I haven't read it all through yet, I skipped around a lot - but I am definitely changing my approach. here is what I have so far:

Suddenly some bells have gone off about the things that I think make me feel better (aerobics & low-carb) and the role of adrenalin/ adrenal burn out. It's a bit unnerving, like once again I have done lots of things wrong in trying to do things right.

I am going to seriously shoot for the 15g carbs per meal & snacks. I never lost on low-carb and didn't feel all that great after the first couple of months.

I will routinely plan out my meals better, and carefully eat all the recommended food at least until I get over my afternoon cravings.

I'm recovering from a horrible flare-up in the knee, but in getting back to exercise I will shoot for the weight room and Pilates or Yoga and forego my beloved step aerobics.

She suggests moderate use of green tea to 'self-medicate' the tough times with low energy but I just spent the last month suffering through caffeine withdrawals. I'm not going to start in on caffeine again.

As far as Splenda, whenever she mentions the evil AS's, she includes sucralose in her list - which is the generic name for Splenda. So we're back to stevia or miniscle amounts of honey.

When she talks about insulin sensitivity / insulin resistance, she sounds like it is binary - like you are or you aren't. I always thought it was much more like degrees on a continuum, and that the degree of sensitivity even varied a lot in the short term, as in reaction to exercise or time of the month. Anyone else have an opinion?

Is was REALLY struck by the similarity of her program to the basics of BFL (Body For Life). She discourages bars & shakes but one could easily create an exercise / diet that would be perfect for both programs.

Enough meanderings. Maybe I should start a journal!

Lila

Got mine yesterday and my hubby and I sat down and devoured half of it last night! We read the "putting it all together" chapter (#7) on how the hormones all work together, and then got on with Part 2.

I was very interested to see that she is now saying there are two phases in between starting and maintaining - healing and fat loss. She even says to expect some wieght gain in the healing phase while the metabolism is getting normalized, and she also says to expect the healing phase to take a good long time, before fat loss really begins in earnest. This actually makes a lot more sense to me than if we expected to drop lots of fat at the beginning. I would expect that a healthier metabolism would mean better fat-burning later on. But I was bummed, I admit it, to think how slow this will all be (given how slow it's already been!) I have just GOT to get over that!

On exercise, I was surprised to see she warns us on too much cardio. But I'm glad! Yuck! I just like to walk a nice slow pace on a hilly route around my neighborhood that takes about 30 minutes, 4 times a week. From her book that doesn't seem to be enough, but it's about as much as I want to do. Does that not seem like enough to the rest of you? I'm curious how much exercise we're all doing.

There's one thing I just can't accept, and it's this thing about not eating fruit alone. I just can't believe that 11,000 years ago humankind was picking the apple of the tree and going "wait, I gotta get my elk meat cooked up before I can eat this." Hogwash! I'd think we'd be adapted to eating a darned little piece of fruit all by itself without dire consequences. Let me know if I'm missing something here...

All in all, loved it. Plan to read more tonight. She is still my hero.

oh, sorry Lila! I was meaning to add that I also thought that insulin resistance was a continuum sort of thing. Maybe she builds this two-by-two matrix with insulin and adrenaline so it's easier to slot people into a manageable number of plans (in her case, the four plans). Don't know for sure, though.

Thanks for your thoughts, I enjoyed reading what you had to say!

Thought on fruit alone,
I would think that if you are Insuling resistant or diabetic you would not want to eat fruit alone. I know that having gestational diabetes, I didn't feel well with fruit alone, it can cause a spike in insulin and blood sugar levels.
Now someone that has a healthy normal metabolism probably doesn't have to fret about it too much. Years ago fruit was not preserved well and we didn't have too much of it. People probably also ate nuts or grains with the fruit when they had it.
Just my guess.
Tanya

About fruit, think about it. The fruit our prehistoric ancestors ate was a lot less sweet and sugar filled than the fruit we eat today. And they quite often ate it slightly green.

Also, Tanya makes a really good point and I think Dr. S. says the same thing, if you are insulin sensitive, you don't have to worry so much. It's when you are insulin resistanct that you have to be so careful.

And Lila, I agree with you. I think there are degrees of insulin resistance/sensitivity. And I think as we heal we become more insulin sensitive. In Protein Power Lifeplan, there is a chart that illustrates different levels of insulin sensitivity. It was definitely not an all or nothing chart.

Still, the book is very interesting. I'm in the How To section. And the first part that described the different hormones and what they do was very interesting. I am pretty sure that my adrenal glands are in good shapte. Mostly because I have never had problems with sugar cravings. But I am definitely insulin resistant, although I think I have been healing pretty well in the last 8 months.

;-Deb

;-Deb

I'm just finishing up part 1 and I have a lot of questions! I'm not sure whether I'm insulin resistant or have healthy adrenal glands or not. Can't think---is that insulin resistant???

Let's see....I've always had low blood pressure and am usually calm on the outside, although my insides may be churning a bit. I think my adrenals are probably okay. I like life calm and don't try to add stress to it.

I do carry most of my weight around my midsection,not that my arms and legs are thin, but I do have a big belly. Always did, even before babies.

I've never been much of a dieter. Did weight watchers a little, not much. Only lost about 10 lbs. after my first baby. I've always been of the opinion that diets were wrong and that there was a way of eating that would cause me to lose weight without starving. That's why I love Dr. S! So, I think my metabolism should be okay. How do I tell? But I really don't know about the insulin resistant part.

The tricky part is this being pregnant and nursing for 13 years---I'm sure that has my hormones in a tizzy, but she doesn't address either of those issues. Am I supposed to expect all healing to take place after I finally stop nursing???? No weight loss until then?

All expert opinions welcome!

I would think if you are eating well you should be able to loose weight and get healthy while nursing. The body is designed to work efficiently and as systems heal other systems fall in line. You may need to eat slightly more carb while nursing but not much. Keep the fat and the proteins as you can eat them and you should be in great shape.
Tanya
As far as insuling resistance see if you can look at Atkins new book. My sister had it, and it has a great check list of signs and symptoms of IR. That could give you even more of an idea. I don't have the new book yet, still waiting for it to arrive so I can't comment on what it may contain.
Tanya

My book came, yeah.
I see that it will be very good for me to look and see more specifics on what I can do to heal my body.
I also have to make some choices with how I'm treating my PCOS, I really wish she had a bit more in there on what to do for SLS(PCOS), that would have helped so much, since PCOS is a great deal more than just sex hormone related.
Tanya

Sara,

I agree with you on the questions about insulin resistance & adrenal burn out - some times it seems clear and sometimes I just don't get it. I'll read a few more times. I spent 10 yrs pg &/or nursing and there IS a life afterward. Unfortunately that was at the beginning of the low-fat craze and I thought that was exactly what I needed (NOT).

I think both the concern about pg & nursing + pcos would be great ones for her website bulletin board when/if it arrives.

Lila

After reading part of the book it looks like the only way to know what your metabolic type is, is to have lab work done. I will be having my fasting insulin level checked when I go in to see my doctor in November and I will ask for a cortisol level to be done at the same time. I think I could have been insulin resistant, very possibly insulin sensitive because I would get very shaky when I did yard work or didn't eat snacks. I also think I could have had adrenal burn out because of my working graveyards, and losing so much sleep. Now I may be with good adrenals or close because I am losing weight slowly.
Tanya