Research

November came and went, and I eased up off of my clean weekends, which is sort of how I have been in the habit for some time. There was really mixed stuff on the weekends. I might eat a salad on Friday night, then have a few crab Rangoon with my Saturday lunch. Or eating noodles in my homemade chili that I made for family dinner on Sunday. There were some chips and salsa some weekends, and pizza. I even had an alcoholic beverage on Thanksgiving, and pumpkin pie, probably my favorite dessert on the planet. I only bought a half-pie because my husband didn't want any, so my sons and I each had one slice. I stayed active, and have been remembering to use my standing desk a little more lately, but the food area could use some tightening up. I have added heavy cream back in, so I am having coffee with it. I was planning to take it back out, but I am having it for now for two reasons. One, is that I am having a hard time planning out roughly 2,000 calories a day. I really can't believe how few calories I am used to eating. One week when I sat and calculated my calories it was less than 800! And I know there have been times when I probably ate that or less just because I was focusing on low-carb so much that I didnt even bother to see how many calories I was taking in. Before I learned about fasting, I used to eat 3 meals and 3 snacks a day. That was bodybuilder mentalty. Then I discovered that since insulin is our fat storage hormone, spiking it all day long is just begging our bodies to store fat. I know there are a lot of people who live by the calories in/calories out approach, but the problem is when you drop your calories, you metabolism eventually catches on and slows down. Then, the only way to get your weight to drop is to cut your calories further, but your metabolism is continuing to slow down. This can lead to your body using your muscles for energy because it doesn't have enough caloric energy. So,my basal metabolic rate is around 2,000 calories to give my body the fuel it needs to function and keep my metabolism working. I am the kind of person who likes a lot of cream in my coffee so that adds up the calories and fat without too many carbs. But all that dairy! I think I could live solely on dairy if I were challenged, but I know it is inflammatory and can cause all kinds of gut and skin issues. I just love it so much. I am seriously thinking about cutting back, and even cutting it out for 30 days to see what changes I notice. It would basically be like going carnivore (meat, eggs and butter only) or ketovore (carnivore with a few sparse veggies or condiments). But before I do anything that dramatic, I finally caved and got myself a Stelo continuous glucose monitoring kit. So I can actually track what's going on with my glucose 24 hours a day. Yes, its expensive, a package comes with two sensors that each last up to two weeks. So it's basically $100 for roughly a month's worth of data. So in this time while I am wearing the sensor, I can see if my glucose spikes when drinking my cream-laden coffee, or my sugar-free sweetened drinks, or how much it spikes when I eat my favorite imitation crab in butter and cream at the local Chinese buffet (and other dishes there that I suspect have sugar in the sauce). So December is going to be my month to experiment. Some days I will intentionally eat things that cause a spike to understand how much of a raise it causes, and how quickly or slowly my body lowers my blood sugar after the spike. I'm a little worried about the sugar free water flavoring, it is something I have a hard time going without. I do believe knowledge is power, so I think it will help me carve my path forward in the new year. These glucose monitors are covered by my flex spending, so I may get more down the road. I just installed the sensor tonight, and I am currently fasting, for what I hope will be 24 hours, so I won't have much information until after lunch tomorrow, when I eat again. Then the fun begins! Doing experiments gets me motivated, leaning how my body functions and what to do about it is a positive way to approach something that can be otherwise frustrating, especially for us women in and around menopause. So I will report what I find out in case anyone is interested. Diabetes runs in my mother's side of the family so I really want to avoid it. I code for the wound care department and the vast majority of these nasty infected wounds are caused by diabetes and oh! I have to look at the photos of these terrible wounds and I just never want to be in that boat! So, my weight is holding in the mid 170's where its been for what feels like ages now, but I believe there will be progress once I gather more information! I saw my weight drop down to 170 during October so I know if I am more consistent with my habits, I can move the needle again. The new year is coming fast and I am putting myself back on top of my list of priorities!