I should post here more often, I know...problem is that work is keeping me busy, plus trying to come up with stories for my Examiner writing gig have been keeping me busy.
Okay, so now it's three months later. I've had another round of blood tests. And....these are the numbers:
Total Cholesterol: 197
HDL: 25
LDL: 139
Triglycerides: 167
a1C (Blood sugar numbers): 5.5
Mean glucose: 97
Liver numbers: Normal
TSH (Thyroid): 0.08
The only number that my doctor has a concern with right now is the TSH number, because it's still too low -- it's supposed to be between 1.0 and 2.0. I was given a lower dose of my thyroid medication three months ago, but it might need another adjustment in three months, so we will see.
But I'm proud of myself at this point. My numbers are good, and I'm feeling pretty good. Even my weight is continuing to go down -- I only have a couple of more pounds before I reach my current 10 pound goal, making me 50 pounds lighter altogether. I think I'm going to try to find ways to get my HDL numbers up like adding more exercise into my routine.
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Friday, July 12, 2013
Americans Exercising More, But Not Weighing Less and Other Health News
This has been going around all day yesterday in different publications, but honestly I think over the years our sense of what we are supposed to know about weight loss has been warped.
Americans may be reportedly exercising more, but they're still eating like crap. To lose weight, the most important component is diet. And it's not as simple as "calories in/calories out." If it were, the weight loss companies would go out of business.
Recently, the CDC admitted that there were no adverse health risks from eating too much salt. Maybe we can get the USDA out of the business of giving us dietary advice and admit that 300g of carbs a day is way too much.
Speaking of which, The Atlantic has a dumb, overly long article titled "How Junk Food Can End Obesity." The author's main points seem to be the following:
1) Those who believe in promoting "real food" are wrong because it's not sustainable in the long run.
2) Poor people can't afford real food, so their only hope is processed.
3) Those who object to processed food only are only objecting to the fact that it's processed.
4) Real food also contains fat and carbs, so why bother?
And to each of these points, I say the following:
1) People need education on what's good for them in their diet. and I think it can be sustainable. You don't necessarily have to go organic, but just making wiser choices will go a long way towards better health.
2) You don't have to go organic to eat "real" food. Right now, I can't buy grass fed beef because I can't afford it, but it doesn't prevent me from buying a steak when it goes on sale. Better choices will go a long way towards your goals.
3) I object to processed foods because most of it has wheat in it (which I no longer eat) and because of the number of carbs in the food. Because I'm diabetic, I can't even purchase "gluten-free" baking kits because they replace the wheat with starch, which is also a no-no.
4) He likes to demonize fat in the article, whereas I welcome the fat in my diet because it's one of the keys to me losing weight. The author is using outdated information on calories and fat to make his arguments, which is unfortunate.
Thankfully a lot of the comments on the article call him out on his cherrypicking of facts and outright misinformation. Processed foods are not the answer, no matter who tries to tell you differently.
Americans may be reportedly exercising more, but they're still eating like crap. To lose weight, the most important component is diet. And it's not as simple as "calories in/calories out." If it were, the weight loss companies would go out of business.
Recently, the CDC admitted that there were no adverse health risks from eating too much salt. Maybe we can get the USDA out of the business of giving us dietary advice and admit that 300g of carbs a day is way too much.
Speaking of which, The Atlantic has a dumb, overly long article titled "How Junk Food Can End Obesity." The author's main points seem to be the following:
1) Those who believe in promoting "real food" are wrong because it's not sustainable in the long run.
2) Poor people can't afford real food, so their only hope is processed.
3) Those who object to processed food only are only objecting to the fact that it's processed.
4) Real food also contains fat and carbs, so why bother?
And to each of these points, I say the following:
1) People need education on what's good for them in their diet. and I think it can be sustainable. You don't necessarily have to go organic, but just making wiser choices will go a long way towards better health.
2) You don't have to go organic to eat "real" food. Right now, I can't buy grass fed beef because I can't afford it, but it doesn't prevent me from buying a steak when it goes on sale. Better choices will go a long way towards your goals.
3) I object to processed foods because most of it has wheat in it (which I no longer eat) and because of the number of carbs in the food. Because I'm diabetic, I can't even purchase "gluten-free" baking kits because they replace the wheat with starch, which is also a no-no.
4) He likes to demonize fat in the article, whereas I welcome the fat in my diet because it's one of the keys to me losing weight. The author is using outdated information on calories and fat to make his arguments, which is unfortunate.
Thankfully a lot of the comments on the article call him out on his cherrypicking of facts and outright misinformation. Processed foods are not the answer, no matter who tries to tell you differently.
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Update to my numbers dilemma
Had an appointment with my doctor yesterday. The bad news is that my doctor won't switch my thyroid medication -- she said that the one I want to switch to is not approved by the FDA, so no doctor in the area would prescribe it to me.
However, the good news is that she's holding off on prescribing any cholesterol meds for at least three months to see where my new numbers are. She told me that after she got off the phone with me earlier this week, she looked at my last numbers and saw that I was improving on this diet, despite the LDL numbers going up. She was the one that suggested that it was most likely because my triglycerides went down so much.
After that, I received these articles from people on the Fat Head page on Facebook confirming it. So now my mind is at ease.
Until the next major health crisis comes along, anyway.
But I think the next time I go in I'm going to go in with my research printed out. I'm against taking a statin because of the side effects, but the non statins have as many side effects, to them, as well. My mom, who is currently taking a statin and had the dosage reduced recently, is going to be going off the med in about three months because her doctors want to be sure since she had a couple of mini strokes in April. My doctor said that if I go on, she wouldn't take me off because she wouldn't know if it was because of the meds or the diet.
So, if I do get prescribed a med in three months for the cholesterol, I won't take it, even if it's a non statin. I refuse to get into that trap of my computer desk turning into an alternate medicine cabinet. Right now, it's just the stuff that I don't mind dealing with -- one for my thyroid, one for the diabetes, and a vitamin supplement that is completely of my own choosing.
So, it looks like the diet change is helping. I just made some changes to my routine, such as adding fish oil supplements to my morning routine, and hopefully things will improve when I get my next blood test in October.
However, the good news is that she's holding off on prescribing any cholesterol meds for at least three months to see where my new numbers are. She told me that after she got off the phone with me earlier this week, she looked at my last numbers and saw that I was improving on this diet, despite the LDL numbers going up. She was the one that suggested that it was most likely because my triglycerides went down so much.
After that, I received these articles from people on the Fat Head page on Facebook confirming it. So now my mind is at ease.
Until the next major health crisis comes along, anyway.
But I think the next time I go in I'm going to go in with my research printed out. I'm against taking a statin because of the side effects, but the non statins have as many side effects, to them, as well. My mom, who is currently taking a statin and had the dosage reduced recently, is going to be going off the med in about three months because her doctors want to be sure since she had a couple of mini strokes in April. My doctor said that if I go on, she wouldn't take me off because she wouldn't know if it was because of the meds or the diet.
So, if I do get prescribed a med in three months for the cholesterol, I won't take it, even if it's a non statin. I refuse to get into that trap of my computer desk turning into an alternate medicine cabinet. Right now, it's just the stuff that I don't mind dealing with -- one for my thyroid, one for the diabetes, and a vitamin supplement that is completely of my own choosing.
So, it looks like the diet change is helping. I just made some changes to my routine, such as adding fish oil supplements to my morning routine, and hopefully things will improve when I get my next blood test in October.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Okay, my recent numbers...
Because I have hypothyroidism, I have to have regular blood tests done to keep my thyroid in check. On top of that, they check my cholesterol, a1C, and other factors at the same time. So here is a comparison of my numbers from between April and today.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Update
Okay, it's over 2 months in since I started low carb. So far, I've lost.....
**drum roll**
29 pounds! Yay!
I've gone down from 297 to 268. The weight loss is just an indicator, to me, how healthy I am becoming. I'm going to the doctor's office tomorrow for my son, but I'm going to ask about my lab results from over a week ago to see where I am there.
But so far, I've noticed two things:
-- No monthly heartburn.
-- No acne in awhile. This was also monthly, around that "time of the month," but I noticed my last period that I had no acne whatsoever.
So I know it's working. It will probably be awhile before I see other changes, but right now that's the two that stick out for me.
I'm also going to be starting "The Gabriel Method" soon. Right now, I'm reading the book, so once I'm done I'm going to implement that into my routine, as well.
**drum roll**
29 pounds! Yay!
I've gone down from 297 to 268. The weight loss is just an indicator, to me, how healthy I am becoming. I'm going to the doctor's office tomorrow for my son, but I'm going to ask about my lab results from over a week ago to see where I am there.
But so far, I've noticed two things:
-- No monthly heartburn.
-- No acne in awhile. This was also monthly, around that "time of the month," but I noticed my last period that I had no acne whatsoever.
So I know it's working. It will probably be awhile before I see other changes, but right now that's the two that stick out for me.
I'm also going to be starting "The Gabriel Method" soon. Right now, I'm reading the book, so once I'm done I'm going to implement that into my routine, as well.
Saturday, June 22, 2013
After a week of being wheat-free...
I'm not suffering cravings at all. The only suffering that I'm doing right now is all due to my allergies -- what felt like just general stuffy nose issues is now almost feeling like a downright cold. My head is achy and my nose is aching and runny. So I think my body is fighting me for completely different reasons.
Yesterday, I bought coconut flour and almond flour/meal for the first time and started to look for recipes for its use. I found a few I might try, but I did this recipe last night and thought it was great.
Gluten-Free Chicken Fingers
5 skinless chicken thighs, cut into strips
2-3 eggs beaten
1/4 cup coconut flour
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
coconut oil for frying
(Note: This is modified from this recipe -- I used whole eggs instead of just whites, and chicken thighs instead of breasts)
Cut the chicken thighs into strips. Sprinkle salt and pepper onto both sides of the chicken.
Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk together. Then mix coconut flour and parmesan cheese together, taking out all the lumps.
Dredge the chicken through the egg, then through the flour/cheese mixture.
Cook coconut oil to 375 degrees, and fry up the chicken in batches of 3-4 for 4 to 6 minutes, turning at the halfway point.
I'm definitely going to be making these again.
Yesterday, I bought coconut flour and almond flour/meal for the first time and started to look for recipes for its use. I found a few I might try, but I did this recipe last night and thought it was great.
Gluten-Free Chicken Fingers
5 skinless chicken thighs, cut into strips
2-3 eggs beaten
1/4 cup coconut flour
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
coconut oil for frying
(Note: This is modified from this recipe -- I used whole eggs instead of just whites, and chicken thighs instead of breasts)
Cut the chicken thighs into strips. Sprinkle salt and pepper onto both sides of the chicken.
Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk together. Then mix coconut flour and parmesan cheese together, taking out all the lumps.
Dredge the chicken through the egg, then through the flour/cheese mixture.
Cook coconut oil to 375 degrees, and fry up the chicken in batches of 3-4 for 4 to 6 minutes, turning at the halfway point.
I'm definitely going to be making these again.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Now completely wheat free!
Okay, I've been wheat free since Friday, when I discovered that my last few slices of light wheat bread had actually gone a little moldy. The past three days have actually been pretty easy for me so far. I have a little bit of a headache today, but I don't think that's from the wheat deprivation as much as my allergies acting up again.
I've heard people talk online about getting serious withdrawals from not eating wheat. At the moment I'm not feeling it when I'm awake, but I think I had it when I slept last night because I had a rather vivid dream about accidentally eating a cracker, then getting my hands on all the crackers I can have.
So far, the past few days I've just been trying to make it so that most of my carbs come from vegetables, with very few starchy exceptions such as rice crackers (no wheat -- checked the ingredients beforehand, and I only eat half the serving size since the crackers are so dense) and sweet peas (again, going by serving size). For example, my salad this afternoon was made with Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, dill relish (for "bite"), Mexican blend cheese, cooked chicken breast, and sugar-free sesame ginger dressing. So no really big carb sources in there, which I am going to save for my snack.
I was proud of myself yesterday, because I faced one of my biggest challenges and passed with flying colors. My cousin's son graduated yesterday, and she had a big party to celebrate. There was a LOT of tempting food on the table that wasn't very low carb friendly. So this is what I grabbed:
Chicken with no sauce (I asked my cousin's husband to leave one with no sauce for me, and he obliged)
Salad with full fat Thousand Island dressing
Strawberries and blueberries
Veggies from a veggie platter with dip
Hot dog
Water
That was what I stuck to the entire time I was there, and didn't have anything else. If I weren't on this diet, I would have grabbed everything else on the tables and overstuffed myself.
Now the next step: getting exercise back into my routine when the school year ends on Wednesday.
I've heard people talk online about getting serious withdrawals from not eating wheat. At the moment I'm not feeling it when I'm awake, but I think I had it when I slept last night because I had a rather vivid dream about accidentally eating a cracker, then getting my hands on all the crackers I can have.
So far, the past few days I've just been trying to make it so that most of my carbs come from vegetables, with very few starchy exceptions such as rice crackers (no wheat -- checked the ingredients beforehand, and I only eat half the serving size since the crackers are so dense) and sweet peas (again, going by serving size). For example, my salad this afternoon was made with Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, dill relish (for "bite"), Mexican blend cheese, cooked chicken breast, and sugar-free sesame ginger dressing. So no really big carb sources in there, which I am going to save for my snack.
I was proud of myself yesterday, because I faced one of my biggest challenges and passed with flying colors. My cousin's son graduated yesterday, and she had a big party to celebrate. There was a LOT of tempting food on the table that wasn't very low carb friendly. So this is what I grabbed:
Chicken with no sauce (I asked my cousin's husband to leave one with no sauce for me, and he obliged)
Salad with full fat Thousand Island dressing
Strawberries and blueberries
Veggies from a veggie platter with dip
Hot dog
Water
That was what I stuck to the entire time I was there, and didn't have anything else. If I weren't on this diet, I would have grabbed everything else on the tables and overstuffed myself.
Now the next step: getting exercise back into my routine when the school year ends on Wednesday.
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