problem keeping the weight off. She is one determined lady. It was my pleasure to see her smile and enthusiasm each week.

Take care of yourself, you deserve the best.

Kelowna Ideal Protein Weight Loss Clinic - Garth’s Journey Part 2

So it’s been 2 weeks since my last blog and I’m pretty much on target. Down 8 pounds which is average for me at 4 pounds per week.

I must say I love being in ketosis, which is the body’s natural way to burn off excess body fat. Lots of energy, no cravings and no hunger. Sound too good to be true? It’s true. It took 3 days to get into ketosis and I have to admit that on the second day I woke up at 3 am, my body saying to me “you have a fridge full of food, go eat and I’ll tell you when to stop”. Fortunately my mind overruled my body and by day 3 my body had switched gears and started burning stored body fat for its energy needs. After that, as I said, everything just sort of falls into place and I’m well on my way to my goal of losing 12 pounds.

I find the psychology of weight loss pretty interesting. The body has mechanisms to get a person to do what it wants which is to eat lots of food and store the excess for future use (which goes back to the days when the meals we eat now weren’t the norm). The mind, now, has to control the body because there is just too much food available, especially the high carb, high sugar stuff that the body converts to body fat so easily.

Anyway, that is the news from my world. Looking forward to reaching my goal. I’ll keep you posted.

Take care,

Garth

Kelowna Ideal Protein Weight Loss Clinic - Garth’s Journey

So I messed up and gained 12 pounds since the end of October... Broke my own rules and now the scale is not my friend anymore.

Hi, my name is Garth and let’s back the train up a little. I own Paradigm Weight Loss Clinic, an Ideal Protein diet center. I got involve a year and a half ago when I was looking for a small business to buy. For years I had extra weight that I couldn’t seem to shed so I thought this is a great opportunity to do my due diligence on the company and lose weight too. 

I came in as a customer not telling anybody I was thinking of buying it. I lost 17 pounds in 5 weeks with the added bonus of dropping my dangerously high blood pressure to normal.

So I bought the business. It was an easy and understandable protocol and got right to the point of targeting body fat.

So fast forward to Halloween 2013. We bought the commercial treats for the kids (I know this is all wrong but they’re kids right?). Unfortunately not many showed up so we (my wife and I) had this tray of mini Kit Kats, gummies and Coffee Crisps, hmmm... What to do?

You must understand that sugar (sweets) are my Achilles Heel. This was the innocent start to breaking my own rules. As of January 6^th I am back on Protocal 1 with a starting weight of 197.

I’ll be posting my progress as the weeks go on. Great way to keep myself accountable. J

Take care,

Garth

Kelowna Ideal Protein Weight Loss Clinic – Maggie’s Story Part 2

I was going to talk about another subject today but I changed my mind. At the beginning of October I introduced you to Maggie and her inspirational weight loss journey. I had a weigh in with Maggie this morning and I had to share her joy with you and the benefits she has received since losing her weight. 

For a little background Maggie started with us in June this year. She started at 209 with a weight loss goal of 140. I’m happy to say that in just 26 weeks following the Ideal Protein diet she’s just 4.5 pounds away from her goal. She averaged just about 3 pounds lost a week. 

Maggie is 61 years old. 

We started the meeting with her telling me “it’s fun” appreciating her new body. At the beginning of October the excitement was getting on the back of a motorcycle with ease this time it was being able to ski with ease. “I have so much energy” she said. The last time she skied she was carrying an extra 62.5 pounds. What a difference that would make. 

I admire her determination. She plans on being at her goal when I see her after the holidays and I believe her. 

Take care of yourself, you deserve the best.

 

Kelowna Ideal Protein Weight Loss Program – Coconut Flour

For people who are on a low carb weight loss program, have issues with gluten or are trying to improve their health with a lower carb diet, coconut flour is a great alternative to wheat flour. The flour is made from the fibre left from the coconut meat after most of the oil has been extracted to make coconut oil. The fibre is then dried and ground up.

The fact that coconut flour is a great source of low carb goodies is great but it’s health benefits also need to be noted. It is extremely high in soluble and insoluble fiber which a lot of people on low carb diets lack. Fibre is beneficial to digestion, preventing constipation. Fiber can aid weight loss (coconut fibers are also known as a ‘metabolic medicine’), lower cholesterol and protect heart health.

Since coconut flour is so high in fibre is absorbs liquid at a rapid rate unlike wheat flour so it can’t be substituted straight for flour measurements. I’ve found many different opinions on-line as to what ratio coconut to wheat flour would be so for me I’d rather go on-line to find recipes that have already been kitchen tested. I’m not one to get to creative in the kitchen…

Coconut flour can be purchased at most supermarkets and I noticed that Costco has it as well.

Speaking of on-line recipes here’s one I found for sugar free berry muffins:

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs (room temperature - important)
• 1/3 cup coconut flour
• ¼ cup melted butter
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup sugar substitute equivalent (liquid preferred)
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 2-5 Tablespoons water (see below)
• ½ cup raspberries or blueberries

Preparation:

Heat oven to 375° F. Prepare pan with a generous amount of butter. This recipe makes six "regular"-sized muffins.

1)      Whisk or beat the eggs until whites and yolks are well-mixed. Stream in the butter while continuing to whisk. Add salt and vanilla and mix until combined. If using liquid sweetener (preferred, as it is zero carb), add at this point.

2)      Mix the remaining dry ingredients -- coconut flour, baking soda, and sweetener if using powder.

3)      Mix the dry and wet ingredients together. Now you will whisk in water, one tablespoon at a time. The coconut flour will absorb the liquid from the wet ingredients like crazy. You want to get it to a consistency that will hold up the berries, but not be too thick. I usually end up using about 4 Tablespoons of water.

4)      Gently mix in the berries and divide among 6 muffin cups. Bake for about 15 to 18 minutes, or until just turning golden on top.

Nutritional Information (using raspberries, zero carb sweetener, and an average of three available coconut flours): Each muffin has 2 grams net carbohydrate plus 3.5 grams fiber, 4 grams protein, and 132 calories.

Take care of yourself, you deserve the best.

Kelowna Ideal Protein Weight Loss Program – Gluten Free Products Exposed

If you haven’t read Wheat Belly by William Davis I highly recommend it. There is lots of good information on the hazards of eating wheat but today I am going to share his concerns with gluten free products and weight loss.

If you are trying to lose weight you may be avoiding gluten  and carbohydrates. Gluten is the main protein of wheat. Other grains containing gluten include barley, rye, spelt, triticale and kamut. An industry has developed around manufacturing baking products designed for people who are trying to reduce the amount of gluten they ingest.

The problem with these products is that in a lot of cases the products are made by replacing the gluten with cornstarch, rice starch, potato starch or tapioca starch. These products still trigger the glucose-insulin response that causes weight gain. Although wheat products increase blood sugar and insulin more than most these substitute products actually increase blood sugar even more than wheat products! If you are following a low carb diet plan you may need to avoid these products as well, make sure to check the ingredients and carb count in the nutritional facts.

Don’t worry, you don’t need to give up your baked treats. Coconut flour is an amazing substitute. Next week I’ll be covering the low carb miracle that coconut flour is and supply a couple of recipes.

Take care of yourself, you deserve the best.

Kelowna Ideal Protein Weight Loss Program – Women, Food and God by Geneen Roth

I want to introduce you to a book I’ve read several times, every time I get something new from it. Women, Food and God by Geneen Roth. This is not a religious book but it’s become a bit of a bible to me. This book is about food but it pertains to anything you use in your life to find misplaced comfort.

I highly recommend it if you are needing to find comfort outside yourself. Here are some quotes from Geneen’s writing:

“Our work is not to change what you do, but to witness what you do with enough awareness, enough curiosity, enough tenderness that the lies and old decisions upon which the compulsion is based become apparent and fall away. When you no longer believe that eating will save your life when you feel exhausted or overwhelmed or lonely, you will stop. When you believe in yourself more than you believe in food, you will stop using food as if it were your only chance at not falling apart. When the shape of your body no longer matches the shape of your beliefs, the weight disappears. (p. 80-81)”
― Geneen Roth, Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything

“For some reason, we are truly convinced that if we criticize ourselves, the criticism will lead to change. If we are harsh, we believe we will end up being kind. If we shame ourselves, we believe we end up loving ourselves. It has never been true, not for a moment, that shame leads to love. Only love leads to love.”
― Geneen Roth

 
Take care of yourself, you deserve the best.