mountain_mama
Joined August 2009
Posts
96
Following
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Followers
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Weight History

Start Weight
203.0 lb
Lost so far: 49.0 lb

Current Weight
154.0 lb
Performance: losing 0.2 lb a week

Goal Weight
150.0 lb
Still to go: 4.0 lb
I am a professional artist whose life is way too sedentary! I started growing our own organic vegetables and fruits as a way of increasing my exercise and breaking up my day.

With a history of PCOS I have lost weight several times over the course of my life only to have it creep inexorably back up after a few years. I have successfully lost a mass quantity of weight only to go higher the next time (stop me if you've heard that one before).

I recently discovered Intermittent Fasting and starting May 16, 2016 began practicing it 5:2 (5 normal eating days with 2, 24hr fasts weekly) with the goal of also including 16:8 eating window daily (16 hours fasting, 8 hours eating generally from 12-8 or so). This significantly lowers insulin which helps the body to burn fat reserves instead of storing fat. One month in I have lost 12.4 lbs., feel much better and am very much enjoying the program.

mountain_mama's Weight History


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mountain_mama's Latest Posts

ENCOURAGEMENT POST: Reversed T2 Diabetes & Almost at Weight Goal
I am apologizing in advance this will be a long post. I haven't posted in years. I have used Fatsecret for over 10 years and most of that time has been spent gaining and losing the same 25 lbs. I would follow an eating plan to the letter and not lose weight or lose it REALLY R E A L L Y slowly! Then the second I stopped I would almost instantly regain what I had lost even though not over eating. THE KEY (THAT I DIDN'T YET KNOW) WAS I WAS SEVERELY INSULIN RESISTANT.

I have eaten fairly low carb for more than 10 years. I did about 9 months with Intermittent Fasting 3 years ago and slowly brought my weight down about 15 lbs. Each time, the second I stopped, I was ravenously hungry (insulin drives this) and experienced instant regain. I got "pissy" last year. I was fed up. I had intestinal tract issues. I had allergy issues. Inflammation was rampant and I could tell something was really wrong but was looking in the wrong direction. I thought I was having reactions to foods but it was much bigger than that.

Fast forward to Feb. 1, 2019. After a routine physical with full panel blood work, I got a frantic call from my Doctor. You are highly diabetic and need to immediately get on medications. My A1C was 12.5 and my blood glucose was over 500. I was in utter shock. I had no idea that this was what I was dealing with. I knew it ran in my family, which is why I have been mostly low carb for a long time. In my getting angry with my body and my inability to lose weight I had just about given up. Just before diagnosis I had been down to eating only chicken, white rice and a few veggies as they were the only time my tummy was okay. The white rice is what caused my diabetes to explode and be detected.

I had heard stories of people who had reversed their diabetes by diet so I began to research "reversing diabetes" on youtube and rediscovered Dr. Jason Fung and Dr. Berg and added in Dr. Ken Berry and a couple others I discovered along the journey. I read everything I could get my hands on and watched 1-2 hours of videos a day the first few weeks.

I met with my RN case manager at Kaiser Permanente about 6 weeks into the process and he affirmed my desire to go low carb and recommended Keto. He told me, "My patients that are doing the best are all on Keto." So my journey to wellness began. I once again barely lost weight but was at least losing. After beginning Keto I lost a little bit faster but still slowly. At that point I mulled over what I had read and watched. Every success story seemed to trace back to two disciplines: Keto/low carb and Intermittent and extended fasting. I had tried both BUT NOT TOGETHER.

The second I combined the two the magic began to happen. The scale began to move. At first fairly slowly, but steadily began to pick up and in the last month I have lost 10 lbs. My A1C on 6-15-19 was 5.7, just 1/10th of a point out of non-diabetic. All of my lipid panel markers are improved, kidney function (which wasn't damaged, thank God!) improved, liver function improved, blood pressure which is always low, is back to my high school/early adult level, averaging around 105/66 and my pulse is down from averaging around 90 to 70.

I not only started low carb eating but a variation called: Low Carb, Moderate protein, High fat. My ratios were around 70% fat/20% protein/ 5% carbs. Once I was "fat adapted" which means my body had switched to burings fat instead of glucose and could easily switch between carbs and fat but preferred fat, I started fasting 16 hours and eating 3 low carb meals in a window of 8 hours. As that got easier I moved it to 18 hours fasting and 2 low carb meals in a window of 6 hours. NO SNACKING. The purpose of this is to lower insulin resistance. Every time a bite goes into our mouths insulin is released. If we eat according to the current "wisdom" and have 6 small meals a day, our insulin never goes below the spiked level unless we are sleeping or "fasting."

Insulin is working hard to rid the blood of glucose and stuff it into our cells where it is used for energy. The cells get over full and shut down access to insulin (the resistance) so Insulin finds other places to stuff it in the liver, the pancreas and every other organ in the body as well as making that awful high waist tummy fat. When there is no place left to stuff it and it spills into the blood stream and someone gets diagnosed with T2D. We've actually probably had Diabetes for 10-15 years BEFORE it shows up on a blood test. I wish I had known all of this -- that's why I'm sharing my story now. Maybe one of you reading are looking for the same answers I was.

We moved our last meal of the day to no later than 4 pm as often as possible. We have always been late night eaters and night owls. No longer and we both sleep much better for it.

After growing comfortable with this schedule which was perhaps 2-3 weeks I undertook a 24 hour fast. No lies, I struggled! The first was rough, the second less so and by the time I had done it 3 times it was a breeze. I have now gone as long as 4 days and my BG numbers are outstanding on a long fast. It is especially healing to my insulin resistance. Dr. Fung says to be patient, it can take 1-2 years to reverse severe insulin resistance.

I am sleeping through the night with only getting up to go to the bathroom 1 time at the most. That sleep is crucial to healing diabetes and losing weight. I am supplementing with as natural as available products.

HERE'S THE HARD NEWS: I have discovered that coffee/caffeine stimulates my cortisol and hinders my losing weight. So, I weaned myself off of not only coffee but any caffeine... immediate results on weight loss for me. Sweeteners (I have been a long time user of stevia) prevent me from losing weight. The reason behind that is that they don't raise blood glucose but the instantly raise insulin. The body tastes sweet and instantly raises insulin to fight it off as sugar is basically a poison.

This morning I was 168.2 lbs. I started in February at 205 lbs. My all time high was 228 lbs. I am 3 lbs. away from my first goal of 165. Now that I am approaching it, I realize my goal needs to be more like 155. I am 5' 8" and 60 years old.

If I can do this so can you! If you have any questions I will be happy to point you to the best answers I found. If I can cut short your period of frustration, disappointment and poor health that will be all the reward I need! Smile

Audrey
posted 30 Aug 2019, 12:34
LCHF Groups or?
I have been doing Intermittent Fasting 16/8 (eating only in an 8 hour window) now for a year. I lost 30 lbs and put 10 back on. My eating window crept up and I quit recording my food intake. I have stabilized and want to get started down for the last 40 pounds.

I am insulin resistant, so Low Carb High Fat is where I need to go. When I have any fruit or other carbs, I can easily lose control. I've done Atkins successfully in the past, but with the insulin resistance I wasn't seeing any progress the last time I worked the program.

Recommendations on what has worked for you?
Good people to read or watch on the internet?

Thanks in advance,
Audrey
posted 16 Jun 2017, 00:01
Hello
I'm with you on the health part of growing your own food. I grow 90% of our produce, we buy a grass fed steer every two years for our beef.

I was heading towards being pre-diabetic and knew I needed to make a serious change in how I was eating. My hunger was out of control - I was constantly grazing and never satisfied. Since going to a 6-8 hour eating window every day I am down 23 lbs. I'm honestly not hungry nearly at all until somewhere between 1-3 in the afternoon. I eat until full, watching that I make good choices of a wide-range of foods. I never would have believed I could fast for 24 hours, twice a week but that's how I started. Now I fast 24 hours here and there as it fits into my plans, while doing the daily 16-18 hour fasting that has brought my insulin levels entirely into control and my fat is slowly melting away. It may take a year to get it all off, but it didn't just take a year to put it all on so I'm good with that!
posted 10 Sep 2016, 21:17
Hello
CONGRATULATIONS on making the decision to tackle your issues. I would encourage you to look up Dr. Jason Fung on youtube and watch his series on diabetes and diet. Here's a very short video (most of his are an hour or longer): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFJ5Sv5ifes His book "The Obesity Code" is full of information that is scientific, yet written in a very understandable manor. His medical practice works with people who are in exactly your situation and sees their lives completely transformed. God bless you!
posted 10 Sep 2016, 12:21
What do you expect After workout ?
The other thing I would encourage is not to look at the scale too often. Pick a day of the week and time of day. Weigh yourself weekly. The most important reason is that natural fluctuations in a day can vary 3 lbs or more and it has nothing to do with "gaining weight." It's so easy to get discouraged when dealing with weight, we need to minimize the opportunities for us to feel like throwing in the towel! Do the right things, for a long time and your body will begin to heal and correct itself. <3
posted 19 Jun 2016, 16:24
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Intermittent Fasting | Eat Stop Eat
Fast 2 days a week & eat normal calorie level 5 days or 16 hrs fasting daily. I am following Brad Pilon's Eat Stop Eat.

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