So tell us what you've learned....

KnitOrMiss

cstehansen wrote: »

I have read through many of these and have a mixed response. The upside is there are many people out there with different but sometimes similar reasons for wanting to improve themselves. There is also great support for everyone who wants it.

The downside is this thread is not terribly old, yet when I look at many who responded, they show as not having logged on for several months - sometimes appearing to have stopped very shortly after responding to this thread.

I can't help but wonder if some achieved their goals and no longer felt the desire to continue logging in. However, I know some gave up. Some may have gotten close and been scared to finally achieve the goal because the thought of trying to maintain can be overwhelming - knowing they can't go back to what they were doing before without becoming what they were before. At the same time, some get scared about the thought of "never having ________" again.

I hope as people read through these, and I would encourage everyone to do this, they think about their journey as a lifelong journey. This isn't about losing xx pounds or about some other singular goal. This is about being the best you that you can be.

I also hope people reading this realize just how much of an advantage they have than our parents had in that we have the resources, like this forum, to provide the guidance and support we need when we need it. We don't have to rely on looking at the food pyramid and then beat ourselves up because we think we are following it but we continue to spiral down so we assume we must be doing something wrong.

I started my journey to better health before finding MFP or this forum using Dr. Google and my own n=1 experiments. The additional knowledge I got when I joined this group from the launchpad alone was amazing. Even though I kind of wish I would have known all that when I first started my journey, I think the fact I had learned about 50-60% of it through medical research already helped me actually believe what was there.

After decades of bad information pumped into my head about what is healthy, I am not sure I would have believed some of what is there. Having already realized just how messed up the info was we had been taught was helped me accept crazy ideas like more sodium is good.

Anyway, I apologize for the long rant, but just had to get this off my chest.

@cstehansen - my favorite quote/reminder on this is something @Gallowmere1984 wrote on his wall a while back.



I have a completely reversed view from what I hear from the majority. Instead of thinking "man, this is taking forever", I think "I have forever to make this work".

The acceptance of something as a lifelong pursuit is actually very liberating. All time constraints are removed, and it's just you, battling with your body, and bending it to your will. It doesn't have to end, until you cease to exist.

AlexandraCarlyle

@cstehansen I get your 'lamentations' about members logging in a long time ago, posting once (or twice... maybe a few times) then disappearing.
If it's any comfort (!) I have also joined the Italian contingency on this multi-national forum, and the attendance record and returns of new members makes for depressing viewing.
So many "introduce yourself" posts of one single comment, and then total abandonment. Utter silence. Tumbleweed valley.
on top of that, I found one - JUST ONE - link in Italian outlining why it's best to reduce carbs - even though it does state that carbs are necessary for the body...

Italian forum in 2 words?
Unmitigated disaster.
We do ok here.....

dawnz75

I have only had time to read the first page but I was so encouraged I thought this could use a bump. Happy Wednesday all!

WattsJA

I lost over 190lbs with a high protein(150-200g)/mod carb(~150)/mod fat (~50) diet. I started 10/2003. I have managed to keep it off .. until the last couple of years. I have gained about 60 of it back (but holding). I know I am getting older and my metabolism is slowing. I decided to really shake things up by doing this Keto diet. This allows for all the things I have had to pass on (too fatty) for the last 14+ years. I did my research and see it appears to be health and makes you even healthier.

canadjineh

Just a shout out to @DittoDan. Haven't heard from you in a while and always looked forward to seeing your posts! Hope you are doing OK.

cstehansen

I have learned that I should have gotten a whole lot more testing done up front. Fortunately, I am getting a fair amount of testing on an ongoing basis, which is helpful. It is also important to work with a doc who understands LCHF.

For instance, thyroid function can go down on a keto diet, but that does not necessarily mean hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism means there is a problem. Kind of like the difference between obsessive compulsive personality and obsessive compulsive disorder. OCP is fine. OCD is when it causes functional problems in one's life. Lower thyroid function because it does not need to work as hard because of low carb is not a problem.

Testosterone can go down initially, but this usually rebounds. Mine dropped a bit after 3-4 months of keto, but 6 months later it had nearly doubled from that low level and was at a level that was outstanding for a man my age. Had I freaked out about that drop, or not had a doc who understood LCHF, I may have stopped keto. Glad I didn't.

I don't think I am unusual that LDL and HDL both increased initially and trigs dropped. The HDL continues to go up. Trigs have stayed very low (40's and 50's). LDL seems to be slowly trending down.

I wish I had done a complete lipid profile before hand which included particle size, ApoA and ApoB, inflammation scores like hsCRP, etc. I only started doing those after being keto for 3-4 months. What I can say is the ApoB/ApoA ratio and the particle sizes all improved from December last year to June this year. Inflammation scores (hsCRP, Fibinogin and MPO) were all already in optimal range at that earlier mark. I wonder what they were before. LpPLA is the only one that is still in the borderline range. It is a newer marker but seems to indicate if there is plaque build up that it may be unstable meaning it could break off and cause heart attack, stroke, etc. I getting a calcium test this Wednesday, so if that is good, then the LpPLA becomes somewhat irrelevant.

Again, had I not done my research and gotten a doc who understood LCHF, that initial jump in total cholesterol might have freaked me out and gotten me to stop this.

I have learned there are many haters out there. Not sure that is something I learned or if it is something that just became more apparent. My A1c and other BG numbers are not where I would like them, so there are haters who will say what I am doing has failed. What they don't or won't acknowledge is that had I lowered them to these levels using drugs instead of diet, I would be considered to have "well controlled" T2. With drugs, they purposely do not get it all the way to truly healthy levels because of the dangers of hypoglycemia. With diet, I don't have that concern so I can continue to tweak this in an effort to one day get truly healthy levels. They also seem unwilling to acknowledge that when lowered via drugs, over all mortality for T2 is no better than it is if BG is uncontrolled.

Finally (although maybe this should have gone first), I have learned how to read medical studies and decipher when those writing articles or reporting in the news have twisted the results to fit their agenda. Unfortunately, it seems when it comes to nutrition, the vast majority of what is out there does exactly that. We are fortunate to live in an age where we can go to PubMed and see at least the abstracts to studies for free. In many cases, we can get to the full studies.

swezeytba

cstehansen wrote: »

For instance, thyroid function can go down on a keto diet, but that does not necessarily mean hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism means there is a problem. Kind of like the difference between obsessive compulsive personality and obsessive compulsive disorder. OCP is fine. OCD is when it causes functional problems in one's life. Lower thyroid function because it does not need to work as hard because of low carb is not a problem.

@cstehansen

This is currently a topic of interest to me. Do you have any articles you could cite?

My thyroid tested on the high side of normal prior to keto but was at a stable level so they weren't treating it. Had annual wellness exam this year and my level had dropped dramatically to the very low side of normal. I wasn't aware of this link with keto and so was concerned, but my doctor said we would just keep an eye on it. Actually going in to get blood drawn today for follow up testing.

realsammysalamander

This thread was a great read! Here are my responses:
What brought you to living healthier?
I joined a biggest loser competition at work, and finally discovered that I could lose weight, I wasn't a special snowflake, I just ate too much.
How did you find LC?
A friend of mine tried it out and her results were awesome
How did you keep on at your first plateau?
I haven't hit one yet, but I am very recent adopter to LC
How do you keep on during difficulties?
I just keep myself busy and try to trust the process
How do you manage your stressors?
Plan, and plan, and plan. It is my go to way to deal with life.
What tips and tricks are uniquely yours? Who motivates you? What motivates you?
I don't think I have that great of a handle on LC yet to really answer this. I just keep trying things out and learning from mistakes. Motivation for me seems fleeting, I just need to decide I am going to do something, then get 'er done.

cstehansen

swezeytba wrote: »

cstehansen wrote: »

For instance, thyroid function can go down on a keto diet, but that does not necessarily mean hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism means there is a problem. Kind of like the difference between obsessive compulsive personality and obsessive compulsive disorder. OCP is fine. OCD is when it causes functional problems in one's life. Lower thyroid function because it does not need to work as hard because of low carb is not a problem.

@cstehansen

This is currently a topic of interest to me. Do you have any articles you could cite?

My thyroid tested on the high side of normal prior to keto but was at a stable level so they weren't treating it. Had annual wellness exam this year and my level had dropped dramatically to the very low side of normal. I wasn't aware of this link with keto and so was concerned, but my doctor said we would just keep an eye on it. Actually going in to get blood drawn today for follow up testing.

My current LCHF friendly doc is one of my sources. I think it was Dr Feinman who mentioned in an interview as well. The only link I have for sure is this one from Dr Nally:

https://www.docmuscles.com/ketosis-part-xii-thyroid/

There are links in this so maybe you can find some additional back up in those.

I kind of assumed hypothyroidism was not an issue for me after looking up the symptoms and seeing none of them matched outside of getting cold easily. I attribute that to having low body fat and spending nearly all my time as a kid outside in Texas where triple digits is a normal high in the summer. I have just always preferred to be hot over cold. So having lowish thyroid numbers did not concern me.

swezeytba

Thanks @cstehansen . I will look that over.....I have also looked at the symptoms of thyroid problems numerous times and never could really match up with many either. My PCP just said my right thyroid was slightly enlarged at my last annual so she's keeping an eye on it. Not an alarmist though....