Triglycerides - I guess I’m pretty good on family history - parents (ages 86 and 90) are so far mostly healthy. I eat fewer carbs/sugars than prior years, but possibly higher % (I was not tracking then). .
Calcium/Viatamin D - Mom does have osteoporisis/hunching, which I forgot to mention to doctor. I did mention that I was tracking food and was concerned by low average calcium intake (about 400 mg/day plus a bit more from Centrum). In my lab results, the “Vitamin D 25-Hydroxy” shows 25 ng/ML (vs standard range 30 to 100; it was same in 2015 when I was advised to consider calcium supplements but, drats, did not follow through - it’s part of the reason I mention it here to encourage others). “Calcium Serum/Plasma” shows 9.6 mg/DL: (vs standard 8.4 to 10.6). After 2 months on the weekly super-dose supplement, they want me to go back for another blood test.
@nrdsb4, triglyceride blood tests are easily manipulated by your activity the day before the test. I loaded up with junk food the day before one and the score was 245. Next time I went for a 50 mi bike ride the day before, and the reading was 97.
@nrdsb4, agreed , but I have since honed the technique, and about 1-1.5 hours of exercise of moderate to moderate high intensity the day before keeps the test result for me in the 100-110 range. My point is that it is a very short term reading, unlike A1C.
Yeah, I have tried losing weight a few times in my life but this was the first time I did with a strict plan.
Keto diet isn’t for everyone though because it directly affects your insulin level, so anyone with metabolism issues should consult doctors before starting it. It has been reported to help with epilepsy and type 1 diabetes
@paul2752
The first time I heard about Ketogenic diet is for its treatment for severe epilepsy that traditional drugs were ineffective. Your result is amazing. How long do you do the fasting?
I do this thing called “intermittent fasting”, or IE. It means you only eat within certain period of time of a day, and nothing else outside that window. Most people do 16/8 fasting; No food for 16 hours except the other 8 hour period. I do 23/1 fasting. I only eat between 3-4 or 4-5pm and nothing else before/after this period.
Lots of people mistakenly think that you can eat as much fat as you want and still lose weight in keto, but it’s wrong. Fat takes majority of calorie intake in keto, but doesn’t meant you can eat a whole pack of bacon. You also have to consider the types of fat you eat.
@makesmesmart, when you are truly eating keto vs. low carb, it doesn’t really take a lot of will power to fast. The ketone bodies in the bloodstream provide an appetite suppressant effect.
I’ve done some reading on the Keto diet and it’s interesting and it might work for my body type. What would be hard for me is I eat and enjoy beans, lentils, quinoa, farro, sweet potatoes and butternut squash. All things that aren’t Keto diet friendly,
@mom60, I think once a person is completely keto adapted, you can add in the occasional sweet potato and see how that effects you. Some people can tolerate more carbs than others and still remain in nutritional ketosis.
I don’t think I’ll get to total Keto but it has got me looking at the carb content of what I’m eating. Yesterday I was home sick and I was hungry at lunch but didn’t have the energy to figure out what to eat so I grabbed a GoMacro Cashew butter bar from my pantry. When I tracked it I realized that bar has quite a number of carbs. When I made dinner I was planning on making a Mexican bowl with quinoa as the base. I rethought that and instead found a recipe for Mexican cauliflower rice and I used that as my base. I still used pinto beans but felt satisfied even without the grain.
The best news is that this morning I felt like my shorts were loose so I weighed myself and I am down 1.6 lbs since last week. For the first time in a very long time I’m below 150 lb. I also measured myself- waist is still the same but down an inch in the hips since I measured a month ago.
I believe for me splurges help me stick to cleaner eating. I consider splurging for me is ordering what I want in a restaurant or a special meal cooked at home of something I enjoy but don’t eat on a regular basis. I usually splurge one day a week.
@mom60 I so get what you mean. After I eliminated almost every carb source (good bye apple…) I realized I ate WAY too much carb. Fat wasn’t a problem.
Also, when you buy low carb products, you have to see if they put anything that doesn’t count as carbohydrate by FDA standard but still increase your blood glucose level. Things like Xylitol, Maltodextrin, dextrose, and maltitol are the main culprits behind the hidden carbs. Yes, Splenda isn’t calorie free after all.
Sugar alcohols like sorbitol, mannitol, Stevia(steviol glycoside) are fine. I personally love sorbitol-based syrup + pure sucralose (X 600 sugar sweetness) because they barely affect you BCL and useful for various recipes.
@paul2752 - enjoy your birthday splurge and wishing you a very Happy early Birthday. I don’t buy low carb products nor do I use artificial sweeteners so I know little about them. If I need to sweeten something I use maple syrup or once in awhile honey.
I thank you Paul and @Nrdsb4 as while I consider myself fairly educated in what is a healthy clean diet I realize I still have more to learn. One of my D’s gained a lot of weight and she is starting to eat better and exercise. She sometimes asks me what I think about certain foods. She tracks on MyFitnessPal so keeps within her calorie goals but she does eat things like an apples and bananas. Those are two foods that some say are good in weight loss and others say are bad. I’m confused whether to suggest foods that are lower in net carbs or just to eat healthy foods in moderation. The big change for her in the past several months is cutting out sugar. She had no idea how much hidden sugar she was eating. She also is trying to eat more vegetables. She was my pasta, rice and bread child.
@mom60, I totally understand your concerns. The “experts” are all over the board on what constitutes “healthy.” The problem is that humans have a very wide range in how their bodies metabolize certain foods and nutrients. My DH eats an unbelievable amount of sugar and refined carbs. He is slim, has perfect blood pressure and other cardiac markers. If I ate 10% of what he eats, I’d be obese and a heart attack waiting to happen, because my metabolism just cannot process a lot of carbs. Due to heredity, it took a whole lot less of abuse over my lifetime to damage my metabolism. I MUST go very very low carb in order to maintain a healthy weight and keep my cardiac profile low. The next person might roll their eyes because their view is that they can eat potatoes, bagels, bread, and pasta “in moderation,” so I should be able to also. Nope, that’s not how the human body operates. There is tremendous variation in individual tolerance to diet.
One just has to experiment to see what we can handle. It’s often helpful to eliminate most refined carbs or starchy vegetables for a few weeks, then slowly start adding some back to see how the body reacts. Every single person will have a different result with this tactic.
It’s hard, I know. However, I don’t think you err by encouraging your daughter to limit sugar, highly refined carbs, and focus on eating whole foods, grass fed sources of beef, free range chicken products, wild fish, fresh vegetables and low sugar fruits, etc. We all deserve to splurge a little on our birthdays or other special occasions. It’s the MOST OF THE TIME that matters. Your body is not fooled when you tell yourself you “deserve” this or that. Once you figure out what your body wants, you pretty much have to honor that or suffer the consequences.