The reasons why healthy food choices and hydration are keys to a better life might appear obvious, but not until you’ve endured the consequences of not following these guidelines, as I have, do you really understand these keys.

The Issue That Caused This Realization

For the better part of a year, I suffered from a new sleep issue. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea over twenty years ago, but the CPAP device I have used every night did not address the new issue. Essentially, I would wake up three to five times each night and feel the need to snack. Snacking, of course, on foods rich in carbohydrates that offered little or no nutritional value. As a result of this issue, I gained a significant amount of weight.

I tried changing the surface on which I slept. That did not work. I then asked my doctor to prescribe me sleep medications. I asked for higher doses. I asked for more medications. I broached this subject with my therapist, thinking there was an emotional reason behind this. I even tried self-medicating with over-the-counter sleep enhancers. Nothing worked.

The Basis and Application of a Theory

It was not until I met with a nutritionist did I discover possible reasons for this issue. She offered a theory. She asked me how much fluid I ingested during any given day. I told her that I drank nothing but coffee and iced green tea, no water whatsoever. This was the reason for my newly acquired sleep issue.

The caffeine in coffee and green tea, not only acting as a stimulant, worked to dehydrate me every day. She theorized that when I awakened several times a night that I was not hungry per se, but that I was thirsty, and my body and my mind compensated for this by eating. She then offered an obvious resolution.

Taking her advice to heart, I cut out green tea altogether and drank only eight cups of coffee (half decaf) and flavored water the rest of the day. I endeavored, and pretty much adhered to, taking in over a gallon of water each day (3 1.5-liter bottles).

I now sleep the entire night and every night, only waking up to answer an appropriate call of nature.

One Good Step Leads to Another

My nutritionist also proposed that I change my eating habits, an obvious counsel. Over six years ago, I underwent bariatric surgery to address my obesity, a gastric sleeve, where the surgeon removed a significant portion of my stomach. Essentially, before surgery, my stomach was approximately the size of a catcher’s mitt; post-surgery, it was as big as a banana.

A strict diet was prescribed immediately after surgery, which I for the most part followed. I was left little choice because I would often vomit what I thought were appropriate meals and servings. Shocking my system altogether, I enjoyed rapid, and what I thought was permanent, weight loss.

Then life happened.

Enduring a divorce, a job loss, and an eviction from my home six months after surgery, I could not find the strength within me to adhere to the strict guidelines of the post-bariatric surgery diet. Needless to say, the weight returned, and I was again obese.

About two years ago, I considered a surgical revision, where a surgeon would again remove a portion of my stomach. The main reason I decided not to go through with this procedure was that I was, despite my weight gain, still eating considerably less than I was pre-surgery. Before surgery, I could easily tackle an entire pizza. After surgery, I could only intake no more than two slices.

But Why Was I Gaining Weight?

As trite as it may sound, it came down to what I was eating. Inordinate amounts of junk food, loads of carbohydrates, and not allowing my body to properly metabolize my food intake added to my unwieldy weight gain. My self-inflicted dehydration compounded this.

I decided to change my diet, and, as a result, my lifestyle.

My New Lifestyle

I started by purchasing a kitchen scale, where I would weigh the portions of food per meal I ingested. I settled on five to six ounces of food per meal, including about one half this number of proteins, one-quarter healthy (mostly green) vegetables, and the last quarter healthy starches. The post-surgery diet also prescribed that I eat my proteins first, the vegetables next, and lastly the starches. The reasoning behind this order suggested that if I could not finish my starches, the meal would still be sufficient.

I then decided to eat high protein, healthier starches, with added fiber and an appropriate amount of carbohydrates. One example of this was that I started eating black soybean pasta instead of the regular type. My nutritionist said that since this food was so rich in protein (25 grams per serving), I need not include a protein for the nutritional value of the meal. There is little difference in taste and texture between these two kinds of pastas.

I then followed a schedule of eating every three to four hours per day, about four times during any given 24-hour period. Adding all these food choices to proper hydration led to my steady and noticeable weight loss.

Now I’m On the Way to a Healthier Life

I learned late in life that endeavoring to diet for health reasons involved the law of diminishing returns. From the beginning, each diet I partook in initially shocked my system, contributing to a rapid loss of weight. But then said weight returned, up and down this roller coaster I went, with every diet thereafter being less and less effective.

Adhering now to the post-bariatric surgery diet has not shocked my system as it has done originally, but I am still enjoying a steady and continued weight loss. After only six weeks of these changes, I already notice that my clothes are becoming looser.

But a healthy life and weight loss is a journey, not a destination, one I plan on taking for the rest of my days.