Hi all: made it to 153 today after my fast. I slept ok overall, but woke with low abdominal pain again, and used a suppository. After a dump I was able to get back to sleep, so overall I got enough sleep.
Today I also had a BS of 5.2 (thats 93 to you Americans) so am pleased to have some good glucose scores again as well.
Am officially back to pre-covid weight. Sadly , bowel issues are continuing this am. Tomorrow is my blood work day.
When they call from the docs office with my results, I will ask for an appointment or some tests, like a pelvic/abdominal ultrasound. Last time around for all that was 4 years ago, and frankly this pain/discomfort is worse than it was then. I know I am strictly gluten free, so I do not think its food related now. Since my great-grandfather had Crohn's, its not unreasonable to want that checked out. I may even asked for another scope, I decided. If pain is waking me up, that's enough of that.
Ann: I am glad you are able to do these home renos, but putting up crown moldings alone sounds too tricky. I have done wall paper boarders on my own, and painted though. I am not skilled with the "handier" parts though, but DH and I put up wood siding walls in our cottage together. And put down the cork flooring. We are really happy with the results.
I agree, that at least once a week, its a good idea to have a higher calorie day. Its sometimes hard to do this, because we know the weight will likely be higher afterward, but we need to "fool" our bodies by mixing up the way we eat. I was doing alternate day fasting in December and was not doing well. It feels like going off plan for over a week actually helped things, for me anyhow. I am so happy for you that you have returned to your pre-covid illness baseline.
I think February will be a good month for us all, let's go!
Happy Sunday
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
Posts: 13,431
S/C/G: 217/176/142
Height: 5'2
To me, the word cheat means you did something wrong. If my plan includes all foods then its never a cheat. I wouldn't even call it moderation. I'm not sure its the right thing to do but I can't go the rest of my life knowing I can never again have macaroni and cheese occasionally, for example. Calling it a cheat makes me depressed, feeling that I failed. I have learned how to limit certain things. My carbs rarely go over 100 grams per day and are usually 50-70. I call it reduced carb. I reason with myself. "If I don't eat that my weight might be lower tomorrow.". Knowing that I can have things if I really want them takes the pressure off. I wasn't like that before. I never counted but I probably ate 300 carbs a day before. That is my plan. In reality, , I still have my compulsive over eating. I can eat dinner and think " That was good, I think I'll have some more." Even though I'm no longer hungry. After I eat the second helping I'm stuffed and thinking " I feel terrible. I have to stop doing that." But before I know it I'm doing it again. I let the taste of the food overide the knowledge that I want to stop overeating. I don't do that every day, but often enough to be a problem. I'm not sure I know how to overcome this. It was much easier living alone. "Cleaning up after dinner" takes on a whole new meaning.
Trish, I had that book by Dana Carpender. I don't know where it went. Maybe I donated it. I decided I wanted it again so I bought it on my Kindle. Now I never read it. I also have her cookbook 500 Low Carb recipes. I bought it at Goodwill for $2 but didn't realize it was Dana Carpender until I got home.
One of these days I'm going to pack up my remaining diet books and donate them. I am no longer going to follow those diet plans, and if I really want to read a diet book I can get it on Kindle. They haven't worked for me so far. Can't do the same thing over and over expecting different results. If I was more patient I would sell them online instead of giving them away.
I have weighed 190 lbs for 11 days in a row. Every morning I get on the scale hoping to see 189. Nope!
Last edited by Wannabehealthy; 02-06-2022 at 09:08 AM.
I got in 1625 calories and 32 grams carbs yesterday, my highest since I started this. Having my recurring bathroom problem, I took some Senna laxative this am, hope it works by tomorrow. Was sort of pointless to get on the scale, but after 2 mugs of coffee I did anyways, exactly the same as yesterday. I am going to get in 1500 today as well.
Carol, I hear you on going back for more. My mother used to say the hardest exercise is pushing yourself away from the table. I only cook for me so what I do may not work for you but, I either make just enough, or if I make 'extra' I put the leftover containers right on the table and as soon as I have plated my portion, I fill them up and get them put away. I can do well cooking just for me, but when DBF and I are together, I have a tough time guessing how much to make. I cooked for a family of 4 for so long that I just can't make a correct size portion of beef stew or mac and cheese for just 2.
Fatmad- great job on getting your weight down, I have same issues in bathroom. Really tired of it. My Dr told me to eat fiber one cereal every morning, and take a capful of Miralax every day. I did both for a while, then couldn't handle the Miralax and when I went Keto the cereal was too much. However right now, I know I have to do something. I have learned a lot on carpentry over the years, I took up wood working a few years ago, I am not great, but I love making things. I sell at craft fairs.
On my 3rd load of laundry, stripped bed, and emptied hamper. I am packing for my trip to Vt tomorrow. I will be taking my snowshoes and poles as DBF got over a foot this last storm. I need to bring my salad and other things that need to be used up. I will miss my recmbent bike, he offered to go out and buy one so I would have one there. His Dr wants him to do cardio so I would rather see him get an eliptical as I could use that too.
I tried on a bunch of pants in my dresser, some that I couldn't get on I can now wear and some are still too tight for my comfort, but it is progress. I am tossing some old worn clothes as I get into the smaller sizes
I have to do my 8 miles on the bike, and make the bed.
Carol Sue I think we come from a time when we were trained that if we have a cheat day or even a cheat meal that we have done something bad. Like you, I have learned that I do better if I have no forbidden foods. I like being able to eat anything I want when I want it is best for me. Feeling like I’ve been a bad girl for eating something that isn’t OP when following a diet stresses me out. By having no real rule about what I can and cannot have does away with the stress of guilt. I think that is what drew me to Intuitive Eating. I still like the IE rule of “If you are hungry eat what you want, eat as much as you need to feel satisfied and then stop”. I find that when you have no forbidden foods that I don’t want them as bad as I thought and many times when I do eat it, I either really enjoy it or find that it didn’t taste as good as I thought it would. By doing this, sometimes I find out that I don’t even like it... it was just the fact that it was forbidden.
Now that I’m reading The Wiggle Factor on fasting, I better understand how fasting works and why I need to fast a minimum of 19 hrs of clean fasting in order to get the benefit of autophagy if it is true that autophagy doesn’t kick in until 16th hr. At this time, I don’t know if I will ever do a low carb way of eating or not, but I do know that I am definitely going too fast. For now, I plan to do alternate days of 2MAD brunch and dinner on T, Th, Sat & Sun, and OMAD, dinner, on M-W-F. Of course, that can change if needed for special occasions, but this will be my norm. I don’t know how fast I will lose, but I don’t lose quickly anyway, so it doesn’t matter. I believe that fasting is a great way of healing for my body, controlling FBG and staying as healthy as possible.
Fatmad Congratulations on getting down to 153 and the good FBG. At this point in my life my FBG staying low is my greatest concern. I hope you can get the tests you need, and all will be fine.
Ann and Adrienne I hope things are going well for y’all today.
Weight this morning was back down a tad to 184.6 lbs. FBG was 100. It is strange to me how it bounces up when I’m fasting, but I believe it is working on coming back down below 100. It just seems to do that. Just thankful it is in a safe zone again. We are working on DH and the way his is bouncing, I really believe that is going to come down as well. I’m not sure he could or even should fast long fasts, but I wish he would at least read this book I’m reading. I am just thankful that he will read some of the sections I highlight and ask him to read. I don’t like anyone pushing me or overwhelming to get me to do anything, so I won’t do that to him.
I think I am settling into this way of eating because it is so similar to the way I ate most of "thinner" years. So another good day with a 5 hr eating window. At the end of the book I'm reading he pretty much suggests just to fast for a while and to patiently wait to see the results you will get. I thitnk he said for a month and then if you need to you can adjust or change whatever needs to be done.
Fatmad As I read the different ways to fast, I thought about how you fast. I don't want to do EF, but find it easier to do Time-Released fasting. Seeing how well you have done has been an inspiration to me.
Lab work in the morning. I will come back home and DH and I will go to Sam's after his lab work tomorrow afternoon. We need to get Premier shakes and then come straight back home. Knowing him, he will want McDs. So I just plan for it.
Thanks for the support everyone. Looking back, I was 158 this time last year, you could say it too a whole year to lose 5 pounds! not one month. Ugh. Well at least its going in the right direction.
As you can imagine, I had a hungry day. Still have some ketones in the urine at least.
Ann, you talk about carbs and total calories, but not much about fat. I think with keto you need more fat and that helps the constipation. I had a lot of loose bowel issues for a long time, its been better lately, but more to the constipation side as well, as I said, the glycerin suppositories work best for me. I think you can also take fibre tablets, and there is a SF metamucil if you tolerate psyllium. (I can only take it in small amounts. For some fat and fibre, stuff like hemp hearts, and chia, mixed into my high fat yoghurt are helpful too. I add extra butter, and olive oil to stuff. Nuts and pumpkin seeds in salads, Just about anything, with fat. It also ups the fullness, which I desperately need.
Have a good sleep everyone. I go for lab work in the morning!
Laxative has not helped, uncomfortable all night. Label says a dose is 2, I took 3. Just took a dose of miralax. When I spoke with my Dr about this and told her -TMI- that I sometimes had both D and C at the same time. She said you can have constipation that won't move and the diariah goes around it.
Fatmad-I transitioned from Keto to just low carb for long term sustainability. I am keeping carbs below 40 grams per day as this also keeps my cravings at bay. I dont' consciously do high fat, or low fat, I am just eating healthy foods. Fitbit breaks down % of calories from each- here is Friday 11% carbs, 58% fat, 31% protein, I would say this is a typical day. salad and regular dressing for first meal, steak tips with mushrooms , broccoli and cheese for dinner. Atkins shake, and yogurt for snack.
Starting on Saturday I am reaching 1500 calories a day. If my bathroom routine would cooperate, I think the scale might move in the right direction.
Patty, I like your thinking of how you ate when you were thin. I remember practically starving myself to lose weight after my son was born. i was stuck at 148, so I found this OTC supplement called Meditrim, it had vitamins, minerals, fiber and an appetite suppressant. I had black coffee for breakfast and brought a thermos of it to work, lunch was a plain yogurt, and a 2 liter bottle of Tab that I brought back to work and drank all afternoon. Dinner was a small portion of protein-half a deck of cards, green veggies and nothing else except sugar free jello. In 2 months I got down to 119 and stayed there until I got pregnant with my daughter, I have never seen that number on the scale again. the lowest I got was 130 when I did WW the first time. I spiraled out of control for years, yoyoed up and down from 250 to 165.
Ann I cannot take laxatives like Metamucil or Miraliax. It does nothing for me either. I've read that if you need to drink plenty of water or it just lays in your stomach. I've taken it when I was drinking so much water that my doctor told me I was drinking too much, and it still didn't work.
I found out yesterday that what causes potty issues for me is the sugar free syrup or jelly I eat once in a while. I made myself a small pancake I learned to eat on WW with sf syrup and I had potty issues all morning. But it paid off on the scale this morning. 182.2 and that was weighing earlier than usual. FBG was 93 again.
Carol Sue, I thought it was interesting that three of us were having labs on the same day. I won't get results until next week on the 16th. That is done for 6 mos so I can start working on improving for next time.
I decided upon finishing The Wiggle Factor on Fasting, to just go with the flow of how I feel at the time but stay with at least 2MAD and throw in a OMAD when I need it. I like the idea for being consistent but flexible at the same time. IF allows us to fast or eat according to our situation at the time. DH didn't drink the Equate shake last night since he likes the Premier that we will get today. So I had it this morning with a banana for my brunch. I had it a little early today because I got up early and knowing DH, he will get up early to go to Sam's and that means we will eat dinner earlier since that is the only place we are going after he gets his blood draw. I notice they have a sign on the walls in the lab waiting room that says "If you have to wait longer than 10 minutes tell them at the front desk". They now have 2 technicians drawing blood. Any way I don't want to be tempted to eat another meal by eating only eating dinner so I had the shake. In some diet group I was on years ago said something like not planning to succeed then you plan to fail.
Haha, how funny its lab day for so many.
All went well. So happy with my lab, all went well.
Carol (and maybe Trish?) remember when Ruth dreaded having her blood drawn? I had a couple of bad experiences in a couple of labs, and started having all my bloods drawn at work. However, because of pick-up times (we only had end of day pick ups, which was fine for the types of blood work we drew at the midwifery office, but not my lipids and chemistry tests) so I started to look for other places to go. I found a small lab in a medical office building. I can make appointments and all the techs so far do a fine job.
My CBC is back and all normal, waiting on all the rest of the results to be posted.
I opened a new container of BG strips a couple of days ago. I still had a few of my old ones. The new strips measure consistently 0.2 or 0.3 higher than the old ones. I was 6.1 this morning before I left for the lab, not happy with that number if it is accurate. If its just high because of calibration, I can take that into account when I check. But I also had a slightly higher carb count yesterday, though I still had a trace of ketones this am.
Carol: talking about "cheats" etc. I decided I should eat today again, for two days in a row, in spite of wanting that 153 to keep going down. I felt that looking back, I lost weight best when I kept mixing it up with the fasting, and that I should not endlessly do alternate day fasting. Its hard on me, makes me feel discouraged and grumpy. So I ate today, even though I know I might go another few days before I lose again, but thats ok. And its not cheating, its all good. Thanks for the pep talks lately everyone.
Fatmad I think of Ruth very often. So miss her. Glad your lab went well. I don't know where our doc's office find these techs but they are awesome. DH never says anything but he said he didn't even feel the needle go in when she stuck him. I felt the stick but very minimum. The interesting thing is how quick they are able to get it done and it is over. Of course, one thing I have learned is to be sure to be hydrated. Do you remember Rose who was on here years ago? She lived in Canada and had a huge tumor removed and passes away soon afterwards. I was living in SC and have a male tech that never could find my vein and would end up taking blood from my hand. She told me to be very sure I am hydrated, and my arm is warm. Funny thing he was the only one who had problems.
When I got home and changed clothes, I decided to check weight just for the heck of it since I had only had the shake and banana this morning and weight was 181 something. I find that interesting. I'm feeling hungry but supposed to be fasting now. I fell asleep after the burger and need to get up and drink some water. Maybe a cup of broth and a cup of coffee will help. Really don't want to mess up my eating 2 meals a day. Will see. I'm not experienced with this as you Fatmad and I'm afraid to eat something. You are so good at this but then you have been doing it longer than I have. The guy who wrote the book I read said hunger comes in 20 minute spurts so drink some water and see if it goes away. So I will try that. I think I'm already right at my closing of my 8 hr eating window so I hope it will pass.
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
Posts: 13,431
S/C/G: 217/176/142
Height: 5'2
My labs went well. I have had this done at several different places. One time I was there at the same time as a prisoner from the county prison. Orange jumpsuit, shackles and cuffs, accompanied by a sheriff's deputy. That was exciting. My favorite place is the outpatient lab from my hospital. Then I found out I dont get a copay if I go to a stand alone lab. This place used to accept walk ins but since Covid it is appointment only. I got there and went right in. My results should be on my portal in a couple days. Otherwise my doctors appointment is Friday. My A1c was high last time, above 7. He said it was acceptable but it was not to me. I hope I am below 7. I don't know about that since it was over the holidays. I want it at a low 6, maybe next time. I have a little dot where the needle went in. Sometimes I have a bruise the size of a quarter.
I remember when Ruth hated blood draws, feared the results.
Mad, when I did Alternate Day Fasting it was JUDDD. The fasting day was not a total fast. There was a calculation. Mine came out to an 1800+ calorie up day and a 300+ calorie down day. Most just say 500 calorie down day for women and 600 for men and a. "normal eating up day.". Some people did a OMAD down day and some did 2 tiny meals. DH didn't like my down days.
Confession time. I used to abuse laxatives for weight control. Years ago, but not for long. I used Feenamint. After my bowel surgery my doctor told me to take Colace and to never get constipated. He didn't say for how long so I stopped. But I loved getting up every morning and having a bowel movement. Never a bad scale day. But I didn't want to become dependent on it. I get occasional potty issues but cannot pinpoint why. Sometimes all I've eaten is eggs. Its not as often as it used to be. I was taking a,supplement that is supposed to fix your gut flora.
My CPap wasn't working right last night so I have to check it before bedtime.
My daughter has always had tiny veins and she has had issues in the past with needing multiple sticks to get all that was ordered. After she was stuck 8 times at 3 different locations I started taking her to the children's hospital when she was 13 months, which is an hour away but worth it. A few years ago they opened a pediatric urgent care closer and that's where I started taking her but I had several issues with the not storing the blood properly so she had to have a repeat blood draw. After that happened twice I started taking her directly to the quest lab and she has never had an issue. Getting her to drink water is still a war and she is 17! Thankfully I have good veins though I still hate needles. My labs won't be due until next month!
Carol I finally made the cabbage rolls today! It was a bit labor intensive and I had a time rolling the leaves correctly. My rolls were several different shapes and sizes! They were good, even my daughter tried one! My son, of course, turned his nose up at it, lol. One question, is this dish meant to be eaten alone or are there sides that normally go with it? I thought about making a salad but 2 rolls actually filled me up.
My weight was down to 272.2 so down at the end of the weekend so that was good. Thankfully I was able to continue to fast all night at work without being hungry at all so hopefully i'm getting back on track. I've been fasting around 16 hours and not eating after 8pm which seems to be working well for me. I need to make another quiche for breakfast so I won't be tempted to eat too much cereal. That is one of my weaknesses but thankfully i've been able to only eat a serving or two(instead of 1/3 of the box!). My knee is better this week so I plan to walk tomorrow when it gets up to the 50's. Walking is really beneficial for my attitude and mental health.
Labs were ALL good. The elevated liver enzymes are the only thing that is high, but has come down well from November so I am not worried.
FBS was 5.3 and A1C 5.5 I would like to get the A1C down some more, it was 5.4 this time last year, but I am sure it will come down with more weight loss.
Most of the blood work from the 2 docs (family doc and GI specialist) was the same, but there were a couple of different things. My CBC was fully normal, so I am absorbing iron well.
It also means that fasting is not affecting my overall health. Iron stores are fine, and electrolytes are all good.
So are all my Lipid panel results.
I get mine on the lab results website within 24 hours.
Trish: I usually do some moderately "dirty" fasting. I need my tea in the morning, and use some heavy cream in it. (I know, sounds crazy). But all the coffee drinkers were doing this "Bullet Proof" coffee and losing weight. That uses heavy cream and MCT oil. The high fat cream doesn't affect blood sugar at all, and helps we feel full. So I get through the morning ok. I use herbal tea and water later in the day. No diet soda on fasting days. I have had flavours soda water (there is a brand here called Bubly, but other brands have it) just a light flavour, no sweeteners of any kind. The bubbles help.
Other "tricks" to maintain the fast are to have some plain chicken broth or other broth, best to have plain and add your own salt. A swig of pickle juice or ACV in water is another thing.
Over time it gets easier. And wow if the 181 holds true, that will be lovely.
Adrienne: so glad for you to be doing well. The shift work is a hard one for sure. I hope the quiche will hold you through and you have a good sleep. And good for you for doing so well with finding good lab techs for your daughter. I think if techs are not doing well, they should call for help, and switch up equipment. When someone told me they were a difficult blood draw, I offered that they could go to the lab that did best, but most said I did better. That was partly because I would use a "butterfly" for those hard to draw people, instead of the standard straight to vacutainer system. I used that for child blood draws as a nurse, and rarely had problems. Mostly it takes an extra moment and extra thought. But I think it always saves time in the long run. I did the blood work for many of the other midwives if they had tricky veins.
Carol: I have to agree that getting constipated seems to affect weight loss. The trick is to find what works and how to avoid abusing it. Usually fibre supplements are the best was to go long term. They can be taken daily very safely, but what about those who can't tolerate them or for whom they don't work? Ugh.
Have a good day everyone. Its finally warming up here. and will hover about the freezing mark the next few days.
