The Obesity Code and Radical Acceptance

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  • dasher602014
    dasher602014 Posts: 1,992 Member
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    suzqtme wrote: »
    RE the 70s and snacking, I grew up in the 60s and my family as well as all my friends families at 3 meals a day. There were no snacks except possibly Saturday night. Usually this was a cereal bowl of popcorn and perhaps a shared bottle (16 oz back then) of regular soda. So about 4 oz of soda. If you complained of feeling hungry before supper, it was "you'll spoil your appetite". This was just normal eating. Dishes were done and no one ate again until the next meal.

    At school, there were no snacks except kindergarteners who got milk and a graham cracker for a snack midmorning before their nap. Kindergarten was a half day. No one starved. Poor grades weren't blamed on lack of food at home. Funny how test scores continue to drop and yet we are providing more and more food to kids at school (breakfast, lunches and now, in our area, we are providing afterschool snacks and even box lunches for kids to take home and eat. Ok, off my soapbox.

    Same here in the 60's. If we wanted any junk at all, we bought it with our allowance which we earned at home or out in the neighbourhood. Mum did monitor but it was ours. It was a suggestion that a candy bar a day was not good and expensive. We did not get enough allowance to do this more than 2 a week and if you wanted a new toy, it did not work at all to spend what you have this way.

    A glass of milk was permitted but not too close to dinner. That being said, my 3 brothers were allowed peanut butter sandwiches and milk after dinner when they hit their hungry teenager stage of growth. But that was only for a few years each.

    I do wonder looking back from the more modern lens, if kids at school had enough to eat at home but certainly in my lower to middle class area, kids were feed at home and I don't remember anyone in the lunchroom (the rare times I had to stay) having anything different than I did. Sandwich, fruit, celery and carrots. The current world is strange to me.

  • Aquawave
    Aquawave Posts: 260 Member
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    My source of money was an allowance of ten cents and I used to pick up glass bottles that people would leave by the incinerator to bring to the grocery store for the deposit money. Wow, I had forgotten. Candy was 5 cents, but I bought comic books at the used comic book store, three for a nickle. I still have them, I think my husband married me so he could read them. Egg cream soda was 2 cents, no real egg in it. I ate very little candy, no snacks except for an apple. Life in Brooklyn in the 60's, not bad at all.
  • suzqtme
    suzqtme Posts: 322 Member
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    Roseygirl1 wrote: »
    There's a very good set of visuals about children's lunches around the world. Here it is:

    huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/25/school-lunches-around-the-world_n_6746164.html

    I want to say I am astounded, but I really can't. The U.S. has obviously the most processed foods but all are very high carb meals. Does anyone else get groggy eating meals like this? If kids are getting the double whammy of high carb, high sugar at breakfast and lunch, how can they either sit still (sugar high) or stay awake (sugar crash) to learn?

    Thank God that I have reawakened to low carb and discovered high fat to go with it to make this all so easy now that I seem to be fat adapted. Wish I had known this 40 years ago (or even 20).

    @Roseygirl, you are bringing a new perspective to "be good to yourself". Slips or mistakes are learning experiences, gentleness with ourselves builds kindness and understanding of ourselves and others, keeping a spiritual focus brings peace in the face of life challenges. Just a few of the things I am learning from this thread.
  • Roseygirl1
    Roseygirl1 Posts: 196 Member
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    Thank you @suzqtme. One thing I know for certain: if beating myself up were effective motivation for accomplishment, I would have no issues! Loving discipline isn't beating oneself up. I am not going to starve myself or rush my body's healing (as if I could!).

    Learning curve: I CANNOT eat at least one brand of low carb bread. I had ONE ROLL as an experiment, and it sat so heavy in my stomach all evening, and then I got up at night to.....well, let's just say my body evicted it the same route it went down. Then, the next morning, I had a mouth ulcer. It's too bad, too, because I ordered these product online and now I have a freezer full of things I can't eat. The mouth ulcers I get sometimes from autoimmune reactions. (I don't have celiac but I do have the arthritis that is associated with Crohn's Disease, having had one bout of Crohn's myself in 1982, none since, thank heaven.) Something in that roll triggered me---probably the "vital wheat gluten."

    SO....it is dawning on me that *my* low carb way of life is going to look very "paleo" or "primal"---meat, fish, poultry, the right fats, low carb veggies, some nuts and seeds, little fruit. Oh, well. It fits better with my philosophy about "real food" anyway.

    Yummy breakfast today: 2 eggs cooked in butter, broccoli slaw/salad, sprouts, sour cream.

    I have two duck breasts in the frig for my husband and me; gotta see how to make these, I never have! Gotta be a way to get this yummy without sugary orange or cherry sauce.

    Going to walk for 1.2 miles this morning...OUT THE DOOR! Have a great day!

    Rosey

  • Sunny_Bunny_
    Sunny_Bunny_ Posts: 7,140 Member
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    @Roseygirl1
    I love that term "loving discipline"
    I feel like it is perfect to explain how I handled my sugar addiction and the decision I had to make to stop making low carb sweets and eventually stop sweetening my coffee. Even though it was technically ok for my WOE, I found that I had a constant need for sweet tasting foods at least once a day if not more and that wasn't addressing the addiction and the fact that it caused me to eat when I wasn't actually hungry. Even if it was just sweetened coffee with no calories, I felt like I wasn't in control of it and I didn't like it.
    Some people wouldn't understand why I would restrict this when it didn't add calories or carbs and technically fit my plan, but I recognized that it stirred up feelings of hunger that weren't real and created a need to use will power to keep from eating. I wasn't punishing myself by "denying" myself, I was making a loving choice to correct something that I didn't feel in control of, and I think that viewing it that way made it just a little easier to accomplish.
    That's a very powerful statement you made and I hope that others find it inspiring like I do.
    I really like the way you are approaching your goals and I'm glad that you are sharing it with us. :smile:
  • dasher602014
    dasher602014 Posts: 1,992 Member
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    And @Roseygirl1 thank you too for the discussion on low carb bread. I have thought I was lactose intolerant for years (I may still be) but I have been struggling with mouth ulcers and other problems since going keto some months back. I was encouraged to go slow carbs to help and it has. But, I had the same reaction to gluten free bread (the other direction :( ) having had a bad reaction to an itsy bitsy bit of regular bread prior to buying the gluten free. I think gluten is the problem. Crohns and other issues in the family so ...... I am throwing out the bread and getting better informed about gluten. Thanks for the posting confirming my own experience. So sorry to hear about the $$ spent.
  • Roseygirl1
    Roseygirl1 Posts: 196 Member
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    @Sunny_Bunny_ I am coming to the same conclusion. I made an almond cake from George Stella's cookbook that I got out of the library, and while I did not binge on it the way I would if it were a "regular" cake, I did not like how it made me feel. Whether it was the Splenda (which I am not used to) or the heaviness of the almond flour, it just didn't sit easy in my stomach. I also didn't like how it lit up my brain the way sweets do. When I finished eating a piece, I wanted another. Like right away.

    @dasher602014 I'll be interested to know if you feel better after going GF. I can't ignore the evidence of my body. I went back to the library and found another cookbook that might serve me better. It's called the Paleo Low Carb Cookbook, and has no sweets/treats in it, but some really interesting recipes.

    Personal training today! Have a great day, everybody!

    Rosey
  • dasher602014
    dasher602014 Posts: 1,992 Member
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    Thanks for the book reference too @Roseygirl1 . My town library (town less than 2000 people) won't have it but maybe I can borrow online or put it on my Christmas list.
  • Roseygirl1
    Roseygirl1 Posts: 196 Member
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    This morning FBS was 101mg%. Higher than I like it---I have had readings as low as 89, which made me happy. I think there could be two possibilities: I didn't get much activity yesterday, and/or I ate chickpeas---counted the carbs, but they are the highest carb thing I've eaten, I think.

    It really helps me to test BS. Nothing motivates me more: my primary goal is to lower my insulin levels. I think I am having the liver glycogen release phenomenon, since I am not eating after 7pm. Which means the best thing I can do is go for a pre-breakfast walk, I think. I'm going to have to research this!

    Onward and awkward!

    Have a great day, everybody*
    Rosey
  • dasher602014
    dasher602014 Posts: 1,992 Member
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    Exercise really does help blood sugar doesn't it?

    I am contemplating all the gluten filled things around here. And working on ignoring or giving away. Like sugar and lactose, it is hidden in lots of processed foods. I don't eat much in the way of processed foods. About 5 soda crackers a week and some fish sauce in recipes. And I used to eat oatmeal quite often, so I will have to dump that and buy GF oatmeal for those rare occasions. Another cupboard clearing in my future.
  • sherryrichie
    sherryrichie Posts: 114 Member
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    Roseygirl1, my doctor recently changed my T2D med from Janumet to Metformin. The Janumet had a component that raised insulin and I thought the change would be good. My FBS had been mid-90s to low 100s before the change. Now they have been 135, 127, 125, 115. They seem to be working their way back down, and I guess I'll just have to be patient and see how things end up. I was hoping to go off meds one of these days - that was my strongest motivation for LCHF eating.
  • Roseygirl1
    Roseygirl1 Posts: 196 Member
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    Dasher and Sherry, I think it really calls for patience!!! Lord, give me patience RIGHT NOW!!!!!!

    *sigh*
  • KnitOrMiss
    KnitOrMiss Posts: 10,104 Member
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    Stressing about it sure won't help, in fact increased stress will HURT your numbers... :) Meditation, @Roseygirl1?
  • Aquawave
    Aquawave Posts: 260 Member
    edited September 2016
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    Roseygirl1, my doctor recently changed my T2D med from Janumet to Metformin. The Janumet had a component that raised insulin and I thought the change would be good. My FBS had been mid-90s to low 100s before the change. Now they have been 135, 127, 125, 115. They seem to be working their way back down, and I guess I'll just have to be patient and see how things end up. I was hoping to go off meds one of these days - that was my strongest motivation for LCHF eating.

    Januvia, the Janu part of Janumet, helps lower blood sugar in two ways. It helps the body increase insulin to stabilize blood sugar and decrease sugars that are made in the liver. Since it increased your insulin, your liver cells have become more insulin resistant from taking it. Now, it will take some time for the artificially created resistance to go away. Plus, now your insulin resistant liver is thinking it must make more sugar for you. Crazy liver. Hence your current test results.

    If you can get by with medication that does not increase your insulin levels you are better off. It took time for your body to get to where it is and it will take time for it to heal itself.

    I tried to get off all Metformin too quickly and it did not work out very well, with sugars going as high as 140. I now take 750 ER twice a day instead of the 1000ER twice a day I used to take and am averaging a FBS of 100 each day.. I look forward to slowly decreasing my Metformin.
  • sherryrichie
    sherryrichie Posts: 114 Member
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    Aquawave, thank you for this explanation. Patience is the key here. Let the healing begin!!!
  • Roseygirl1
    Roseygirl1 Posts: 196 Member
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    It's so great to have such thoughtful companions on this health journey!

    I made a concerted effort to get more activity yesterday, and this morning my FBS was 84%!!!!! Lowest number yet! I will keep an eye on this, but it does seem that thoughtful doses of activity (I'm talking walking and a little housekeeping!) at the right times have a bigger effect on my blood sugar than the small details of what I eat, as long as my carbs are controlled.

    So along with carb control, I am going to continue to think of activity as medicine. "Take a 10 minute walk three times a day after meals."

    Getting the blood sugar monitor was a really good idea, thank you all for the suggestion.

    Last night, I sliced and fried radishes in butter. Very yum! Today I am going to make kale chips, got a huge bunch of kale in the farm share.

    Rosey

  • retirehappy
    retirehappy Posts: 4,757 Member
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    @roseygirl1 glad you are finding out what works best for you. I enjoy your attitude very much, I try to do the same but somedays, the frustration gets to me and I yell at myself in my head too much. I'm going to try and follow your lead in the "kindness to self "attitude. After all, I have to live with myself for the rest of my life, LOL.