After a 5(?) year hiatus, I'm finally back! :)

[Guest guest]

Well, I have a lot to catch up on, but I do check in here occasionally and see

some familiar names, so just thought I'd re-introduce myself

I'm Bonnie, stay at home/home schooling mom to two boys, ages 10 and 8. Last

time I was here, I think I was down about 75lbs--keeping a food journal, trying

to eat mostly " real " foods (nuts, seeds, fruits, veggies, lean mean) and

exercising. Then, in Nov/Dec of 2006 (I think?), I took a nasty fall and hurt

my back as well as messed up my ankle. On top of that, our oldest was having a

terrible time in kindergarten and it was the holidays (and I'm an emotional

eater--bad combo). I wasn't able to exercise for nearly 8 months and when I

went from 70mins of cardio a day down to nothing...well, my body was MORE than

happy to put all that weight back on. Oh, and I was vegetarian for most of

last year, during which I gained even more weight. (How's it even possible to

gain weight on whole grains and salad?!)

There have been plenty of struggles--physically as well as emotionally--so it is

just recently that I am in a place to finally get back on that horse. This

time, however, I'm taking a different approach. I am insulin resistant, so all

high glycemic foods are OUT. I have been following the plan put forth in " The

Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living " by Phinney and Volek. My scale was

apparently broken when I started a month ago, but I do believe I'm on the right

track--my clothes are fitting better and I certainly feel better! I'm

willing and able to commit to 30-40 mins of intentional exercise per day, but

not more. (That was one of the difficulties last time--in order to not gain

weight, I had to keep increasing the length and intensity of my exercise.) With

homeschooling, a lot of sacrifices had to be made and one of them is my " free "

time! And so if being unable to do 60+ mins on the treadmill means I'm not

going to lose much weight, so be it. I'm feeling better and that's 90% of the

battle for me.

Anyway, it's good to be back!

I hope everyone is well

Cheers,

Bonnie

[Guest guest]

On 3/8/2012 4:28 PM, Bonnie wrote:

> >I'm Bonnie

Welcome back. A lot of folks come and go. We're just glad you had time

to come back again.

> > I wasn't able to exercise for nearly 8 months and when I went from 70mins

of cardio a day down to nothing...well, my body was MORE than happy to put all

that weight back on.

That happened to me in 1999 when I got the plantar fasciitis in my left

foot, Achilles tendinitis in the right, and cervical neuritis in my

neck. I couldn't even sit without being in pain, much less do any

effective exercise, and gained 50 pounds in less than a year.

> >Oh, and I was vegetarian for most of last year, during which I gained even

more weight. (How's it even possible to gain weight on whole grains and

salad?!)

Very easy. I've written here many times in the past about the McDougall

program (http://www.drmcdougall.com ) that I was following. I used the

more restrictive version of his plan back in 2000 to lose 45 of those 50

I gained, but since then 20 - 30 came back on. Dr. McD keeps stressing

how his is a starch based program, not a vegetable one, yet most of his

" Stars " who lose large amounts of weight did so by cutting way back on

starches and eating mostly veggies with some starchy veg or tiny amounts

of whole grains. A lot of his Stars also regained some of their weight

and had to cut back even more, some switching to nearly raw diets. I'm

now looking into Dr. Fuhrman's Eat to Live/Nutritarian program

(http://www.drfuhrman.com/library/are-you-a-nutritarian.aspx ), one that

allows much less starch and urges more veggies and fruit. Before I can

dive into that I have to use up the potatoes, rice, whole grains and ww

pasta I have around the house. His plan allows only about a cup of

starches, including starchy veg, a day.

> > My scale was apparently broken when I started a month ago,

I put new batteries in mine and " gained " 3 pounds.

> > I'm willing and able to commit to 30-40 mins of intentional exercise per

day, but not more.

My sciatica won't let me do more than 20 - 30 min/day. I do 5 out of 7

days a week. I think getting the extra hour of sleep on weekends is

worth the sacrifice, especially when I have so much trouble sleeping as

it is.

> > I'm feeling better and that's 90% of the battle for me.

Great start!

Sue in NJ

[Guest guest]

> Welcome back. A lot of folks come and go. We're just glad you had time

> to come back again.

Thanks, Sue

> That happened to me in 1999 when I got the plantar fasciitis in my left

> foot, Achilles tendinitis in the right, and cervical neuritis in my

> neck. I couldn't even sit without being in pain, much less do any

> effective exercise, and gained 50 pounds in less than a year.

Yeah, it's not fun. But we live and learn and I, for one, will NOT be

over-doing it on exercise from now on!

> Very easy. I've written here many times in the past about the McDougall

> program (http://www.drmcdougall.com ) that I was following. I used the

> more restrictive version of his plan back in 2000 to lose 45 of those 50

> I gained, but since then 20 - 30 came back on. Dr. McD keeps stressing

> how his is a starch based program, not a vegetable one, yet most of his

> " Stars " who lose large amounts of weight did so by cutting way back on

> starches and eating mostly veggies with some starchy veg or tiny amounts

> of whole grains. A lot of his Stars also regained some of their weight

> and had to cut back even more, some switching to nearly raw diets.

When I was vegetarian, I was completely raw except for 1-2 slices of sprouted

bread per day. Still packed on weight. Turns out that the insulin resistance

(I have PCOS--they go hand in hand, I guess) means I have to limit my fruit

intake a LOT. And starchy veg, too. Tricky!

I'm

> now looking into Dr. Fuhrman's Eat to Live/Nutritarian program

> (http://www.drfuhrman.com/library/are-you-a-nutritarian.aspx ), one that

> allows much less starch and urges more veggies and fruit. Before I can

> dive into that I have to use up the potatoes, rice, whole grains and ww

> pasta I have around the house. His plan allows only about a cup of

> starches, including starchy veg, a day.

I have a friend that swears by Fuhrman's plan! She's feeling fantastic for the

first time in years and years. Good luck to you if you decide to switch!

> I put new batteries in mine and " gained " 3 pounds.

Ha! I was up and down a LOT. Up 6, down 8 the next day...etc. So one morning,

I decided to get on it, walk away and get my two 2-lb dumbbells and climb back

on. Up 8 lbs. Put them down. Down 4lbs. Picked up my 10lbs weights. Up 3.5.

Yadda yadda--definitely an issue with my scale! Got the new one and did the

same thing with the dumbbells and it was within .2lbs each time--yay!!!

> Great start!

Thanks, Sue!

[Guest guest]

On 3/9/2012 11:39 AM, Bonnie wrote:

> >I have a friend that swears by Fuhrman's plan! She's feeling

> fantastic for the first time in years and years. Good luck to you if

> you decide to switch!

Ugh! I'm starving! Dr. Fuhrman's motto is " The salad is the meal. " Well,

this gal isn't too fond of salads, no matter what they're made of. Raw

veggies and I just don't get along too well, and if that's the majority

of allowed foods I will *not* be a happy camper.

I signed up for his forums (a pay site) and see this 20+ page thread

about how people are popping their salad ingredients into a food

processor to break it all down into tiny pieces to make it easier to get

in the required amount of raw veggies per day (1 pound). Some call it

Confetti Salad because that's what it all looks like, tiny pieces of

confetti. If people who love raw veggies have to do this to choke them

all down, there's no hope for a raw-hater like me to last too long on

this plan. Besides, in order to get in all the foods required to get all

the micro-nutrients in per day I'd be blowing the entire weekly budget

just on raw veggies.

Still, I'm getting good ideas over there on how to get some raw veggies

in to go with my cooked ones.

> When I was vegetarian, I was completely raw except for 1-2 slices of

sprouted bread per day. Still packed on weight.

Yikes!

>Turns out that the insulin resistance (I have PCOS--they go hand in hand, I

guess) means I have to limit my fruit intake a LOT. And starchy veg, too.

Tricky!

I have all the symptoms of metabolic syndrome/insulin resistance but no

doc wanted to officially diagnose me with it. I had really bad reactive

hypoglycemia for many years, with blood sugars dropping into the 40's

after a simple-carb heavy meal, the big waist, the high blood pressure,

high triglycerides, etc. All any doc would do is tell me to do was lose

weight, with no instructions other than limit myself to 1000 calories a

day and get more exercise, including the doc who was treating me for all

my injuries who, in the same visit, would tell me to curtail all

strenuous activities, including the exercises I was doing. Mind boggling.

Sue in NJ

[Guest guest]

> Ugh! I'm starving! Dr. Fuhrman's motto is " The salad is the meal. " Well,

> this gal isn't too fond of salads, no matter what they're made of. Raw

> veggies and I just don't get along too well, and if that's the majority

> of allowed foods I will *not* be a happy camper.

I can't have too much veg or my system goes absolutely haywire--I feel ya!

> I signed up for his forums (a pay site) and see this 20+ page thread

> about how people are popping their salad ingredients into a food

> processor to break it all down into tiny pieces to make it easier to get

> in the required amount of raw veggies per day (1 pound). Some call it

> Confetti Salad because that's what it all looks like, tiny pieces of

> confetti. If people who love raw veggies have to do this to choke them

> all down, there's no hope for a raw-hater like me to last too long on

> this plan. Besides, in order to get in all the foods required to get all

> the micro-nutrients in per day I'd be blowing the entire weekly budget

> just on raw veggies.

Yikes! Well, the confetti sounds interesting--have you tried it?

> I have all the symptoms of metabolic syndrome/insulin resistance but no

> doc wanted to officially diagnose me with it. I had really bad reactive

> hypoglycemia for many years, with blood sugars dropping into the 40's

> after a simple-carb heavy meal, the big waist, the high blood pressure,

> high triglycerides, etc. All any doc would do is tell me to do was lose

> weight, with no instructions other than limit myself to 1000 calories a

> day and get more exercise, including the doc who was treating me for all

> my injuries who, in the same visit, would tell me to curtail all

> strenuous activities, including the exercises I was doing. Mind boggling.

Yup--check, check, and check! Sounds like you've gone through the same thing I

have. What would you do differently if you got the official diagnosis? Maybe

you could follow diet for people with insulin resistance and see how it works

for a few weeks...? If you're interested at all in the science behind insulin

resistance, I'd recommend the book I mentioned before. It was pretty heavy on

the science, but really opened my eyes as to why I need to stay away from

high-glycemic index foods.

Best of luck to you, Sue, no matter which plan you follow

Cheers,

Bonnie

[Guest guest]

On 3/11/2012 8:57 PM, Bonnie wrote:

>

>

> > What would you do differently if you got the official diagnosis?

Who knows? I did the whole low-carb hypoglycemia diet food plan for

years in my early 30's, gained a lot of weight, and my cholesterol went

through the roof. On the vegan food plan I initially lost some weight,

my cholesterol went down, but the triglycerides won't go below a certain

level. I've been told by my regular doc and the cardiologist to continue

to avoid meat and dairy, so that kind of tosses a return to low carb out

the window.

Finding the " right " way to eat has been my quest since my 20's, maybe

even childhood, (and I'm nearly 60) and I still can't find it.

Sue in NJ