Banting Working?

I have recently had 5 days away from my own kitchen.

Had to chose and eat food prepared by someone else.

Tried to make good choices and leave all the sugar and grains food for someone else.

Realized now that is not my food. It does not suit my system.

I need saturated fats to satisfy my system and help me lose weight.

Only 100gms gone in last week but even that is an achievement.

When eating low calorie food while on holiday I can put on 3 or 4 kg in less than a week.

I did not snack. Walked passed the ice cream shop where I have always stopped in the past for an ice cream.

Chose nice fish and steak with vegetables and enjoyed my meals.

How can I tell Banting is working.

I no longer have the desire to binge in the afternoons. I can go from lunch around 12 to dinner at 6 without needing to eat anything.

My nails are so much stronger and longer and are going to need filing. My nails have always been soft and flaky and tear easily but not any more.

I have much more energy and am no longer exhausted in the afternoons and evenings.

Trousers that would not fit 3 weeks ago are now fitting comfortably.

I am working on cutting out more carbs and adding more fat. This morning I had cream in my coffee and then kept refilling the water and coffee portion. So no milk and only a teaspoon of cream in 3 mugs of coffee.

I have to understand that calories from fat are not going to put weight on.

That is a difficult concept for me after all these years.

Am starting to get cross

I have been battling with obesity for over 50 yrs.

The number of times I have asked for help from Dr's who write obese female on my medical reports, and also slimming clubs etc.

For 50 yrs I have been trying endlessly to lose weight. Sometimes 60lbs sometimes 80lb.

Each diet session comprised of counting calories, cutting fat, exercising and struggling to get through each day. Each tiny loss to be celebrated. I needed to suffer punishment for allowing myself to get so overweight in the first place.

I did not know any other way to solve the problem, because I did not know what the problem was.

When I did get to goal weight, whatever it happened to be. It never seemed to 'gel' with me. I always felt like a fat person still. I had what I would call phantom fat. Like a shadow it followed me around because I knew as soon as I stopped the starvation diet the weight would return. Slowly at first and then I would give up in the will power department and the weight would come rushing back and bring some extra too. I always ended up weighing more after a diet than I did when I started.

It got to the point where I thought why am I bothering. Maybe I am just supposed to look this way. My body does not want to reduce its size.

In the past I had no health issues from the weight. Then my BP started to go up. Then I had a TIA and realized my weight was doing me no favours.

So yet another attempt, but this one feels different. For a start I am eating more and finding my food more satisfying and for me to go 6 hrs without food between lunch and dinner is a big break through.

I feel comfortable that this is now my weight. It will keep on reducing but I dont feel there is any risk of finding I have put on 14lbs by tomorrow.  My blood sugar is now stable all day, I know when I can have food and how much I can have.

I am now learning to accept that  I am not the failure I thought I was. The failure was in the diets I was trying and the information I had been given.

This feels doable and possible and I am finding success at last.

Thirty Pounds Down

In the past I have never felt that any diet worked for me.

I would struggle every afternoon and evening feeling low and continually feeling the need to eat carbs.

As this had been happening since the age of about 8 I thought it was normal. No one every told me it wasn't.

Having finally got the message that the problem is caused by too many carbs, causing over production of insulin I can at last see an end to my struggle.

Time and time again I have lost 60 to 70lbs and within a year put it all back on again plus more.

Now I have finally understood I have to limit my carbs I can see a way to enjoy my food, get down to an acceptable weight and then keep it there.

That is very empowering after all these years of failure.

Onwards and downwards

I feel I have finally found a way of eating that suits my body and that I can live with and succeed with.

For so many years I have been fighting my body, trying to punish it for being obese. Living with cravings and binging and heading for bed at 7 because I have run out of points or calories or whatever I was counting at the time.

A low calorie diet with plenty of carbs is just a recipe for disaster and failure. Even if I managed to lose weight, and I have done in the past, 60 or 70lbs, as soon as the diet stopped the weight would start to return, slowly at first and then I would just throw in the towel and the pounds would come rolling back.

I tried an Atkins type diet before and while I lost weight I was still having problems. I tried to replicate my 'normal' diet. I made bread and had that for breakfast and lunch. Then maybe had some as an afternoon snack. Even low carb flax bread is too carby for my system to cope with.

I worked out yesterday my carb level is around 45gms a day. Those are mainly from veg and salad. Since I have started the magnesium I dont get the urge to eat and/or binge in the afternoon and evenings. I can generally go from lunch about 12 to dinner at 6 with just a cup of tea in the afternoon.

In the last week I have lost 500gms. So since beginning of August that is 13kg, without feeling deprived and without having to leave the house because I dont trust myself around food.

Looking forward to getting into some of my old jeans. Looked out some of the bigger sizes. I have from size 18 to 12's in my cupboard.

On previous attempts I have been relying on will power. This is different I feel this is now the way I eat. I eat well and dont miss the carby food I used to eat.

So hope the weight will keep slowly dropping until I reach normal sizes. Hopefully somewhere around a 14 would be perfect.

Had my first Bath in 20yrs!

I had stopped taking baths as I was concerned about not being able to get out and have to call for help!

Yesterday after a long day, driving 6hr round trip to deliver sheep and also watching the Grandsons in a gala, I decided to run a bath, put some of my bubble bath in and have a relaxing time.

No issues getting out.

Had a visit from the woosh fairy over the last few days. Dropped 400gms from one morning to the next.

Very nice surprise. Its taken me 16 days to lose 2kg so thats about 1kg in 8 days. So between 3 and 4kg a month.

Its great to have confidence that I have finally found my problem and as long as I dont go back to counting calories and trying to add bread back into my diet, I can look forward to a slimmer future.

My blood sugar seems very stable these days. I dont get the afternoon binge attacks any more. If I do feel I need something there are always foods I can eat without impinging on my blood sugar levels so they are self limiting. I am off the roller coaster finally.

Looking forward to be able to get into some of the pairs of jeans I have put aside. The bigger ones are in my cupboard ready to try on and the smaller ones in a case for later.

Made a banting friendly sweet chilli sauce.

Take one onion and a clove of garlic.
Add half teaspoon dried chilli flakes to taste.
Saute in a pan with butter and avo oil till soft.
Add a little water and blizt with stick blender.
Add xylitol syrup to taste.
Keep in sealed container in the fridge.

Normal Metabolism

Normal metabolism is always something that has eluded me. Either I was eating exactly what I wanted and putting on weight like there was no tomorrow.

Or I was being really really strict and not eating any high calorie foods and having tiny portions and feeling deprived of food.

This banting LCHF seems to suit me much better. Although I am losing weight slower than I have done before I am not having yoyo blood glucose issues and can go for 5 to 6 hrs in the afternoon without any need for snacks or a binge.

At this rate it is going to take me another 2 mths to get below 90kg. But that is fine I dont have any deadlines so leaving my body to get on with it.

Am enjoying being able to cook again now I can trust myself around food. Made a batch of 24 egg muffins yesterday. These had spinach and green peppers and onion blitzed up and then grated cheese added before being baked. I can keep them in the fridge or freezer and pop in the microwave for a few minutes. I have mine with salad for lunch but we have also taken them for a packed breakfast.

Since I have been taking magnesium I have found my nails much stronger. I did snap one yesterday when weaning sheep, I was putting eartags on and they did not like it! But the nail snapped and did not tear. So much stronger than before.

Am looking forward to managing to get back into some of my jeans. I have 7 sizes of clothes so will be able to dispose of the biggest 2 sizes now. Then gradually get rid of the rest as they become too big.

Looking forward to buying some new stuff but not worth getting too much now. I am dropping a size in about 2.5 to 3mths.

Finally I think its working

I saw a new number on the scale today.

I am losing 0.1kg here and there and not every day, however I rarely see an increase, which is great and every few days I see a lower figure.

With my dieting history I am taking this very carefully. Baby steps as I know how easy it is to see the craving and binging behaviour back. I dont want to go there again.

On previous attempts it has been I need to lose weight as fast as possible so I can go back to my 'normal' eating. Of course my normal eating was totally abnormal which caused the problem in the first place.

So 50 yrs of yoyo dieting. Regular failures, almost guaranteed.

I did try and Atkins type diet a few years back. Last time I was slim. But again I was dieting for a wedding. The diet never seemed to 'gel' with me and I was regularly making a flax bread so I could eat my normal diet. Even flax bread is not something I should be eating regularly.

I have found the magnesium supplements have stopped the afternoon cravings. My afternoons are much more productive. I think of something and then do it. Rather than in earlier times when I would just sit and read and eat in the afternoons, or watch TV.

I have signed up for a Banting Buddies support group and also to train to be a Banting Buddies Coach.

This is all very exciting. I wish I had been told the right information 50 yrs ago instead of trying to put myself through torture, cutting calories and eating carbs and being perpetually hungry and totally miserable.

I feel better at the moment that I have felt for the past 40 yrs. Much more energy and get up and do something.

Also have finally achieved a decent set of nails that have not broken or split yet. Is that due to the magnesium, is it due to the insulin control? I dont know but I am enjoying them while I have them.

Hope

Over the last 50 yrs or so hope has been in short supply.

Every day I would seem to be fighting the same battle. How to stay out of the fridge and pantry in the afternoons and evenings.

Mornings were never so much of a problem. But every afternoon I would be trying to resist the urge to go and find something to eat, then the binge would start.

The afternoon urge seems to be a thing of the past. Now I have finally given up with bread, even wholemeal wheat bread and also started taking magnesium morning and evenings I find I can get through the afternoons and sometimes even enjoy them.

I have now gained another 8 hrs of productivity. After lunch and in the evenings I would never get anything done. Reading and eating seemed to be all I could summon the energy to do.

Over the past 2 afternoon I have been going through my wardrobes. 7 different sizes to try and sort out.

Some big old tops have ended up in the rag bag. Elasticated trousers are going into a bin bag while I decide what to do with them.

Trousers and jeans have been sorted into wear now or very soon. Try again in about 2 months. And maybe a year if ever.

I now have all the tops on the bed in the spare room and will work through those. Throwing the ones I will never wear, then tops for now to go in the cupboard and tops to bring out later to try.

Hope to have lost a couple more kg by Christmas. Just looking for small weight losses, but I do want to see the scale show new lower figures.

Sorting the Clothes

In my cupboards I have about 40 yrs of clothes in 7 different sizes.

Items only get thrown out as rags. My skinny stuff I wore for maybe a few weeks many years ago but ever hopeful I dont get rid of them in the hope that maybe some day a miracle will happen and I will manage to fit back into them!

Well maybe the miracle is on its way. Have dropped about 2 dress sizes in 3 months. I have put all the fat elasticated trousers in a case for now.

Have just been hunting out all the smaller size trousers to see what I have. Surprised to see I have at least 3 pairs of never worn size 14's with labels still attached!

I am not going to try any of these on. Would just depress me when I want to be upbeat about my life.

So the plan is to use the tape measure and measure the waists.

Then will put into 3 piles.

Those I might try on now.

Those I will put on one side for 6 mths time.

Those I wont try on for at least a year!!

Once I have worked through the trousers will then go through the tops and see what is worth keeping.

I tried on my lovely leather jacket and that certainly looks as though it will be wearable in a few months time.

It will be like a dream come true to get back into these smaller clothes and know I will never need the big ones again as I have finally found the answer for me.

Still taking the magnesium. Now 1 tablet in the morning and 2 in the evening. I feel I have so much more energy and am no longer putting things off and not getting round to stuff.

Much easier to get up out of the lounge chair too. 

How Can you tell if you have an insulin problem

This is a very insidious problem, you can have had it for years without knowing you have a problem with your pancreas.

Basically your insulin production is too high and your pancreas over reponds to the presence of starch and sugars.

In no particular order these I believe are some of the symptoms.

Having cravings for sweet or starch foods shortly after a meal.

Feeling as though you are in a 'fog'.

Being able to work well in the mornings and not so well in the afternoons and evenings.

Finding your weight is unstable. Clothes get tighter and weight increases.

Yoyo dieting.

Flaky and splitting nails.

Feeling anxious and unhappy and concerned about next meal being hours away.

Binging especially in afternoons and evenings but rarely in the morning.

Feeling out of control around sweet and starchy foods. Especially bread.

Not being able to understand how other people can control their weight while yours seems to be beyond your control.

The worst thing for someone who has an insulin problem is to go on a low calorie diet. Bread and starches are low in calories but increase the insulin secretion. Making you feel uncontrollable hunger.

You have to cut out the sugars and starches and eat protein and vegetables.

The beauty of this is that you know why you put on weight. So once the weight is reduced it is possible to keep it off by not going back to 'normal' eating with all the starch and sugars again.

Your insulin problem is not going to be cured. You have to control it by diet.