Fire Safety 3 Day Yom Tov, Shabbos Safe, Food Warming Plate: Hello My name is BenTzion Davis and I am an Electr...

Fire Safety 3 Day Yom Tov, Shabbos Safe, Food Warming Plate: Hello My name is BenTzion Davis and I am an Electr...: Hello My name is BenTzion Davis and I am an Electronic Engineering Technician in Borough Park, NY.    When I was going to college, I ...

MY BLOG HAS HIT THE BIG TIME! we are moving!

My friend Rachel the Wife Mentor has agreed to coach me and mentor me on my journey. Please check out the new and improved blog over at bigfatdoctor.com! Please comment and let us know how you like the new look.

Wheat Belly?... and I thought it was all my fault!

 Yesterday I was a mad woman! I ran for 1.5miles and did two yoga sessions that were 30minutes each. I am so sore today but I slept so well and that was with having to wake up and nurse a baby twice. I can really tell my body is starting to reset itself in so many ways. Yeah! It feels so good to be moving toward health and a fit body. I have struggled with my weight since I was a little girl and there is so much emotional baggage tucked in between those rolls. I think it has even become my identity in a way to be the "big" one. So many people are checking in with me regularly about their journey and reporting their meals, exercise routine or  goals with me and it is really very exciting. Having support like this and being other peoples support really is motivating and rewarding!
My Aunts sent me a book called Wheat Belly that I am reading. It is all about how wheat was modified to increase yield which unfortunately has produced a grain lacking in nutrients and appears to even be contributing to the obesity epidemic in America. He attacks the low-fat, no-fat movement that gained popularity in the 70's and is still going strong. Dr. Davis a preventative cardiologist explains that Americans have only gotten fatter with these guidelines and not leaner...he cites wheat but primarily gluten as the major obstacle. He even uses his experience with triathletes and their inability to lose their spare tire. These are not people for whom diet and exercise are usually a problem they are finely tuned athletes. So his basic hypothesis is eliminate wheat gluten from your diet and you will lose weight. I am trying to gear myself up to do his diet by February. And we shall see. My Aunts have collectively lost over 10lbs just from eliminating wheat and gluten. It is very exciting to see an MD tackle the gluten problem. Naturopaths have seen the gluten intolerance and food sensitivites relating to wheat and gluten for years now. The MD's usually argue that we are overstating the number of people with gluten sensitivities and/or celiac disease but, perhaps it is not just our  patient population perhaps it is truly a more universal reaction to this high-yield hybridized wheat. Can't wait to read all about it.
BTW  for all of you skeptics out there he has pages and pages of references in the back of the book citing research studies that back up his claims and theories, so please let us know what you think. Have you read the book? Have you tried the diet? Please let us know about it!

Unleash your inner tiger! JOG/ RUN/LIVE!

Today I am weighing in at 246lbs! I started this journey at 250.4lbs on December 1st, 2011. So I am slowly losing weight. I am gearing up to move toward a wheat-free diet and using food combining principles but, I am not there yet. For now I am just trying to make exercise a habit and watch portions and generally improve my eating habits by adding vegetables and reducing carbs(I tend to overeat carbohydrates). So lets keep it going! I also just ordered some supplements online including chromium, and good old Vitamin D3. Here in the Pacific Northwest we tend to lack the proper amount of sunshine and as a result many folks out here are deficient in vitamin D3. I was tested a few months ago when I was pregnant with our second son and my levels were quite low. I started my levels at 17! (30-80ng/ml is considered 'normal range'.) Vitamin D is necessary for a whole host of processes in our bodies many of them poorly understood. Some of the more studied pathways indicate a need for Vitamin D in the absorption and utilization of calcium, hormone synthesis and in the prevention of flu. ?Some studies have also included Vitamin D as a possible treatment for seasonal affective mood disorder. So don't procrastinate get your level checked today and work with your doctor to get your level optimized. I feel sooo much better than I did and my level is still hovering at 29 but, it is a lot better than 17!  So anecdoctally I feel more energy, my appetite is less and more appropriate to what I actually need and my mood is much improved. I have heard similar stories from other folks including a husband and wife who swear it has helped them obsess less about food and have reduced cravings. So once again what do you have to lose? But please run your levels especially if you plan on doing any type of aggressive replacement regimen as toxicity is possible and easily preventable by getting your level checked periodically.
On another note a good friend of mine and I have made a commitment to finish a marathon together by august sometime...we are looking for a good race now. We may start with a 5K but, we shall see. Any other overweight or out-of-shape Portlanders want to join us? It is so exciting working on running for the sake of completing a goal like that makes it all so much more exciting. I have always had this fear due to my fat that if I ever needed to run from something well....I would probably lose. Now I want to be able to run and save my self if need be. I wanna be able to run from that tiger and live! So when I strap on my running shoes today I am going to be focused on discovering my inner tigress and that ferocious inner drive that I used to have in high school. That drive that had me in every club in the school, while in student government and getting straight A's. I am going to find that inner tigress and let her roar my way through a mile and half of pure jogging bliss.

My Big Fat Jacket

A dear friend of mine called to support me in this blogging/weight loss endeavor and she said a really powerful statement to me. She made a comment that I am just wearing a fat jacket...it served its purpose for a time...I felt I needed to wear the jacket and now I have decided I don't need the jacket and it is time to take it off. That metaphor feels so good and true...and it makes it sound so easy, which I love. It is simple and true, this idea that I AM NOT MY FAT. I am inside and underneath and hidden beneath this shell that I have created around myself. The true me is hiding inside.
So then she asked me the BIG QUESTION so what is it all about? For me the answer is simple, deep down I feel unworthy, unlovable and less than. That is it for me, this weight is about disguising the true me because I am afraid to show it. Well the truth is when I evaluate who I am as a whole I am a pretty good person. I do my best to help others, I try and work on myself and better myself. I do my best to not hurt people and make up when I do. I try to be fairly ethical and honest, and I have dedicated my life to try and make my corner of the world a little better. I am not perfect, I have my faults but as far as people go I am doing okay. I am not Charles Manson(one of the most evil people I can think of) or Mother Theresa(one of the most selfless I can think of) but, I am a good, decent human being. I vow to remind myself of this every time I feel the urge to overeat or put something unhealthy in my mouth.
Time to get the kids in bed and hit the treadmill! Lets see if I can beat that 24minute mile or at least not go any slower!

The 24 Minute mile.

I did it. I actually walk/jogged a mile. It took me 24 minutes. I realize that this is extremely slow but I am proud. I am following the recommendations of fitness motivator and I walk/jogged the first half a mile and jogged for the second half of a mile. I feel great, full of energy...my mood is light and happy. I am going to do this! Thank you to my dear friends who are supporting me along the way! I also want to thank yogatic on youtube for your extremely helpful video yoga for runners it was a great post-run stretching routine!

About Me: Getting Real

This has been a monumental period in my life. I graduated medical school, passed all of my medical boards and licensing exam and will become a licensed Naturopathic Physician as of January 1st, 2012. I got my driver's license finally and gave birth to a beautiful baby boy who is thriving and making me smile every day. But there is one area of my life I have never been able to conquer: Obesity. I  have carried the label FAT around with me since I can remember, the childhood obesity hit me somewhere around prepubescence and has followed me ever since.

I just decided it is time to get real. I am 34, a mother of two boys, and now a doctor who weighs 250lbs. My weight impacts my ability to be employed , my longevity and my self-esteem.  I decided December 1st, 2011 that I will lose 105lbs by December 1st, 2014 and this blog will be my journal as I do it.