Food Revelation

As always here at Two-Spirits - One Halle, I will tell you how I feel and what I believe in this post - your results may vary. But, actually, these are not just my feelings this time. My dear friend Coline lead me along this path. So, today, here is something we are both convinced is working for us.

Coline's post is here. Please do read it. As she says, make your own assessment of what we have found.

Since transitioning, my weight has been increasing gradually. Lately, it has got to the point where my wardrobe is restricted, but in a year and a half of lockdowns, that really didn't matter much. I'll be honest and say that with the gradual relaxing of restrictions I wanted to lose a lot of that extra weight, especially in the front. As well, I thought it would be lovely to take some stress off of my achy knees. Since my transition, life has been very good. I have many reasons to want a long and healthy life now. 

Before continuing, let me tell you that I will not participate in weight-loss programs that require that I shell out money for boxes of specialty foods. If it wasn't grown or raised by me, or a farmer somewhere, it won't go in my mouth. 

Last year, my endocrinologist said that my blood sugar levels were high enough that type 2 diabetes and insulin treatment was likely in my future. By cutting back on my food intake I was able to hold my weight in place. I posted It Works for Me on my other blog. That is how convinced I was that cutting calories would help. Yet sadly, no matter how I cut calories, after the first few pounds, weight loss just wasn't happening. On top of that, I was hungry most of the time - craving those goodies that got me where I was. Clearly, a diet wasn't going to help me in the long run. If only I could find a way to not feel so hungry - then I wouldn't mind cutting calories. 

What Coline told me helped change all of that. Several good sources pointed out that the very thing doctors eventually prescribe when you have type 2 diabetes, insulin, is the culprit. As Dr. Jason Fung says:

 *"... insulin resistance leads to high insulin levels, and as we have seen, high insulin levels cause obesity."

It turns out that insulin is also the culprit that was causing my hunger! The insulin roller-coaster is basically like this: we eat a carb-filled meal - insulin is released to deal with the spike in blood sugar - some of the excess sugar is converted and stored in the liver - what the liver cannot handle is stored as fat in other parts of the body as a reserve to be converted back into sugar in times when food is scarce. After the blood sugars have been stored away, the body senses a crash in blood sugar - we get hungry - we snack on something sugary - insulin is released to start the cycle over.

After we have lived like this for a long time, the cells of our body become used to the almost constant bath of insulin and don't react as they should.  That is insulin-resistance.  

As Coline suggests, you need to do your own research. Both of us had seen the adverts for a keto diet and had thought it was just another fad. Oops!! 

The spreadsheet I made for calorie counting is in use again, but this time, it is counting carbs, calories, and meals. I am down to one or two meals a day (lunch and/or supper), no snacks, ever, and about 25g of carbs daily.  During the day, a mug of coffee with cream doesn't hurt a bit. Just put that sugar bowl away. It is like poison. 

I feel really well - never hungry and, so far, have lost ten pounds. Low carb doesn't mean tasteless, especially when you get lots of vegetables, seafood, and meat cooked in butter or olive oil. I thought I would miss breads and pasta, but no. This really doesn't feel anything like being on a diet.

I am one happy lady, who is losing weight, isn't hungry, and is really looking forward to wearing those clothes purchased five years ago. 

*Fung, Jason. The Obesity Code. Greystone Books: p.109