my history and philosophy of diets

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  • posted by Sallyo
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    Hello everyone.
    I have made a few posts but haven’t formally introduced myself so I thought I would. I have now been on the 8 week Blood Sugar Diet for one week and 4 days. I have lost a kilo and 3 cm off the waist.
    I am 65, a retired teacher; and live in Tasmania in a village (onion Capital of the World), on the north west coast. Recently I had a yearly fasting blood test which put me into the pre-diabetic camp. I realise that I have joined a very large population of people with life-style disease. I have other related health issues (lungs, heart, joints), which seem to go together in a package.
    My history with diets is this: I am basically anti-diet. About ten years ago I read Amanda Sainsbury Salis’s book The Don’t Go Hungry Diet which really resonated with me. It basically argues that we have to get in touch with out hunger and be mindful of when we’re full. I lost weight with that method. When the 5:2 diet came out I tried that for 3 years. I lost 13 kg and thought I would stay on it for ever. But for the last 2 years I didn’t lose any weight and by the end of it I was starting to obsess about food. I didn’t like that so I went off it. I have now put back on 6 of the kilos I lost. So now I come to this. I don’t think I can count calories every day. I liked 5:2 because I only had to do it twice a week. Perhaps I should try the BSD on a 5:2 model. However what I have decided to do is cut out the carbs and eat to my appetite and see how that goes. If I don’t get my blood sugars down after 12 weeks, then I’ll have to do something more drastic. But I am afraid of triggering the diet monster.
    I love food.

  • posted by Californiagirl
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    Welcome to the forums Sallyo! I saw your post yesterday but didn’t get any free time to write back — so I thought I’d shout out a “hello” today. My favorite older sister’s name is Sally (from Sarah) — perhaps you are a Sally too — great name!
    Well, with your descriptions of yourself, you have come to the right place! I dare say most of us here could relate to being obsessive food-lovers and almost all of us have had so many experiences on various diets that we are tired of counting calories and not getting anywhere and many of us are also in your age group — you will be hearing from people in a very similar place.
    I am almost at two years maintenance after losing about fifty pounds (I’m in the US) — the BSD changed everything for me and although I had a bit of a struggle figuring out how to make it work for MY unique body, once I got it sorted I haven’t ever looked back.
    In reading your post, I can see you feel frustrated and also feel mentally “pushed” by the counting of calories (and I bet that is what is making you obsessive about food) I think that as you move forward with the BSD, that feeling will ease and your mindset will begin to change.
    Is it possible for you to order a copy of Gary Taubes book, “Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It”? It is a perfect companion book to the BSD and it is going to give you a fantastic primer on why you don’t need to rigidly count calories but instead work toward the model of watching your carbohydrates instead. Combined with the BSD recommendations, it gives you powerful tools to finally find the solution for your body.
    Carbohydrates drive your production of insulin — your “fat storage” hormone. When we are eating too much carbohydrate (and especially too much sugar in ALL its forms including bread, potatoes etc) it keeps your insulin levels high. High insulin levels “pushes” your blood sugar into your fat cells, where it gets locked up and sort of held prisoner. As a result, you get LOW blood sugar even while you are over-fed and that can make you obsessive about food.
    And that makes sense, because your body is trying to maintain a steady state — it wants a steady supply of energy and steady blood sugar but now your blood sugar is being cleared too quickly by your high insulin levels. So you get hungry, or obsess about food, or eat more sugar — totally reasonable responses to a physical situation in your body.
    It sounds like you might benefit from truly dropping those carbohydrates down into the very low range as you embark on the 5:2 plan. “Very low” means as low as 20 grams of carbohydrate per day to start and then you can play around with your intake as you go forward and find your sweet spot.
    I think some of the people who have lost huge amounts of weight have stayed at 20-30 grams per day for a long time. Then they add in more during maintenance until they start to gain weight again.
    The best part about very low carb is that it is going to change your mind-set and your obsession is going to go away. Seriously, this WILL happen — and that is where i (and many others) finally found freedom from the battle of the bulge.
    As you continue on the 5:2 and don’t feel so obsessive or pushed, you will likely find that you can try the 800 calories part (or close thereto) and that will speed up the weight loss.
    In any case, it will all address the other metabolic issues and improve everything in that area as well.
    I know there was a 5:2 thread at one point — you could resurrect that one or start a new one — I know there are other 5:2’rs who would be happy to join you and also join any other thread that speaks to you!

  • posted by Sallyo
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    Thank you so much Californiagirl for this full and thoughtful response.
    I am not doing 5:2 at the moment; I was only wondering if I would have to go back on to it and counting calories twice a week if I don’t lose any weight by simply cutting out the carbs. I am going to do the low carb 8 weeks and I get what you say about the science of carbs. I will look out for the book you mention. I’m glad to know that counting calories is not thought to be essential, and encouraged that the craving and obsession will pass. So far, nearly at the end of week 2 now, it hasn’t been too bad. In the spirit of the Don’t Go Hungry Diet I try not to allow my self to get hungry and eat nuts and cheese instead of dry biscuits, (crackers in US speak). Thank you again and see you round the Forum.

  • posted by alliecat
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    Another excellent post, Julia. We certainly are a 2 woman tag team when it comes to our recommendation
    to read Taubes book, aren’t we? It is very encouraging to see so many newbies eager to expand
    their knowledge of the negative effects of carbs, too! Today was a beautiful day here, temp. @72F, and
    very low humidity. My husband and I always refer to this kind of day as a San Francisco day, and I know
    that you appreciate what we mean by that 🙂 I hope that you have a wonderful Memorial Day
    weekend! I’m keeping off the roads, and will be planting up my balcony containers….

    xoxo, yours in the sisterhood,
    Allie

  • posted by Californiagirl
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    We are definitely the Taubes-tag-team Allie! And for good reason, it was just the perfect combo with BSD — sort of a crack-the-code book. I think a lot of people think that it’s just “something more to read blah blah blah)” but it is SO important and so I’m going to just keep harping in about it and I love that you do too!
    Your weather sounds wonderful — perfect for Memorial Day weekend. We have had bizarre, unsettled weather at Lake Tahoe the past two weeks, an hour or two of sunshine in the morning, then MASSIVE thunderstorms and rain all afternoon. It clears around 7 pm and starts all over the next day. Tahoe is more green than I have ever seen it — usually by now we have settled into dry Mediterranean summer pattern and the grass is already golden but not this year.
    We have a mamma bear with a furry brown ball of baby cub hanging out by our house — they are adorable but I have to walk the dogs on a leash so they don’t scare her and her baby. We have another bear around too — he is wearing a collar so I think he must have been breaking into houses and now is being watched. Luckily he has been chill and maybe he has quit his bad behavior.
    My husband has decided he never wants to return to deal with Silicon Valley and he wants to live up here at Tahoe full time. That is wonderful but I still have to go home to take care of family business about once a week — so now I am commuting!
    I am about five weeks away from hitting my two-year BSD anniversary — it seems like it was a blink of an eye — still following general principles, still lowcarb.
    Wow, what would have happened if I hadn’t found the BSD?
    Have a great weekend!

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