The Schwarzbein Principle fascinates me so much. I have read only the first book and much of the second, and I found myself feeling as if she was writing my story... so many diets, so many ways to be mean to myself, so much gained weight, so unhappy and so unhealthy.

I had a blood test done recently, I was just looking at the results and they did not run a fasting insulin test. However, I do have many of the insulin resistance issues... high blood pressure requiring medication, weight around the middle, high triglycerides, high cholesterol.

I also have many of the adrenal burnout issues, I scored fairly high on the self-answering quizzes I found posted on this board.

Probably I would call myself Insulin Resistant with Burned Out Adrenals. Does that sound right to anyone? Unfortunately, I don't have the time or the money to get the tests done right now.

The only problem in following SPII is that I am so afraid of gaining more weight. I have about 80 pounds to lose and it causes me a great deal of anxiety, stress and depression. I recently stopped Atkins/Protein Power to go on the Zone (I missed fruit) and I have gained back all of the weight it took me from January of this year to lose. I am just beside myself and I don't know what to do.

Thanks for listening,
Carrie

Ease your self into the program. Pick what you think your worst eatting habit is and go from there. It will be less of a shock to your system and you'll be more likely to follow ing in the long run.

Regarding gaining weight - I know SPII discourages counting calories, but I do monitor my caloric intake while following the IS-BA guidelines of 3 meals and 2 snacks/day. I started in February and I have not gained weight following the SP, though I did find that as I began the program I got a bit softer, as I needed to rest/stop exercising in order to start healing. After a few months I started to notice I was feeling a lot better and I was becoming leaner - more muscle tone and maybe a few pounds gone. But I was not cheating at all - or minimum once every three or four weeks.

I recently went on a vacation where it was impossible to follow the SP way of eating, in addition to all the other parts of my recovery program - like getting adequate sleep. I did gain some weight as a result of the way I ate on vacation (I ate everything I was totally off of - bread, sugar, alcohol, lots of butter, I was in Ireland, what can I say?), and many of my previous symptoms returned after about 10 days of this - the fatigue, body aches, lack of menses. I feel better than I did when I first started back in February, though. What's more, I am totally accustomed to this way of eating, so it hasn't been difficult to return to it. But, in terms of losing the couple of pounds I gained on vacation, I am planning on being careful about calories and following the meal and snack guidelines to a T. What I have found is that those guidelines should put you at about the right caloric intake, if you are scrupulous in following the program. Counting calories has helped me make food choices from meal-to-meal, day-to-day. Regular exercise also helps.

I agree that you should start small. I was lucky and was off most sugar and processed foods before I started. I had an easier transition and easier symptoms. It is not easy to change your WOE, but it does become habit. One thing that has helped me is to always eat protein (a few bites) first. This way if you eat a little incorrectly it should help balance it out.

I still get symptoms and still mess up with WOE, but I can come back easily. A lot of times I have to force myself to eat because I am not hungry. If I eat 4-5 times a day I do not have the severe headaches that I used to have and if I do get a headache I can get rid of it easier.

Good luck.