Losing weight can seem intimidating, especially when you consider 1 in 3 Americans adults are obese and Kansas has an obesity rate of 34.4%, 13th highest in the country.
John Green of Manhattan, just like many, found it difficult to lose weight, but says his heart health was declining and he knew he needed to make it happen. Green says his success came when he became a member of the TOPS organization, Taking Pounds Off Sensibly. Green says that joining the group helped him stay more accountable and learn more about health and nutrition. Green tells KMAN that he weighed in at 240 pounds, and had several health issues that led to his full realization that something needed to change.
“I got the largest cardiac artery stent that they’d ever placed in a person, to open my arteries,” Green says. “About the next year or 18 months, my cardiologist threw his hands up in the air and said I’m going to have to send you to Kansas City for a bypass surgery, and so they couldn’t stent me anymore so they sent me for a bypass.”
He says it wasn’t easy giving up foods like donuts and Oreos, but it was easier than bypass surgery. Green says along with the TOPS organization holding him accountable, he was grateful for the keto diet which is a diet high in healthy fats and low in carbohydrates.
“Protein in meats and especially nuts, are absorbed over a longer period of time than the fast-acting sugars, and it’s not as much of a stress on your pancreas.”
Green says along with weight loss, keto diets have shown to improve cholesterol, improve brain function, as well as a number of other benefits. He adds that the weight loss itself has helped him feel better.
“It puts less stress on your knees and hips, and it’s supposed to help reduce the stress in your life so that you can get to sleep and stay asleep,” Green adds.
Green tells KMAN his favorite part of the keto diet is still being able to enjoy eggs and bacon for breakfast.
Green lost over 36 pounds and was named the TOPS Kansas King. To find out more about the TOPS program, visit tops.org.
