Hello, I'm Chance Argo, and I am a sugar addict.

First of all, I just want to say sorry for being away so long; that always seems to happen when one of our shows goes on. And then having to prep for Halloween )costumes, food, candy, etc.)...Ya get the idea.
Speaking of Halloween...Sadly, the title line was not meant to be humorous.
Food addiction is just as big a problem as any other substance abuse problem. Your life is controlled by a chemical substance (in my case, sugar).
I was hoping that an increase in activity (some Tai-Chi, simple sword-training) would help. And it did, for a while. When I was actually doing it on a regular basis. But with three kids (four, counting my nephew, whom we baby-sit daily), one of whom is actively SELLING CHOCOLATE BARS for her school, it's hard to stay on track. Just finding time for myself to exercise and/or meditate regularly is difficult.
And the condition is serious. I'm overweight; have been for most of my life. And I can't stop eating. And it will kill me if I don't do something now.
My wife had done the low-carb diet before, and had stayed on it for a year-and-a-half, and she says she never felt better.
So yesterday, we decided to start that. Cutting sugar out cold turkey.
I'm expecting the wihdrawal to hit sometime this weekend. This is also the weekind when we're going to our first SCA event in about a year. With a five-remove feast. Sigh.
But I hope, once I get to the other side of the detox, that it will help me to be a better Jedi, a better swordsman, a better parent...a better, healthier person.
I'll keep y'all posted on how it's going.

-Chance

MTFBWY on your fight Chance!

Knowing your addicition to food is the first step... I will pray through the force for you to find strength....

Chance, all the best of luck, my friend. Addictions, no matter what they are to, are a difficult thing to deal with. You have all of our support here.

RIGHT there with you, bro!

Nice to see you!

I wish you the best of luck on this very difficult path. MTFBWY.

Well, I'm back from my first SCA event in a year, was actually able to eat a lot of the feast on Saturday, and just had a really great time. No headaches, no shakes, just a little sleepy (not much sleep at an SCA event!).
Back in June, I weighed 300 pounds (I'm 6'2\"); After a month of Yoga, Tai Chi and swordwork, I got down to 280. I was afraid since my lapse back in September, I'd got it all back since then.
I just weighed myself today...scale read 270.
I'm now back at the weight I was in High School.
Happy-making.
-Chance

Well done Chance! Keep it up.

Outstanding, your hard work is paying off. Keep up the good work.

brother sorry for the latness in this. i am sorry to hear of you're problem but very happy to hear about you're resolution. the fact that you are dealing with this makes you a better man than i. good luck in this and MTFBWY

UPDATE:
Apparently the scale that my wife and I were using was, in fact, broken. So the readings we'd been getting from it were not accurate.
When I started exercising over the summer, the scale told me I had gone from 300 to 280. This week the scale has told me that not only have I kept those 20 pounds off, despite a lapse in my workout regime, but had lost an additional 10, and I was now at 270.
Sump'n Wrong, Here...
I just got a second opinion on a more reliable scale.
331.
Well, a little disappointing, but I now have a more realistic idea of my starting point.
However: weight loss was never the primary goal of this diet. Breaking my sugar addiction is. So it doesn't bother me that much.
The pounds will come off, I'm sure of that. Just at a slower (and healthier) rate.
It only *appears* to be a setback.

Well my friend, if you want to help break up the stored fat in your body with some help, go to GNC or where ever you want and get a product that is called CLA. It's a compound that breaks down the stored fat in your body. It's not the same as Hydroxicut or stuff like that, it is something seperate. Those products help you burn the fat you take in and some of what you have stored. CLA targets the stored fat in your body and helps break it down. Hope this info helps you out.

i tend to stay away from pills and things like that. if you eat small meals and five a day. and dont eat after five then you are fine. another old wives tale that works is eat three meals a day doesnt matter what and eat them for twenty mins straigt you will loose weight and be where you're body should be. this does work from expierance and from others. also depending what you do at night doing three sets of 30 push ups will boost you're metabolism before going to bed and will help you burn more and faster while you are asleep. the twenty min rule is great for those who are diabetic and also ones with heart problems. remember the older you are the harder it is to loose so be mindful of that. i tend to stay away from advice in these things because i was one to crash diet to get in the navy i lost nintey pounds in three months and i am still suffering from that. oh and scales i would suggest looking at it now then in three weeks after doing this look at it again dont keep an eye on the scale trust me on that. and if you are working out muscle wieghs more than fat. also when you getdown to 220 you wont loose as much as you did back at 330. try to drink at least 8 glasses of water, not flavored in any way nor propel or anything unless working out. drink just water and it will help you're body get rid of the water wieght in you're system. MTFBWY

Good Luck Chance on this, but by the way your inaccurate scales said that you had lost weight, and you said that you had been cutting down. So the chances are that you had in fact lost those 30 pounds!

I appologize for not reading you post sooner and resonding, i wish i had read it sooner. You might get upset but i started to cry when i read it. you see in April (the very same month of my birthday) i lost someone very dear to me, we called him Uncle D (I don't want to use full names). he had been over weight from a while after high school i believe. he used to play basket ball way back then but one day hurt his knee very badly and started down a road of depression that he was never able to come fully out of. as we all know depression can lead to eating dissorders and that is what happened to him. well, last year his legs started to get infected and he got large dark spots on them here and there, it got really bad, in his final months one of his legs got to be literally the size of my hips. I was so worried about him.
well, as i am sure you can tell by know some of the infections got worse and he was hospitalized, the reason he hadn't got before this was that he wanted to spend his last amount of time on earth with his family (he was always stubborn). He had a blood son, two adopted nephews and have been taking care of 2 of his other nephews since birth. his own son is only 4 years old and i knew if he didn't do something he wouldn't see him go to school, and that is what he wanted, well, it didn't happen. His son still has a year or two to go until kindergarten.
Now here is the amazing thing, yes he was very tall, at about 6'4\" he towered over me. and he was very strong but dispite all of that, he passed away at over 700 pounds. When he wanted food his significant other was not strong enough to tell him no and the children he looked after didn't know not to (well except the oldest two but that is neither here nor there). The fact is I don't want to loose anyone else to eating. I didn't think that eating dissorders were that bad in general, but it hits you when it happens to someone you love, this man was more like a father then anyone i have ever know, including my own father. I miss him very much and am tearing even now but this must be said, examples like this must be shared because i do not want to see any other person go threw what those who knew him are now going threw. I am very glad that you are attempting to loose wait, please, please, i beg you, keep at it. SCA is a great group, we have some members living right down the street. and remember, you can not help others if you do not help yourself. if you aren't there to take care of your loved ones, that is hardly caring for them at all. so, i will leave it at that. take care.

Justice:
Hopefully, the ketosis I'm trying to induce with this diet will do what you say the CLA does. But I will keep it in mind.
Anora^una: I am so sorry for your loss. And that is why I've started on this road; so I can prevent that (and any other related illnesses) from happening to me. I'm going to take care of me, so I can take care of my family. Blessed Be,

and MTFBWUA,

-Chance

Thats great Chance. I`m happy your aving a real go at it.

Last night's acid test...
...Otherwise known as Thanksgiving Dinner on a low-carb diet.
Actually, it was easier than I thought it would be. We found a few low-carb desserts, so we could actually have some, and not have to look at the table and sigh. And since it's the two-week mark, we are allowed to up our carb intake a little. Matter of fact, my wife and I were actually full after the first plate.
I also managed to check the 'more reliable' scale I've mentioned.
323.
Down from 331.
Cravings are controllable, don't feel the need to eat every half-hour, it takes less to fill me up, I'm not falling asleep from sugar crashes in the middle of the day...and 8 pounds lighter.
Methinks it's working.

Three weeks in...
and an inch off the waist.
I'm now past the 'detox' phase, and can now eat a little more normal. I can have up to 40 grams of carbs a day. And I have no desire to max that out every day.
I'm feeling good about how this is going.

Well done Chance keep it up. MTFBWY