The Woody Boater Diet. It Was Time To Preserve / Restore..Me!

Last Weekend. Photo Scott Sawyer

Funny thing about me, I will spend all my time restoring a boat, car, home, and give away all my time to others, yet never really focus on myself. In fact writing this story is strange, and you may find it surprising, but not a fan of putting myself out there. Sure, my boat, your boat, anything but me.

I think my chin and belly were all one thing

The day a couple of months ago when I had to jump in and help a capsized sailboat was the final straw. I was weazing and good god, looked at my photos and said. I am done! My bottom needs replacing! And a quick varnish job aint gonna solve the chin..s blob issue.

A couple days ago Mark K noticed that I may have lost some weight from the photo below. Well, the simple answer is yes. Close to 50lbs.

Jimmy and Lynn, and that’s half of me in the center last week. Even the boat goes faster!

To be honest, at my age, being over weight is not a good thing and was starting to effect everything. I am in a very stressful carrier, and the way my brain works I can’t stop moving.

Old T Shirts fit again! Woohooo!

So how did I do it? First, I got help. I am not proud, clearly, and I couldn’t do it by myself.

I followed two pals who had done the same diet and loved it. Ideal Protein. I will add, that throughout my adult life I have tried them all and they are horrible. This one is easy and more about how I live and like to eat. YES! Chicken on a stick is OK.

OK, just chicken on a stick. I wonder if they have steamed veggies at the food court. Mmmm I don’t think so.

No carbs at the start and then they phase in. I had steak last night, a salad and some grilled veggies. I feel great. I basecly eat like its 1948 like my boat. HERE is an article on the topic if you are interested.  Its not about fat, salt or stuff like that. It’s about protein and no carbs. Not this kind BTW.

Not this kind

Now. Here is the potential deal killer for many. NO ALCOHOL! Carb! Now, 99% of diets are the same. And if you drink beer, then you made that deal with your gut already. It’s all done through medical folks and you go in once a week. For guys, it’s about 3-5lbs a week. No Oprah crap, just getting a job done. Like restoring a boat, it takes some time, but man when you are done!

The details are all over the internetter, so google it. There will be someone in you’re area that can help. I guess if it helps one of us in Woodyboaterville, then its worth it putting my double chins out there! It’s kinda cool and fits our lifestyle.

So that’s it, nothing special, but more than happy to answer any questions.

28 replies
  1. Troy in ANE
    Troy in ANE says:

    Yes!
    I did something similar around the turn of the century. As I understand it the body wants to process Carbs first (and store what it doesn’t use), body fat next, and protein last, so little to no carb intake with lots of protein and your body starts burning the fat. If you add to this eating times in small amounts during the day instead of 3 bigger meals (this helps keep your metabolism up rather than going into “store it” mode) and you will be amazed at the results.

  2. m-fine
    m-fine says:

    Congrats on your success! I need to get on a program like this. The problem I have is my diet is made up of two food groups; the bacon group and the chocolate group. It seems like all diets require severely limiting one or the other if not both.

  3. Mark Setterholm
    Mark Setterholm says:

    Lookin’ good Matt! I remember that fun night when you, Suzy, Jimmy and I were sitting in that Italian restaurant in Mt. Dora talking about the “Riva” diet. 😉 Look at you man – you did it! Congrats!

  4. Jim & Jaxon
    Jim & Jaxon says:

    Good work! We are following a similar program with excersize. I’m down 25 of my 40 goal and Jaxon lost his goal of 12. He told me to pitch the kale treats.

    • m-fine
      m-fine says:

      Give the kale to a pig. They are magical animals that can turn that crap into delicious bacon!

  5. Matt
    Matt says:

    Yikes! KALE? Dinner last night was a nice grilled Burger, and fresh garden tomoato, Onion, and dill pickles. Grilled zuchini and a small salad with homemade dressing. I was a happy camper. OH, also on this diet, exersise is just a 1/2 walk, no more.

  6. steve in the woods
    steve in the woods says:

    Thought the hospital visit was what got your attention? That, along with a pair if stents, got mine. Stay active!

  7. Mike K
    Mike K says:

    matt nice work! wont believe its you until the boatress comments.

    i have heard of others tring this with similar success.

    mike k

    ps, i get mentioned in the main story and its spelt wrong (mark k), about what i expected, dont change it!

    • Matt
      Matt says:

      Edward, its an entire program. Not sure how its different other than you visit a Dr every week, and there is daily coaching. Like all diets though, they all work, the trick is to want to stick with it. This is the only one I can see that fits into my lifestyle. I dont drink anyway, never really enjoyed it, and eat most of the food on this. My issue was over the years, stress, Thyroid and other stuff just caught up.

  8. DougP in the PNW
    DougP in the PNW says:

    The WORST food you can eat is enriched wheat…google it. Substitute whole wheat…IT MUST SAY WHOLE WHEAT on the label. You will lose 20# in a month and your glucose level will drop.

  9. John Rothert
    John Rothert says:

    Looking good Matt…..is yes you are in a stressful “carrier”….I got in shape in a very nautical way….I got a Nordictrac ski machine and rode it daily while I listened on tape to all 20 of the Patrick Obrien Aubrey Maturin series….only problem was when one of the long standing main characters…Bondon…got instantly killed during a battle….I was got struck too! Actually my getting skinny ass fell off the machine! Whatever works.
    congrats!
    John in Va.

  10. floyd r turbo
    floyd r turbo says:

    Congrats Matt, so glad you have blogged about this. We need healthy woodyboaters as well as “healthy” boats. Exercise alone, in spite of many commercials from health clubs and equipment manufacturers, is not the most effective long term weight loss generator. As a 25 mile a week runner plus 50 – 150 miles a week cyclist, at 67, I still have to watch my weight. And I’m not talking about jogging or casual rides. Intervals at max VO2 effort to compete in cyclocross (CX) and trail running races, etc and I still have difficulty losing 10 lbs in spite of being ranked 3rd in the country for CX in age 65 up and winning most recent 8 race trail series points championship for the 4th yr in a row. I’ve tried many diets; the low salary diet, seefood diet, and colonoscopy diet (most effective). Its all about intake – calories in and what type.

  11. floyd r turbo
    floyd r turbo says:

    My nutritionist said, for motivation, look at yourself naked before you eat which is probably why I’ve been banned from the buffet line at Golden Corral.

  12. Sean
    Sean says:

    I’m down 34 lbs since the end of April. The key… I walk between 4 to 7 Kilometers every day. On the food side I just cut out all fried foods, junk foods and heavily processed foods… everything else in moderation. Not as drastic as the no-carb diet but, certainly more of a lifestyle change and easy to maintain. Still more to go!

  13. m-fine
    m-fine says:

    I don’t think duct tape is going to work this time. Yet another reason you need to own several boats and not just one.

  14. Edward Chewning
    Edward Chewning says:

    Yikes ! If I had to look at my naked self ,before meals ,I would run out of eyeball bleach ! That would really drive someone to drink !

  15. Bob Kanak
    Bob Kanak says:

    No alcohol, when I got to the end of your story today the first headline of you might like was Drinking and Classic Boats Do Mix!

  16. Hunter Freeman
    Hunter Freeman says:

    Matt, I am so happy for you. You always look wonderful to your friends, regardless of how you look, if that makes sense, but I know this something that will be so good for you. Way to put your dedication to work, on yourself!

    • Matt
      Matt says:

      Thanks Hunter, the best part of this all is that I feel better and can and want to work in the yard, on my boat, and around the house. THe new found energy is the real gift of sacrificing a nice juicy burger in a toasted bun, with some patoto saled, and… Oh no! I need to go to my happy place now.

  17. Alex
    Alex says:

    You look great Matt!!! If you ever decide to run a race, anywhere, 1/2 Marathon or more, I’ll fly to where it’ll be and will run it with you. Think about it. It’s like the exclamation point to your lifestyle change. PS. Can’t be in summer. Hessel is my magnet. Try me in winter. I’ll run a 100K to get south.

Comments are closed.