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  #1   ^
Old Thu, Mar-28-19, 07:32
bkloots's Avatar
bkloots bkloots is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 10,147
 
Plan: LC--Atkins
Stats: 195/162/150 Female 62in
BF:
Progress: 73%
Location: Kansas City, MO
Default What if insulin isn't my problem?

Calling all you scientists and knowledgeable LCers.

I've read all the books from Atkins to Fung to Taubes. I've succeeded at losing, and also at maintaining (for lengthy periods of time). I'm a "believer" in the benefits of low-carbohydrate eating, for reasons in addition to weight management. But right now, I'm on the high end of where I need to be to fit into those pants I've pushed to the back of the closet.

The Weight Creep always seems to have the advantage. And once the fat accumulates, it really, really doesn't want to go away. Do you suppose being 70+ years old means the Weight Creep finally wins? How depressing.

I've been Keto for five weeks, with one fast day per week. I keep thinking I've "earned" a whoosh. No whoosh.

LC isn't really a sacrifice. I've been doing it for a long time. But lapses of a month or two now and then are VERY costly, and the fat sticks forever. I wonder then if it isn't about insulin, but about AGE.

Frankly, I'm feeling sorry for myself. And also for every formerly obese person who finally made it to "maintenance" and discovered we're still not "normal." I should've listened to Dr. Atkins all along.
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  #2   ^
Old Thu, Mar-28-19, 08:31
GRB5111's Avatar
GRB5111 GRB5111 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 4,036
 
Plan: Very LC, Higher Protein
Stats: 227/186/185 Male 6' 0"
BF:
Progress: 98%
Location: Herndon, VA
Default

Barbara - I apologize up front if this looks like a homework assignment based on your question, but it's a very thorough treatment of insulin's role and some new findings. I have worked my way through this long piece from Amy, and it's well done and digestible if you take it in small bites (couldn't resist the eating metaphors). It may or may not directly address the issue you describe, but it has some relationship and it certainly improved my overall understanding:

http://www.tuitnutrition.com/2019/0...creas.html#more
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  #3   ^
Old Thu, Mar-28-19, 10:39
Ms Arielle's Avatar
Ms Arielle Ms Arielle is online now
Senior Member
Posts: 19,177
 
Plan: atkins, carnivore 2023
Stats: 200/211/163 Female 5'8"
BF:
Progress: -30%
Location: Massachusetts
Default

Re-read some of Dr Eades best posts, and for some of us gals, hormone balance is a real issue. Ive been fighting the bulge with poor results, and poor results makes sticking to the plan less rewarding. The last step for me is balancing the sex hormones.

Ive upped my iodized salts, and decreased the stress ( thru management of it, not elimination unfortunately) and the cortisol is lowering, and the thyroid is primed. Scars changed from a pale silvery blue back to pinker tones.

But the 3 female hormones : estrogens, progesterones and testosterone, are all low.

Docs want me low for estrogen; but what good is a lingering life without cancer but dragging along..... meaning I cut out the ovaries to stop the creation of cancer BUT now must live estrogen deficient according to the dictates of the current medical realm. Traded in a "maybe" for " definite" hell. I totally regret the genetic testing--- has hurt more than helped.

Currently I'm using ground flax for the estrogen; and need OTC progesterone to balance. The two together is the VITAL key. Getting testosterone is important, too, as it does other jobs like muscle and ligament tone; collagen, and thicker skin: my skin is so thin that I cut my hair shorter because the bob- cut was pulling on my scalp. Dr Eades mentions a friend that wrote a book, Dr Uzzi Reese

https://www.amazon.com/Uzzi-Reiss/e..._rwt_scns_share

Hopes this helps.
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  #4   ^
Old Fri, Mar-29-19, 09:26
bkloots's Avatar
bkloots bkloots is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 10,147
 
Plan: LC--Atkins
Stats: 195/162/150 Female 62in
BF:
Progress: 73%
Location: Kansas City, MO
Default

Thanks for the links! Good information. From Amy's discussion of insulin, I clicked to a previous post (and YouTube) on a relevant issue. Have to admit I stopped receiving Amy's blog a while ago, and I know why: wa-a-a-y too many words. She admits it. I just can't wade through it.

Female hormones: Yep. I'm sure that's a factor. At 72, I probably don't have any But reflecting on my experience with my ob/gyn in my 50s, I'm aware of the issues. Except for a moderate thyroid supplement (my current doc is adamant about not overdoing it), I have avoided messing "artificially" with hormones. Things like HRT have been just as controversial and subject to changing medical opinion as nutritional guidance. I eat a slug of ground flaxseed every day, but hadn't ever thought about the estrogen effect.

In the link I read/watched, Amy Berger was talking about subcutaneous v. visceral fat. Without a scan, I can't be sure. But I believe that most of my fat/weight comes and goes as hereditary subcutaneous fat. In short, I have a really big butt and thighs worthy of a Mesopotamian goddess This configuration can be adjusted, but not eliminated, by diet and exercise. Like Amy, I ran a marathon. At the end, I was light in weight, but still big in butt!

You know I'm just obsessing here, don't you? I'm mad at myself for not maintaining. Everyone knows that maintenance is the absolute hardest part of weight management. Maintenance means for the rest of your life adhering to the dietary strategy that got you to a relatively unnatural condition that your body continues to resist. No matter how happy you are with the strategy, sometimes you just...don't want to.

After my workout this morning--a strategy I've been very faithful to for many decades--I took a look at my workout notebook, currently beginning in 2014. In June that year, I weighed 165. From then until now, my weight fluctuated between 150 and 175 (arrgh!). That's a pretty big swing, considering that I was doing my best to mostly adhere to my basic LC principles: real food/no sugar/no starch/no fast food/no snacks. Clearly, there were periods of exception. And I never said no alcohol.

Anyone who's read this far knows the reality: Figure out what's going on with you, and do what you have to do. It's not that complicated, it's just not easy or even, may I say, "normal" to make that dietary commitment.

So...Keto on. I'll come back in a month with a more cheerful frame of mind.
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  #5   ^
Old Fri, Mar-29-19, 09:52
jschwab jschwab is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 6,378
 
Plan: Atkins72/Paleo/NoGrain/IF
Stats: 285/220/200 Female 5 feet 5.5 inches
BF:
Progress: 76%
Default

Extra weight has been shown to be protective to some extent (heart attacks, for intance). As you age, i'm sure that's truer. As my ex's grandfather used to say. "In bad times fat people get skinny and skinny people die."
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  #6   ^
Old Fri, Mar-29-19, 10:58
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
Experimenter
Posts: 25,843
 
Plan: DDF
Stats: 202/185.4/179 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 72%
Location: San Diego, CA
Default

I wish I could find it, but I saw a news article in my news feed about Keto diet not working all that well for women. That has been my experience. In fact, almost no diet works for me at this point. Not that I'm going to abandon low carb, that path just leads to more and faster gain.
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  #7   ^
Old Fri, Mar-29-19, 12:06
Merpig's Avatar
Merpig Merpig is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 7,582
 
Plan: EF/Fung IDM/keto
Stats: 375/225.4/175 Female 66.5 inches
BF:
Progress: 75%
Location: NE Florida
Default

I sure understand your frustration. I’ve been “maintaining” for 10 years now, but still at a weight *100* pounds (minimum) of where I would like to be and nothing seems to budge it. I like to say I e lost 100 pounds, but my weight does yo-yo a lot over about a 15-pound range of 90-105 pounds lost. Over time carb creep sets in and I gain a bit. Then as my weight creeps up a bit I remember my vow, when I finally dropped below 300 pounds, that I would never see that number on the scale again. And I drop my carbs and the pounds come off, but as soon as I hit the bottom of that 15-pound swing it’s like crashing into a brink wall and there I sit no matter what diet hack I try.

At the beginning of March I was up to about 285, close to the top of my swing, so I chose Lent as a good time to start with a strict Keto diet. I even went and bought a Keto Mojo blood ketone monitor to certify my Keto status. I’ve also been incorporating some fasting-not long fasts but 18:6 days and 20:4 days. Weight was 274 this morning so inching down again. But now I’m nearly at the bottom of my 15-pound swing so this is where the weight always stops moving, even if I stay with my eating pattern.

So who knows? Tomorrow is my birthday and I’ll be 67. No clue about hormone status. I was off my thyroid pills for quite a long time and only just got a prescription again a few weeks ago. I know TSH is not the best thyroid indicator but I know a TSH of 31 (from blood tests a few weeks ago) is still not good! There are just so many damn moving parts and I admit I occasionally feel a slight tug of bitterness towards folks who seemed to glide down to their goal weight - though I don’t begrudge them their good fortune. But I do think ladies “of a certain age” just seem to have a tougher time of it.
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  #8   ^
Old Sat, Mar-30-19, 02:49
JEY100's Avatar
JEY100 JEY100 is online now
Posts: 13,370
 
Plan: P:E/DDF
Stats: 225/150/169 Female 5' 9"
BF:45%/28%/25%
Progress: 134%
Location: NC
Default

Quote:
I'll come back in a month with a more cheerful frame of mind.
Did you sign off with that because you know when the dreary winter is over that you feel better and it is easier to lose weight? You might try checking your Vitamin D level and manage it above 50 all year? For women our age that will take D3 supplementation. The sun is better, but the ability to convert lessens as we AGE (again related to your question), so I consciously work on both in the winter. And maybe I just feel better, more energetic, with getting sun, not actually a physical difference to measure like insulin (though one study in Italy showed more weight loss) but an active interest to move out of my winter cave?

Zuleika's great thread on D is in the Challenge forum. https://forum.lowcarber.org/showthr...&page=114&pp=15

https://www.drweil.com/vitamins-sup...or-weight-loss/

Last edited by JEY100 : Sat, Mar-30-19 at 03:17.
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  #9   ^
Old Sat, Mar-30-19, 05:47
bkloots's Avatar
bkloots bkloots is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 10,147
 
Plan: LC--Atkins
Stats: 195/162/150 Female 62in
BF:
Progress: 73%
Location: Kansas City, MO
Default

Thank you, Everyone. All very helpful and friendly!

I didn't actually think about the change of seasons being a factor. Winter lasted a long time here in KC, and spring came on abruptly--happily, but more suddenly than usual, it seemed.

I always take a vitamin D3 supp, but don't pay much attention to the results. I have a doc check-up scheduled, with labs. I do hope my red blood cells have recovered from last year's "crash." Never did find out a reason, other than (perhaps) a few too many visits (within donation guidelines of course) to the blood donation center. I stopped that.

Merpig, the next level of my weight management self-respect is like yours: I've never been back to my original highest weight, since 1996. That's a maintenance achievement that's almost a marvel. So let's pat ourselves on the back and carry on. And Happy Birthday to YOU!!

I dipped the stick this morning, and it's deep purple. Again, this is just a mental boost. I know I've been working the program. I'll go out and look at daffodils today.
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  #10   ^
Old Sat, Mar-30-19, 07:00
JEY100's Avatar
JEY100 JEY100 is online now
Posts: 13,370
 
Plan: P:E/DDF
Stats: 225/150/169 Female 5' 9"
BF:45%/28%/25%
Progress: 134%
Location: NC
Default

Daffodils will help.
And you won’t want to hear this (I never do either) but I’m re-reading parts of two Maria Emmerich books, Keto. And Keto Cleanse. Her #1 weight loss tip is get your liver as healthy as possible. It is critical to weight loss and performs 400 functions in the body, including hormone balance. Eliminating all toxins like obesogens, plastic wraps and dryer sheets, eat a clean Keto diet with no fructose, no sugar, but enough good cholesterol...and of course, zero alcohol, are all important. The liver can cleanse itself, and you might speed up healing with milk thistle and saunas, but the most important is not put toxins into it in the first place. Bummer, and no nuts either.

The Vitamin D test is expensive, so usually not included, have to ask for it. Again quoting Maria, she suggests 1,000 IU D3 per 25 pounds of body weight if your results are under 45 ngL.

Last edited by JEY100 : Sat, Mar-30-19 at 07:07.
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