New Book recommendation- Stall Slayer- Amy Berger

Hello All,

Quick post to recommend:

The Stall Slayer- by Amy Berger

1. The book is not out yet, but soon!
2. The "book" will be in PDF format and available in Kindle
3. Keep watching Amy's blog for the release (as of 11/9/19, it's not out yet..)

There is a preview on Amy's blog, so check it out. She is often the sense of reason in the Low Carb & Keto Community. There are many stumbling blocks to work through on any diet plan. Low Carb and Keto are no different.

For me: Add in being post Hashimoto's and needing to stop 40 years of food addiction. A lot of "experts" tell you oh, 3-4 days of tough. Oh, 6-8 weeks of binge urges.

For me- TRY 2-3 years. Years. Okay, so a lot of work, but this wave of the hand and boom LCHF is the end all-be all, No, not for me, it was just not enough.

In a way that is good, though. It allowed me time to "practice" weight maintenance and food sobriety. In a way, it was tough, though. All of us were sold an "It's easy, just a few days/weeks".

Time to hone the skills and deal with the real roots. The real stumbling blocks.

Example:
 I got stressed out, and I had a few binge urges over the last week or so. Exhausted. Cutting back on my side hustle. Getting better sleep, taking care of myself- walks, time with friends.  No, I don't need food to soothe. Just to slow down a bit, take time.

Play with the furry beasts

Tortie, furry goof balls!

Anyway, I'll be obtaining the whol the Stall Slayer book when it's published ,and I will give a full review.

PS-Proof of weight maintenance. I don't use time off the blog to back off from my weight data and making small adjustments. Consistency is super key!  So is self-talk, self-sabbotage and other food addiction TRAPS. No. Nope, no thank you. The next 40 years are mine.

Food Sober Halloween 2019- Nine years into remission, my best tools

Food Sober Halloween. It really started here for me. Bite size.... Bite me... The disease was full swing with those little bars. Sad. If you can moderate those, please have empathy for those of us who dive deep into disease. It's a disease, not a lack of willpower.


My best tools

1. I don't keep or give candy out at Halloween. I go dark. I love the kids all dressed up. I refuse to enable childhood obesity, diabetes and fatty liver. Personal choice. Move along to the next house, the munchkins are not sugar deficient. I promise. LOL. It's not funny though. It's so heartbreaking.

Seriously, we have a global pandemic for adults and kids. NO WAY will I fuel this monster. PS- I'm getting a roll of quarters today for my besties. I'm not the Halloween grinch, but I do care that kids are getting liver transplants and teens are getting gastric bypass. It doesn't have to be this way. Preventable. I know, I was an obese kid. I stopped myself from getting sick. I want others to stop easier than the way I did it.

Oh and no, I'm not into giving out plastic crap trinkets. They wind up junking up the yard and going down the drain to the beach where I pick them up again and again. So no.

Lots of non-food ways to celebrate the season.

2. Manage stress: OMG this week will be off the stress chain. Planning by batch cooking my food, sleeping as well as I can, and meditation.

Low tide just north of Swami's Beach, Encinita

3. Abstaining from all binge trigger food. No grains, no sugar, no guar or xantham gum, no nuts. I predict no binge urges. So much easier to manage if I don't open my brain up to stinking thinking.

4. Hopping on the scale, daily. It doesn't lie. It's data. Hop on, record the number, move along. Make choices that will change the number if you decide you need to do that. No shame, no blame. Just data management. Be scientific. Be Processed based. Be hopping into food sober living because it is a choice made with a clear mind.

2 months of daily weight data

I'm abstaining this week. I'm doing my part to end childhood disease. If you are local, stop by for a quarter and tell me that you are, too. If you are far away. Virtual 25 cents in your box. :)

Onward and use the power of the tool abstinence is, as needed.

Kind of glad the doorbell is broken!

Proof of Weight Maintenance October 2019

October 2019

PROOF of weight maintenance: (DUDE's notice somewhat flat line!!!)

What's working

1. Meat off the bone- really gets me awesome  food full signals
2. Abstaining from binge foods: sugar, grains, nuts, emulsifiers- guar and xanthan gum
3. Better sleep
4. Meditation
5. Taking time for me
6. Doing things I love

What didn't work in the past

1. Eating meat substitutes. Caused Auto Immune flares, never full. EVER.
2. Moderating my binge food. My WW leader was 100% WRONG. Yo!
3. Sleeping very little, thinking it wouldn't matter
4. Using food to get food high, all I got were fat pants. Sad and painful.
5. It's easier having a functional, awesome daughter who is an adult. Single/Co-parenting is hard.
6. I used to to things to please other people. I uncovered my inner Upholder and have never been better. Still some obliger tendencies

That's it. * COI statement: I'm employed (side hustle) with Joan Ifland, PhD, Food Addiction Reset, LLC

Voice of My Readers- Food Addiction Vs Weight Maintenance Sept 2019

Hello All,

Quick check in with my readers.

Background Info: 
1. I'm about to dive in super deep on studying food addiction.
2. There is a lot of overlap between food addiction and weight maintenance


Question for my readers:

A. Would it benefit THIS blog- to keep it focused on weight maintenance with links to food addiction?


My Why's:  Insurance Discount for Weight Maintenance and Health Risk Reduction = My Best Life

Girl's gotta get her insurance discount and keep her risks low for future avoidable illness.  Plus, I like the mental clarity of Food Addiction Remission. Just to live my best life.

Another Why: Potential Side Hustle:

As of early September 2019: I still remain non-commercial, although I may, very soon get a very small payment for some food addiction work. It hasn't happened yet, although I'd love to keep my weight maintenance resources with links to a new Karen Parrott's Food Addiction page.

My Plan is to link over to a page about Food Addiction with full disclosure on Conflict of Interest (COI).

Comment in the links below. Moderation is on, so if you leave a comment that is constructive, I will post it. :)

Next Steps:

I'll be reading this text book, and taking notes. :) Continued Education is key for wellness- IMO.

Process Food Addiction Text Book, Dr Joan Ifland

Proof of Weight maintenance

Long Term Weight Maintenance graph

Food Addiction Resources from Dr. Ifland- Part 2 from Low Carb USA 2019 San Diego

Food Addiction Resources

Dr. Ifland spoke at Low Carb USA 2019 San Diego. Brillant!

I have so much more to say about 

• Dr. Ifland
• The ARC  
• Dr. Ifland's Text book on Food Addiction 
• Food Addiction Reset Youtube videos

Loved meeting her, having lunch with her .

Okay, Surf over to all the links provided above. Much more to come. MUCH MORE. So much. Can't wait. So rich. Foreshadowing here.... can't wait.  Happy Dancing. 

Dr. Ifland taking a break from talking to Low Carb USA 2019 Attendees

Dr. Ifland and Karen Parrott (me) Low Carb USA 2019 San Diego

Dr. Ifland's Text Book for Food Addiction and recovery- lots of reading in my future

Low Carb USA 2019 recap part 1- Fat: A Documentary preview!

Low Carb USA 2019, recap part 1

FAT: A Documentary Preview night. at Low Carb USA San Diego! 

Here's the story and one of my favorite parts of the conference was :

Watching those in the movie , watch themselves in the preview. SO RICH.

If I had this movie and the No Sugars No Grains tool, I wouldn't have been 70+ 
pounds overweight, living in active food addiction for so long.

HEY! No would have, could have, should have. Eating saturated fat has saved my life
by having less processed food and more meat and vegetables. Saying #yes2meat helps a lot.

Thank you Vinnie, Serena, Peter Pardini, and all the subject matter experts listed in the film.
You are saving lives and I will never forget the outfits you wore that day and the
help you've provided to the sickest patients. Forever grateful for those who will soon
join me in the next year or two on long term weight maintenance island.

Vinnie Tortorich speaking at Low Carb USA San Diego 2019

The gift that gives.

How to see the film:
Order on Amazon, Vimeo, or iTunes: Link to Amazon here

Favor to ask my readers, if you watch this movie, comment below. Thanks!!!

Also give it the highest ratings on Amazon, IMBd, iTunes, Vimeo and any place

it's released. Thank you!!!  If you don't like it, that's okay, don't review it. Thanks!

Onward and please test, don't guess your glucose, hs-CRP, triglycerides, insulin.
Measure and you can manage. I use natural fat to manage binge urges. My binge urges are
almost totally gone. I remain in long term food addiction remission. 

More photos from pre-view night at Low Carb USA San Diego (use this link to attend Low Carb USA SD 2020) not a sponsored link https://www.lowcarbusa.org/low-carb-events/sd-2020/ Thank you to Doug and Pam for getting Vinnie on stage and the movie preview.


Outtakes from July 25, 2019

Me escorting Vinnie to get miked up at Low Carb USA 2019

Dave Feldman watching himself in Fat: A Documentary

Gary Fettke, Jill Rieder, and Belinda Fettke at Low Carb USA San Diego 2019

I wore a little black dress to the movie premier!! 

7.5 years in long term Weight Maintenance, NSNG, LCHF , #yes2meat

7.5 years in long term weight maintenance NSNG #yest2meat LCHF

Serena  Scott-Thomas and Vinnie Tortorich

Vinnie, Peter Ballerstedt, and Dave Feldman

Pam Devine and Doug Reynolds- Conference Owners Low Carb USA

Not pictured but at the preview was Brett Scher MD- The Low Carb Cardiologist, Gary Taubes, Andreas Eenfeldt, MD

Long Term Weight Maintenance check in June 219 keeping 65 pounds OFF!

Hello All,

Long time no post. Dudes (In SoCal, everyone is a Duuuuuude) , I can post once a month. Let that be my goal this year. LOL. Catch me over on Instagram (link to the right on my profile)

 Photos, updates and what's working now. Short story, I'm staying very stable within my maintenance range. That's a real win!

May 2011 and May 2019

May 2011 and May 2019

Keeping 65.6 pounds off for Since Feb 3, 2012

What's working now

1. Prioritizing red meat, with vege. This brings Zero binge urges and accurate hungry and full signals.
2. Managing stress. Yeah, May was higher stress zone, but that happens. Red meat has my nerves calm, cool, and happy. There's definitely a connection for me. #yes2meat
3. Abstaining from binge foods and high inflammatory foods (NO grains, sugar, nuts, dairy)
4. Vacation time. I had some in May and it was fantastic. And playing pokemon means socializing.

What didn't work in the past

1. Eating fake meat, meat substitutes, tofu and trying to bulk up my stomach with veggies. NOPE! But hey, it fit my WW points and that was key no matter how terrible I felt. I weep for the old me.
2. I would soothe with candy and junk food. Didn't work and I was miserable. And 70 pound overweight.
3. Ate in moderation. This is a big NOPE in food addiction recovery. I stopped kidding myself.
4. Vacation time is about the same, although I can hike further and don't eat my binge foods while on vacation, so no guilt, just happy travels. And visiting with people in real life is just memorable and fun.


Goals this month: Start to get into a home body weight routine. Push ups, planks, etc.
That's it. Staying food sober, day in and day out. No excuses. Onward and hope you are all well

Graphs, then funny photos. Scroll down.

Keeping a nice maintainable weight range 

last 2 months, more of the same

One month! 

get used to the SAME stuff 

PRO TIP: Ribeye is on sale. $4.99 and ground beef. Found some on quick sale for $3.00 per pound. Not grass fed, do care but need to prioritize my bills to keep my body and finances well. 

$4.99 per pound ribeye!!! Stater Bros.

My cat when I cook Ribeyes!

Me when I play community day on Pokemon!

Food Sober Spring Holiday Weekend- 8th year in a row!!!

This is my 8th year in a row in my food sober Easter/Spring Holiday weekend.

Photos of what I'm doing. This is what works for me. Endorphins and avoiding T2D. Saying yes to meat and veg. Brings a lot better life to living.

Getting high on flowers not food!

Food sober glucose readings

Mild Keto for the WIN!!!

Pokemon > Peeps 

Me: Where are my glasses? Cat: OMG I see wrinkles!

There is life beyond the Easter Junk, I promise. If you are mid PEEP and Jelly Belly Binge, set down that crap and step outside the cycle.

What didn't work for me: Food addiction kills and causes emotional and physical pain. Sure getting food high was "fun" but nearly eating myself to death really didn't work.

Food sober living has it's good and bad. My life is a whole lot better outside the cycle. Onward and step out, when you are ready.

Please know if you are abstaining from Easter or Passover or ANY holiday foods, you are not alone.
Onward and here's to finding your endorphins outside the cycle of addiction.

Proof of Weight Maintenance April 2019

Proof

I'm still maintaining 65.6 pounds. Not 70, but heyyyyyy after 7+ years, almost 8 years of food sober living. This is great. I'm living a great life, no complaints here. I was a child with obesity in the 1970's. I'm living my dream life. Just saying!!! So happy and proud of myself.


What's working for me

1. Abstaining from my trigger foods

• Grains, nuts, emulsifiers like guar and xanthan gum

2. Tracking my weight daily

• stopped tracking my food but getting back to it now. Volume creep is a thing for me.
• Not binge eating tho, 
• but overall better results with tracking

3. Managing my stress. Holy Crap, just cycled through some usual stressors

• Life stresses happen, no need to sooth with food 

4. Recovered from the first real cold of 2018-2019. No cold products used.

• (first episodes were actually allergies in late 2018 due to wind/pollen/spores). 

5. Dairy free

• should ward off any sinus infections, because dairy was associated with my sinus infections.

6. Listened to epic podcasts including Bret Scher, MD- aka the Low Carb Cardiologist on the HPO podcast.

• EVERYBODY needs a little Low Carb Cardiologist in their life, well, okay, this is only my 2 cents, but I do love his podcasts and interviews on other podcasts.

7. Meat off the bone, since Dr. Scher gave us some good talking points and I don't have to fear cholesterol in animal products

• I know from my small ion mobility cholesterol panel, my CAC score, and my CIMT results that my heart attack risk is low.
• Something about meat off the bone gives me good satiety signals. I feel awesome!
• I use the hashtag #yest2meat if eating meat has helped you stay in weight maintenance

_____________________________________________________________________
What didn't work for me in the past:

1. Moderating all foods, foods with fake sugar that may have triggered my binge eating
2. Avoiding the the scale and pretending I wasn't gaining weight. LOL. Not effective
3. Using sweets and binge eating to sooth myself during work stress, didn't work, got fat pants. SAD.
4. My colds lasted for 3+ weeks ending in sinus infections and cold products.
5. Dairy caused a sinus infection after every cold. I do not miss antibotics & the headaches and pain
6. I used to live in a low fat, WW echo chamber. Podcasts keep me up to date and learning more
7. I used to be afraid of protein. Now I eat either lean protein and meat of the bone to meat my body comp goals. No fear, animal protein is here to stay in my life. I had no idea I had to include it to balance my hungry/full hormones.  I was too busy choosing low point WW processed soy products.

Graphs, cool photos and onward into another month. May will mark 8 years of food sober living. Yay!

Hope you are all well. Part 2 of the food addiction series- my take aways is the next topic.

Shredded beef, pumpkin seeds, avocado, carrots Paleo, Low Carb Salad

Swami's Meditation Gardens, Encinitas, CA

Cat Sphinx Calendar, with tortitutde

Follow up on my 2 cents to Dr. Rober Cywes food addiction series PART 1

Hello All,

Here's a link to my original post about part I. Listen to this first.
https://gardengirlkp.blogspot.com/2019/02/food-addiction-and-dr-robert-cywes-must.html

I believe

1. Food addiction is real, yet different from other additions in some ways. 

Trigger warning:
Example:  I wasn't going to jail for impaired binge eating half a skinny cow ice cream studded with 1 WW point of M&M's but I was going to be stuck in emotional and fat pants hell for many years.  An emotional prison yes, lose my job and family in jail, no. Such different consequences. All bad outcomes. Unique.

Every day I thank my higher power I stopped counting WW points and started tracking my food and abstaining from trigger food.   Many of us cannot moderate junk food. It's okay. Life is still great.   I don't need food to sooth anymore.           

2. That I had to get to my own root causes of obesity, investigate, then run a good CAPA, corrective and preventive action. Plus an honest effectiveness check. Rinse and repeat for as many root causes and steps as it takes. Even 7+ years into this.

3. That food sober living tools are 100% a must for my best life.  Not everyone needs extra steps. That's cool but don't fool yourself. Be honest.

__________________________________________________________________
My main take aways from part I of Dr. Cywes lecture.

A. Methodology is wrong for weight loss (for some of us).
B. Obesity is (in part) a mental health problem- it probably was for me, yo!
C. Preventive includes management of endorphins and stress with the right tools.
D. Emotional management- AKA old enabling stories you tell yourself, over and over again
E. Replacement of the drug (hyper palatable foods) with something else for endorphin management.
F Abstinence is not enough (AMEN!- that's why I use 20 tools)
G. Carb addiction model for recovery.
F. Yes, Apple vs Ice Cream can still give you a crystal meth high- Dr. Cywes is in recovery himself.

Just as an aside, I have such a high risk for Type 2 diabetes, my blood glucose spikes and stays high if I eat a whole apple. Small slices of apple don't trigger my binge eating, so if I feel like an apple, I'll have one slice at a farmers market, in season.

Yes, sweet fruit was a root cause for disease, so I manage it for my biomarkers and weight maintenance, more so than binge eating. For example, pineapple is a 100% binge food. Always was always will be. So I abstain even when vacationing in Hawaii. No big deal, but fighting binge urges is a big deal.


Big question that Dr. Cywes asks: Are you willing to give up your "best friend". 

Watch the video. Feel free to disagree, in a respectful way. Until I started using absaining tools, I could not earn my weight maintenance brain and pants. :)

Here's what brings me good, helpful endorphins. 

Long walks, and photography, beach combing, time with family

Lunch time walks key for maintenance

So relaxing

Coffee with my college kid!

Choose your "best friends" wisely. Onward.

These two torties are a hoot!