This update is long overdue but I've been on vacation and you know how that can just turn your life upside down.
Before I get to the update, let me recap my whole blood sugar situation. I had followed the Blood Sugar Solution to the letter (food wise) from
mid-March to the end of May. That's when my blood sugar dropped the
most (19 points) and I also dropped around 13 pounds.
Starting in June, I slowly transitioned into one of the suggested strategies outlined at the end of Dr. Hyman's book.
I continued to eliminate gluten, dairy and refined sugar. I was,
however, mostly grain free. Meaning 70-80% of the meals I had were
grain free. I did allow myself honey, maple syrup, and stevia which I
usually used in cooking.
I cooked easily 90% of everything I ate. If I went out to eat it was either Hugo's
(they list all of their ingredients on their website) or sushi (pretty
easy to maneuver). And on special occasions, I would also order from
this local Thai place around the corner from my apartment. My fiance
(who's half-Thai by the way) went to talk to them about some of their
ingredients and it turns out, one of my favorite dishes passed the
gluten challenge (yellow curry). I tried not to eat this too frequently
because I'm well aware of how Thai food and sugar go hand in hand.
I also started weight training (Drop 2 Sizes) June 1st.
So at the end of July I had a follow up appointment with my doctor. My blood sugar had only dropped one more point. My doctor was happy with that but I had hoped for lower because it still was at high normal. I also hadn't dropped any more weight.
We surmised that perhaps my weight training offset any changes in scale weight due to muscle gain because while I hadn't lost any weight I HAD lost one jeans size. She had me keep my diet the same and we instead focused on some things to help my hormones a little more.
From July to mid-September, I continued to eat 100% gluten and dairy free, and I was eating around 60-70% grain free. And I stayed away from the refined sugar.
As you can see, I started really strict and with time loosened the reigns. It's really hard to maintain that level of discipline for an extended period of time because it is VERY restrictive. And while I wasn't in that crazy restrictive mode, I was doing pretty great by comparison.
I had another appointment with my doctor last week. We went over the usual but I still haven't lost any weight since May. She wasn't happy about that either. So we discussed the last 6 months to see what we could come up with.
I log my food everyday using Loseit and they have this great tool where you can see 30 day averages of your calories and macros. So I looked at my calories and carbs from March to April and from April to May. Then I compared each subsequent 30 days. What I found was that while my calories were consistent across the board, my carbs were not. In those first 2 months I was averaging around 85 grams of carbs per day. And then after May, it starting creeping up. In June it was up to 100 grams, then 125 grams, then 150+ grams.
So she suggested I go down to 80 net carbs (total carbs minus fiber count). The nurse drew my blood to check my insulin, blood sugar, and thyroid levels. She also put in a test to check for something called a MTHFR mutation. It may or may not be inhibiting my weight loss and I may or may not have it. So, if I end up having it I'll let you know.
So as of right now, I'm really trying to focus on keeping within that carb count to see if maybe that's the magic spot for me. It's low but not crazy low - completely doable in my opinion. Yesterday was my first day and I hit it easily. I'm also still gluten and dairy free. And it looks like I ended up completely grain free too. That's something that's also pretty easy when the carb count is that low. I don't like to "waste" my carbs on grains.
Yesterday's Menu:
B: almond flour pancakes with sliced strawberries and bacon
L: stuffed poblano peppers with chicken and salsa
D: lettuce wrapped sliders with sweet potatoes fries and watermelon
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