I was going to die young, and my death was to be long, slow, and uncomfortable.

This is how I felt last year. On December 29th 2010, my 39th birthday, I weighed nearly 350 pounds. At 6’4″ that made me quite obese. And I had given up on my health.

The past few years have been miserable, health-wise. High cholesterol, high blood pressure, high heart-rate, hiatal hernia and GERD, bloating, gas, burping, farting, IBS, chronic constipation followed by diarrhea. I lived in fear of my next IBS attack. When I went out and about I had to know where the nearest bathroom was–it could strike at any time.

I was obese and uncomfortably so. I could barely tie my own shoes. Sleeping was difficult. I’d wake in the morning with back and shoulder pain. My clothes no longer fit, and I was wearing 4XL tall shirts and size 48 waist pants.

I’ve been steadily gaining weight my entire life. There have been small periods of time where I was able to lose a little bit of weight, but I gained it right back promptly. There have been times when I’ve been able to maintain my weight, but those were followed by a rapid weight gain.

I had all but given up on weight-loss. I’ve tried just about everything. Counting calories, endless aerobic excercise, low fat, weight logs, self-hatred, you name it. I’ve listened to the advice of personal trainers, weight-loss gurus, friends and family, and lean athletic people for years. And none of it has ever worked.

Exercise makes me hungry. I’d go to the gym and burn 300 calories on the treadmill, then I’d be starving and eat a huge meal afterwards.

Counting calories and portion control just leaves me hungry. I can hold out for awhile, angry and hungry and exhausted, but then I give in to my hunger and binge.

And then something happened that saved my life.

On Wednesday January 5th 2011 I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, “Windows Weekly” on the TWiT network starring Paul Thurrott and Leo Laporte. Towards the end of the podcast Leo and Paul did their usual Audible commercial, and Paul recommended a book that changed my life forever. The book is called “Why We Get Fat: And What To Do About It” by Gary Taubes. I immediately bought the book and started listening. And that evening I started following the book’s recommendations. I finished listening to that audiobook in two days.

This started my journey into low carb eating. I reckon this lifestyle can be called many things. Paleo, Primal, Atkins, Mediterranean, South Beach, low carb, low glycemic, ketogenic, and many others. All these diets have differences, but have these things in common: don’t eat sugar or grain.

Through countless hours on the Internet I’ve settled into a diet that I think is right for me. My plan is to completely eliminate sugar, grains, and starches in all forms,. For sugars this means table sugar, fructose, sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, maltose, dextrose, agave sugar, evaporated cane juice, turibinaud sugar, fruit sugars–everything. Yes, even apples and oranges and bananas. Today’s fruits have been genetically bioengineered to be as super sweet as possible. An apple is basically just a big ol’ bag of sugar. No sugary drinks like soda or juice. So sugar is out. Next is grains, and that means wheat and oat and things like that. It means no flour or anything made with flour–bread, pancakes, muffins, pasta, biscuits, cake, pies, etc. And no oatmeal. Finally, starches have to go. This means corn, rice, potatoes, and carrots. Wow, these are all my favorite foods!

So what *CAN* I eat? Meat, and lots of it. Eggs and bacon, fish and beef, lamb, and organs like liver. Heavy cream instead of milk. Cheese and butter. Leafy green vegetables, like salad greens and spinach. Cucumbers and tomatoes and celery. Soft, mushy, watery veggies and leafy veggies. Nuts. Sour fruits like blackberries. So I eat a lot of bacon and eggs, steak and salad. That doesn’t sound so bad eh?

What do I drink? First I’ll tell you what I don’t drink. I don’t drink fruit juice, soda, beer, Starbucks, milkshakes, milk, sweet teas. I’ve pretty much just narrowed down my beverages to these four: water, heavy cream, coffee, and wine. I prefer decaf coffee most of the time, as I’ve heard that caffeine causes a release of insulin (among other things, insulin is a fat-storage hormone). As for wine, I drink very dry reds like Cab or Zin. And I drink very little coffee and wine. A couple times a week, one small cup or glass. The rest of the time it’s copious amounts of water.

So isn’t this also a high fat diet? Absolutely. I and many others believe that saturated fat is not bad for you. In fact, it’s GOOD for you. It doesn’t cause heart disease or clog your arteries or give you heart attacks. Read Taubes’ book or watch the excellent documentary “Fat Head” on Hulu or Netflix. Kurt Harris’ blog is a great place to get started, too.

We’re three months into 2011 now, and I’ve lost almost 40 pounds. And that’s without trying. No exercise, no calorie counting, no portion control, no macronutrient ratios. I eat when I’m hungry and I stop when I’m full. Just eating real food. My health is markedly better. My clothes are baggy–time to buy new clothes! My blood lipid markers have improved dramatically–triglycerides are way down, HDL is up, LDL is down. I’m not out of breath while walking up stairs. I can tie my own shoes easily and without discomfort. My GERD and IBS issues are gone (I blame gluten sensitivity). I feel ten years younger.

That’s all for now. More to come.