One of the things that is a beneficial side effect of my ultra-nutrition cancer healing regimen is the accompanying weight loss, and education about weight management, that was interwoven into my whole learning process.  I lost about 60 pounds of unnecessary fluff just by eating a healthy diet, and have kept it off, it's a permanent lifestyle change.

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My cancer diagnosis occurred in February 2019 (age 52 at that time).  A few months earlier, in late 2018, I had reached my all-time highest weight of 242 pounds (I'm 6'-0" tall).  I didn't consider myself obese, in fact I've always been athletic.  But 242 was ridiculous; it was the point at which it was getting uncomfortable to do ordinary things.  I personally considered my ideal weight to be about 210, because that's what it was at a time when I was in what I considered to be my ideal athletic condition.  But the weight kept creeping on slowly but surely over time.  Over the years, whenever I'd get tired of the excess weight, I would occasionally try to do something about it, such as cut out sugar or reduce portions.  I'd get some results, but they would not last.  When I hit 242, I made another such attempt in late 2018.  I cut way back on sugar, and by the time of my cancer diagnosis in early 2019, I had lost 10 pounds.

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But then after the diagnosis, after I adopted the diet regimen described in this website, my weight loss total reached 40 pounds by the end of 2019.  I was about 202, and leveled off there.  That was the result of cutting out all animal products, sugar, white flour, processed foods, etc.  But I had not cut out the "good" oils, like olive oil, and high-fat vegetarian foods like nuts/seeds, olives, avocados, tofu, and coconut.  In fact I was eating a lot of those foods.

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But then around 2020 I learned, just in the process of my continual research on the subject of diet, cancer, and health, that added oil (and/or excess dietary fat) is unhealthy.  I learned multiple things about it, all of which are reversible by diet (see my Resources page for links to these topics):

It causes cardiovascular disease.

It causes diabetes.

It contributes to cancer.

It causes acne.

Fat/oil is the primary factor in weight gain; it's not about the calories or carbs.

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So I quit the added oil and cut way back on the high-fat foods.  Within days, my acne problem improved dramatically, after decades of stubborn resistance (see my Updates page for that story).  To eliminate that problem entirely, I cut out those high-fat foods entirely, and the acne quickly disappeared entirely.  If I happen to have some high-fat food or some oil, acne will recur, there is a direct relationship; I have to keep the fat/oil intake level to near zero.  I guess my body is particularly sensitive to fat/oil.

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In the meantime, on my zero-fat diet, I started losing more weight.  I've leveled off at about 182, which is 60 pounds below my all-time high.  This is now the same as my teenage weight.

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I got this result without ANY change in my exercise routine (I do have an exercise routine), without ANY calorie counting, and without ANY portion limitations.  I basically don't concern myself with the issue, I just stick to my new diet.  My oncologist mused about how I'm going to get enough "essential fatty acids."  But the average doctor is painfully ignorant about diet, having had ZERO training in the subject, so I considered that statement irrelevant.  I already get monthly blood tests monitoring my overall condition, and all indicators related to nutrition are normal, but in response to my oncologist's statement, I requested a more specialized blood test.  The result of such test, a lipid panel, showed normal cholesterol and other lipids (on the very low side, which does not mean I'm really low, it means the test is calibrated based on the popular average, which is based on people with the typically inordinately high fat/oil consumption).  There is plenty of unavoidable fat/oil across the spectrum of foods, you don't need much at all.  The natural, ideal human diet is carbohydrate-based.

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The key to weight control is cutting FAT/OIL.  It's really not about the sugar, carbs, calories, or exercise (although refined sugar is bad for other reasons, and exercise is good for all reasons).  This is because the body would rather store excess dietary fat and burn off excess dietary glucose (sugar, carbs) as heat, rather than convert glucose to fat.  But if you eat a diet that is high in both fat and sugar/carbs, the carb calories will contribute to weight gain because they enable your body to conserve fat.  So carbs/calories are only relevant to weight where dietary fat is high (which is common).  But if you cut the fat, you negate the carb/calorie weight gain issue.  It's impossible for you to find the exact equilibrium of calorie intake to calorie requirement.  But your body can achieve the balance if you give it what it needs to do so.  The body has its ideal weight, and if you don't overdo the fat/oil, your body will find and hold that ideal weight even if you consume more carb calories than you need.  The excess carb calories will be burned off as body heat.

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The reason why "high-protein," "keto" diets provide weight loss results is because people cut carbs so low that the total dietary caloric intake is low enough to cause weight loss.  But that's the hard way, and very unhealthy.

 

Here is the explanation (these links are also on my Resources page):

Doug Lisle on the subject of weight loss being not about carbs, but fat:  https://youtu.be/xAdqLB6bTuQ

Michael Klaper on carb-based diet for health and weight loss: https://youtu.be/JRlUTtdrJIo?t=2809 

 

The obvious sources of dietary fat/oil are animal products, fried foods, and junk foods.  Of course some foods are obviously oil-based, like mayonnaise, salad dressing, etc.  But on top of that, nearly EVERY packaged food product has added oil; check the labels and you'll find it EVERYWHERE.  That's why cutting back a little, or even a lot, may not give you the expected results, because the added oil is in EVERYTHING, so you don't notice it.  And it's typically the most unhealthy, highly processed oils like canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, safflower oil, etc, which are not human food.  You have to be diligent to check the labels.  If you're serious about health and weight loss, you're going to have to make a greater proportion of your foods from scratch.  If you don't get the weight loss results you expect, the answer is always the same: there is more fat/oil in your diet than you thought, so you haven't cut it enough.

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As I mentioned above, I'd lost some weight sporadically before, but didn't keep it off.  That's the typical result people get.  But that's not the case any more; I've kept it off for 4 years, because my new diet is my new lifestyle, and the fat/oil secret is the key to understanding the problem.  I eat a LOT of carbs, including brown rice, potatoes, whole grain bread, oatmeal, beans, and fruit, without limitation.  And I lost a lot of weight and effortlessly maintain a stable, low weight.  Here are my before (2018) and after (2023) photos:

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