No Grains, No Gains- Jan 2015 A look back at 2014 key take aways in weight maintenance- Support and

Our Mission Statement : A group a of Primal/Paleo/Grain free women who blog about their experiences/life/benefits without grains. It’s a great way for others (who may be wanting to lose weight, reverse an acute/chronic health trend, and/or transition from commercial weight loss programs) to read about real life women who are living the life and succeeding!

Topic for Jan 2015: Additional shifts, benefits, key take aways or growth in our maintenance programs or other life areas in 2014.  A look back.

0. Boundaries in real life vs the blog
I don't blog about everything in my life. For many good reasons, family,  privacy, safety etc. so some of the growth and look back will be things I worked on, but did not share. That's okay. I'm healthier because I set boundaries. Sometimes, I want to experiment, THEN tell you how it did or didn't work. :) That's how I roll....

My life is NOT your open book. Good boundaries make healthier, happier people. You can get your drama fix at other blogs, the Real Housewives series (Orange County and New Jersey are my favorites)  Yo! Truth. Don't get me wrong. I tell the truth. There is a lot of power in owning your own stuff. I just don't really want to know anyones opinion before I make up my own mind and tell you how I'm going to roll.   Powerful! 

Drama filled beach scenes, not blog posts! Walking for weight maintenance is more effective

0.5  Abstaining does not = restriction OR an addicts excuse to moderate eat and keep binging.

It's so, so powerful. Write your own what works, what doesn't work and stop the harmful, weirdo, ineffective patterns and behaviors. I didn't  have a cookie, frosting, pizza, candy, or grain deficiency. Neither do you, in my opinion. If you eat those things without self harm, yay you. I if I eat those things = diabetes and binge eating = food addition Boooo.

I found my find recovery in abstaining rather than moderate binge eating this that and the other things. You may (or may not).  Careful on how much "other people's stuff" you are willing to bring into 2015.   The answers are inside you. Here are my 2014 answers.

Own 2014 with effective root cause analysis. Spend time in 2015 with effective CAPA- corrective actions and preventive measures will keep you well in 2015. Truth!

1.The No Grains, No Gains group began in 2014 (Paleo/Primal)
What worked: multiple outlooks from different people, lots of cross blog sharing and commenters.
What didn't work: Blog links.. lots of mine are broken... so I need to go back and fix those. EZ.

Take away:  There's strength in fine tuning your food template and habits. My habits won't be yours. Surround yourself with others who are on the similar path.


2. I found private support for Food Addiction.
What worked: I found a group where I could say I abstain from grains, almost all sugar, I could get and give support when needed. I've been reading more and more about Food Addiction. Some things are tough to learn about, some things are a relief. I can tell you I was born this way. Nice to not be ashamed of that anymore.

What didn't work: Support groups that moderate food for binge eating. Nothing against any group or individual, but really, my binge brain would loooooove to moderate food... and start binging again. Glad that found a group that is a better fit for me (and for them). We are both saving a lot of time.

One choice will have a better outcome than the other... choose wisely!

3. I added in a support group for Weight Maintenance support
What worked: I joined the Half Size Me Community (led by Heather Robinson). Great group of support people. And I'm accepted for who I am. That is very cool. Longer blog post on that in the future. I'm happy to pay a super small amount to Heather for the privilege of weight maintenance support. (weight talk in the FA group is prohibited, for good reasons). I've also been able to share some weight maintenance and Paleo successes. Nice to share with other Paleo/Primal peeps.  Weight talk isn't always accepted in the Paleo world. That's okay.

What didn't work: I still weigh in monthly at WW (it's free and I want a calibrated scale), however, when I heard a leader just completely throw another member under the WW bus I decided to stop attending meetings.  The member was told she should and could moderate "anything she wanted". I spoke up and said I couldn't and shouldn't moderate a piece of frosted chocolate cake EITHER, that food was off limits, made me sick, and kept me on the path to diabetes and binge eating.  I got the evil eye from the leader.

If the Food Addiction specialists are right with 40% of obese people having some level of food addiction, along with 6-10% of normal weight people.... well, that explains a lot to me. The "get the heck out of this meeting about moderation and stay out and away forever" feeling over came me and I did the right thing for me.

I haven't returned to another meeting since, but I do visit with my favorite members outside, after the meeting is over. That's okay, too. WW's can moderate all they want. I gave that stuff up, and I am better for it. :)  E-gads, the years I spent trying to moderate all. the.food. Wasted. Better late than never.

Look Mom, no WW meetings and I'm still meeting my goals

4. Good sleep. 

I blog less and sleep more. Yay me.

Blog traffic is up, Yay you. We are stronger together. I can be a weekend blogger and still be effective. Yay both of us!

Take away, More does not = better.


5. Blood glucose monitoring

I take my fasting glucose. Even in a tight food template, some foods cause me a higher fasting blood glucose. Think eating a lot of fruit and grain are a  a  good idea? It may be , but it also may be a silent way to induce pre-diabetes, diabetes, or metabolic. A lot of diabetics are thin....  High blood glucose is silent. Use the power of both doctor ordered labs and home testing to make changes that fit for your personal genetics. There's power in your own data. I'm glad I'm not taking on someone else "Fruit is Free" food template.

Take away: own your data to own your outcomes


Those are my major take aways for 2014.  Hope it was a good one for you. If it wasn't, that's okay. We are both here in 2015 to read and blog and learn and grow. Big difference from 2012 and  2013 where I had 6 people close to me die. That was hard. But I didn't binge eat over it and I'm here food sober in 2014 and now 2015 to tell the tales. Happy to live fully, on my own terms. Onward into growth, good take aways. Eyes wide open.

Check out my bloggy friends (Leigh at Poonpalooza is still on a blog break)
Jeanette at For Life:  wolfforlife.blogspot