The Metabolic Diet Progress
Ok, so it has been almost 5 weeks since I started the Metabolic Poon Diet. I have lost close to 25 lbs. I have never starved. I eat a lot (every two hours cuz my diabetes) and I have more and more energy each day.
My headaches have not changed, but my joint pain is gone, and the sensory nerve in my leg that went on me is coming back, so that means it was jammed into my hip joint from some fat connected to a scar in my hip in the front of my leg! So if you are fat like me and you have weird joint pain or have numb spots don't shrug them off....or excuse them. They are because you are fat. Think of this as the common reason, and all the other stuff are the uncommon reasons.
I believe the joint pain reduction is because of two things. The loss of the excess weight the frame cannot hold well, and the fluid being held from too much salt.
I don't salt my food....never have, yet when I started the program I was holding 26lbs of water. I didn't lose all the water yet, and actually when we were stressed during the funeral, and having to eat restaurant salads I gained some water weight and lost fat. So it is important to understand how much hidden salt is in restaurant food. Apparently all restaurant meat is loaded with salt. And we won't even talk about the cheese and sauces! Wha!
I can eat as much as I want of lean beef, pork, chicken, fish and shellfish. I can stir fry with olive or canola oil. Olive oil is better because it is not genetically modified. Also my friend who is a holistic nutricianist said that deep frying should be done in pure coconut oil. So I switched the fryer to coconut oil for Cam and Carl's benefit. I don't eat deep fried anything now. Coconut oil cools hard like Crisco. If you cook or bake you can see the benefits of the coconut oil for other dishes as well (like cake icing).
I can eat as much as I want of green leafy vegetables and any vegetable from above the ground. Tomatoes should be eaten sparingly, and Cucumber and Broccoli should not be the entire amount of the veggies you eat in one sitting. There needs to be green leaves too, and they should be the majority of the portion.
The rule is you can eat as much as you want of the above meat and veggies but there must be two hours between the meals.
Things I can never have: peas, beans, butternut or acorn squash, corn, potatoes,
This is where this diet is very different from the diabetic diet.
The diabetic diet counts carbs as ok if they can rate 15g in a serving.
This is not ok for Metabolic Diseased people. They will still take those carbs and turn them into fat creating sugar.
Also notice I have not said anything about wheat or fruit.
On phase two of the diet I can have all the above good stuff, and I can add two servings of fruit or a grain product(that is not wheat) per day. A serving of fruit is 1/2 cup. The grain product I use is a special pita made of soy flour. One pita is a serving.
If you want to lose more weight then don't do phase two and save it for special days. Cuz phase two lists desserts and treats that I can have if they are in a measured portion.
A lot of folks like soda pop and flavoured drinks, and they are recommended in very limited quantities if they are diet ones. Apparently these empty carbs in diet drinks can cause carb cravings. So I don't drink them at all. I drink coffee (black), tea (black), mineral water(for the fizzz), water, and home made black iced tea. My majority of drinks is mineral water.
Since I started the diet I have been able to reduce my anti-seizure meds to one portion a day from two, remove my diabetic meds all together, and I am off my blood pressure meds, aaaannnd my arthritis meds are used only if I overwork myself exercising.
Yeah, I said it....EXERCISING....HA....HOW....'BOUT....THAT!? I am not constantly exhausted, and I can exercise! Carl and I did almost 3k on a walk to and from Chapters two nights ago and I kept a good pace. The reward was some new books and a coffee! Woo Hoo!
Yesterday I had my blood work, so I am really excited to see what that says.
I went into the Metabolic Diet program with the idea I wanted to feel better. I did not worry about the weight. After about the first 5 days I began to feel better and better. The first 5 days were hard because of carb cravings and withdrawl headaches. But it was a bearable hurdle for many more weeks feeling great!
My Rheumatologist was tickled pink with my progress, my family Dr. is cheering me on, and my pain Specialist is the one completely responsible for getting me into the program.
I truly believe that two things happen to me with foods. Some foods cause my body to react with inflammation (arthritic) pain because they trigger bad signals in my body. Those bad signals turn on the survival mode of my body and flick all the switches to store everything I eat into fat stores because the wrong switches got turned on by the reaction food.
So my reactors are wheat, corn, potatoes, excess salt, and by looking at that list is is easy to see gluten has no place in my body. Years ago I was off gluten and for those years I never gained weight. I just never correlated the gluten with slim for me. I used gluten-free products because when I got diagnosed with Sjogrens it was because I was unable to digest gluten or meat for a long time(6 yrs). Using a gluten free Asian vegetarian diet (which meant veggies, fish and eggs) I put myself in remission of my auto-immune disease. When I got the enzymes back to eat normally I jumped at the chance, but about a year later I started to gain weight, and never even thought it could be because of the gluten I began to ingest.
So far I see why the diabetic diet didn't work for me, and how some of my pains and vital statistics were greatly effected by my weight after my neurological injury. This knowledge is paramount to learning how to eat.
When I feel like I have an understanding of it...I will tell you about the second part of my weight loss program which I have done on my own, and is not part of the Poon Program.
The next part is using a very specific hypnosis to help me learn how to listen to my body, and to not work through pain, or tiredness or stress, and give my body time to heal up.
This will stop me from being a work-a-holic me so I can really hear the messages my body gives me so I won't overdo it and aggravate my head pain by being too type A for my own good.
This part is a very personal skill which has to do with changing a very entrained and ingrained part of my personality so I can stay healthy and keep recovered. This will have much more of an impact on my life than the weight loss for sure. But, the two definitely go hand and hand. This hypnosis is only for those who are not afraid to know their hidden truth. Which could be one's ugly side. So it is not for the faint of heart or the ones who don't like change.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
It's Tuesday.......All day!
This was a very eventful day.
Carl had an interview in Toronto, so I tagged along.
There was a mall right next door to the building so I went browsing.
Well, I don't browse malls much cuz I WILL buy. So I purchased.
I got some nice sandals and two more hermit crabs
They are very frisky. Much more lively than the ones we already have.
I am excited because these ones play with me. They love to get out and crawl around, and they pop their heads out right away when I put them in my hand.
So I am changing up the crabitat a bit to accomodate two more to the population.
I haven't named them yet. Cam suggested porn star names because they are frisky!
After getting the Crabs, Carl and I went to The Rainforest Cafe at Yorkdale. We have some video of the thunderstorms in the cafe.
I finally found new pond lights, so they will be ready for the grotto waterfall when we get it running this week.
The garden in the front of the house is almost in full bloom. So there are pics of that too.
My Metobolic Dinner
Shiritaki Noodles, mushrooms, broccoli, chicken, celery, red peppers, and snow peas, seasoned with Mrs. Dash and stir fried in Pam
The come wet in a refridgerated bag.
Saturday, May 05, 2007
I Have Been Pooned
No I am not being rude.
On Friday I had my first appointment with the metabolism specialist.
His name is Dr. Poon. Link HERE
He specializes in weight problems for folks who are diabetic, have heart disease in their family, and have multiple ailments or diseases.
I happen to fall into that category. Besides having a brain injury that has basically stopped my body from doing any action.
Last year my Pain Specialist told me the end-game plan of my pain program would be to start Dr. Poon's program.
I was excited! I really didn't know why I couldn't start right then.
Dr. Lisa told me that if I tried to lose weight while I was recovering from the brain injury, and while my body vital statistics were unstable, I would not lose weight.
This answered a lot of questions. I had been going to the gym for a year, with a personal trainer, and when I started having the headaches, I could not lose any more weight. My body stopped. I would work out for the few weeks before the onset of the medical issue and all I would get was tired. I wasn't hungry, I was just tired.
So, the good news is that over the past two months, all my vital statistics have normalized. I am still tired, but I get little bursts of energy that I never had.
So, now is the perfect time to visit Dr. Poon.
Dr. Poon is in the city of Richmond Hill, which is a short bus ride from the North of Toronto. He is a Physician that specializes in Metabolism food programs tailored to each person's metabolism issues. He is covered by OHIP, but you have to qualify for the program to be able to get in.
He put me on a body mass reader. Which is like a weigh scale with conduction pads where your feet go. He measured the % of body fat, the weight, the amount of water, and I think the amount of salt in my system. His assistant also measured my neck. (Ohh the place that never lies)
He told me that I am holding 26lbs of water! EEEEWWwww!
So for the next two weeks we are workin on the water.
Here is what I can eat:
Lean meat: beef, chicken, pork, fish, shelfish, lamb, and egg white
all fat and skin removed before cooking.
Veggies: Green leafy vegetables, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, mushrooms, tomatoe, peppers, celary, etc.
I cannot have: any grain, starch, or fruit, plus no vegetables from below the ground.
ABSOLUTELY NO SALT
ABSOLUTLEY NO SUGAR
I can have small amounts of olive and canola oil
I can season my food with herbs and pepper
There is the restriction to the amount I can eat. But after I am finished I must wait two hours before eating anything else.
This morning a made an egg white omelette's with mushrooms and broccoli.
Ok so I am off to a good start.
I hope I can keep it up.
I have no problem with the restrictions because through my life, my auto-immune disease imposed many restrictions to my diet. I think for me, this will be more of my subconscious doing it to please the Dr. Yeah so maybe this is a good trait to have, this people pleasing. Especially if it works!
I packed on 30lbs in my last year driving the truck, and because I am over 40, it just isn't coming off like in the old days.
By no means is 30 lbs all I have to lose. But it will certainly change my body shape from round to hour glass again.
I am hoping that by July, I will no longer have the shape of a pumpkin.
