Video sighting!

First, thanks to Kimberly for interviewing me!


This weekend I attended a fabulous meetup group meeting about gluten ("Myths and Truths about Gluten"). The presenter, Dr. Jo (you can find his blog here) was very informative. I learned more about links gluten has to other autoimmune diseases. It was very eye opening. For me this is just another example of continuing my education about health and nutritional awareness. I feel when I stopped eating low carb the first time (after becoming pregnant), it was because I believed all the myths and lies about the damage the low carb lifestyle could do to me. Learning about gluten and other issues that impact my health has firmed my resolve to stick with my choice to remain low carb for life. Vanity can only move your choices so far... eventually you have to find other reasons. Regaining health was huge for me.


I was also able to meet Kimberly Hartke who works as one of our meetup group organizers. She also works heavily with the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) as the publicist. I follow her work. (I am a member of the WAPF.) It's always great to meet other people who are passionate about the same things you are!

Quick Post.

I’m in the middle of writing a final paper for my college class. It’s extremely slow going because I really am not into I/O Psych. I need the class to graduate. Luckily I get to write about what I want. I’m writing about motivation and incentives. So I decided to give myself an incentive for reading all of that research… by writing a blog post! (I actually have a few in the queue to post, but I haven’t had the time to go over them.)

This morning I woke up and looked in the mirror like I do every morning. I have noticed my stomach looks smaller, but I thought maybe it was my imagination. This can be possible because my brain plays tricks on me. Sometimes I think I look smaller when I’m regaining 5 lbs. Then sometimes I feel fat, only to find out I’m 5 lbs lighter than normal. Long ago I decided that my day or my self-confidence for the day would not be dictated by my weight or dress size. That was an extremely hard place to get to as a woman. (I don’t know if this is difficult for men; I’m not one.)

Here’s a small hint to success, no matter what your goal is:

It’s always the tiny choices that build up to something big.

I’ve had a choice at every meal and snack; low carb or not? As my weight loss suggests most of my choices have been low-carb. There have been slips, but overall I’m doing well.

Since my hands keep breaking out (and there’s a post about this coming) from eating gluten, most of my choices since 2 weeks before the end of December have been no gluten. Again, I’m not perfect – but my hands wish I were because every breakout is painful. I think I’ve only slipped 5 times.

Gluten free has allowed me drop 10 lbs and finally overcome the plateau that I’d been rocking for a while. I keep a post-it of my recent measurements. Looking back I did these in the first 2 weeks of January. This morning I only measured my natural waist and my lower abs. I was in a bit of a hurry because I wanted to work out (kettlebell swings 30 sec work 30 sec rest – 10 minutes with planks – front and sides for about 1 minute each) before we got breakfast… We were going to a hockey game for my B-Day.

So uh yeah. My imagination wasn’t playing tricks:

-3”  lower stomach

-2” on my waist

This proves several things for me. 1 - Plateaus in weight loss are stupid to get upset over. (Not that I was. Frustrated was more the word.) 2 - Always find 2 things to measure. I’ve been using inches and lbs. You could use lbs and pictures, or inches and body fat measurements… whatever you choose. 

Also I'm awesome. And finally, the gluten-free thing is good because it's reduced inflammation in my body and allowed me to lose weight again. Also awesome.

I celebrated my inch loss by eating some LC dessert. I rarely ever eat dessert. It’s not my bag, baby… Just like I/O Psychology… which I now have to get back to.

Cod Liver Oil Kid

When Reece was 4 and I started learning about WAPF, I started giving Reece Cod Liver Oil  (CLO) in a shot glass. We would top it with a little juice and we would “belly up to the bar” and have our oil every morning.* I’ve been slacking lately and he reminded me that he misses it. I’ll be purchasing some juice this weekend.

Up until he was 5 and going into kindergarten Reece was in speech therapy. He doesn’t remember it very well, which is nice. I don’t want him to remember struggling to communicate with others. When he was 6 months old he said his first word. Amazing!  I thought. Then at 7 or so months he would say a full sentence and crack me up. After a year and a few months he said another word. Then he just stopped talking. I had him evaluated. At this point he made up his own language and only I could decode it. Part of it was that he just didn’t see the point in learning to talk. I understood him.

A lot of the people that evaluated him hinted that he might be autistic or have ADD/ADHD in addition to having the speech problems. I did not push the issue and have him tested for either. It can be debated another time whether that action was stupid, careless, or ingenious. My numerous reasons are too lengthy and personal to explain in this blog.

Prior to eating more WAPF style I was trying to be a low-fat vegetarian. I had gained weight (going low-fat vegetarian really helped me pack on the pounds) and I was trying to be healthy. This way of living did not suit me or my child.

I was actually scared to pick up that Nourishing Traditions book. I was afraid to change because I was tired of being wrong and getting sick because of it. The book's cover hinted that what I thought I thought was good was wrong. I already had an inkling that was the case. I looked around me to see if anyone was watching and I snatched that book up. How could something like that be in plain view?! I thought. Who else knows about this?! I read that book cover to cover at least twice. Now it looks... um, loved. It has splatters, stains, and folded edges. I guess loved is pretty accurate at this point.

When we started eating more fat, Reece’s development rapidly improved (and so did my health). The farm food we both loved for several reasons. The taste and quality were wonderful, but we both stopped getting so sick and our digestion improved a lot. The CLO really clinched it. I sold him hard on it too.  I told him he would develop powers similar to the guys in the Incredibles (run fast, see far, become super smart, etc.) because that’s what he was into at the time. I wasn’t lying when I told him these things would happen. CLO does some pretty awesome things.  

Originally I was really afraid he wouldn’t drink it. I didn’t have a lot of money to spare at the time for things we wouldn't use (which was another reason I was hesitant about the book). We were always sick and I had to take off work to take both of us to the doctor. I was very stressed out. I am really thankful that I didn’t second guess myself and put that book down. I am much more laid back than I used to be and Reece is healthier from all the changes.

Most people don’t even know that he ever had developmental delays. In first grade he missed testing into 5^th grade reading level by one word: meteorologist. He’s also the tallest in his class. In Kindergarden he told me he was angry because everyone else was able to stay home sick and he wasn't because he didn't get sick. He told me he wanted to spend time with me. (aw!) I don’t know where we would be if we continued down the same road we were going before WAPF and CLO.

He doesn’t really care about super powers anymore. That stage of development is complete. He tells me that he feels a difference when he takes CLO and when he doesn’t. That’s pretty big. He told me he misses it. He may not care if it gives him superpowers, but to me it’s amazing stuff.

Cheers!

*Once he got older I started taking pills because it really was hard for me to swallow the oil sans pill. I would have to gag when he wasn’t looking. I figured that face was going to turn him off the oil which I wanted him to take. He complains when the juice masks the taste of the oil. I think that's a little... odd.

SEEing benefits

Hello, my name is Holly. It has been 10 days since I’ve had gluten. Yes, 10 days. That’s not very long right? I will tell you that it took about 7 days to start seeing benefits. Literally.

When I joined the Army at the age of 19, I was handed some glasses along with my weapon. Why? I couldn’t see the 300-meter target. This wasn’t a surprise. My mom has worn glasses as long as I’ve known her (and longer). My dad wears them to read. I work with computers all day at my job, and then I come home and hang out on the computer. The eye doctor felt it was inevitable that my eyes would get worse as I got older because of the amount of strain I put on them daily.

I’m not getting younger (this is debatable if you ask my son) so I wasn’t surprised when I found I couldn’t see what time it was on the alarm clock, which is about 5 feet from our bed. In fact now that I think about it, I don’t recall being able to see the alarm clock for a while. I had to squint and strain and try to guess the numbers from what I could see.

So this weekend something weird happened. I looked over and I could see the numbers on the clock. One normal open-eye glance. I had to look twice. And then twice more! Realizing it wasn’t normal, I kept checking. Yes, I’ve been doing this every night since I made the discovery. I couldn’t figure out why I could suddenly see when before my eyesight was clearly getting worse! I am too scared to get Lasik (yet) and my eyes have been progressively getting worse instead of stabilizing at one prescription.

It’s either the gluten, the lack of eating out so often (which covers a lot of unwanted substances), or my body is repairing itself in more noticeable ways now that I’ve been eating low carb for so long. I can’t figure out which.

When I was close to 300 lbs there was a lot wrong with my body. I’ve forgotten the complete long list of things I was sick with, or that hurt, or whatever. It’s not that I didn’t appreciate the health benefits, but waking up feeling energetic and pain-free is my new reality. I really don’t think waking up in pain is part of getting old. I also don’t think looking old is part of getting old. I do think they’re both part of a crappy diet that comes with a side dish of pills and ailments. If you focus solely on the weight loss, as I have been doing, you can miss these small miracles. I’m surprised that I figured bad eyesight was part of getting old. Myth debunked at least for me. That tiny discovery of being able to see the alarm clock (of all the things!) has given me a renewed respect for what I’m doing. I already loved my diet. I am obviously committed to it and I try not to be too evangelistic about it – unless asked - (sometimes I slip). It’s not my personality to be in your face about things, but if something is working people will usually ask.

Today and many weeks (at least 2 months or more), the scale hasn’t budged. I also don’t weigh myself consistently. I guess it’s taken a back seat at this point in time to inch loss. I am at a plateau for pounds. However, my pants are baggier than they were 2 weeks ago, especially around my upper thighs. Plus I can see! I’ll get to my goal. Just now I’ll be able to see the end result more clearly.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!!

One of my resolutions is to blog more often. Like most resolutions people make, I’m not sure this is going to work out. It’s more like a wish at this point. Really, I’m just aiming for the first couple weeks. I have a chance it might be habit by then. Good luck to all of us!

One of the first things I’d like to talk about was a comment I had made during my speech about eating upwards of 5000 calories in a day. This has been bothering me.  A lot.

Right now my calorie range is around 2,500 to 2,800 calories; I’m guessing. The last time I put food into a food log was probably last summer. I’m really not interested in tracking my intake. To me, calories don’t matter. They never have. Counting calories did not work before so I don’t know why it would now. I don’t have the willpower to starve myself. I can’t function hungry. I am doing this for life, so I refuse to starve myself for life. Besides, is it really a life worth living without things like low-carb cheesecake and bacon?!?!?!

One of the things that I fantasized about when I started losing weight through low carb eating was that I would be THAT GIRL who eats whatever she wants and still stays thin. At least, I wanted to appear like I ate anything I wanted. With the rest of the world eating low fat/high carb, watching me eat I do look like I eat what I want. Most days I eat eggs, bacon, and sausage for breakfast. On Saturdays I have steak and eggs (with broccoli drenched in butter). On weekdays I drink coffee in the morning, as is standard for the people in my industry. Lunch and dinner vary but are high fat containing (and filling!). I like the looks people give me as I eat breakfast because I feel like they’re waiting for my arteries to explode in front of their eyes… or maybe my pants will burst open like a certain commercial. I keep eating that way, and I keep getting smaller. So the joke is on them!

In the beginning two weeks of eating I did track my food. I did not know what was low-carb and what wasn’t. I had an idea, but you need to be that specific when learning a new skill. Eating and cooking this way is a skill. Sometimes you have to go back to basics (like learning basic English in college). There were some days I was surprised that I ingested something that had more carbs than I wanted to eat. I had to learn how some foods were packaged and what slowed my weight loss down. I was shocked when a few of those days in the beginning I had ate 5000 calories. I swore the number was wrong or that I input more servings than I had consumed.

But it was right. I felt a little ashamed, and the next day vindicated. Derek had been worried about me eating low carb for health reasons. He was also concerned it wasn't going to work. (He is now one of my biggest supporter and really believes this works.) I was very overweight in the beginning. I am sure anytime you see someone stuffing their face like the world is going to end it can seem scary no matter their weight. It felt like I was on a see-food diet (see it and eat it). I felt like I was starving. Derek had never seen me eat so voraciously. Those days I ate that much, most of the calories were fat (1 g = 9 calories). The next day after eating so much, I lost usually around 3 lbs (for the day). One day I lost 7 lbs! That’s when the light bulb clicked in my head. That’s when I realized calories don’t matter.

I have read/heard that it’s not “you are what you eat.” It’s “you are what you do with what you eat.” I think that my body had been starving for proper nutrition for a long time. If insulin is circulating in your body heavily (you can tell it is if you have extra fat that is unwanted hanging around) then it’s hard for you to get the right nutrients to your body. You need to eat when you're hungry when you're low carb. There is a reason your body is telling you to eat, no matter what plan your on. It's not proper to ignore the call of food. When I ignored the angry-belly call, I didn't lose weight. When I tried to curb eating and set my fork down early, I didn't lose weight. It's when I ate until I was comfortably full that I lost the most weight. This remains true today. Eat at night before bed, wake up and eat, snack and then eat huge meals... I still ignore the standard rules of when to eat and when not to eat that conventional wisdom tells us.

My rules? If you are hungry eat. Eat lots of fat.

Holiday weight gain... and the reverse. (and a bit of a rant)

Thanksgiving! Christmas! Holidays! I can’t wait! I made an entire meal plan last year and I kept the recipes just for these occasions. The kids were at the house this year. Up until last Thursday, my son has been begging for Thanksgiving to come sooner; all of his favorite foods at the same time in one spot! He even loves the leftovers and the meals that go with them. Of course the menu is low-carb and decadent. Pumpkin cheesecake, Sausage stuffing, Maple-brined turkey with gravy, green beans with portabella mushrooms, roasted sweet potatoes, and the list goes on… And yes, I ate until I was full. I didn't feel the urge to overeat. And I actually lost about 3 lbs this past weekend.

One thing is missing from my holiday menu: Guilt. I no longer know the meaning when it comes to my weight or food. This is especially true after the holidays. I promise to not worry about the scale, not even a little bit. My holiday wish is the same for you. In fact, like last year, I expect to lose weight during the holidays. You see, there is a swimsuit related event planned around Christmas. My biggest issue right now is - Do I order a swim suit in a smaller size than I am in now or do I buy one in the size I'm at now? Tough choices. I've lost so much weight the swimsuit I had no longer fits. Wearing it puts me in danger of flashing the entire world - and this is a family friendly event! (Either way I need a new swimsuit.)

I changed my lifestyle almost 2 years ago (March 2009), and last year the holiday season was no different than the rest of the year. I ate what I liked, left out the carbs that made me feel horrible, and lost more weight. One of my New Year’s resolutions was to buy new clothes because I had lost so much weight I couldn’t fit into my old ones. My resolutions have had nothing to do with losing weight, or adding exercise. I have planned another large shopping trip for January of 2011.

There really is nothing psychological about weight loss, except for deciding it’s a lifestyle change. After that, it’s a cakewalk. For me it was a low-carb cheesecake-walk. If it’s true most people regain the weight, perhaps it’s because biologically they are on the wrong path. I feel like the extra energy, the better quality sleep, the satiety hours after eating, the lifted brain fog are all enough reason to stay with your low-carb life style.

When I eat, I don’t get hungry for at least another 6 hours, sometimes more. I don’t obsess about food and I am not OCD about meal plans anymore. (Although, I still love to cook and make menus, now I don't worry if plans change.) I have the flexibility to eat where and when I want. I eat until I’m full and stop when I get there. I cannot think of one time in the past year where I’ve had so much that I felt uncomfortably stuffed. I do not feel like I’m starving or food is scarce. Biologically, it’s ok for me to shed fat because times are good. Food and I are friends now, accomplices if you will, not frenemies. Unless I’m talking to someone else who is low-carb, or naturally thin, I rarely hear the same thing when it comes to food.

Why can’t we just stop focusing on the fat? Why are we so obsessed? Is it the carb-crazies that makes us OCD about anything surrounding food? Why in one of the countries with the larges amount of surplus of food do we constantly worry about where our next meal is going to be coming from? Do you think everyone in the world is obsessed about counting calories? Does your skinny friend do that? Then why should you? I certainly don’t. Another thing I don’t do is eat a dessert and end up on the treadmill or elliptical for hours. I do not understand punishing yourself for being human.

What I am saying is find a lifestyle that you can live with so that you’re not constantly berating yourself for your choices. If you want to lose weight, I’m with you. (And if you don’t want to lose weight, I respect that choice too.) I have yet to figure out exactly why people think losing weight is difficult and is supposed to be so hard. From what I can gather, it’s because of that puritanical view to criticize yourself for anything slightly hedonistic, to include food. “If it’s good for you, it must be bad.” I just don’t believe it’s supposed to be like that. Ask the French… and while you’re at it, check their waistlines.

I’ve heard a tall tale that children hate vegetables and are picky eaters. My son hates celery, mushrooms, some peppers (depends on how they are cooked and how visible they are) and olives. That’s pretty much it. He loves broccoli, carrots, peas, spinach, squash, sweet potatoes, dill pickles, spinach, asparagus if it's cooked right (and many, many other vegetables). He also loves macadamia nuts, eggs, coconut oil, full fat yogurt, cheese and milk, steak, bacon, turkey, fish… you get the point. I’m not going to make him feel tortured when it’s time to eat. I eat what I like, and so does he. There are no fights at the kitchen table over food. He always tells me I'm the best cook. I assume that's partially because Derek likes my cooking and always tells me that too. I do hear the occasional grumble prior to an initial taste if it “looks weird.” After that first bite my kid is usually on board with me – taste trumps looks always. Good smells increase the happiness. I don’t deprive his body of nutrition or make him feel bad about his choices… now there is a way to mess him up psychologically!

Please, please; do yourself a favor this holiday season - practice the same kindness towards yourself as you do your loved ones. For some people this will be a stretch... for those of you with less than kind relationships with your loved ones, um... How about we all try to treat ourselves like we are deserving of love? That's really where it all starts. If you slip up and you don't eat right, look yourself in the eye, say some kind words and start over again. Don't give yourself an excuse to fail - this is your life!

It's almost December, and I will still make cookies from the leftover mashed sweet potatoes for the boys. I really don't care about sweets; I'm a savory/salty gal. This past weekend I made myself some stuffed mushrooms as my treat. Although I think Derek likes them more than I do. I'll also make some jalapeno poppers for me, since I'm the only person who likes them. I will spend time cooking with my son and Derek making something for the entire family that is delicious. (Dinners made together and watching a Netflicks movie are actually my favorite date nights right now.)

And for my present? Serve yourself something special just for you - minus the guilt - too.

Stress, Illness, and Excuses...

I can admit I am stressed. In psychology they say that stress exacerbates psychological issues. That's usually when people look for outside help. In one of my classes we took a stress test. I scored the highest, but felt it the least. How is that possible?

When I was younger stress would take me out. I also was going to school then too, except it was high school and some college. I participated in sports and had 2 jobs (voluntarily). I was also in after school clubs (i.e. Thespian Society and band) among other things. The food I ate was not the best; I was obsessed with low-fat. That's all I knew. I'm not shocked I had acne flare ups, weak nails and my weight fluctuated so much. I felt like I was on high alert. all. the. time. Also, I have Endometriosis (auto-immune disease for lady parts). So I had raging hormones to contend with beyond being a "normal" teenager. I was sick a lot, and really unhappy with my appearance. (I do attribute that last part to being a teenage girl though.) It wouldn't take much for me to get angry or upset. It was a horrible roller-coaster.

I go to work full time. I'm basically a single-mom (although Derek helps a lot!) and I'm going to school full time. If they ever invent the transporter a la Star Trek, I will find a way to squeeze more into my life. I think I'm just wired that way. I'm still buy; just a different busy now. But it seems now that things don't phase me. It takes a lot to shock, anger or just upset me. It also never ruins a whole day. Originally I attributed it to being through so much in my life and finally gaining my frontal lobe. (That's the portion of your brain that stops growing after 25 and allows you to forecast your future.) I have a different theory now: My body is no longer in survival mode. It's not starving. I'm well fed and my body can thrive. I get the nutrients I need so it can now relax and so can my mind. I still get anxious, but not to the extremes that I did before. I think clearly and I can worry about things beyond my next meal. My body thinks food is plentiful (and it is) so my mind / body can relax now.... Ahhhh!

I used to get so sick. Anything and everything going around I caught. Sometimes I felt like my body was making up extra colds for it's enjoyment. Now I have an iron-clad immune system. I sit next to people who are hacking up a lung because they are so sick and I never have so much as a sniffle. I've considered licking their keyboard as an experiment (n=1). I decided to stick to social norms and have refrained.

So now with all that in mind... It seems I have a lot of room for excuses to not take care of myself or indulge in some "carby goodness" (as Derek calls it). Now look back at my life. Does it look like I can afford to take the time to be sick? Does it look like I have time to panic? Acne takes more time to cover in the morning. One broken nail and the whole look is ruined. Who needs an auto-immune flare up? Not this chick.

I have plenty of excuses to never go high-carb again. Even if I never reach my weight loss goal weight. I'm in charge of more of my life now than I've ever been. And that, by the way, is a tenet of happiness... control and mastery of one's own life. (Check out Daniel Gilbert's Stumbling On Happiness - one of my favorite books about psychology.)

"Excuses are like... "

Marines and some older Army guys know a lot of interesting phrases. This was one of my ex-boyfriend's favorite. Basically it ends with "everyone has them and they all stink." So, what are yours? What can you do to turn them around? Where are you not sticking to your promises to yourself? Where are you giving yourself less than the absolute best? What is it that you're not willing to give up?

Basically it comes to my health. I'm not willing to compromise my health. And you can bet your adorable little bottom that I am ecstatic about my (low-carb) life!!!