Hi Courtnie!

Are ya struggling sweetie?

LOL yah. For too long now. It's funny, my eating now is better then it ever was before! I am currently not exercising - but will be again very soon! (too much stress and too much going on to find the time to exercise, just taking a bit of me time to try and feel better)

Go out and buy yourself a couple of helpful magazines. I subscribed to Oxygen just lately and have recieved 3 copies in two weeks. Burying my head in those helps remind me where my priorities lay.

I'm glad you came to 3FC where we can take care of you.

I have been around the whole time! Just hiding in the weight watchers forum!

I know where my priorities are, I have been doing lots of read - superfoods rx, mindless eating - and have 3 more books stacked up waiting for me to finish mindless eating (very good read btw).

A magazine might be fun though! Give me something to look forward too.

Finding a good doctor is really difficult, but very important. I see you're in Canada, so maybe it's more difficult then here, but you need someone whose actually going to listen to you and your concerns. I'm sorry, but it doesn't seem like this doctor listened to your concerns about your birth control. Personally, I'd look for another doctor, but I have a low tolerance for medical doctors who don't listen or who patronize. Since you seem to want to look into your birth control, maybe you should do some research, print it out and take it to your next appointment? Try to get the first one of the day. If he doesn't listen to you, fire him!

There have been countless studies that tell you it doesn't matter when you eat your calories. Granted, breakfast is important, but 50% of your calories at breakfast??? I'd starve the rest of the day!

I don't know if this is a problem in Canada, but here in the US it's common for doctors to not keep up on the latest information. I do understand that they don't always have the time, but it can be frustrating! I swear some of them never crack a medical journal after med school.

Can you tell I've had doctor problems? I'm sorry if this post isn't helpful. Just know that you are not alone in the struggle! :hug:

One day it dawned on me that the calories I was eating (about 1800) was what I needed to keep me at the weight I was with regular exercise. I've always been a bit of a health fanatic, so everything I ate was healthy 98% of the time. I was eating too many calories to lose weight, so I cut back to 1,200 to 1,500 calories 6 days a week and had a cheat day where I didn't count calories. I also upped my exercise and followed the plan The Women's body sculpting bible (that way I never hit a plateau with exercise). I was very strict on my diet the first month. This is what I ate:
pre-cardio: just water (you burn more fat if you do cardio on an empty stomach)
pre-weights: protein powder with ff soy or ff milk
post workout (breakfast): plain oatmeal with ff soy or ff milk with cinnamon and a little splenda (my only vice), or a poached egg on an english muffin with small side of berries.
Lunch: chicken sandwich on whole grain rye bread, or an egg white omelette with low fat cheese and veg, or chicken or salmon salad.
Snack: granny smith apple with low fat cottage cheese or a couple pieces of chicken, or anything high protein and not too high in fat.
Dinner: lean protein with veg (no carbs).
after dinner snack if hungry: same as snacks above.

I drank water mostly. Coffee and tea were unsweetened and used once or twice a day. Had as much fruit tea as I wanted. I limited alcohol to one glass of wine with dinner one night a week, and on my free day I had whatever I fancied. I also avoided carrots, peas, and potatoes.

I still keep an eye on my alcohol intake and my overall calories. I really enjoy my diet. It's much lower in carbs than what it use to be, but I feel so much better. While my blood sugar is normal it's on the low side of normal; coupled with low blood pressure having sugary or carby things would make crash. I pretty much only eat complex carbs before 3pm... I don't count the carbs in vegetables, but my carb intake is usually 30% to 40% of my caloric intake, and my fat is about 20-30% and protein is about 30% to 50%.

Sorry this is so lengthy; but I would like to add... make sure your superfoods aren't taking you over your calorie limit. It would be interesting to see how many calories you eat on a daily basis... you should count them on a typical day just to see. It may be a real eye opener.

X

Is that a boston terrier?
So cute whatever he/she is.

For insulin resistance you need a two hour glucose tolerance test. You fast overnight, then drink 4-5 ounces of glucose and they test you at 30 minutes and two hours. They are looking to see if your body brings the glucose level back to normal within that period, or if you don't use your insulin as well (meaning you are insulin resistant.)

I have been in a long term study (the Diabetes Prevention Study) here. They found that taking metformin (a drug that makes insulin work more effectively) reduces the incidence of diabetes by about 30%, but losing 7% of body fat and exercising 5 x per week for 30 minutes reduces diabetes by 70%. They also found that those folks taking metformin (but making no other changes) all lost small amounts of weight just from the improved performance of insulin. To be in the study you had to be insulin resistant. I've been taking metformin now for 9 years (we are in phase two of the study) and have not had any of the insulin resistant issues that folks talk about here.

My understanding is that you need to see an endocrinologist to have the test done.

Good luck

Just a healthcare system aside .... we are incredibly short of doctors here. Our family health team has two nurse practitioners. We love ours. She's wonderfully patient and does want to talk about lifestyle things. We don't have any acute or threatening conditons but if we did (like my back last spring) we see our GP but mostly the NP is exactly what we need.

I *adore* the NP at my doctor's office. I like my doctor well enough and she's been very responsive to me, but I ADORE our NP. She has been the biggest help to me this past year in dealing with a lot of health issues and helping me work through some emotional and mental things, too.

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Taurie - thanks. I will add up the calories. The general rule to weight watchers is 1 point is about 50 calories. So if I am allowed 24 points a day (plus 30 extra a week) - 24 points is 1200 calories, and 30 points is an extra 1500 to be used where ever I want. But some foods count as zero, so an average day is around 1200-1400. But since calorie counting is what I used in the beginning I am familiar with it, and will enter in fitday or something just to see. You do get more points if you exercise.

And yes, that is Keiko - my Boston Terrier! haha

I really don't mind my doctor - but I have never really had to see a doctor about much. Like never had to sit down and talk about problems. I talked with my boyfriend last night and have decided I am going to stop taking my pill for two months and see how I feel. If I lose more weight, feel better emotionally and all that. I figure if I change pills I become at risk to get pregnant anyway and could up with more problems (if it is the birth control). So I am just going to stop it, and be really careful with other methods of birth control. If I don't notice a difference in two months then I will go back on it - if I do, I will go talk to my doctor.... maybe I can even find a gyno or go to the family planning place or something? Go see someone who is more familiar with this sort of thing.

I just want to thank everyone for their advice!

Each woman responds in her own unique way to OCPs. It is impossible for a provider to say to say "always" or "never" about pills. There are too many birth control choices to be on something that is not working for you.....Nish, there's some good research out there that links low sex drive with OCPs, so I am not suprised by your story.

Courtnie, I have to say my jaw dropped when I read that your doctor cut your visit short so his staff could go home. Wow. That would never cross my mind....Hang in there. If you already said this I missed it, but are you doing any strength training? That is what busted my 170s plateau.

Good luck!

Okay, here is yesterday calories. The Mac and Cheese I made - I guess the calories based off of the points, but am unsure about the fat, protein and everything so I didn't count that, so it is off a bit. But anyway:

Calories: 1,394
Fat: 33 23.5%
Carbs: 146 46.5%
Protein: 94 30%

Well, I exercised 6 days a week and 5 times out of 6 I kept my calories closer to 1200 than 1500. I'm just under 5'2" so I try to keep that in perspective; I don't need that many calories. I don't trick myself into thinking I can eat more calories because I exercised, though occasionally I'll treat myself to a slice of pizza right after a workout on a non-cheat day. Your body is less likely to store carbs as fat if consumed within an hour of working out.

It looks like your calories are alright. But, you might just want to play around with the macronutrients and see if that makes any difference. Lower the carbs to 30% to 40% and avoid carbs in evening snacks and meals... but, don't count the carbs in fibrous veg. Hopefully that will work for you.

I know that as I've gotten older I've become more insulin resistant; it was particularly bad for me because even though my blood sugar was normal it was on the low side normal, so when I ate something sweet or with processed carbs my insulin would over shoot it bringing my blood sugar a bit too low and coupled with my low blood pressure it wasn't a nice feeling at all. Fortunately, losing weight and exercising helps your body use insulin more efficiently.

It's interesting how everyones body is different. I'm on a low dosage bc pill; it hasn't effected my weight at all and it keeps me sane. I get really moody without it, it's awful not only for me but everyone around me. YIKES!

Just listen to your body and try new things if something isn't working. Everybody is different, but your body will tell you what works and what doesn't.

I have a friend named Keiko! lol.

Have you ever looked into Intuitive Eating? It worked for me. Although I am STILL at a major standstill....IE skills assures me I will never gain it back.:) My problem is EXERCISE....:^: