Ate a high-fat diet – lost 200 lbs

The frequent reader here has no doubt heard Tommy Runesson’s impressive story before. But now it’s also in the Swedish newspaper Corren and we get to admire some new pictures of Tommy. Like the one above – it’s probably time for a new pair of pants.
Here’s the full article, translated into English.
Ate a High-Fat Diet – Lost 200 lbs
In two years Tommy Runesson lost 200 lbs. By exercising and eating fruit? No, with fat.
Initially, the diabetes nurse had trouble believing what she saw. The patient Tommy Runesson’s blood sugar, cholesterol and lipid levels just kept improving, while he was eating exactly the opposite of what the official dietary guidelines dictate.
Tommy is full of contradictions in many ways. Despite always being obese, he has felt fine both physically and mentally. He has no idea what his health markers looked like when he was obese, as he had hardly ever seen a doctor. But he can take a guess…
– Oddly enough, I was never bullied, nor did I feel awkward as a fat boy. Perhaps someone yelled “fatso” at me in school at times, but it never stuck with me.
Tommy has a background as a trained chef and has always loved food, “real” food as he calls it, in the old traditional style. Meat and fish and rich sauces with piles of pasta, bread and potatoes. And Coca Cola. He had big portions and was obese already as a child. But he never had a sweet tooth, and was never particularly fond of pastries and candy.
As he felt fine, he didn’t consider losing weight, even though deep inside he of course knew he should.
So, what happened?
– Well, this is actually pretty funny. I was googling for new recipes for béarnaise sauce and happened to end up on the journalist Sten Sture Skaldeman’s homepage www.skaldeman.se (in Swedish). I was caught up in his life story, how he lost a weight loss contest and began to eat himself to death. He ate all the things that were good and forbidden and ignored the rest. To his great surprise all of his 155 unhealthy pounds started to melt off. And he’s still alive! His motto is: “If we eat what we’re meant to eat, we’ll have the body we’re meant to have.”
– It’s amazing that one person’s attempt at eating himself to death started a national movement. After two years I had lost 200 lbs (90kg), all my health markers are excellent and I haven’t experienced a second of suffering or hunger. This is an enjoyable method that I’ll never let go of. My mother, father and brother have all joined too.
Your food choices are very unusual, an ultra-strict LCHF diet, and many may react to the amount of butter you consume.
– I’ve always loved herb butter, béarnaise sauce and mayonnaise. If you have a problem with these, I suggest that at least you choose fattier meat cuts. Pork loin instead of pork chops. Entrecote instead of steak and fillet. Chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts. It’s marbled, tastes better and is cheaper. You don’t have to be as strict as I am. The fat can also just come from full-fat cream, cheese and sour cream, but they contain a little more carbohydrates. The trick with an LCHF diet is that the fat keeps you satiated.
From reading your blog, we understand that you are a number nerd. Your health markers are constantly updated.
– Yes, I think it’s interesting. I’m since long enjoying a completely flat blood sugar level, it never dips.
Critics argue that the climate will collapse if we all pig out on meat.
– We shouldn’t. We shouldn’t increase the amount of protein, just skip the carbohydrates and add saturated fat.
Sugar vs. other carbohydrates, isn’t this where opinions differ?
– Yes, all agree that refined sugar is bad. But I also claim that starchy carbohydrates, grain flours, that are converted to sugar in the digestive tract, are equally great villains.
The acronym LCHF has become negatively charged.
– Yes, many have begun to call it a low-carb diet instead. The acronym LCHF is a Swedish invention, and I don’t hide the fact that it probably saved my life. I will gladly debate with any dietitian. I am well read, and I don’t exactly represent the only success story in this area. Now I am a trained diet counselor and I give lectures.
Wherein lies the controversial part in this?
– There’s no big money involved in LCHF, but there certainly is in the food industry and the dietary advice feeding the pharmaceutical industry. It’s about prestige and money. There are diabetes clinics that hand out brochures on how to eat, published by pharmaceutical companies selling insulin! Imagine that all dietitians, who are now discouraging fat consumption, would suddenly say “oops, we were wrong!” They’d then be admitting that their advice has led to a deterioating quality of life for hundreds of thousands of diabetics and obese patients.
– But time is running out. Many people’s lives are at stake.
Corren: Ate a High-Fat Diet – Lost 200 lbs (Original article in Swedish, by Carina Glenning, Östgöta Correspondenten, Sweden. E-mail: carina.glenning@corren.se)
Earlier about Tommy
Great Cholesterol Numbers After 4 Years on an Ultra-Strict LCHF Diet
Will LCHF Work Long-Term? Say, After Four Years?
This is awesome and I love learning as much as I can about this way of life and how, if done right, it makes people and the world healthier!
How much of the Earths surface is suitable for pasture (Grass) but not for grain and or vegetable farming?
Can large amounts of fodder be grown indoors from barley?
Animal fat anf animal protein has and can continue to feed the world no matter what some anti animal people say or write.
Ketogenic diets are better for our health and cheaper.(A quarter pound of butter and a cup of cream every day along with eggs bacon beef lamb fish etcetera every other day)
Carbohydrates and and vegetarian ideas kill.
Do noth bother to respond unless you know what gluconeogenisis and HB A1c are!
Eric
When we over eat, it is on grains and not meat. On the LCHF diet you don't eat as much as you do when eating grains.
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2013/04/allan_savory_s_ted_ta...
The question I have is, did the trials deliberately fail, because the grain industry was behind it all.
When is Tommy going to pose in a bathing suit, like the success stories of fellow Swede and supreme diet, health and exercise guru Martin Berkhan:?
http://www.leangains.com/search/label/Success%20Stories
No success story in this site nears Martin's!
You will probably never see me pose like that. I have way to much lose skin hanging around... If you join us on the low carb cruise in May you might see me in bathing trunks and if you join I promise I'll pose for you. It will not be a pretty sight, but I'll do it especially for you... :-)
I guess Marin has done some exercising. I have not exercised anything than walking (more strolling). No weights, no running no pushups. I lost my first 40kg without an extra step compared to my starting weight.
I am not saying I would have a perfect body if I did all the workout others do but am pretty happy with my weight loss based on butter, eggs, bacon, cream and cheese...
The "news" in this posting I guess was the fact that a couple of quite big newspapers shared my story. Not the story itself.
/Tommy
---
I wouldn't worry in the least about our resident troll Ondrej. I expect that Ondrej can find plenty of pictures of men posing in bathing suits on the interweb; as he does seem rather fixated on that idea. Each to their own I guess :-P
Tommy, I congratulate you in your weight loss. It's always better to lose something than not lose at all.
But if you are really honest, you must admit that, as per your own description, you have only reached partial success.
However, what matters is how you feel about yourself. If you are happy where you are, good for you. The only one that should care about your body and what you do with it is you. Not me, not the doctor not FrankG, etc.
With that being said, I find it extremely deceptive and intellectually dishonest that you and many others are shown as successes when, except for Mickel, in reality all of you are work in process.
I find it extremely hypocritical to complain - justifiably - about the deceptive campaigns of Coca Cola and McDonalds and yet use the same tactics to promote LCHF.
When you look down and your belly hides your non-functional private parts.....
@Ondrej. "Per my own description"??? I have never wanted a beach-ready body. I have never claimed I want a "six-pack". Where in the world do you see me writing something to suggest I am only partial successful? I am perfectly happy with my body now and the "not a pretty sight" thing was for people like you who value looks more than well-being... I could't care less about my "lose" skin...
/Tommy
In the beginning I ate lunch but never breakfast. After a year or so I ate less and less for lunch until I stopped eating lunch at all.
/Tommy
But you said on#6 ;"@ Ondrej You will probably never see me pose like that. I have way to much lose skin hanging around."
Didn't sound to me like an admission of success. It's more of contentment with mediocrity.
I'm surprised that with free medical services in Sweden you have not applied for an operation to remove loose skin. But hey you do hat you want to do. Just don't try to bamboozle me with doublespeak and contradictions. I'm not FrankG.
As Frank said, do not pay attention to him Tommy, he is suffering from psychological condition.
I have occupied a space in your little brain and you can't shake me out.
What can I say? A rat is a rat!
Like, for example, that my father regained his health on a very low carb very high fat (animal fat) diet?
Have a nice day.
The reason for me not applying for surgery is that I do not care how I look. The comment on the lose skin was yet again directed at you who seems to put looks beflre health.
I say it agan: I do not care how I look! I did not care when my weight was at almost 175kg and I do nota care about the lose skin now.
Can you please stop putting words in my mouth and tell me what I think.
/Tommy
I didn't "put words in your mouth." I quoted your OWN STATEMENTS!
You said:"You will probably never see me pose like that. I have way to much lose skin hanging around... If you join us on the low carb cruise in May you might see me in bathing trunks and if you join I promise I'll pose for you. It will not be a pretty sight, but I'll do it especially for you... :-)"
and:"I am not saying I would have a perfect body if I did all the workout others do."
If you want to deny yourself, go ahead.
BTW, this might be of interest to you:
http://www.bodyfatguide.com/LooseSkin.htm
FrankG has homosexual tendencies which he suppresses by consuming copious amounts of whiskey and retrograde, irrational outbursts of homophobia.
You need to come out of the closet!
I say it agan: I do not care how I look! I did not care when my weight was at almost 175kg and I do nota care about the lose skin now.
I see no need continuing arguing with you about how _I_ feel since you seem to troll a little to much everywhere I see you comment...
/Tommy