New and Challenged

[Seraffa]

Hi - I thought I posted 3 days ago and don't see my very long post *frustration*......

Ok but to cut down the original post: I have 3 or 4 challenges as I begin with Protien Power ( I have the old paperback and the carb counter).

One: I may have been having bouts with SAD every 15 days. At any rate the decreased sunlight and funky weather in this season, along with allergies occurring, have brought on a want for carbs. Mind you - I don't give myself just any kind of carbs when I give in, because I'm a former sufferer and recoverer from bulimia. I can't tolerate the glutenous and non-glutenous grains at all when it comes to a carb binge, so I skip them.
but strangely enough, now that darkness is upon us, I find I want all the no-sugar-added ice cream I can get my hands on, sometimes! I'm thinking that at this time, it's not right to try and limit myself to "30 and no more" carbs per day. It seems so futile, with this weather. Maybe we can prevent the human body from packing on the pounds in order to hybernate during winter, but I think it might be reasonable to increase the non-sugary, non-starchy veggies to give our bodies some leeway.

(ps: I don't think they count the net carbs very accurately on ice cream do you? compare a sugared to a "non-sugared" flavor and you'll see the sugared one actually has LESS CARBS in many cases. WTH????)

Second: well - bulimia is now a documented illness that begins in the GUT
of the sufferers, and has to do with enzyme and chemical imbalances and it is truly a disease handed down in the family. It can be exxagerated into activity by stress, worry and dysfunctionalism, but most importantly, bodies of bulimics are now documented as operating slightly differently than non-bulimic folks. This is why we have to "watch it" and try to be stress free as possible cos we have something that - until a cure is found - comes from the GUT and screws up our "satiety signals" in our brains.
Hence the feelings of guilt and helplessness, and vomiting afterwards to try and stay "normal" with our weights and figures. But we do the best we can. So - I'm thinking we might need a little bit more low-impact carbs in our bodies in order not to get into a fight with our disease....rather than a plain old Atkins style "30 and no more per day" routine. I never could do 30! It always made me "fall off the wagon", eventually!

Thirdly - I'm a hyperthyroid patient, but do not lose weight at the drop of a hat. Many of us don't, but others do. I have my disease treated and may actually fully recover, but I don't know yet. I see fluid retention in my body occasionally and I had to wait 6 weeks before my muscles got out of a greatly weakened state and back into a normal, "non-exercising state" before I could commence looking at what I know I have to do to drop 60 to 70 pounds.

Never mind about the exercise "for today" - but, uh - considering all the other stuff I mentioned I'd like your thoughts? any vitamins helpful?

[Frank Hagan]

Is your goal to lose weight? Or affect blood serum levels, blood sugar, etc? Your goal will make a big difference; if you are insulin resistant and trying to lower triglycerides, you need to have a low carb count to make the diet work. But if you are trying to lose weight, a modified approach might be better for you.

The "standard" nutritional guidelines state that you want 45 to 65% of the calories from carbs. For a 2,000 calorie diet, 65% of the calories from carbs would be 325 grams of carbohydrate! Even at the low end of the "standard" recommendation, 40% of your calories would be coming from 200 grams of carbs, over six times the amount you have been trying to stick to.

You have found a cycle that causes you to binge, then you cut back, then binge again. It wouldn't hurt to try a diet that includes from 90 to 120 grams of carbs, and see if you can do that for twice as long before you're tempted to binge. Look at the "maintenance level" of PP for ideas. If the goal is to lose weight, you can then start calorie counting to reduce below the 2,000 calorie level. Remember that weight loss is usually limited to about 1 - 2 pounds per month, so set a long term goal with a diet you can do for the years it will take to lose the weight you want to lose.

I'm convinced of the ultra-low carb benefits, but that's because it works for me. To be honest, a low fat diet also worked for me to lose weight 15 years ago, but I was miserable (I rarely cheated, but I sure was miserable about not being able to!) The low carb diet is wonderful for me, because the foods I had denied myself doing low fat are the very foods I love the most, so the trade off is psychologically easier with low carb .... for me.

So you have to do what works for you, what fits into your goals, and what will make you the healthiest.

[gitfiddle]

Welcome, Seraffa! I don't know much about bulimia, but I know a lot about carb addiction. Since artificial sweetener can mess me up, I try to avoid that as much as sugar and grains. I can't handle the ice cream.

I take some of the supplements that Dr. Mike mentions in the book, plus D3.

[Seraffa]

Wow - thank you both; I have a lot I can try now! :-)

[Frank Hagan]

Remember that weight loss is usually limited to about 1 - 2 pounds per month, so set a long term goal with a diet you can do for the years it will take to lose the weight you want to lose.


Quoting myself ... that's surely a sign of *something*.

Anyway, someone sent me a private message about this, and I may be completely off base here. My doc told me in his experience, people don't lose more than 1 - 2 pounds per month, and that's a good, steady weight loss goal that doesn't endanger health. After the PM, I did a bit of "google research" and found where strict calorie-reduced diets often result in higher weight loss of 1 - 2 pounds per week for those with BMIs in the "obese" or "overweight" categories. That's been my experience so far, but I haven't expected to keep losing at that rate as my weight goes down toward the "overweight" category.

[S Bear]

People in Iceland have very low levels of depression and SAD. Not what you'd expect, is it?

The answer seems to be the very high levels of omega-3 fats in their diet. So you might want to try Fish and Flax.

[Needlewoman]

My doc told me in his experience, people don't lose more than 1 - 2 pounds per month, and that's a good, steady weight loss goal that doesn't endanger health. After the PM, I did a bit of "google research" and found where strict calorie-reduced diets often result in higher weight loss of 1 - 2 pounds per week for those with BMIs in the "obese" or "overweight" categories. That's been my experience so far, but I haven't expected to keep losing at that rate as my weight goes down toward the "overweight" category.
I am currently losing at an average of nearly 2 lbs a week (and that includes having a holiday for a week, and eating dessert on my husbands birthday:o), but I am still in the obese category. I'm hoping that rate continues for a good bit longer as I have a long way to go, but I am prepared for it to slow down eventually.

Welcome to the forum, Seraffa. I have found everyone here very helpful and friendly. I have found that I just don't think about food as much since I started restricting carbs to close to 30g a day. Why not give it a try?

[Seraffa]

It would be nice to do so, Needlewoman. I just don't want to fall off the bandwagon once I get there......lots of disadvantages living in a womens shelter that can thwart either good sources of food, or, ones mentality living among people who will eat just about anything, smoke, drink, cause stress and trouble among one another. I'm feeling my way along right now....