How Fat Are You?

[TerryFlower51]

It took me a very long time to be able to admit my weight in public too, but I'm over it because this is who I am and with God's grace and leading, I'll be able to get healthier. We need to support each other. I think many of us have felt what our friend here expressed...feeling so down and buried under the weight of our weight. The truth is that God loves you in this moment just as you are...His word says He loves you with an everlasting love...that means on your worst day. Think about it....do you despise the person you see walking down the street who is heavy? Do you despise your friend who is heavy? No probably not, but if you are like I've been, you can get so down on yourself that you despise yourself for who you are and how you look. Give yourself permission to love yourself as you are today...and give yourself a break! You wouldn't measure another person as critically as you are measuring yourself dear sis. Noone can replace you on this earth....you are a unique creation and loved by God.

That said, Someone posted earlier asking if anyone here is trying to do something positive to lower their weight. God has given me this wayward body as a gift not a curse! A gift that is designed so that I can experience the pleasures of eating and living on this earth but also to teach me discipline.
I want to do the best I can w/what He's given me and so I'm committing myself to this today:

I've been lowcarbing (more on than off until recently when I've eaten anything I felt like) for a couple of yrs now. Started at 254....very slowly edged down to 216 and then nothing lost for months. Even doing aerobics and strength training for 12 hrs a week for 3 months didn't help. I started to feel like quiting and did quit for a time..just resented it and wanted to be able to eat the way my family and friends eat, but you know what? God didn't give me their bodies He gave me one that works best on different kinds of food than they eat. I quickly shot back up to 230, cholesterol increased, bp too....NOT WORTH eating brownies and pizza! My doctor is so on my back to get on lipitor or some other med for cholesterol and he is clearly annoyed everytime I say "no"....I don't want the side effects. I want a life style change that will work! SO.....

I've done some research and because I consider myself an extreme case (total cholesterol 270...did come down 20 points from 290 since lcing; ratio 7.5 NOT GOOD but I believe while I was off the low carb wagon and eating what my family can eat ...what THEY can eat w/no ill effects to them) it went up)
I've decided to do a more narrow form of LOW CARB called NEANDRATHIN.
I feel more energetic when I low carb, even when I'm not losing weight. I believe that besides being allergic to wheat and other grains, I have a problem w/the sugars in dairy and potatos because they make me feel sleepy (apnea or not!)

When I began losing as a post hysterectomy, fat most of my life woman over 50 on low carb...even though it was slow, I was astonished! I had come to the point of thinking NOTHING would work because yrs of trying everything out there...vegetarianism, fasting, juicing, etc....I continued to get heavier and more unhealthy.

This is the Neandrathin plan (narrower than other lc plans but what I need for my health right now in my effort to bring the numbers down and most likely for the rest of my life. For sure I will be lowcarbing for the rest of my life because it makes me feel the best and my health is best on it). In a nutshell, you can eat anything our ancestors could have caught or foraged for in the wild, pre-agriculture:

1. Eat greens and low carb veggies, raw is best choice when possible or lightly steamed or stir fried, and good choices are cruciferous like cabbage, brussel sprouts, etc...So salads are a good meal (but on Neandrathin you don't use most storebought dressings...just olive oil and lemon juice, garlic and herbs w/a toss in of protein and raw seeds or nuts. If cholesterol is a problem I read that you need to be choosy about the kind of nuts and seeds because some have the wrong balance of omegas).

2. Eat "anything w/a face" that doesn't have nitrates, additives, sugar
(includes fish, fowl, beef, pork, lamb, etc). (serious Neandrathins try to eat free ranged meat because the meat has a better ratio of the good fats but its too pricey for me). Prepare in a healthy way...no deep frying...roasting is good and rare or medium rare is preferred to well done.

3. Eat eggs

4.Eat good fats (olive oil, coconut oil, and I'm allowing myself a little butter)Avocados are a good choice because of "good fat" too.

5. Once you have lost weight and are humming along, minimal amounts of raw seeds, raw nuts (not peanuts, they are a legume, not cashew ditto) can be added. Minimal amt of berries or other lc fruits can be eaten but most need to limit it to almost nothing initially to see a good result because of insulin resistance, etc...

NOTHING ELSE>>>>>NO DAIRY< NO GRAINS, no vinegar or other "messed with" condiments...(Lemon is fine to have with oil and herbs on salad)

Lots of water, teas are fine.

Extremely different from how most Americans eat? YES! Healthy? YES! Because of omitting the grains and dairy, many diseases we have such as arthritis will be minimalized or gone completely because our body is not having inflammatory problems. Personally I had extreme pain in my hip joints in the past and it would actually bring me to tears to struggle to get up from the floor if I had sat down w/my dogs or bent to pick something up, and 2 wks after eating lowcarb it left! This is something I definitely need to do if I am serious about feeling good and being healthy. My plan is to do this w/no variations until the next cholesterol check and see how it effects my numbers. Most people on lc who are eating a healthy plan w/plenty of lc veggies see their numbers come down. I've done some surfing to find out more...If you are curious do the same...Active Low-Carbers Forum is one site and Christian Low Carb Retreat is another.
If anyone wants to know a typical days meals look under Flowergirl at the Christianlowcarb board in my journal or do a "neandrathin" search and you'll
find it there on Clc. Anybody else out there working on their heart and general health through eating choices? Terry

[Terry Flower51]

Here's the sites I referred to:

http://www.lowcarbchristians.com

http://forum.lowcarber.org/index.php?

Terry

[dirtsurfer57]

Hey Terry
Thanks for all the info, I'm trying to figure out a heart healthy diet along with a diabetic diet and I'm bangin' my head against the wall right now. Sounds like your diet could be good for both, I will definately check this out. As far as your cholesterol you might want to check out Crestor, I've been on it for 2 months now and it's cut my Cholesterol in half and I've had no side effects so ask your Dr. and take it from there.
Thanks
Roger

[Sleeping With The Enemy]

I guess from what I've heard when some people have very high cholesterol levels, like myself, diet and excercise may decrease it by 10-20%, but medication, in my case was definately needed.

I think I may give this type of eating another try, the lower carb style.

It works out great for me because my husband is a farmer and we have cattle, pigs and chickens. Everything right here and fresh.

Heidi

[Terry Flower51]

Heidi you are so fortunate! A farmer's wife! You know in my imagination as a little girl I always thought it'd be so nice to live on a farm ...lots of work but so rewarding. How do you like it???? Terry

[TerryFlower51]

Roger have you read any of Schwartzbein's books? I have a diabetic friend who loves her. Terry

[chrisp]

This works great also. http://www.paleodiet.com/

[photogal]

I guess my weight is in the average range for my height and weight. Throughout my sleep studies, they always remarked that I wasn't heavy enough to have OSA. I think I'm about 10 lbs over what I feel and look my best at. Seems that I'll lose 2 pounds, then eat everything in sight until it is back on.
I do have high LDL, though. The doctor put me on Lipitor, but after 2 weeks I had horrible muscle & joint pain, so I am now on Zetia. It isn't working very well, as I was just tested again and my LDL was 151. And that is with my cutting down on meats. The past week I put myself on 500mg Niacin twice a day along with the Zetia. I'll find out in a few months if it helps.
I hear you can take up to 2000mg a day.
3 years ago my BP went from about 130/80 to 200/110 out of the blue. No weight gain, nothing. ( I was having heart rhythm problems which I had a Cardiac Ablation for) It came down as suddenly as it rose 6-8 months later, actually before the ablation, and I went off BP med. Last 3 checks it was around 88/62. Go figure. I found my breast cancer a year or so after the ablation, and wonder sometimes if it had anything to do with the wild BP.

[unclebob]

I walked into a ladies cosmetic store last weekend (Merle Norman, I think it's called, in a mall). There were four women in there who immediately gave me the eye. Was I someone who lost his way, some kind of a kinky character, some fat old man, or just another roll in the hay as far as they were concerned.

When they started licking their lips I got a little nervous and thought I better set the record straight and retain my dignity. Flustered as I was, I simply goofed - should have blurted out the truth. Instead, and because they were all just sitting around primping themselves and looking pretty - I decided to make an ass of myself and have a little fun.

"Do you have a body wash?" I asked. That really got their attention and the painted lady behind the register smiled and instantly trotted off to get what she seemed to think I needed. What did she Know? People just make assumptions and don't stop to get all the facts.

Well I stopped her all right, right in her tracks! After only about three steps. Told her I needed something that would wash about sixty pounds off as my diet was not working. Kept a real straight face!

You know how a short silence can seem to go on forever. This was it. Just let it hang there. When their brows started to furrow and little bits of make up started to flake off, I knew time was up! "Just kidding", I said and produced the empty mascara thingy my wife wanted replaced. Yeah they all laughed, Thought I was a real nut, but they laughed. Made a sale too.

When I think about it I get a little depressed because they were probably thinking "Who the hell is he kidding - needs to lose a lot more than sixty pounds" and they are right. I'm 5' 10" at 260 pounds. Highest I have ever been, just keeps creeping up. Used to be 5' 11' (when I had hair) and weighed 175 - no fat, all muscle after working on a drilling rig right after high school. The good old days.

I don't really dwell on it at all. Those days are gone. I believe diets will not work in the long run and the only outcomes are:

- status quo if were lucky
- weight loss through a true lifestyle change by our own volition or radical
medical procedure including lifestyle change
- premature death

Yeah, it's not pretty and I am sure not one to talk. No willpower in this area.

I have been avoiding this thread but tonight have read some of the posts. Just had to thank all of you. I have gained a new appreciation and understanding of the issue which I had taken somewhat lightly.

I have been so fortunate to have a loving wife, daughter and three young grandkids who adore me and I them, as well as other family and friends of course. Just hope I can gain enough inspiration from your honest and sincere words to make me realize that I do mean something to those around me and take action to allow me to stick around longer to enjoy it.

Thanks for helping me.

Bob F

[dirtsurfer57]

No Terry I've not read any of those books yet, but I'm reading anything and everything that I can find so any ideas are greatly appreciated. One question is there anything that links SA to heart disease and diabetes. I know SA can directly affect heart function and weight and weight can have an effect on diabetes and diabetes has an effect on heart disease so I will assume that SA has some sort of contributing factor with diabetes. I know, I know you should never assume but I'm grasping for answers now. I know before I had my Angio everything was OK now all of a sudden my sugars are way out of whack, something went wrong somewhere. Oh well I'll quit ramblin', really appreciate the help Terry if ever there's anything I can do for you, and anybody else for that matter, just holler.
Later
Roger

[ozij]

Uncle Bob
You're great
Thanks
O.

[tlc95066]

41, female 5'2" and 140 lbs. I could stand to loose a few lbs... the ENT told me to loose 20 lbs., right! for my body type i would be a walking stick.

I have moderate sleep apnea

[Harmony]

REALLLLY UNCLE BOB

I think your solution is find the hair drop the cargo

I enjoy reading your posts. Thanks for the chuckles

Harmony

[TerryFlower51]

Hey Roger we're both from Ohio! Thank you for your kind words. I can see you have a generous heart....I'll let you know when I get stuck if I need a hand! WOW this board has been great for me...educated me and helped me accept what I need to do to get healthy while dealing w/apnea. Don't know for sure the answers to your questions re diabetes and apnea but I wouldn't be surprised about heart disease, bp, weight, etc...since apnea is such a stress on our body and effects so many systems. When I have a question like that, I usually type in, for example, "diabetes and apnea" into my search engine (or on this site's search) and get good info.

As far as those books go....check out the websites which sometimes give you the "reader's digest" version. Order the books through your library...a great source for free materials. There's a book called "Life w/out Bread" I'm interested in taking out if I can find it which sounds interesting re the health aspects of eliminating grains from your food plan.

I know this has to be my WOL (way of life), not a quick fix. I've learned that from many yrs of trial and error. I invite you to come visit the sites I listed, you can join for free and then post questions. Esp at christianlowcarb they are very supportive. You'll recognize me there as Flowergirl....Bye bro...Terry

[Terry Flower51]

Congrats on being average weight!!!!!!!! I was a fat toddler, got a brief respite and don't think I've been "average weight" since I was MAYBE 6 yrs old.

Just curious re your typical way of eating in light of your high LDL.
I know that some (including myself at one point in my life) vegetarians, or people who eat a low fat, high carb (even good carbs like whole grains and fruits) eating plan, tend to have high cholesterol because of insulin related issues that are too scientific for me to translate...do your own search and you'll see what the facts are. If your typical day tends to be high in carbs or includes bad fats such as transfats, you may want to do some research in how to turn it around for the sake of a healthy heart.....

Many find relief in the high fat (good fats)/lower carb/higher protein way of eating as far as getting improvement on their cholesterol and blood pressure levels. If for some reason lower carb/higher pro doesn't work for someone, it can be due to a sensitivity to archondraic (somebody who knows what I'm talking about help me w/spelling!!!!!) acid does things on a cellular level to cause their body to manufacture more cholesterol. From what I understand for most people eggs and beef are a good thing, even w/high cholesterol issues. But if you are one of those people sensitive to arch. acid which egg yolk and beef are rich in, those foods could be the culprates. For more info re same, look at one of my other posts on this thread re helpful sites. Terry