swimmom_1 wrote: »

I'm 64, full time working RN. Mother of 4 boys, 36, 34, 32 and 25. I have 3 grandchildren under 3 yo. My name is Mary. My 4 boys were all competitive swimmers, hence the swimmom. Kind of like a "Soccer Mom." I live in Pennsylvania. I have been on many, many diets since I've been 20. My highest weight, twice now, is 255 lbs. In late 2009 I got down to 122 lbs, mainly from a stressful situation, calorie restriction about 1000 and about 8 hours of exercise 5 days/week. The exercise was to maintain my sanity. Took about a year to loose the 133 lbs. Kept it off for about 5 years and got lazy, but I also went back to work in 2010.

Started a new job in 9/20 and lost 15 lbs without really trying. (My new manager was not a micro manager as the previous one became.) Then had Gallbladder surgery and didn't want to gain, as some do, and read up on Keto while I was recovering. Seems to be the diet for me. It is fairly easy for me and I can't say I've been hungry at all.

I try to stay about 15 Net Carbs/ day. Some days maybe +/- 3. I don't worry about it. Also stay at or under 1200 calories. I weigh every morning. Keeps my head straight for the day. Don't fret slight upticks. Seems to happen to me before a weight drop.I eat 3 meals on work days. 2 on off days. On my 3 off days, I started a few weeks ago, to give up my 3 mile/70 minute neighborhood walks, and started using my Elliptical again. I do 99 minutes, that amounts to 8+ miles. Right at my present weight it amounts to 1300+ calorie burn. I'm watching Downton Abbey episodes while doing it. Otherwise I would be bored.

9/14/20-255 lbs
5/3/21-240.5 lbs surgery day
5/14/21-232.2 lbs started MFP
6/1/21-228.8 lbs
7/1/21-222.2 lbs
8/1/21-212 lbs
9/1/21-200 lbs
9/18/21-194 lbs

I thought my weight loss would slow down by now!
Due to a Tibial Plateau fracture in 2015, I had to relearn how to walk after 15 weeks of No weight bearing on my left leg. I was off work for 7 months. The RN in me thought I could learn to walk again in 1 month. Took me 3 months. I've been going upstairs 1 step and meeting that foot with the other. About 3 weeks ago I can now alternate steps! What a NSV!

I love the encouragement and affirmation I get here! To know we aren't the only one.

9/26/21-192.8 lbs

Thank you@ideas2
Still pretty fast. Probably staying like this because I changed from walking a few weeks ago to doing the Elliptical.

@cory17
Thank you so much! I appreciate the encouragement. Still quite a way to go. Not half way yet.
Kind of the old saying/joke, " How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." Hope it doesn't offend anyone. Just meaning its a long process to achieve.

Woah. Wait a minute! Jeans can be loose when putting them on fresh?? What is this mystery you speak of 🤔

Good job @swimmom_1 !

@ideas2 - did you decide to try IF? What method? How's it going? Please share.

@Ladybug8882021 I am a voracious reader and currently am experimenting with the approach of the last book I read, The Kubrow Keto Fusion Diet, while I am currently reading ¨Fast. Feast. Repeat..¨ The KKFD combines a 12 hour fasting window overnight, then an 8 hour Keto window then a 4 hour period where you can have some carbs that are moderate or low on the glycemic index. The idea is that it keeps you in ketosis 20 hours per day while also allowing you to have plenty of fruits, veggies, and some whole grains.

I was recently put on metformin due to A1C right below the cutoff for diabetes, so I need to consult with my doctor before trying a longer fast, so as not to provoke dangerously low blood sugar. Once I feel I have a good handle on on the research and know what I need to do in regards to my blood sugar, I will probably try a longer fasting window.

Yesterday I decided to spring for a Lumen and will likely use it for guidance on my macros. I am also working on my gut microbiome, using Muniq shakes and getting testing and probiotics from Viome. I have had problems with leaky gut and food sensitivities for more than 20 years, but only recently read the research of how that affects insuliln resistance and fat storage.

@cory17 My leaky gut and food sensitivities was diagnosed in 2001 by a ¨complementary physician¨ an M.D. who used holistic methods instead of only conventional ones. He did an extensive history with me and put me on some courses of anti-fungal medication, presribed a candida diet (low sugar, avoid processed foods) and ordered blood testing that tested for IgG antibodies (these are food sensitivities which are different than IgA allergies, they are a more diffuse reaction, where the body comes to react to some food as invaders with a slower, more chronic inflammation than the IgA allergies which are severe and much easier to identify). When there is an overgrowth of candida, (caused by numerous things but primarily over use of anti-biotics that kill off the good bacteria in the gut) the fungus that is normally benign and inhabits everyones guts changes form from its usual state to one the digs its ¨fingers¨ into the intestinal wall. Food particles slip through. Some people recover from the leaky gut and eventually are not sensitive to the foods anymore. I was re-tested in 2012 and still had basically the same results. The symptoms are basically food sensitivites, bloating, water retention, chronic inflammation, brain fog, fatigue, and in my case asthma when I don´t avoid enough milk products. Because the reaction is delayed up to three days and the symptoms like fatigue could also be attributable to other things, it is hard to recognize. Because I have so many sensitivities (milk protein, wheat, eggs, beef, tomatoes) I find it impossible to avoid them all for any long term basis. I am able to avoid milk the most because when I avoid it I do not have asthma unless I get a virus (whereas previously I struggled with chronic asthma.)

According to what I have been reading, in three different books, one reaction to the chronic inflammation provoked by eating food you are sensitive to is a triggering of insulin, adding to the problem of high insulin levels in pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes. That is new information for me. (The books were ¨The Diabetes Code¨ ¨Mastering Diabetes¨and ¨SuperHuman¨a book about life extension.)

From what I am reading there is currently controversy over whether high fat or low fat is better for diabetes. It actually appears to me more doctors have given up on the low fat recommendations and are recommending carbs be limited, replacing them with healthy fats. (¨The Diabetes Code¨book gives an extensive overview of the history and research.) I saw the CDC is recommending that less than half of calories in a diabetics diet should be from carbs. One book I read, ¨Mastering Diabetes¨ does promote low fat, but he indicates this is based on his research on insulin resistance and is against the conventional standard practices. Basically, if you do low fat, it causes you replace some fat with carbs, because the only macros are carbs, fat or protein. it is not very practical to eat too much protein and if even if you do, the body stores the extra protein as glucose.

All the stuff I am reading and seeing lately is that intermittent fasting is great for lowering glucose and insulin levels. I also am using the Muniq shakes to get resistant starch because of research on its helpfulness for diabetes as well as promoting the health of good bacteria. I am part of a Facebook group for Muniq. Lots of diabetics there are really excited about how it has helped with their blood sugar levels and their weight loss. I am hopeful. Here is a link about resistant starch and weight loss https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/the-important-role-resistant-starch-plays-in-weight-loss/

I have been using the Muniq shakes less than a month, so it will still be awhile before I get my A1C tested again. My daily blood sugars have all been within 96 and 131 since I bought a glucometer to test, so there is not a lot of data there either. Because my A1C was only 6.4, I would expect the changes I do see to be relatively small, but I am hoping that it will make the difference in me being able to maintain the weightloss as I make it due to newer research on the effect of the microbiome on metabolism. They recommend starting with 1/2 of the shake because many people may have some symptoms if they have not had much fibre or had been getting a different type of fibre. I had a slightly noisy stomache the 2nd and 3rd day and since then no problems. Last week I stepped it up to full shakes and havent had any problem with it. If you order a sample pack, they invite you to be part of the Muniq Life Facebook group. I really like that group. It appears to be very supportive, an especially good place for people who want to talk about what effects blood sugar. There many people are posting about their symptoms and progress. Most people taking it are taking it due to diabetes or prediabetes, while a few are using it for weight loss and other gut related problems. It is supposed to take awhile for the prebiotics to change the bacterial colonies and therefore change the blood sugars and help with weight loss, but alot of people who have been doing it for at least 3 months report very good success in dropping their A1Cs (some several points because they were so out of control.) It seems to be very variable whether people are losing much weight with it, but many of those who do say it has been the easiest way they ever lost weight. I have certainly found that I have almost no desire to eat at night since starting the shakes (which was around the time I learned about intermittent fasting, so I am not sure how much is the shakes and how much is the change of attitude about going 12 hours every night without eating-- but something has had an amazing effect on my nightime behavior.)

Hello

I've just now found this group after finding the invite from September! My name is Diane and I live in the US in Tennessee. I will be 58 next month, married for 10 years and have three grown "bonus children" and 4 grandchildren! I have battled my weight my whole life. In 2006 I had a coronary stent and got very scared and focused. I lost from 350 to 199, felt great, fell in love, got married and then slowly put a lot of it back on. My mom suffered from Alzheimer's and I was her caretaker and I think I just ate my feelings. Add bum knees to the equation and that fact that I just like food....it all adds up!

I have been at this since June and have lost between 20-25 pounds. I have good days and bad days and I don't exercise yet but this is the longest I have stuck to something in quite a while. I look forward to becoming part of a community that is supportive and understands the challenges of trying to lose weight later in life

ideas2 wrote: »

@pdd1216

Welcome to the group! As you can see, we aren´t super active yet, and it probably also isn´t helping that MyFitnessPal just changed the format of their forum. I just saw your intro.

If you are well over 200 pounds like me, you probably will want to start slow with the exercise. Previously around 200 pounds or less, I could enjoy quite a bit of exercise. Now, well above that a bit of walking and quite a bit of swimming are the only exercises that really feel good to me. Swimming is the exercise most recommended for the really heavy because then all the extra weight doesn´t affect you so much. So if there is an indoor pool available to you, I really encourage you to try to start with that. (For most of us, getting past the embarrassment of how we look in a bathing suit is the hardest part to getting started.) If you don´t have access to a pool, then tracking your steps and just gradually build up is an effective way to transition into a lifestyle that includes exercise.

I am sorry to hear about your experience with your mother´s alzheimer´s. My father was diagnosed with ¨metabolic encephalopathy¨ just prior to his death-- they were ruling out alzheimer´s or parkinson´s. Recently I have been reading a lot about of hormones and insulin resistance. I was surprised to learn that Alzheimer´s now is called ¨type 3 diabetes¨ by some doctor´s because of it´s strong link to insulin resistance. Apparently diabetics are 3 times more likely to get it and even people who are not diabetic who get it are often found to be insulin resistant. I read yesterday that Alzheimer´s rates are growing rapidly and that it is believed to be dietary related. After reading about it, I realized what they were telling me about his ¨metabolic encephalopathy¨-- that they did not want to define whether his dementia was more like Alzheimer´s or more like Parkinson´s at that stage in the game near his death, but that it was related to his diabetes and metabolic problems. I have noticed that changing my diet to restrict carbs more than I had has been helping me with my own ¨brain fog¨ lately and I am hopeful I will stay motivated to reduce not just my risk of dying earlier, but also to reduce my own risk of dementia.

When I was not doing well with my diet, I got into the mindset ¨oh well, I really don´t want to live to be old anyway-- just more likely to suffer years with arthritis and dementia.¨ Now I am coming out of that denial and realizing my eating habits were making me more at risk of years with arthritis and dementia.

Thanks for the welcome. I had not read that research linking insulin resistance and Alzheimer's. One more motivation to get this weight back off! Thanks for the welcome!