It is hard, sometimes. I was assigned to her again yesterday, and she was still ticking and her temp was almost normal. Wriggling around the bed trying hard to get that tube out. No sedation because it tanks her pressure, but the improvement made me hopeful. Family is more realistic and will wait another day before making any decisions.

This is how I see it too.


I haven't been diagnosed with insulin resistance or hypoglycemia, but I know that something is off about me. I noticed it during one of my recent pregnancies (I have had four losses in two years. Two in second trimester). After eating, especially if there were lots of carbs, I would get tachy and my blood pressure would skyrocket and really dizzy and floaty awful feeling.

That clued me in that this may be part of the reason for some of my losses and I needed to change things. So I started eating this way. I am still trying to have a baby. I'm 40 and obese so I have alot against me, but I'm hoping this way of eating will help.

Tonight I;m making the Beef Bombay Curry
http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Bee...ay-Curry-88540

yummy!

Hi Tymaboy. Welcome from the resident fat dude. Your first paragraph above sounds like sugar/carb addiction to me. I dealt with it cold turkey right up front and it was every bit the same brutal fight as kicking smokes. In some respects it may be worse because kicking smokes means no sign of tobacco anywhere in the house. It's almost impossible to do that with carbs. I'm a fan of filling the trash can with food you should not eat, pasta, bread, flour, sugar. Once every thing in the house is paleo/primal approved you become low carb and keto adapted. No doubt it's a pain in the gut to fight constant hunger. It helped me to recognize it wasn't true hunger but my starving carb dependent gut flora begging for sustenance. They died and got flushed down the toilet and things eased up.

I have been trying to get the coconut oil MCTs into my diet, and frankly, I don't care for the taste in my food. I will keep experimenting and try to conquer curries and find some combos that work, but so far no luck. So I take it like medicine a teaspoon at a time. It might help quench my hunger and slow my consumption. I do like coconut milk over berries and nuts as a snack, warm or cold. I have that 4-5 times a week and it seems to be harmless. I do not "notice" anything particular about the coconut in my diet.

Hello bibob, thank you for the welcome.

You are right about it being an addiction. It is getting better but I still crave the carbs. Its hard when DH & DS sit & eat whatever their hearts desire. I would like to get DH on board with me but my DS does not need to loose. My DS had been over weight when he was younger then someone from school got him into going to the Y & started running. DS now runs cross country & track & every time I need to buy him clothes its a smaller size then before (wish it were me) He also plans on joining the marines after school. Last yr we talked to a recruiter & he told DS he better not loose too much more or they will need to put him on a diet to gain. The recruiter made a comment that its usually the other way around. I wish I still had my teen metabolism when I could eat whatever I wanted & not gain.

I went out & bought some multi vitamins yesterday. The store did not have the kind I normanly get so I got some generic noncoated ones & I dont think they agree with me. I took them after I ate breakfast this morning & shortly after I did not feel well at all. I that changes or I will need to throw them away.

I read your post a couple times wanting to find something in it to "improve" to help you lose faster and not have the sensation of failing despite all the other good health news you shared. How are your T3s? Have you had them checked lately? There's a post at The Heart Scan Blog about turning up the Simthy for hypothyroid weight loss. A nephew's wife just had her doc do it for her and she's down about 25 pounds since March. She's conventional low fat high carb dieting and terrified of cutting carbs. Also, if you're keto adapted or preferably cruising along in somewhat deep ketosis, intermittent fasting should probably be experimented with to speed things up. My total calories increase when I fast like I did recently, because I binge, but the weight loss is amazing right now. I had about 6000 calories the past couple days, 80% fats, and the weight is falling off me rapidly. I seem to have turned a metabolic derangement around with Dr. Harris's PaNu high fat for weight loss ideas. I took his advice and drank heavy cream and the surge of energy was drug like. I burn fats very efficiently now and they give me the energy carbs used to... and then some.

@tymaboy,I like to take my supplements before bed, usually that way I don't get effected by them.

The past two days have been majorly primal and I feel so much better. Today I did a Crossfit wkout at my gym that kicked my butt in about 25 minutes...

Ran 1/2 mile, 12 deadlifts, 10 good mornings, 25 rows, Ran 1/4 mile, repeated weights, tried to run another 1/4 mile and ended up jogging and walking. It felt so good! but not better than going for a swim afterwards!

I just finished my lunch/dinner, I made a porkchop with a pesto sauce and roasted tomatoes then veggies on the side, pesto is addicting! I have so much Basil out back I think pesto will be in many dishes this week.

Anyone have any good uses for fresh basil?

If you're low carb and low fat you don't have good sources of energy available. Finally beating my fear of fats has energized me. That link above may be worth reviewing.

Sorry to hear about work and having a baby issues. I sure hope both get much better soon.

I am also conditioned to avoid fats. I was the chubby kid. Bob the Blob, Boob, Booby, Slobby Bobby. Yep. I avoided bacon for over a decade before going Primal. Fats are good fuel if you are committed to burning them. It takes a complete paradigm shift.

Had a great workout at the gym tonight. Did some Tabata Squats, I was not as intense as these guys and did not rest at the bottom OUCH... but I certainly did get an intense workout... This method can be done with any exercise, push ups, skipping rope, abs, etc...

From this site

I guess we Primals/Paleos we could consider these as sprints? My heart rate stayed elevated for a very long time

What's sad is I used to be a pretty good athlete and I couldn't keep up with Kara or Ilene to save my life. If I did those squats, I would be on the ground writhing in knee pain. Arthritis. If I ran a half mile, I'd pretty much be ready for bed. hehe

I've tried tabata and never make the 8 minutes. I got my son to time me once. He kept yelling "Stop, you're going to die!"

Watched "Food, Inc" last night. I'm glad I no longer eat soy and happy I'm not allergic to corn!

Excellent primal day yesterday! Walked, gardened. Eggs, beef patty, lemon pepper chicken, roasted brussel sprouts, cheese, heavy cream, coconut milk and oil and a nibble of creamed coconut.

Kathy - hugs to you. I'm hoping this way of eating will help you too. I'm sure you, as a health professional, know all the following ... but I saw an interesting interview where a heart specialist interviews a reproductive specialist that I'm linking to here ... LINK.

Bob, thank you for your thoughtful reply. Regarding the hypothyroid, I'm on Synthroid which has my TSH and T4 in the "okay" range, but I still feel something's off. I don't know how difficult or important it is to test for T3, but my doctor has not done it. I have discussed the test for T3 with my doctor or adding Cytomel to my Synthroid which I read might help ... or possibly using the Armour "natural" thyroid, but he doesn't seem open to that, and I am not knowledgeable enough to discuss it intelligently.

Re: the diet. I have just been eating protein and veggies with some nuts (which I too can overeat) and moderate cottage cheese, Greek yogurt and hard cheese. I eat only olive oil and a little butter. This results in a fat percent of about 50% most days, and carbs 40-100 grams depending on the day.

I had read Dr. Harris' plan and noted that it was very similar to Dr. Atkins plan for those few people who couldn't lose weight on Atkins ... very high fat and almost nothing else to sort of break through the barrier as it were. I remember in the book Atkins said not to stay on this for too long although I don't have the reference here.

You are a younger guy and both of those things ... the *younger* and the *guy* give you more ability to play around with your body without screwing it up totally. I'm very wary of lowering my metabolism because I don't want to spend my life eating 1200 calories/day. Right now I can eat around 1900/day without gaining (or losing) weight and I can live with that. I also don't want to have my body react by lowering my body temperature, making me lethargic or other things in an attempt to conserve calories.

So, I am just muddling along. I don't think I want to do fasts. That seems unrealistic for me. I'm the kind that likes to eat every few hours although I have read the recent stuff that says that may not be the best thing.

I may set aside a two-week period every once in awhile to try different things. I could skip breakfast pretty easily and that would give me a mini-fast. I might try that once in a while. I would really like to skip dinner but that is much harder for me.

Thank you for your advice I appreciate it very much. If you have any other thoughts about the hypo-thyroid in particular, let me know. I did not really understand your reference to Simthy? CJ

Kara, Ilene, Susan ... WOW on the interval exercise! I am headed up north where I will spend the summer, and they have a trainer up there who does the "once-a-week-kick-your-butt" thing. I'm trying to decide whether to go with him or join the YMCA which has lots of interesting classes every day. Advice???? Can't afford to do both.

CJ- I would do the Y, only because of the variety. You would have a better chance of experimenting with different activites rather than a scheduled class only 1x a wk. Just my opinion, I like my Y because I can do free weights,circuit,treadmill,pool,stairs,classes...I can't get bored.

I am loving the interval training, I saw a 2lb drop on the scale this morning, I'll see what happens by the end of the week. I'm planning on doing a workout someone posted on MDA today and then tomorrow the wkout I did yesterday.

Todays wkout:
Pushups-3 min (I'll be doing modified)
Jumping jacks- 1 min
bent rows - 1 min
jumping jacks- 3 min
squats- 2 min
jumping jacks- 2 min

I may need an ambulance afterwards!

Bob- I couldn't run even a 1/4 mile when I started going to the gym in October, it took me 20 min to walk a mile, but I just kept it up and now I can jog 1.5 miles and 2 or a good day. I find the jogging helps with dropping belly fat and its a slow jog usually 4.8-5.2 mph. I want to do a 5k by October, I know Mark isn't a huge fan, but I have a lot of weight left to lose and I actually love jogging, it clears my head and a 5K is a personal goal of mine. I just saw the documentary Spirit of the Marathon and it really inspired me to keep at it.

Have a great day everyone!

Good morning. 35 hours into a primal winter IF, and I feel really good. I like the flatness of my empty guts.

Kara -- I have so many recurring injuries that prevent exercise, I need to get down to about 250 first to avoid hurting myself. I was walking like crazy before the heat got here, now I am swimming a llittle. My doc in San Diego, 7 years ago, told me I needed six surgeries. Hah! My toe is the worst of them and it prevents me from sprinting and jogging is risky. Walking has caused it to flare up, so the walk slowly ideas have really helped me. I have a loose/trick shoulder that can dislocate doing push ups, pull ups, military or bench pressing. I have a bad lower back that has kept me in bed for as long as week a dozen times since my mid 20s. My thoracic region cracks when I cough or sneeze or yawn. I cannot do squats because of my knee. Not even holding on to a rail. But the toe, the toe is brutal. Imagine combining the worst of toothaches with the worst of earaches and placing it on top of your toe. My brother said I could not lose weight as fast as I want, which btw, I want to be under 250 by the holidays, and would really like to be about 220. He thinks that will take tons of hard core exercise. I told him I was going to prove weight loss was mostly about diet, which I am convinced it is. I have been pretty sedentary this month since the heat got here. The swimming is meh as exercise goes. The intermittent fasting appears to be melting me away.

CJ -- Simthy was my word for Symthroid. Thyroid issues seem to be the toughest and belong in a class of their own. I wish I had more ideas, but this one seems best left to the doctors. My sis had breast cancer and Hoshimoto's and her docs will not increase her dose despite her being 5-2 and about 350.

I'm not young, but thanks for saying that. Read the above. I may be 48 in years, but I'm more like 68 physically. Ouch. I was a pretty heavy smoker and drinker through my 30s too.

I know you like the deeper research. I am doing an N=1 experiment on myself re: leptin and insulin resistance. I think those two hormones are the primary physiological bad guys. Screwed up gut flora also being key. Intermittent fasting, even skipping single meal every two or three days, does appear to increase sensitivity to both hormones. Denying the bad flora the sugar they crave seems to kill them off. My primary focus is metabolic set point theory via Dr. Guyenet, and Dr. Ayers anti-inflammatory diet. Inflammation and not being able to maintain weight loss are my biggest issues. Accidentally turning up the set point thermostat over and over (yo yo-ing) has been my real downfall. Some folks don't buy set point theory, but I cannot ignore it since it describes my failed journey so perfectly. My fast weight loss is meaningless if I raise my set point. The techniques I am applying are all supported by research to lower the set point. The three things I have found that substantially indicate lowered set points are ketogenic fat fueled weight loss, intermittent fasting, and starting next month Dr. Lustig's "safe carb" cycling (replenishing). I'm going to eat potatoes and real sourdough pizza (Stephan's safe grain method if I can master it) on the weekends next month -- to lower my set point. This could all be one great big placebo, but if it works, who cares?

Am I right in thinking that the ratio of fat to carb to protein should be:

<50g carbs = fast weight loss
50-100g carbs = weight loss
>100g carbs = maintainance

0.7-1.0g protein per lb lean body mass

fat - all the rest

I'm 5' 0" tall and currently weigh 127lbs. I seem to average around 100g of fat per day with 50-75g of carbs. Does anyone think that this is about right for slow 1-2lb per week weight loss? Any advice would be appreciated!