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Saturday, January 9, 2016

3 years, 11 months long term weight maintenance update



Starting weight: 187.4
Goal Range: (113-119) OR (119-121)
Current weight : 121.4 lbs
Time in maintenance: 3 years, 11 months
Age 49
Menopause: 2 years
Height 5'1"
Auto-Immune Hashimotos: 1997
Food Addict in recovery: 5+ years
Current food template: Paleo, Low Carb Higher Natural Fat, Ketosis, modified AIP/
modified Wahl's Paleo Plus protocol.

What my current food looks like on instagram



Weight: I haven't lost all the weight from my gluten exposure, but I am sustaining 1 pound lower this month. I take this as a win.

By February 2016, I expect to be back to my pre-glutening weight.

Here's what's working

1. Keeping my carbs low- total  carbs in the 20 or some days, 30-40.

2. Walking slightly less. Yes, weight loss means I dial back anything that looks like chronic cardio. This does not mean I'm sitting on my butt, I'm staying active with less miles.  4-5 miles instead of 5-7 miles a day, walking. Not shabby. House projects, standing desk, and keeping my strength training at the gym.

Too much cardio= inflammation and a spare tire around my middle, even in weight maintenance. With weight loss, well, there won't be weight loss if I don't cool it with the cardio.

I can go back to longer mileage in the spring. If I walk more I eat more. No big deal, but weight loss happens easier for me with 30-60 minutes of activity. Weight maintenance is easier with 60+ active minutes.

3. Monitoring my blood sugar more often.

I've had a few higher readings here or there. Say mid-90's 2 hours post. Nothing earth shattering, but I'll be keeping a close watch on higher starch foods like white onions. A little n=1.
Good thing I've been monitoring or I would have had type 2 diabetes by now.

What didn't work in the past
0. Avoiding weighing in regularly so I could binge eat.
1. Eating 200+ carbs a day from frozen "healthy" dinners and expecting a lean body.
2. Chronic cardio- hours at the gym. I ate more and I had lots of calorie in calorie out fails.
3. I never monitored my sugar and hoped I could get away with eating sweets. I thought I didn't have to deal with it until I was "older".  LOL

Hope you are all well. Please know that you can change what foods you put in your

It would not be an update without graphs. Because data is king....












6 comments:

  1. Kudos to you for changing things up so your weight doesn't continue to be a problem. So many people don't think two-five pounds is a big deal, but it is because it can lead to even more of a gain if you're not careful. My goal for the new year is to eat less sugar. I really think I have been overdoing the fruit. When I eat too much fruit and then some chocolate each day, my sugar levels are too high. I know when I made the transition to not eating any grains this summer, I started eating too much fruit (apples are my downfall). I am finally ready to tackle this problem. My goal is to eat two cups of berries each day and maybe a square or two of dark chocolate (and maybe a dark chocolate covered banana piece--see my post at HSMC). I am not going to worry as much about my fat intake as much because I know reducing sugar will give me some wiggle room there, but of course, I know calories still count.

    What do you prefer you glucose level to be. I think mine is borderline high normal. I ate some nuts after not eating for about four hours and got tested. Mine was 90. I want to get it lower, and I know I can only do that by reducing my fruit intake.

    After I have recovered from my surgery, I also want to be more consistent with working out. This is the year I hope to get my extra 5-10 pounds off even though I have said that for a while!

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  2. Hi Ali, I finally have accepted that fruit is a root cause of my high glucose. It's my N. European genetics and my obesity/type 2 diabetes genetics that are expressing.

    I go with the Paleo/Keto groups glucose parameters. I also have Lab scientists in real life that have type 2 who adhere to the lower ranges- I call them my glucose gurus. They can tell me right away what I ate to cause the higher levels. ( I DO NOT use the ADA levels, since the high normal values included = disease in me!!!!).

    I shoot for 80's fasting each morning or lower ( I get 70's all the time due to ketosis- no problem), I shoot for high 80's, maybe up to 92 or so for 2 hours post meal. I can expect readings 10 ug/mL higher if I have a virus or am not feeling well.

    Problem is certain foods (fruit, lots of starchy veggies even!!!) will get my blood glucose up to the high 90's or low 100's at night and it won't come down with exercise. There's no budging it. That, I feel is a problem for me, and I tend to store more fat, I can not feel well, etc.

    I will get high readings when I'm sick, when I eat certain foods (fruit that is non berry or > 1/4 cup. I might only have fruit now 2 a month, tiny amounts or not at all. I don't really miss it. I have >20 high risk, mostly double sets of diabetes risk genes so what works for me may be very different. The older I age, the more I have to be ninja like on my glucose being high based on my diet. One stop shopping for my weight maintenance so I look at it like a bonus that I can control it via diet. Oh, and the energy to do house projects while in ketosis is pretty nice. I wouldn't trade it at this point. :)

    I hope to avoid the type 2 diagnosis and drugs. I can remain more financially solvent this way and feel better. All at my own hand. I'm the single head of household, so reducing financial risk is key for me. It's expensive to have a preventable disease. Time and money-more is mine this way.

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    Replies
    1. And this is why I love your blog. Thank you for such a detailed and informative answer. I will be trying more experiments in the months to come. Great information.

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    2. Very interesting. The cardio part in particular. The fruit too.

      Think what a mess you would be if you didn't KNOW.

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    3. Vickie- yes, I'll have to show you a side by side photo of me and my half marathon training. Massive upper body spare tire and gobs of visceral Fat. Mark Sisson (Primal Blueprint) really hit chronic cardio and inflammation hard in his book. I can totally relate.

      Oh, the fruit. Luckily, Paleo people gave me good advise in 2012- hey fruit is good if you are lean bodied and have normal glucose functioning. Both Jason Seib and Sarah Fragoso warned us of too much fruit back then. Smart advice. I don't need to count points harder, but I did need to take my own glucose readings.

      I think glucose monitoring should be mandatory and I should get steep insurance discounts to reduce risk of chronic and acute illness. But I'm just a cost conscious former obese person, what I do I know? A lot I can tell you.

      Not missing my spare tire today. :)

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  3. Hi Isabel, yes, I'm a regular reader and big fan of Lynda- she follows a general LCHF template and I love her travel photos. We used to blog together a few years ago on general topics. I comment often on her blog. She's also maintaining her weight over a long period of time.

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