Starting over again, this time with Keto/Paleo

[LJNew]

Well, for the 9inetheenth time I am starting over again.  This journey started when I was 25 years old.  I had my only child, a girl, and was 114lbs when I got pregnant, gained 72 lbs during pregnancy and returned to 112lbs 3 weeks after birth.  That weight loss was severe and accomplished with weight loss drugs and extreme activity.  My daughter did not suffer cause she was bottle fed from birth.  However, it caused severe emotional, mental and physical trauma to my body.  I slowly started to gain weight, with in 6 months I was 135, within another 6 months 150 (which I was considered obese at that time).  up and down through the years, an abusive marriage, being a single parent, just trying to get up every morning was a challenge.  ut working as a bartender, single mother of a challenging teen, was not the healthiest of lifestyles.  Juggled gym, school activities with my daughter and a very abusive divorce with a dad that showed up when he wanted.  By age 39 I was back to a reasonable 125, and I met my second husband. We were friends first and partners second.  Moved in, got married at age 45, all staying at about 135-140lbs.  But once settled, with a new husband that loved to cook and drink and party my weight started to rise again.  I acquired Diabetes II, was put on various drugs and was managed for 10 years, then they took me off and watched my numbers and have been non-diabetic since, however, I have had high blood pressure since I was 25.  That coupled with the sugar numbers and my waist ever expanding I became a Metabolic Syndrome patient.  I haven't been able to shake the belly for about 14 years, right after my 50th birthday.  So back to the drawing board with new tricks and some old ones that seemed to work in the past...however, these tricks can not be temporary, they need to be life changes for life.  My doctor recommended Keto/Paleo combination, as little carbs/sugars as possible in my diet.  I am curious to see how that works for me, my husband loves pasta, potatoes and candy, but seems to want me to be happy again, so he is trying to support me.  Hoping someone out there can lend a thought, comment or experience that will keep me on track, til tomorrow....LJNLooz...

[emili · Accepted solution]

@LJNew thank you for sharing your story and your struggle. Life is never easy but somehow if we get lucky there is happiness sprinkled in. As far as your diet choice, you have to try it and see if it works for you. Both in life and on the scale. Being on a restrictive diet is difficult. I love carbs.. all kinds. Right now I am having sangria and pretzels - carbs on carbs. I lost weight 5 years ago by counting calories and researching food and nutrients. It wasn't easy, but thankfully it was fast and I moved to maintaining which is easier- for me. For some the actual diet is easy and maintenance is difficult because one knows how to eat restrictive, but then what. Sadly there is no magic fix. You have to try and try again to figure out what works for you. It is awesome that you have a support and I wish you loads of success...

[LJNew]

Thanks for your thoughts, it is helpful to hear what works for others, unfortunately, I have been on WW, Jenny, Nutrisystem and none was sustainable for me.  This nutrition plan is only based on Paleo/Keto and was prescribed by a food scientist...I have more problems than just weight loss, so as you suggested we have to see what works best... Regards, LJNew

[LJNew]

Thx so much for your comments looking for solid advice and support I will def f/p on Dr Fung, good luck and stay healthy
Regards,
Linjnew Sent from my iPhone

[lisaluptak]

I can relate to you on so many levels. I was fine until I turned 45. The pounds started packing on. I tried to maintain a regular walking habit but life kept getting in the way. By the time I was 50 I was 25lbs overweight. Hindsight is 20/20. I wish I would have been more aggressive with my health maintenance. Fast forward to 56. I had a stroke. Wow. I recovered with only minor inconveniences. Then come the seizures. The drs said the stroke was a fluke, the seizures are from the stroke. But on come the drugs, anti seizure and a statin (my #’s were fine but the statins were good for inflammation). Later that year I had another stroke. That one was scary, but with further investigation, I was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. By this time the drs are dancing around all the other things doing on with me. I too have metabolic syndrome. I am no 60 lbs over my ideal weight. I check my blood sugars everyday and they are creeping into the dangerous levels and I have high blood pressure. I have a lot of other things that are pointing to a shortened life span. I now have a Fitbit charge3 and will use this to get back into shape. I have been on the Keto Diet for about 6;months now and have only lost about 10 lbs. The Keto Diet is really difficult to lose weight on. The people that report all of the high weigh loss numbers (in my opinion) are not insulin resistant. You have to get that under control first. I am working on that also. I wish you much luck on your endeavours. You can do it if you really want to. Set up a good support tribe and you can achieve all you wish to. ❤️

[LJNew]

Thanks for sharing your story, my food scientist has adjusted my nutrition plan so it is geared toward low carb low sugar clean eating. So I do eat bread and pasta in very low doses, lost 5lbs in 7 days which will probably not stabilize for 6 weeks. Using my charge 3 to track food and activities. Good luck as well keep in touch

Regards, Linjnew

Sent from my iPad

[JavaGypsy]

I'm in menopause (16 yrs now), have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and was recently diagnosed with Type II diabetes.  My metabolism slowed to pretty much non-existent and I got the mid-section fat.. disturbing since I used to be 114 like you. Worse, I felt horrible.. lethargic, sick, brain fog, blurry vision, muscle/bone aches, etc., etc.   And my blood pressure began to skyrocket, to boot. Took me a while, but found a great integrative doctor who is treating me for all those things. He stared at me very hard and said, "Your enemies are stress, sugar and carbs."  He also said my adrenals are depleted and that being insulin resistant means my body cannot turn food into energy and instead, turns it into fat.  He told me that each condition can worsen the other and that I have to take care of it all at the same time to see results.

From there, I began researching and learned how correct he is. I read books, read medical literature and listened to audiobooks and podcasts.  Also, my finger stabs (blood glucose checks) prove that stress alone raises my blood sugar.. and then I crash to hypoglycemia - just as if I ate a high carb or high sugar meal. 

Started eating clean about 3 weeks ago. Nothing processed, no sugar & very little carbs (trying to limit carbs to no more than 30mg/day.)  I've not studied keto or paleo, but I guess my diet is similar.  I avoid all breads, pasta, potatoes, rice, dough and anything sugary.  Eat lots of veggies and include proteins like chicken and fish and beans.. even sugar-free almond butter with celery (if I'm craving a snack.) A big one is to read labels. Those sweet potato french fries that I thought were healthy (since I'd bake and not fry them)?  No go. They have 22mg carbs per serving.. that's nearly a full day's worth of carbs that I'm allowing myself right now!

I will say that being on such a strict diet is nearly painful at times. The first two weeks were the most difficult as it felt like my body was screaming for everything I couldn't have. I did try to cheat.. ate a handful of regular french fries once and regretted it since it made me feel like hell (raised my blood sugar, then it crashed..) And I love pasta (I make the best sauce!), but can no longer have it.  Did try gluten free pasta (a bit less carbs than the regular kind) with some asparagus and shrimp, but only ate a little bit of the rotini.. that seemed to work out okay.  Portion size is a big deal, too.

My blurry vision and brain fog went away and I've lost 11lbs. so far. My belly fat is shedding!  Equally as important, I feel better.. feeling stronger and healthier.  Even my eyes and skin look better.  I'm still working on the stress component.. learning to let things go that I cannot control.. and to implement change for the things I can.

Soon, I'll begin working out - it has been so long (used to work out 3-4 days/week) so my body is not as strong as it used to be.  Imagine that I will shed more weight, with exception of muscle weight that I might gain from working out. 

My goal is to get back down to a healthy weight.. and to be healthier overall.  While I may always have to take thyroid meds, I want to eventually stop taking Metformin for the diabetes. And well, I'm 1.5 years shy of turning 50 and I refuse to do that gracefully, lol.  

Note: Based on my labs, I was seriously vitamin D deficient, so take 5,000 UIs of D3/day and absolutely notice a huge difference if I skip it.  My labs show that my D levels have raised to the low end of normal, so it's working. 

..Just need to keep on keeping on.