ADAPT Study- (Tuft's) for Adhering to Dietary Approaches for Personal Taste- July 2017 enrollment link

http://hnrca.tufts.edu/studyadapt/

**Enrollment link is here: https://tufts.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2hP3fzEmLnYVhm5

** Edited to add Study PI invited all to participate*

I participated in the Tuft's ADAPT feasibility study (had 14,000 participants) in 2015 via Tufts. The current 12 week questionnaire study (Summer 2017)  could use more variety in participants.

I hope that you'll click through and sign up for the 12 week study, one 24 hr period of dietary recall six weeks into the study.

I hope you'll head over and participate. It doesn't matter what dietary food template you use, so chime in.

Customizing my food template Paleo, then Low Carb Paleo combined with abstaining and 17:7 Intermittent Fasting have combined to bet the most delicious, nutritious, and best weight mainatenenace with the leanest, most muscular body of my life.

Amazing after 40 years of overweight, binge eating and morbid obesity. I wasn't "doomed" after all. I did have to adapt. I've got to say my current food template tastes great and my health has not really been better.

There's a lot of dietary approaches out there. Your body will let you know which ones work better for you. Critical thinking and action IS required for order vs chaos.

Refuse to Regain Barbara Berkeley is right, I deserve the body I've earned my post morbid obesity body and her 12 rules helped me think critically AND create order out of past weight maintenance attempts that were chaos and didn't work.

Too much dietary advice without critical thinking be like- Y THO?

 What works now

1. Paleo, Low Carb, Intermittent fasting 17:7.

I adapted to low carb and my body rewards me for listening! May '11 to July '17

What didn't work in the past

1. Not employing critical thinking and eating Low Fat, High Carb, WW frozen meals, moderating sugar and grains, not fasting and eating 18, hours all day long

Y' THO? Indeed!

Who else has enrolled in studies like these, National Weight Loss Registry?

My best post vacation tools for Weight Maintenance 2017- slight adjustments, immediate action

Long term weight maintenance 2017, BMI Ave 21.7

Long Term Weight Maintenance, with loss, 2016, BMI Ave = 23.1

So, I went above my most desired weight maintenance range of 113 to 116 lbs. (at 5'1" desired puts me at BMI of 21.4 to 21.9 ). Once I go >22, I find it easier to gain weight. I like my best range, so I'm going to work to stay in it during my early 50's as much as possible.

I didn't go above 117, but I'm not starting to trend back below 116 either. So....

I'm taking immediate action Going outside my range will happen. Swift action is needed. A plan is needed. My effective tools are needed.

What I don't need: I don't need to panic, lie to myself about "just a pound" "maybe it's muscle weight"" the weather is sooo hot" " the scale is a lying liar that lies" Baloney.  All BS, in my opinion. Although I was in range on my first day back from vacation, I didn't stay there. No sense in lying to myself about it.

Reality: I can see the trend. I can reverse the trend if I do the work. Critical thinking and the right tools with day-in-day-out work are required. 90-95% of my success will be due to the foods I put into my body. My habits and thought processes are built.

For me, it's a biochemistry deal. 90-95%. My body will reward me well for putting the right food in my pie hole, in the right amounts, during the right time of day. LET'S GO!

Project Summer 2017 level out, tend down is in effect. If you are just starting weight maintenance- take note, if you were at weight maintenance and fell off take note, if you are losing back to weight maintenance, take note.

I don't have to weigh in for my health insurance discount until October, but if I don't take action now, I could easily be into paying $40 more a month for insurance in 2018. Insurance company doesn't give a rat's patootie that I was overweight and obese for 40 years. They just want to up their premiums. As a single head of household, it's ON for getting that discount. Plus, I can save by not developing type 2 diabetes,

My best tools in order of effectiveness for leveling off and losing a pound or two near goal maintenance weight :

0. Stay on my abstaining food template.
1. Intermittent Fasting, daily 17:7 or 18:6
2. Tracking food in My Fitness Pal.
3. Bringing my total calories down 100-200 calories daily or so.
4. Monitoring my exercise WITH my calories
5. Bring my total fat grams down closer to my total protein grams
6. Bring protein grams up slightly, closer to my fat grams (fat grams are higher for me LCHF, even with weight loss)
7. Abstaining from fruit, because I cannot lose weight while eating fruit.
8. Sleep adequate
9. Walking adequate
10. Gym adequate
11. Flexibility and Stair Sprints and Meditation goals

I'm not adding new skills or habits. I am making slight adjustments -

For example:  say total fat for the day going from weight maintenance of 90-115 grams more to 80-90's grams

For example: say total protein for the day going from 60-70 to 70-80 grams

For example: extra beef or chicken or seafood, keeping protein slightly leaner

I'll remove calories via mostly by lowering fat closer to protein:

For example: Olive Oil in breakfast and lunch lowered by half
For example: abstaining from pumpkin seeds
For example: lowering my avocado intake slightly

I can make it all do able and in the next month or so, demonstrate that I can get back to desired range and maintain it. Because I have all year.

What didn't work in the past-

0. Eating all things in moderation
1. Eating from 6am to 10 pm
2. Tracking WW points based on low fat, set me up for a binge 100% Ugh!
3. Thinking I was "winning" by eating zero point or low point carby foods. Oh WW - double ugh!
4. Not adjusting or tracking movement with food in.
5. Trying to eat more grain carbs
6. Trying to cut protein to save WW points for Skinny Cow Ice Cream
7. Fruit was free, free y'all. Not once did I connect my near pre-diabetes diagnosis and lack of weight loss from my middle to fruit. What was I thinking???  OH, I wasn't thinking critically, that's right...
8. 5-6 hours of sleep seemed to be enough
9. Four thousand steps- wasn't going to help me
10.  I went to the gym so I could justify buying those protein bars and cookies that are really candy.  It didn't end well.
11. I was starting not to fit well in airplane seats, car seats, and at

It pays to know your best tools and use your best tools.  Once good habits are set, then slight adjustments don't take much time or plans or brain space. It's automated, routine, filling, and high in nutrients. EZ, relatively.

Safe travels and effective tracking. Always.

Return from Vacation 2017, still at weight maintenance goal, as planned

Port of Tacoma, July 2017

I've returned from my Pacific Northwest - Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympic Peninsula vacation.

What's working:

1. I had an Air B&N, so I stayed on track with cooking on template foods.

2. I had 1 day off somewhat gray zone foods that don't trigger in the right amounts and mindset. 70% Chocolate at Theo, some rice and beans at great restaurant in Seattle.

Theo Chocolate Factory Tour, 2017

3. I also ate later in the day due to my travel schedule, hiking, and amount of hiking. I took a break from tracking my food and from daily intermittent fasting.


I DID NOT use anything as an excuse to consume known trigger foods. And that ,my blog reading friends, is the reason why I returned home clear headed, rested, happy, pants fit, and I remained in goal weight maintenance range.


Results:  Weight Maintenance: Weighed in within my best weight range this morning at 116 lbs.

Strategy for the next 5 days

0. Time with my kid
1. Unpack & laundry
2. Resume tracking my food at MFP
3. Grocery Shop & cook my Paleo, LCHF foods
4. Work
5. Get as much sleep as possible
6. Keep hydrated
7. Walk
8. Gym 1-2 times.
9. Resume daily weighing
10 String together 5 solid days of 17:7 fasting


What didn't work in the past

1. Staying in hotels for the reason of making waffles or consuming high carb "free" breakfast buffets full of the crap that made and kept me obese and binge eating. It's FREE, it's low cost, I deserve a break said my disease.... Sigh.

2.  Eating everything and anything; BECAUSE VACATION.  I know I can 1-2X per year consume 70% chocolate without triggering my binge eating biochemistry. Next time will probably be Thanksgiving. I tried several samples of 70%, nut free at Theo Chocolate in Seattle.

 I enjoyed the 70% flavors and samples but could feel a normal "stop" signal and then didn't want any chocolate even the next day. In the past, eating higher sugar fudge (raise your hand if you've had Mackinaw Island Fudge on summer vacation), local candy and other junk food resulted in day and week long binge eating with no stops or breaks.

Ditto with the small amount of rice and beans. (my resting heart rate at night and overnight went through the roof 5-10 beats per minute higher average, so I may not eat the rice, next time.)

It's nice to know my trigger biochemistry and to be able to navigate and accept any negative outcomes for my choices. And, it's essential that I don't trigger the food addiction. Last binge trigger took 2-3 weeks to recover from a few macadamia nuts. That many nights with mild, to moderate binge urges. Oh, heck NOOOOO.

3. Eating pizza and fast food late into a travel day was pretty normal, and it didn't sit well for me day in, day out on prior to 2010 vacations. Oh, and then start with that crappy waffle breakfast the next morning. Ouch- joint pain and food cravings all day. What a terrible cycle I put myself in each summer.



















I can only urge you to know your biochemistry and to abstain while traveling if you are in the same boat I'm in, and I know I'm not alone. I still took in the PNW sights, sounds, tastes and smells. I did so with my eyes wide open, a food plan, and the willingness to carry on and carry through from vacation back to normal life.

DEEP THOUGHTS:
Just like my first photo, if those kayakers did not look up from their photo shoot (there's a big white dog on the kayak on the left -by the way) and the barge started to move, how's that going to end? My disease is always there- food addiction looms large, but I can always have a good time on vacation, just outside the shadow.

My food template is my life vest. My habits and thinking  are my boat. My motivation is my paddle.  Onward and here's to abstaining from the foods that take you away from a full, lower emotional and physical pain life we all deserve to live.

5 years, 5 months long term weight maintenance - yes, calories matter (to me)- geez!

May 2011 to July 2017

May 2011 and July 2017 Long Term Weight Maintenance

Starting weight 187.4 lbs

Goal Range 113-125  lbs 

2017 best Goal Weight Range 113 to 116

Current Weight  115.0 lbs

Keeping off    72.4  lbs

Time in maintenance 5 years, 5 months

Age 51

Menopause 4+years

Height 5'1"

BMI 21.7

BMI ave this month 21.7

BMI ave last month 21.6 

Glucose (fasting & 2hr post this month range 65-94 mg/dL)

Food Template:  Paleo, LCHF,  Keto (some days because I fast ), 
Total Carb ave = 43 grams per day
Net Carb ave = 28 grams per day

Abstain from all grains, most sugars*, dairy. Nut free, artificial sweetener free **
* 85% chocolate 1X per day
** Tiny bit of stevia in my Natural Calm, magnesium supplement

Food Timing or Time Restricted Eating Window or Intermittent Fasting 17:7 or 18:6

17 hours fasting (water only)
7 hours eating, 3 meals
Eat 6am Stop eating at 1 pm

Or 18:6, I change it up a bit

Auto-Immune Hashimoto's Disease 1997, 100 ug Synthroid daily

Food Addict in Recovery: 6+ years

High Risk, but never diagnosed Type 2 diabetes

Walking 13,497 ave steps per day, June

Weight lifting : 1-2X per week, improved getting the gym in June

Sprints  4 days per week stair sprints 

Stair Ave/day for the month 18 stairs (Apple Health Kit)

_____________________________________________________

I have so much to say, so here's the short version:

What's working now

1. Yes, calories matter- geeez. They do to me. I can tell you I put a lot of effort into looking at upward trends, level-offs, and losses. But it's NOT a lot of work. The work I do is more in critical thinking around shifts, trends, stability and loss. A little bit of daily data collection. Most of it is automated.

I look at a lot of data, quickly, very quickly- because- news flash- I have my data from My Fitness Pal. Boom 'yall. 

2017, Normal Weight Maintenance For the WIN!

I look at total calories, calories burned, weight, total carbs, net carbs, sleep, meditation, days at the gym, time put into my flexibility, the quality of my diet, any viruses or infections I had/have, binge urges, being honest with binge eating. 

5 years PLUS into this thing.  Honesty and the willing to call myself on my own baloney in my head is key. Really, total intake matters.  So does:

2. Sleeping enough

3. Walking enough

4. Weighing daily

5. Eating adequate protein and increasing protein, even while LOW CARB, some days (GASP!)

6. Sticking to my food plan, work, fair, stress, travel. 

You know what matters the most? Not lying to myself about what I need to look at monthly and what I need to carry out and do daily, if not hourly.

The scale is NOT a lying liar. It's a message to me to change something up that I can control. It's a message to me that my body needs something different than what I'm giving it. It's a message up to change something to more optimal. My body is messaging me, but will I listen?  Extra body weight on my 5'1" frame is going to hurt- bones, joints, metabolism, disease risk. 

I'd better listen....

I'm not a bad person, but I do need to use my brain to change what I can change.  It's not a message to stick my head in the sand further. My disease- binge eating- that's a lying liar .And, my fat wants to come back. Maintaining.

Paleo AF for long term weight maintenance

In June 2017 I walked a lot on my job, I went to the Del-Mar fair, I traveled to help a family member. All because I worked maintenance 5 years ago. And I work maintenance today. I can live life in maintenance. Because I'm honest with myself and I show up to do the work. I don't always like the work, but I do the work. Because I like life at a normal weight more than life at overweight, obese, morbidly obese.

I would have loved to overeat due to work stress, fun fair food, or travel or stress due to family life or heat. It would be easy to do, my fat really, really wants to come back. Wheeeee. Tee-Hee-Hee. If I catch myself saying or  wanting to "have fun, relax, everyone eats travel food, everyone eats comfort food " with food I know it's a habit and behavior to regain the weight. 

Forget it. I don't want my fat pants back, so I track my intake, activity, and other important data. 

Good thing I'm Paleo- Low Carb. and use weight maintenance tools that work for me

What did not work in the past

1. Not tracking calories

2. Not sleeping enough.

3. Not weighing daily- highly recommended to weight maintainers(the scale IS NOT lying, it's data)

4. Not walking enough (60 minutes of activity a day, common for maintainers)

5. Not eating enough animal based protein (I was scared of HIGH WW POINTS- ughhhh, what?? NOPES!)

6. Not sticking to my food plan while on vacation or at the local fair.

Overweight Teen, Karen P, 1980, FTO genes and binge eating

Did I mention I was overweight since the age of 6? On and off for 40 years. I unearthed this photo of myself, probably in 1980, summer. Just finished Freshman year in High School. 

 I started jogging not long after this and leaned out- when you are young, you can move more and get better results. Jogging while overweight as an adult only gave me injuries.

May 2011, obese peri-menopausal Karen P

Here I am peri-menopausal in 2011. Morbidly obese. Chowing down on cake, because, birthday! 

I have FTO, binge urges, Hashimoto's Disease, Menopause, but I also have the ability to use all my tools to stay well. And it's a good thing too, because my insurance wants to charge me $40/month for my troubles. 

What do I want more- all the food or a different life?  Yes, total calories matter. AND so do lot's of things. Many inputs matter in long term weight maintenance. I'm not a lone. I'm not a special snowflake. I have unique binge triggers and an unique food template, yes.

Calories and total intake matters a lot. Geez!  Critical thinking is very good.

Safe travels to you all. And, here's to tracking as needed. And, knowing what tools you need.

GRAPHS- because, best cheapest tool along with SCALE, along with My Fitness Pal, because there are lot of folks lying, hiding, and photoshopping. Yo!

July 4, 2017 Independence from things that hold us back in weight maintenance

Beach Camp Ground Flag, Carlsbad, CA

Happy July 4th, 2017
What's working for me in 2017

Independence from 

1. Binge triggers
2. Morbid Obesity
3. Overweight and Obesity
4. Most joint pain
5. High Glucose readings
6. Eating to soothe feelings


Dependence upon (what didn't work before May 2011)

1. Consuming known binge triggers under the excuse of "everything in moderation"
2. Morbid Obesity- hurt my joints, hurt emotionally, hurt financially in more illnesses
3. Overweight and Obesity- yo-yo made me a 4-6 size clothes storing and buying junkie
4. All over joint pain- dependent on massive bottles of Advil. 300-400 a year.
5. A high carb, low fat diet - I was sugar dependent eating 6 am -10 pm to fuel, almost type 2 diabetic
6. Dependent on sugar, grains, snacks, food emulsifiers, nuts shovel food constantly rather than deal


Three cheers to finding Paleo, Low Carb, Time Restricted Eating Windows and finally Keto

(Keto because time restricted eating and LC)


Three thunks on my head for allowing myself to stay stuck so freaking long that I continued to be
Dependence upon (what didn't work in the past)

1. Dependent upon sugary snacks (Cliff bars while training for half marathons)

2. Dependent upon getting worse and worse while proclaiming mightily "It's okay, I'm a WW member"

As if showing up to sit in the meeting granted me immunity from weight gain- I got a lot of head pats and sugar coating that was pretty enabling-IMO, that kept me hooked for along time. It's not WW fault, it was my responsibility to take myself out of that dynamic when I knew it didn't work, but like a true food junkie I knew I'd get a 3 points candy bar handed to me if I attended that week-oooooooh, 3 points....it's within my points budget this week- hmmm- I gained pound, oh wel-LOL-)

3. Dependent upon storing and buying all those clothes without stopping the cycle (hint that much yo-yo dieting is a sign)

4. Dependent upon pain killers (thank goodness I stopped at Advil)

5. Dependent upon eating food every 2-3 hrs thinking it would lead me to lean ( it made me more obese)

6. Dependent upon my disease to get food high, repent repeat (that's one heck of a cycle)

No would have, could have, should have.   I don't beat myself up, however setting boundaries, limits, and using critical thinking are key for not hopping back on the cyclic nature of weight regain, habits and behaviors.

Immense gratitude for food sobriety and all the wisdom along the way.

Here's to independence from what keeps you free! Onward. Break the cycle. The answers are inside of you. It takes a lot of work and eyes wide open thinking to break free.

What cycles have you become independent from, not to return?  Could be food, drink, domestic violence, tobacco, drugs, spending, gambling, internet, or any number of cycles.

Cycles and Patterns- look for them, they are everywhere!

Primal Play while taking care of myself- out enjoying a bit of stay-cation July 2017

Hello I'll. I'm working on my 5 year 5 month weight maintenance update.
To be honest, I feel much more like playing this summer rather than blogging.

1.  Playing on the coast via walking, beach combing and hiking.

Primal Play: My cube farm stair sprints are paying off as I can walk some of the rocky beach cliff trails, tide pool rocks and lose rocks and have great core balance and strength.

Scripps Coastal Preserve, La Jolla, CA

2.  Photography and thinking about natural history

Primal play, picking things up like fossils, holding them in my hand, putting them back!, photographing them and thinking about evolution, food we used to eat, sustainability, getting my hands and feet wet in the inter-tidal zone. 

As a kid, I dreamed about this life. Now I chose to live it. Life really is good. Much gratitude and setting long term goals so I can do this my whole natural life. 

Fossil Oyster Reef  remains 45 to 50 million years old!  Encinitas CA

3. Health check ups 

Ophthalmologist eye dilation

Yeah, I had some eye floaters. Ophthalmologist says no retinal involvement, just aging with a deep case of nearsightedness.  Whew!!! Several family members have had to deal with blindness due to different diseases. It would remove one of my favorite hobbies photography. Vision impairments are tough diseases to live with. 

Primal play:  GO, Go to the beach, photograph, hike, read and have never ending gratitude for my eyesight. 

Eyes WIDE OPEN ( dilated pupil complements of the ophthalmologist)

4. Work in a field that I love

Current job assignment has me walking in 100+ heat part of the day. Uphill, tough walking conditions. And, it's my job. Much more physical than I thought. 

Primal play: Good conditioning- via gym, hiking, and sprints in tough weather conditions helps keep me well and mostly injury free- at least reduced.  I have a pretty good work attendance record, too. That way I can use vacation time for vacation, not for sick time. 

Yeah, with all the fun comes work, too. Food, exercise , work for a career to be financially fit, health  checks. 

If I can blend in Primal Play with the work and see the WIN-WIN, it's all good. I wouldn't go back to my old habits

Mobility and lower visceral fat for the WIN.

I have better mobility and movement at a normal weight

What didn't work 

1. Sitting too long.  Sitting watching TV. Sitting knitting. Sitting reading, Sitting hobbies.  I do sitting activities now, but not nearly as often. Sitting too much contributed to my morbid obesity, for sure!

2. I didn't move well or often. I physically could not go every where I wanted. It took me away from amazing opportunities.  Having so much visceral fat was movement limiting, for sure

At my highest weight 2012

3. I avoided the doctor, knowing that they'd tell me I was going to get sick and diabetic, with a higher cancer risk from the known obesity and cancer risks. Sticking my head in the sand was not a good plan. It didn't feel good then and it sure wasn't effective. 

4. One of my why's was walking up that hill at work in 103 F degree temps and knowing they'd find me passed out or worse. I couldn't walk from the parking lot, up a slight incline without shortness of breath when it was cool weather. 

That helped me lose weight AND it keeps me maintaining.  Here's to a WIN-WIN motivation to you. I'm telling you there's a lot of advantages in working on weight maintenance, even while on stay-cation. 

Hope you are out playing out doors, too, as the weather permits, since I know the Kiwi's are in the middle of winter right now. :)