yduj57's Journal

It's working. The scale has been stuck, or inching up for the last 3 months. Finally downward movement.

I tried introducing nuts back into my diet the last few days. Seems to have slowed down my digestive tract, if you know what I mean! I'll cut them out again now, and see if that improves.

Just glad the plateau has broken. Longest, most frustrating ever. And my hair loss has stopped, so I think the thyroid function is recovering....all signs point in that direction.

I'll continue to tweak as needed....

Been in the cave researching and in the lab experimenting.

I have tried eliminations first; coconut and nuts. This was hard! I had relied heavily on these two as important elements of my diet. Cravings were surfacing the first few days. Been able to reintroduce coconut with no problem. Eating a few macadamia nuts here and there with no problem, and starting eating 2 brazil nuts a day for selenium.

I think the rash, and the stalled weight (10-12 weeks!) were due to my thyroid crashing or at least slowing way down. I have had a small clump of hair in the drain after my shower each morning, and dry skin patches on my legs, plus general fatigue for a little while now. The hair was the symptom I couldn't ignore. I will be getting blood work done next week, so we will see what the tests show. The brazil nuts/selenium are to try and help out with thyroid function a bit till I get a clearer idea of the underlying story.

Meanwhile, I have been reading up on the effects of very low carb on thyroid. I have had hypothyroid that I have been treating with Synthroid for a number of years. Apparently this might make me more susceptible to this problem. Chris Kresser's blog had a number of posts about this, and he described what was happening to me to a tee.

So, between the low thyroid, and the keto rash I have been eating some more carbs. Can't tell you how many because I have taken a break from recording. Was driving me crazy feeling like I "should" be losing weight.

Back to more carbs....This is not cupcake and candy time. I am eating things like sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and other starchy veggies. Not tons, but eating some everyday, rather than once a week or so. I have also been working on healing my gut eating raw sauerkraut. Either stuff I make myself, or stuff I buy. It is helping with my digestion a ton! Love it when food works better than pharmaceuticals.

All these tweaks are having a positive effect on the scale. Nothing dramatic, but I am finally seeing movement. I'll take it! Losing weight used to be so much easier, but now it is a long, hard, slow, slog.

Keto rash is clearing up as I add in a little more starchy veggies in...beets or squash so far. As I ate dinner last night, I realized how much I truly enjoy this way of eating. Instead of feeling frustrated by the scale, and the other challenges, like injuries that are keeping me from exercise, I am going to focus my energy, and my camera(!) on what is going great!

Get ready for a month (I will try anyway!) of food porn. I am going to share pics of what I eat.

Breakfast of champions! Dairy free bulletproof coffee!



Coffee blended with ghee from grass fed butter, MCT oil, cacoa butter, and collagen powder, dusted with cinnamon and cacao powder! Yumm!

Bento Box lunch:



Leftover salmon patties from last night's dinner, spinach salad with cucumber and cilantro, mayo with a touch of sugar free relish, and home fermented sauerkraut. I was subbing today, so I had to pack a lunch. Beats a school lunch any day!

DH's Birthday Dinner:



It was DH's Bday today. Simple dinner, but quite yummy! Tomorrow is DD and DH Bday celebration. Tonight we grilled grass fed burgers, and I roasted kabocha squash tossed with ghee and salt and pepper, and brussel sprouts roasted with ghee and a bit of bacon.

Many of the recipes came from the Nom Nom Paleo website, BTW. NomNomPaleo.com

Have the "keto rash". As one person said online, who needs a monitor to see if you are in ketosis if you have the rash? It is not fun. Eating a few more carbs seems to help reduce the inflammation. No one seems to have a clear idea what causes it. Antibiotics sometimes helps, but often only helps short term.

I have been tweaking my diet to try and reduce calories. My weight is up and down 2 to 3 pounds. Figured I had to go tighter on carbs, and now I find that won't work for me. When will the fun end?

I am not about to start eating garbage because I know that will make me feel like garbage. No thanks. But Lord, I am tired of the struggle to lose weight.

Have an inflammed Achilles tendon so had to rest today as well. Just walked the dog.

Once upon a time, it was relatively easy for me to lose weight. Who knew that it would change so much with age. Nothing works the way it used to...except for my desire to be able to get to a healthier weight. That is still there. Too bad I didn't know then what I know now.

We went to visit someone my husband used to work with last night, for dinner. This is always a challenge for me given all my dietary restrictions. My DH set up the arrangements. He had told them our daughter was a vegetarian, since she joined us, but failed to mention my restrictions. The biggest challenge was the tomatoes and other nightshade vegetables scattered throughout the meal.

I was fine with eating what would work, but she obviously felt badly about it. But I think my clear comfort helped her feel a bit better. We did have a fabulous steak that was definitely on plan. But most of the veggies were nightshades...ratatouille, and gazpacho. Most importantly, the company was great! My daughter had a great time as well. The guy my husband used to work with is a bit of a geek, as is my daughter, so they got along great.

She had made a Pavlova for dessert. I hadn't had sugar in months, and decided this was worth the indulgence, and the risk with the eggs. Joints are a bit sore this morning, but no regrets.
Decided to record the ups and downs of my scale. What the heck. This is the journey.
Thanks to all who offered support and advice to my post yesterday. It was clearly heartfelt, and appreciated.