/mike

We’re still in the first week of our grand “community diet” experiment — that’s such a harsh sounding word but it seems to fit — and the response has been fantastic. A lot of amazing people have joined the list and, at the time of this writing, there are about 70+. What started out as a little challenge between three friends has exploded beyond my wildest imagination.

Since we’re at roughly the mid-point of the first week I thought it might be a good time to talk about how I’m going to lose my excess weight and turn that healthy corner. A great majority of people seem following Colin’s method by watching and counting their caloric intake while increasing the amount of exercise they do weekly if not daily.

A few others are subscribing to the Weight Watchers, South Beach or Atkins diets. I’m really bad at counting calories, points or anything similar to it. I like food and that’s probably part of my problem. So based on the input of some friends I decided to try something a little different.

The company

The company is called Nikken and they promote healthy living through nutritional supplements and other products. My roommates parents have been ordering Nikken products for years and they absolutely love everything they’ve ever purchased. Recently Nikken came out with a line of products promoting weight loss and maintenance — weight gain is also possible with this line of products for those looking to bulk up.

Using the program my roommates dad, a very large man, has lost 17 pounds and several inches in the first month of using it — the only exercise he did during that time was a nightly walk with the dog since his knees are in extremely poor shape.

The beautiful part of the program is that while it’s recommended that you adjust to healthier eating habits it’s not required. Basically it means that if I want to go out and have a splediforous meal at my favorite restaurant or get that large popcorn at the theatre I can — not that I plan on doing that a lot but the option is there.

The weight loss program

Simply called Body Balance, the package I ordered consists of protein shakes, metabolic boosters (called Burn), appetite suppressors (called Crave), water soluble tablets called Rev and a product called Cleanse. My daily routine goes something like this:

• 30 minutes before breakfast take one Crave pill and two Burn pills
• for breakfast a protein shake — either with water, low fat milk or juice, and I can even add fruit if I want
• 30 minutes before lunch take another Crave and two more Burn
• another shake for lunch — adding a salad or small portion of food is alright
• if I feel tired or get any hunger cravings I pop a Rev tablet into a glass of water and drink it
• eat a normal supper

For the first week of using the program — and if I feel the need to later on — I take one or two Cleanse pills with water before bed. The purpose of the cleanse is to do just that, clean out your intestines so you can absorb the nutrients in food and supplements more effectively and more efficiently.

That’s my dieting or weight loss plan in a nutshell. Once I’ve lost all the weight and fat I want I can cut down on the amount of shakes I drink — as well as the number of Burn and Crave pills — and maintain whatever weight I’m at. Obviously adding exercise to the program just increases the speed and amount of weight being lost.