Ketogenics, low carb, paleo, lchf

[Ausmumof3]

I have some kind of imbalance - most likely PCOS.  In the past I’ve been able to get on top of it with mostly low carb eating and exercise but with the level of business right now and probably ignoring it for too long I’m struggling again.  

Anyway does anyone have any pointers for a good starting point to getting going with healthier options again.  I’m pretty routine with eating so as long as I have enough time and can set something up that’s doable (not hours of cooking) I think I can get this rolling again.  But I’ve forgotten what I used to know.  

I also want to reduce dairy a little. 

[Ann.without.an.e]

What abut Whole 30?  

[Ausmumof3]

35 minutes ago, Attolia said:

What abut Whole 30?  

For some reason I had in mind that this was more of a kickstart than a long term thing?  Don’t get me wrong I could do with a kickstart but I’m really looking for changes that are long term sustainable.

I’ve taken too many shortcuts over the busy years of babies and homeschooling and really want to shift the balance toward more long term healthy habits. 

[Pen]

I am doing form of keto called Metabolic Mitochondrial Therapy.  MMT.  And I am trying to put my focus more on healthy food being eaten than what I am not eating. When I have a big satisfyingly filling salad with fat and protein as part of my daily intake, it seems to me that I do the best. 

I am not using Cronometer app faithfully — this post is a good reminder to get back on to that—however using  it has helped me to track what I am eating and how I feel (in notes section) I can look at it and see if I am at my protein, or fat, etc target. It also led me to realize things like that my normal eating is chronically low in certain minerals and vitamins—so I have been supplementing them.  It can be set to provide information with goal of losing, gaining, or maintaining weight. 

I read some site info on MMT and borrowed a book on it by dr. Mercola (who I realize is a WTM forum bad word to many, nonetheless, it helped me a lot). 

MMT as I am doing it, seems to have some overlap with Fuhrman eat to live ideas since a big daily salad is a mainstay. Though as we are getting into cool fall weather now I am feeling less like eating salads and may adjust that. 

[Pen]

Look up iodine in relation to cysts if you are having cysts  I don’t know about PCOS but many years ago there was a research physician who helped a lot of women who had cysts resolve them with some iodine    Also they may tend to be increased in some cases with caffeine consumption 

 

I am doing form of keto called Metabolic Mitochondrial Therapy.  MMT.  And I am trying to put my focus more on healthy food being eaten than what I am not eating. When I have a big satisfyingly filling salad with fat and protein as part of my daily intake, it seems to me that I do the best. 

I am not using Cronometer app faithfully — this post is a good reminder to get back on to that—however using  it has helped me to track what I am eating and how I feel (in notes section) I can look at it and see if I am at my protein, or fat, etc target. It also led me to realize things like that my normal eating is chronically low in certain minerals and vitamins—so I have been supplementing them.  It can be set to provide information with goal of losing, gaining, or maintaining weight. 

I read some site info on MMT and borrowed a book on it by dr. Mercola (who I realize is a WTM forum bad word to many, nonetheless, it helped me a lot). 

MMT as I am doing it, seems to have some overlap with Fuhrman eat to live ideas since a big daily salad is a mainstay. Though as we are getting into cool fall weather now I am feeling less like eating salads and may adjust that. 

[Ausmumof3]

18 minutes ago, Pen said:

Look up iodine in relation to cysts if you are having cysts  I don’t know about PCOS but many years ago there was a research physician who helped a lot of women who had cysts resolve them with some iodine    Also they may tend to be increased in some cases with caffeine consumption 

 

I am doing form of keto called Metabolic Mitochondrial Therapy.  MMT.  And I am trying to put my focus more on healthy food being eaten than what I am not eating. When I have a big satisfyingly filling salad with fat and protein as part of my daily intake, it seems to me that I do the best. 

I am not using Cronometer app faithfully — this post is a good reminder to get back on to that—however using  it has helped me to track what I am eating and how I feel (in notes section) I can look at it and see if I am at my protein, or fat, etc target. It also led me to realize things like that my normal eating is chronically low in certain minerals and vitamins—so I have been supplementing them.  It can be set to provide information with goal of losing, gaining, or maintaining weight. 

I read some site info on MMT and borrowed a book on it by dr. Mercola (who I realize is a WTM forum bad word to many, nonetheless, it helped me a lot). 

MMT as I am doing it, seems to have some overlap with Fuhrman eat to live ideas since a big daily salad is a mainstay. Though as we are getting into cool fall weather now I am feeling less like eating salads and may adjust that. 

Ok super interesting about the iodine as I have an aversion to basically all the foods they recommend for it.  

I’m not 100pc sure it’s PCOS but I think it’s most likely that.  I have had tests done a couple of times and not found anything conclusive but generally by the time I was having testing done I was frustrated enough to be exercising more and eating better.  This time round that’s not happening due to life circumstances partly. 

[BeachGal]

The doctor who prescribes iodine is probably Jonathan Wright. It is super saturated potassium iodide or SSKI, which is an old-timey treatment that has been used for many ailments including ovarian cysts. Wright’s own daughter used it to clear up ovarian cysts. Bernard’s Solution is what Wright sells but you might be able to find other similar solutions.

Eating earlier in the day, as soon as possible after waking, then eating 2-3 meals with no grazing in between and within a shorter window of time would probably be very helpful for you. The time you take in your first food influences how your hormones will behave for the remaining day. So, eating 2-3 meals between 7 am and 3 pm (8 hour window) will have a different effect on your hormones than eating between 11 am and 7 pm. This is Satchin Panda’s research on human circadian clocks. Super interesting.

It is also very important for the first meal to not be high glycemic foods. Protein and healthy fat with vegetable fiber would be good. So, eggs, cheese, greens, butter, avocado, nuts — something along those lines. Blood glucose and insulin levels caused by your first meal can elevate certain hormones that help pack on pounds. Those hormones also can contribute to anxiety. The first meal sets this up and does not “reset” until the next morning.

[Pen]

The physician/researcher I was thinking of was Guy Abraham MD, a former professor in the medical school at UCLA, iirc. 

A lot of other people have followed his  lead. 

I have had some personal experience with cysts improving after increasing iodine.

Iodine was something I learned from my Cronometer tracking that I get zero or close to zero in my regular daily food intake.   This is particularly because I do not use iodized salt, and while I do eat some seafood, seaweed etc, it has less in it than I had believed it did. 

Edited September 13, 2018 by Pen

[BeachGal]

I see. I don’t follow Abraham but he would be worth reading about. And for ovarian cysts or fibrocystic breasts, iodine might be better than iodide. So Lugol’s solution?

I’m using iodide (Bernard’s solution) to treat my Dupuytren’s nodules in my hands. So far, one nodule is gone and the other is becoming smaller. Takes awhile but I’m a believer!

 

[KathyBC]

4 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Ok super interesting about the iodine as I have an aversion to basically all the foods they recommend for it.  

 

Yeah, why is the first recommendation always seaweed? Ew.
However, I do like yogurt, or scrambled eggs with some veggies (zucchini, spinach, peppers, cherry tomatoes) and a bit of cheese.
It's fall here, so we're in the middle of filling the dehydrator with racks of plums for drying. Just like gummy candies. ?

[Pen]

23 minutes ago, BeachGal said:

I see. I don’t follow Abraham but he would be worth reading about. And for ovarian cysts or fibrocystic breasts, iodine might be better than iodide. So Lugol’s solution?

I’m using iodide (Bernard’s solution) to treat my Dupuytren’s nodules in my hands. So far, one nodule is gone and the other is becoming smaller. Takes awhile but I’m a believer!

 

 

Your hand nodules responded to oral iodide? Or topical?  Or?

I had a large breast cyst that had been there for over 30 years since I was in college (I had rejected surgery for it) and it went away after iodine supplementation.  I also tended to form large cysts on my scalp which were removed surgically from time to time— I didn’t have one to possibly be helped by the iodine at the time I learned of iodine for cysts, but also haven’t gotten a new one since then.  

The main forms I have used are Iodoral andTerry Tri-Iodine orally. Both combine more than one form of iodine. 

And also tincture of iodine painted on the skin surface.  Tincture of iodine must not be ingested, of course. 

[BeachGal]

Topical. I just place a few drops on it morning and night and voila! they've begun to disappear. Dupey's nodes are incredibly difficult to make be gone. lol But there you go! The one drawback is that the iodide makes the skin sloughy in a weird way. I just use a pumice stone after a shower now and then and that makes the skin smoother.

If my nodes were to progress to contracture, where my fingers curved in, I would 100% get prolozone shots. But the topical iodide is working great so far.

Terrific it helped your cysts!

[Pen]

20 minutes ago, BeachGal said:

 

Topical. I just place a few drops on it morning and night and voila! they've begun to disappear. Dupey's nodes are incredibly difficult to make be gone. lol But there you go! The one drawback is that the iodide makes the skin sloughy in a weird way. I just use a pumice stone after a shower now and then and that makes the skin smoother.

If my nodes were to progress to contracture, where my fingers curved in, I would 100% get prolozone shots. But the topical iodide is working great so far.

 

 

That’s wonderful! I hope it will keep working!

[katilac]

I went low/lower carb just over a year ago, with Atkins as my starting point, and lost quite a bit of weight. My doctor was very happy with me. 

I like that they have plans for induction and weight loss, but also a lot of details on how to slowly increase your carb intake over time and move on to maintenance and a long-term lifestyle. One of the most helpful things I learned was to add foods back into my diet one at a time because people can have different reactions to the same food. You suss out what foods give you strong blood sugar reactions and/or trigger cravings for more carbs. For example, I can eat a normal amount of rice or ice cream or potato chips without messing up the rest of the day but if I have white bread, forget it. One or two slices does not satisfy me, I want a lot more, and then I am craving simple carbs all day. There's nothing special about Atkins in particular, I just like the way they presented the information.

People talk about resetting your metabolism - I'm not sure if that's correct terminology, but it accurately describes what happened to me. I had hit a point where I not only couldn't lose weight, I was slowly but steadily gaining more. Thanks, perimenopause! With low carb I don't gain weight back when I stop active efforts to lose or have a few bad days (an active effort to lose is when I actually count my carbs and set a limit). It works for me.

The plans and pertinent info are free on the website https://www.atkins.com/ under the How It Works heading. They have more free stuff like discussion boards and trackers and meal planners, but I've never explored those. When I track stuff, it's mostly old school (pen and paper).

Intermittent fasting can also be good for metabolism and controlling hunger. I don't have any links handy but it's easy to find info. There are all kinds of variations, with the simplest being to limit your eating to a certain window: 12 hour eating window, 10, 8, people do different things and men tend to be able to do a shorter window. I try to go 12+ hours without eating (which is including my sleeping time) for sure, and to go reasonable periods without eating during the day (no grazing). 

[TCB]

1 hour ago, BeachGal said:

Topical. I just place a few drops on it morning and night and voila! they've begun to disappear. Dupey's nodes are incredibly difficult to make be gone. lol But there you go! The one drawback is that the iodide makes the skin sloughy in a weird way. I just use a pumice stone after a shower now and then and that makes the skin smoother.

If my nodes were to progress to contracture, where my fingers curved in, I would 100% get prolozone shots. But the topical iodide is working great so far.

Terrific it helped your cysts!

I have been having the beginnings of contracture in my little finger but am not aware of having a node. How would I know? And do you always have a node before contracture starts?

[BeachGal]

2 hours ago, KathyBC said:

Yeah, why is the first recommendation always seaweed? Ew.
However, I do like yogurt, or scrambled eggs with some veggies (zucchini, spinach, peppers, cherry tomatoes) and a bit of cheese.
It's fall here, so we're in the middle of filling the dehydrator with racks of plums for drying. Just like gummy candies. ?

 

There's a seaweed pill called Seanol that some people take. It's kind of pricey, though.

Seanol is Ecklonia Cava, a brown seaweed found deep in the ocean around Japan and Korea. Among the anti-oxidants, it's considered one of the best because of its molecular structure of 8 interconnected rings. The rings capture the damaging, rogue electrons and neutralize free radicals. Eight rings is a lot. Green tea catechins have four.

Seanol also is about 40% fat soluble whereas virtually all other anti-oxidants you'd find on land -- polyphenols -- are water soluble. Water soluble have a hard time getting through the blood-brain barrier whereas fat soluble has an easier time. Fat soluble can penetrate the membranes of all your cells more easily than water which would give them more anti-oxidant protection. Fat soluble anti-oxidants also are active for a longer time in your body -- as much as 12 hours -- whereas water soluble antioxidants get peed out in less than an hour or so.

I don't take Seanol myself or eat the seaweed. Probably should. I have read that radioactivity could be a problem but that a Geiger counter could be used to check the pills. LOL. I suppose.

1 hour ago, Pen said:

 

That’s wonderful! I hope it will keep working!

 

Me too! ?

21 minutes ago, TCB said:

I have been having the beginnings of contracture in my little finger but am not aware of having a node. How would I know? And do you always have a node before contracture starts?

 

My understanding is that Dupey's always starts with a nodule and the thickened cord follows. Sometimes people only get the nodules or the cord doesn't thicken until many years later. Do you have a thickened cord in your palm that seems to be causing the contracture? If it is a thickened cord in the palm that's causing the contracture, I would go for prolozone without hesitation as well as use the Bernard's solution. A lot of Dupey people with contractions are beginning to use prolozone with success. Doesn't get rid of the nodules, though, and it can take multiple shots spaced apart.

[Slache]

I had done two Whole30s before deciding to make it a lifestyle. I think everyone should do the 30 days and reintroduction period.

[Soror]

36 minutes ago, Seasider too said:

 

Are whole 30 and paleo the same? Do you know what the differences are?

Not at all and the definition of Paleo depends on who you ask. In some circles, Paleo is very tightly no grains, legumes, dairy, soy but in some circles they've loosened up on things like legumes, pseudo grains (like quinoa) and dairy.

Fwiw I ate paleo diet for 10ish YEARS, I still primarily eat "paleo" but am no longer strict, it used to work for me, it doesn't anymore. I feel better with a general whole food diet at this point (and with thyroid disease too low carb can be problematic). 

Instead of looking at things to cut out of your diet it can be helpful to look at things to add in to your diet, when we eat more of the good foods we have less appetite for those that aren't so good.

Edited September 13, 2018 by soror

[Slache]

1 hour ago, Seasider too said:

Are whole 30 and paleo the same? Do you know what the differences are?

Goals of Whole30:

1. Find out if you respond poorly to certain foods.
2. Fix your relationship with food.

To be W30 compliant a food must:

1. Promote a healthy physiological response.
2. Promote a healthy hormonal response.
3. Promote a healthy gut.
4. Promote a healthy immune system.

What you can't eat:

1. Alcohol or sugar.
2. Seed oils.
3. Grains.
4. Legumes.
5. Dairy.

What you can eat:

1. Meat, seafood and eggs.
2. Fruits and veggies.
3. Good fats (avocado, nuts, olives).

What I eat:

1. Breakfast: I usually fast breakfast on weekdays for convenience. About once every weekend we will do a nice pancake breakfast or breakfast casserole and smoothies. Everything is W30 compliant.
2. Lunch: Salad and a larabar.
3. Dinner: I have about 100 W30 compliant dinners. We usually do...
   1. Saturday: Fish
   2. Sunday: Chicken
   3. Monday: Vegetarian
   4. Tuesday: Saturday's leftovers
   5. Wednesday: Sunday's leftovers
   6. Thursday: Monday's leftovers
   7. Friday: Burgers
4. Snacks. Not really a thing. I take a larabar if we'll be out long or eat some olives to get me through at home but I don't really snack.

[Slache]

Paleo and Whole30 can often look identical on a plate but they come from different philosophies and have different goals.

[TCB]

3 hours ago, BeachGal said:

 

 

My understanding is that Dupey's always starts with a nodule and the thickened cord follows. Sometimes people only get the nodules or the cord doesn't thicken until many years later. Do you have a thickened cord in your palm that seems to be causing the contracture? If it is a thickened cord in the palm that's causing the contracture, I would go for prolozone without hesitation as well as use the Bernard's solution. A lot of Dupey people with contractions are beginning to use prolozone with success. Doesn't get rid of the nodules, though, and it can take multiple shots spaced apart.

It's strange but I haven't noticed any thickening or nodules but my finger has been clicking or "sticking" for the last month or so, especially first thing in the morning. Thanks for the information about prolozone!

[Pen]

Unfortunately I did a bse and found I can feel cyst again. I had not been taking regular iodine so don’t know if I start taking it again the cyst will go away, but anyway didn’t want to leave a false impression of a successful result that may not be successful after all. 

[Ausmumof3]

Ok well I will put whole 30 on hold at the library.  It seems a little extreme but extreme might be what I need at this point ☹️

[Slache]

12 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Ok well I will put whole 30 on hold at the library.  It seems a little extreme but extreme might be what I need at this point ☹️

It is extreme. I can go on on about how easy it is (because it is now) and how great I feel and how everyone should do it... but it's hard. There's a learning curve and so many dishes and sometimes you just want a d*mn brownie. But it's worth it. I slept 14 hours a day for 10 years before I found Whole30. Now I sleep 8. And it's been a huge part of my 150 pound weight loss. I'm a better wife and mother because of it.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Some good places to start:

- spend a week getting into a healthy lunch habit.  Mine is salads, and I make a very big and satisfying salad with greens, onions, nuts, seeds, and occasional chopped fruit, plus a homemade vinaigrette with good quality olive oil.  If you are not a salad person, you could do a pureed veggie soup, stir fry... something where veggies are the star of the show.  

- build on that habit by adding a healthy breakfast habit.  Eggs are probably the most nutrient-packed option, but I also like leftovers for breakfast.  

- Most of us already eat relatively healthy dinners.  So you just need to work on honing this meal to what fits your needs.  

- Find solutions for when you have no time and would usually resort to eating out or fast food.  If you go low enough carb, you may find you can simply skip the meal and wait until the next.  What are your weaknesses and pitfalls?  Can you remove them from the house?  

[J-rap]

I have PCOS, as do several of my dd's.  I didn't know this until just a few years ago.  (Thanks to one of my dd's being diagnosed!)  Tweaking my diet has helped a lot of my symptoms:

I always have protein for breakfast now.  (No more cereal, unless it's oatmeal with a handful of almonds or peanut butter on top.)  I've cut way back on carbs in general.  (So for dinner, it often means replacing the carb with an extra vegetable instead.)  I used to eat mainly vegetarian -- and I still do eat a lot of meatless meals.  But I find that I feel so much better with protein and less sugar.  I don't need large portions of protein...for example, half a chicken breast at dinner, etc.  But a little protein several times a day really helps.

I only eat small amounts of fruit, and no more fruit juice.  The only beverage I have with my meal is water (okay, and sometimes a glass of wine with dinner!).

I no longer eat many sweets, or if I do, I find that just a small amount satisfies that craving.

I still sometimes eat things like pizza, spaghetti, etc, but in smaller portions and I often add vegetables to it and/or serve more vegetables on the side.

So maybe to sum:  Less carbs and sugar and fruit, more vegetables, keep up the protein but small amounts are fine.

I hadn't heard of iodine for cysts, but I'm going to look into that!

 

[Ausmumof3]

1 hour ago, J-rap said:

I have PCOS, as do several of my dd's.  I didn't know this until just a few years ago.  (Thanks to one of my dd's being diagnosed!)  Tweaking my diet has helped a lot of my symptoms:

I always have protein for breakfast now.  (No more cereal, unless it's oatmeal with a handful of almonds or peanut butter on top.)  I've cut way back on carbs in general.  (So for dinner, it often means replacing the carb with an extra vegetable instead.)  I used to eat mainly vegetarian -- and I still do eat a lot of meatless meals.  But I find that I feel so much better with protein and less sugar.  I don't need large portions of protein...for example, half a chicken breast at dinner, etc.  But a little protein several times a day really helps.

I only eat small amounts of fruit, and no more fruit juice.  The only beverage I have with my meal is water (okay, and sometimes a glass of wine with dinner!).

I no longer eat many sweets, or if I do, I find that just a small amount satisfies that craving.

I still sometimes eat things like pizza, spaghetti, etc, but in smaller portions and I often add vegetables to it and/or serve more vegetables on the side.

So maybe to sum:  Less carbs and sugar and fruit, more vegetables, keep up the protein but small amounts are fine.

I hadn't heard of iodine for cysts, but I'm going to look into that!

 

This is basically what has worked for me in the past.  It doesn’t seem to be working now but that said I’m having trouble sticking with it long as well so that might be part of it.  Life is just busy.  But really it’s not that hard to just leave the carb and sugar parts of the meal and only eat the rest I just need to push myself to do it.  

Thanks for the encouragement.

also I just realised that the salt I have been buying from Aldi isn’t iodised so will have to switch to another supermarket brand I guess.  I don’t like a lot of salt so it’s not the best way for me to boost iodine but it’s probably still something.

[Ausmumof3]

4 hours ago, Monica_in_Switzerland said:

Some good places to start:

- spend a week getting into a healthy lunch habit.  Mine is salads, and I make a very big and satisfying salad with greens, onions, nuts, seeds, and occasional chopped fruit, plus a homemade vinaigrette with good quality olive oil.  If you are not a salad person, you could do a pureed veggie soup, stir fry... something where veggies are the star of the show.  

- build on that habit by adding a healthy breakfast habit.  Eggs are probably the most nutrient-packed option, but I also like leftovers for breakfast.  

- Most of us already eat relatively healthy dinners.  So you just need to work on honing this meal to what fits your needs.  

- Find solutions for when you have no time and would usually resort to eating out or fast food.  If you go low enough carb, you may find you can simply skip the meal and wait until the next.  What are your weaknesses and pitfalls?  Can you remove them from the house?  

 

4 hours ago, Monica_in_Switzerland said:

Some good places to start:

- spend a week getting into a healthy lunch habit.  Mine is salads, and I make a very big and satisfying salad with greens, onions, nuts, seeds, and occasional chopped fruit, plus a homemade vinaigrette with good quality olive oil.  If you are not a salad person, you could do a pureed veggie soup, stir fry... something where veggies are the star of the show.  

- build on that habit by adding a healthy breakfast habit.  Eggs are probably the most nutrient-packed option, but I also like leftovers for breakfast.  

- Most of us already eat relatively healthy dinners.  So you just need to work on honing this meal to what fits your needs.  

- Find solutions for when you have no time and would usually resort to eating out or fast food.  If you go low enough carb, you may find you can simply skip the meal and wait until the next.  What are your weaknesses and pitfalls?  Can you remove them from the house?  

We do have pretty healthy lunches.

mostly eggs, lettuce, avo and tomato on toast or something similar.  Otherwise cut up vege sticks or leftovers.  Very occasionally it might be a sandwich low on Veg.  Occasionally we don’t have a protein option and that’s not such a healthy day.  Breaky is usually mueslis either with milk or chopped fruit and yoghurt.  We don’t eat much take away as it’s not in the budget.  I do give in to processed bakery type food a little too often.  But when I’m talking about improving my diet I’m talking about a diet that already features fruit and veg at every meal.  

So I guess my issue is I already eat what would be considered a mostly healthy diet but have weight gain and other health issues going on.  Hence the reason I end up looking at low carb etc options.  It doesn’t mean I’m not having junk at all but the backbone is healthy.  Today was reasonable typical and it was fruit and muesli and yoghurt, lamb and salad wraps, cacao and coconut and date balls, bacon and cauliflower pasta then stewed apple (with a very small amount of sugar) None of that is overly unhealthy (though for me the pasta is a problem and the yoghurt is flavoured and sweetened).  That’s why I find myself staring down the barrel of something more extreme.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

32 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

 

We do have pretty healthy lunches.

mostly eggs, lettuce, avo and tomato on toast or something similar.  Otherwise cut up vege sticks or leftovers.  Very occasionally it might be a sandwich low on Veg.  Occasionally we don’t have a protein option and that’s not such a healthy day.  Breaky is usually mueslis either with milk or chopped fruit and yoghurt.  We don’t eat much take away as it’s not in the budget.  I do give in to processed bakery type food a little too often.  But when I’m talking about improving my diet I’m talking about a diet that already features fruit and veg at every meal.  

So I guess my issue is I already eat what would be considered a mostly healthy diet but have weight gain and other health issues going on.  Hence the reason I end up looking at low carb etc options.  It doesn’t mean I’m not having junk at all but the backbone is healthy.  Today was reasonable typical and it was fruit and muesli and yoghurt, lamb and salad wraps, cacao and coconut and date balls, bacon and cauliflower pasta then stewed apple (with a very small amount of sugar) None of that is overly unhealthy (though for me the pasta is a problem and the yoghurt is flavoured and sweetened).  That’s why I find myself staring down the barrel of something more extreme.

 

I'm actually not dissimilar to you in that I was already eating very healthy, but have found weight creeping up on me over the last 4 years or so (since my youngest was born).  I am chalking it up to metabolic changes, early perimenopause, etc.  But whatever it is, I can no longer *easily* maintain my weight.  It is now a struggle, despite still eating an overall healthy diet.  

Keto has worked well for me in that, when I do it, I lose weight, I feel great, my hormones appear to even out (based on my skin, mood, etc.).  I have boundless energy, can easily skip meals if I need to for one reason or another, can easily run my long runs (8-10 miles)...  but... compliance is SO TOUGH.  So, so, so tough.  And I'm not sure it's the best long-term solution. But I'm not sure what is...  I'm reading the Blue Zones, which is basically the exact opposite of keto, and it makes sense too.  Probably just sounds good because I'm tired of meat!  Another book I like is The Perfect Health Diet.  Maybe I'm due for a re-read of that one... ?

[katilac]

5 hours ago, J-rap said:

No more cereal

 

 

 

I do miss me some cold cereal!

[Ausmumof3]

8 hours ago, Monica_in_Switzerland said:

 

I'm actually not dissimilar to you in that I was already eating very healthy, but have found weight creeping up on me over the last 4 years or so (since my youngest was born).  I am chalking it up to metabolic changes, early perimenopause, etc.  But whatever it is, I can no longer *easily* maintain my weight.  It is now a struggle, despite still eating an overall healthy diet.  

Keto has worked well for me in that, when I do it, I lose weight, I feel great, my hormones appear to even out (based on my skin, mood, etc.).  I have boundless energy, can easily skip meals if I need to for one reason or another, can easily run my long runs (8-10 miles)...  but... compliance is SO TOUGH.  So, so, so tough.  And I'm not sure it's the best long-term solution. But I'm not sure what is...  I'm reading the Blue Zones, which is basically the exact opposite of keto, and it makes sense too.  Probably just sounds good because I'm tired of meat!  Another book I like is The Perfect Health Diet.  Maybe I'm due for a re-read of that one... ?

Thanks for the book recommendations!

this is part of what’s challenging hey they sometimes the advice seems to be exactly opposite and yet it all sounds logical!  Then I end up coming back to the traditional food pyramid model or go for 2 and 5 which clearly doesn’t work for me!

it is interesting that you mention since your youngest was born. Same for me.

it sounds counterintuitive but I always gain pregnancy weight and lose while feeding.  I sometimes wonder if for some women not being in the conception, birth, feeding cycle actually makes it harder for our bodies to regulate hormones. I mean for most of history that’s what women’s bodies have mostly been doing?

that said pregnancy messes with weight etc too so maybe not.

Edited September 16, 2018 by Ausmumof3