Cooking Weight Loss Success Story  

Name Luis "Moe" Molina
Home Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Age 37
Height 6'2"
Job Cook
Weight before 340 lb
Weight after 210 lb

THE GAINBinge eating--like game-day pig-outs of seven burgers, a large bag of Doritos, and 18 beers--helped bring Molina to around 340 pounds in his early 30s. He worked two jobs and had a baby daughter in the hospital. "Eating relieved that stress, if only temporarily."THE CHANGEMolina needed , but doctors told him he had to shed weight first. He cut out high-carbohydrate foods, stopped drinking alcohol, and began walking, which led to jogging. And he didn't eat after 5:30 p.m. In his job as a cook, "customers who were very overweight and ordered all the wrong foods served as a powerful motivator for dieting," he says.THE RESULTMolina lost 35 pounds in the 2 1/2 months before his surgery. After 8 months, he was down to 210 pounds. He'd gone from a 48-inch waist to a 34, and he's maintained that for 2 years. "At 37, I feel better than I did in my teens," he says.THE REWARDHe can get in his car without pushing the seat back. He can choose clothes for style instead of comfort, he has less joint and back pain despite being on his feet all day at work, and his sex drive has skyrocketed.MOE'S WORKOUTMolina jogs 3 to 4 miles twice a week. In his weight workouts, he concentrates on dumbbell curls, chest and shoulder exercises, calf raises, and abdominal work.MOE'S TIPS

Fill up right. "I have a terrific 1985 Chevy C-10 pickup truck, and I wouldn't put just any gasoline in it. So why would I put junk in my own body, now that I know what it needs to run at its best?"

Get nuts. "It was nothing for me to polish off a loaf of Cuban bread with butter. Now, when I get hungry, I grab a handful of nuts. They're just as satisfying and don't promote weight gain."

A little bad can be good. "During the entire diet, each day I would buy one of those 25-cent bags of Doritos and savor every chip in that 1-ounce serving."

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