Here's my response, in photos: You make the call for yourself. Thinking for yourself is key:
The details: Dec 2008
Weight Watchers, counting points, counting calories, chronic cardio, eating "healthy whole grains", a LOT of SELF BLAME- I must be so weak!, emotional eating, mini- binges on Skinny Cow Ice cream, huge containers of 100 calorie snack packs, Lab work: hs-CRP = 6.8, steadily rising Hemoglobin A1C, per-menopause, BMI was about 35, Weight = 180ish, a lot of joint pain, migraines monthly, very tired all the time, sleep is short maybe 6 hrs night, hard to get up in the morning, self loathing through the roof. The only reason I have this photo is that someone sent it to me because I hated myself so much that I deleted my copy.
The details: Dec 2013
Paleo-ish template, quality grass-fed meat, veggies, and plant based fats , some coffee and 85 % chocolate, occasionally counting carbs, long slower walks, twice a week strength training, abstaining from grains and most processed sugar, in long term remission from emotional/binge eating, Lab work: hs-CRP 0.4, Hemoglobin A1c no longer trending high, post menopause, BMI = around 22, weight around 117 ish, zero joint pain, zero migraines, sleep is longer 7.5- 8 hours, wake up feeling great, love myself a lot- I am so strong and awesome!, I have lots of photos and delete none.
I don't know.... what life should I choose for myself? How bad can real, whole natural food be? Really. Just how hard can it be? I can tell you Dec 2008 was hard. Dec 2013 is relatively easy. Relatively, because long term weight maintenance does take effort.
Be sure to keep trying and working a looking for what works for you when you read these reports. We are stronger together. And, I wake up every morning giving thanks to my higher power that I survived the low-fat, high carbohydrate phase. Onward. Share my story if you think someone in your life could benefit!
Stepping off the soap box now....
People, in general, can't fathom how simple it is just to eat whole foods.
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't think many people know how much pain they have (secondary conditions kind of pain) on a daily basis. They just live with it and do not understand they can be pain free. Not every single person, but I think most of them.
Migraine people are the ones who drive me the most crazy. When I look at what they eat, I always have the same reaction - if I ate what you eat, I'd have a migraine too.
I so agree with you Vickie! The only sad thing I have to admit is even though I'm strict Paleo for 10 months, I'm still struggling with migraines. At the moment I'm doing my best to follow a Paleo / Ketogenic lifestyle, and so far the highest I can get my blood ketones is 2.1mM. I'm striving for 4 to 6mM because my Paleo MD says that could be the sweet spot to minimize/eliminate migraines. If either of you have any advice, I'd appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteBesides no grains, legumes, dairy or sugar, I also omit nightshades, chocolate, caffeine, or alcohol.
If you are looking for food sensativity/causes, I think elimination can be the easiest way to figure causes. Figure out a few things you can eat with no migraine. Then add one thing at a time.
DeleteI have migraine problems with yeast, grapefruit, any kind of melon, yogurt cultures, many kinds of cheeses, additives, soy.
I have GI problems with iceberg lettuce, dairy.
I have all kinds of problems with sodium, have to keep my intake very low.
Most of that I learned be eating very clean and simple. Then when I eat something unusual, I can tell immediately.
The only migraine I ever had was apparently brought on by carrageenan, a thickener in cream, cottage cheese, almonds milk, and some other products. It's used as an inflammatory in lab animals.
DeleteI still eat some non-gluten grains but not very often. And I firmly believe that so many people could lose weight for good if they moved toward a Paleo diet (and improve so many health conditions). My parents are in their late 70s and when they visited us over the holiday break, I actually tried to convince them to move away from grains. They listened, and I really hope they'll make some changes...
ReplyDeleteHi Andrea! I had a chance to cook for my family over the summer and they loved the grain free breakfasts and dinners that I made. I know a couple of my family members have cut way back on grains with good effects (food tastes a lot better! or I feel full longer!). Glad you are talking about it with your family. :)
DeleteI do paleo for my son's type 1 diabetes. His blood profile is perfect and His doctor has never seen such results before. I worked this diet out for myself- no doctor would ever recommend a low carb diet for diabetes. So incomprehensible to me.
ReplyDeleteLisa, I'm so glad that you did that work for your son. It will mean a lifetime of better health for him. What a gift! Keep up the good work. :)
DeleteYeah, no doubt about that. SO many flaws with that report.
ReplyDeleteI wish that doctors were more receptive to advising their patients to make dietary changes rather than prescribing the latest and greatest medication. I love the second picture. Looking great! :)
ReplyDeleteGwen and Caron- yes! It's such a better, less expensive/ few side effects way to go. Hopefully we will see a change with in the next few years...
Deletep.s. that is a gorgeous picture of you by the tree!
ReplyDeleteKaren - Your now picture just says it all.
ReplyDeleteFor me it's all about eating good whole fresh foods and I balance it as low carb, high fat, moderate protein - just add exercise and good sleep pattern into the mix, it just makes sense and works well for me.
We keep spreading the good news
All the best Jan
Gwen and Jan- thank you! I had just gotten my hair cut in that photo. Glad to be present in photos again.
DeleteHaha... that report was rubbish. It lost me when it said it was not easy to do. What they meant was that you can't eat rubbish food on it so who could stick to that. I must admit I like my dairy so I'm not paleo but I'm sure they meant primal eating too.
ReplyDeleteLynda, I would have dairy if it didn't mess up my sinuses... I miss that more than bread now... :) I agree, the article no doubt included Primal/Paleo/Grain free. Going back to shopping, cooking at home and food prep will be key.
DeleteYou've proved you have to do what works for you! You look amazing.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Diane.. I do think that my prior auto-immune disease set the foundation for this food template to help my body be the way it was intended to be- healthy.
DeleteI lost 60 lbs on the low fat , high carb phase in the early 90's and had gained it all back by the late 90's- plus some. I LURVED being on high carb..2 cups of pasta at a meal. obviously, also more diabetic after that phase too. I measure out 3/4 cup high fiber plus protein pasta now and mostly just add green veggies... you live and learn
ReplyDeletePJ... I also lost 60 pounds at WW in 1998-1999 pre-pregnancy. While I have no doubt that kept me safer medically during the pregnancy, I stayed in the counting points and binge eating yo-yo thing for about 10 years, and pre-diabetic, too! So true about living and learning. Just so thankful that I did not have a major cardiac event or develop diabetes.. Onward!
DeleteYes, people are different and some things work better than others. I saw this, too, and am not sure how you could make such a sweeping ranking. Also wondered about the biases of the raters...
ReplyDeleteAlan, yes... in a way a real foods template may never rank high if you think about the relationships between the publisher and advertising and each party looking to not bite the hand that feeds them and the biases....
DeleteFunny thing is that I lost weight on Medifast, not paleo... it was getting my mind clear of the binge eating. I would have rated WW super high ten years ago, when it was working... Thanks for stopping by the blog. Cheering you on for the next steps for you...
That article..... meh, whatever. This is why I don't like discussing what I eat or how I eat. People think it comes off as judgemental or preachy, and that's never the impression I want to give. I say, to each his own. You're not helping me pay my grocery bill, so don't worry about what I put in my cart. It isn't yours, you know?
ReplyDeleteKelly, so true.... however the mainstream advise nearly killed me. Never mind the weight maintenance... my CRP was so high. That inflammation almost made me a statistic in my 40's. I usually phrase it "I found a lower inflammatory diet helps my health and weight maintenance" I get good feed back when I talk about it IRL, only if asked.
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