Secret to overcoming obesity passes through northern Arizona
Man and his doctor walk the country to prove a 5-hour diet is the key to weightloss.

Along one of those anti-pedestrian stretches of highway, a semi truck ripped past Gary Long, 52, of Missouri. So close that the impact of the wind force sent his 360-pound body hurling down into the bottom of a steep irrigation ditch.

Lying at the bottom, scraped and bruised ‹ too obese to climb out, he broke down into tears, gripped his belly and thought to himself, "My God, I am disgusting. I wish I were dead."

A few months before on Christmas morning, Long kissed his family goodbye and walked away, vowing never to return until he had lost all the weight he had gained during those nine years of driving semis and eating at truck stop buffets.

"I had a heart attack and diabetes and was on many medications. My health was deteriorating. When I started this walk at 380 pounds I thought I would truly die out here," Long said.

Today Long is alive, and walking across the country to help others learn the secret to losing weight ‹ and he claims it is not the walking. He passed through Winslow last week on his way east. This was the 40th day of his second walk with a new technique that he and a doctor, who is now walking with him, claim will help many Americans overcome obesity.

During Long's first weight loss attempt, walking from St. Louis to New York, he only lost about 10 pounds a month during his five-month adventure. Meanwhile, Dr. Judy Herring, M.D., living in Florida, read about Long's quest.

Dr. Herring, a urooncologist, dealt with cancers and problems related to the urinary tract of the body.

"One day in surgery, I was cutting through about a foot of fat to pull out this cancer when I thought to myself ­ 'this is really about the fat,"' she said.

Dr. Herring met up with Long and spoke to him about something she and her husband, both retired military doctors, had been working on since her husband Bert retired from the Metabolism Branch of the National Cancer Institute under the National Institute of Health.

The concept is simple. Only eat in between a five-hour time period every day.

Herring explained that up until the last few generations, food was not so conveniently plucked from the shelves of supermarkets, drive-thrus and gas stations. People spent most of their time tending to farms and livestock or hunting and gathering to eat.

Herring said that by only eating within that five-hour window, our bodies have more time to allow our insulin levels to drop, and when it drops to a certain point, the fat then begins to be lost. She said 19 hours of not eating per day causes this.

When Long did his first walk, he lost 50 pounds in five months. On this second walk and on the 19-hour diet, he has lost 12 pounds a week ‹ almost 50 pounds in this last month.

"The best part about this diet, is you can still eat the things you normally do," Herring said. "I'd encourage people to still make healthier choices, but what I've found with this diet is that it burns away the fat regardless of what you eat."

When Long began his quest to lose weight he was on medication for heart beat regulation, congestive heart failure, acid reflux and diabetes. With his walking and diet he quit all his medications except for one for his heart.

"I feel myself get better day after day and have so much energy now," Long said. "I cannot wait to get back to St. Louis to see my family again to show them that I did it. And I want everyone out there to know that they can do it too."

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