Week 17: +1, Total 19

Well thanks to fasting yesterday, I lost 4 of the 5 pounds I gained last week. My fasting blood sugar was 113 compared to 130 yesterday. So I will continue this IF for a while. I will avoid eating out because it makes me hungry. Maybe due to hidden sugars or something else.

We are snowed in today, so I will take a nice walk in the neighborhood this afternoon. It's coooold outside!

For lunch, I'm having a salad of mache (lamb's lettuce) and sliced radishes. I make a viniagrette with a garlic clove smashed with a pinch of course salt. Love that stuff. I guess I'll have some sockeye salmon too. Then I'll skip dinner tonight.

Back to IF

I decided to get back into the intermittent fast today as a way to reign back my appetite. I don't like feeling out of control. Last week and through the weekend, I ate lots of nuts and also made the low carb pumpkin custard. I also ate bread a few times. I do not like the feeling of overeating.

My weight was up to 230 and morning blood sugar was 130.

So it's gone pretty well today. Got hungry a few times, but just kept putting it off and made it through. Looking forward to bone-in pork chops and asparagus for dinner.

I've been reading various articles that remind me about the damage caused by excess insulin. Watching blood sugars is only one part of the story. For example, fructose doesn't make blood sugar rise that much but it gets converted to fat in the liver and contributes to insulin resistance.

Also re-read the chapter about insulin in PPLP. The top 2 things to reduce insulin levels are 1) reducing carbs, 2) lowering calories. So I guess IF does both. I really want to lower my insulin levels in addition to keeping my blood sugar low. Dr. Eades also made a point that having lower insulin levels helps weightloss. So I'm all over that!

I also found Dr. Ron Rosedale's talk about insulin in 1999:
http://www.mercola.com/2001/jul/14/insulin.htm

It's best to get fasting insulin levels below 10. I will ask the doc if I can get mine tested (when I get around to making the appointment). I would also like to have my iron levels checked and probably should donate blood.

Week 16: -1, Total 20

Since August 13, I've lost 3 inches off my waist and hips! I lost 1 inch this last month, but no weight. I'm pleasantly surprised at that. It's motivating to get through Thanksgiving without eating too much bad stuff. I'm not planning on eating anything bad. But I ordered a beef dip sandwhich at a restaurant yesterday and then today I had some bread. I'm not sure why I'm doing that.

Hiked Rattlesnake again

We hiked to Rattlesnake ledge again Friday. It got pretty dark by 4:30 or 5. I should always remember my backpack and head lamp just in case. But it was a nice afternoon.

My blood sugar went from 115 Friday morning to 95 on Saturday morning. My weight is still around 226-227.

Saturday, we had a beautiful sunny day. I finished moving the rest of the compost to the back yard over the sand filter septic system. Then I planted the carex, oxalis and tassel ferns as ground cover. Little by little, there won't be any more grass to mow in the back yard. I have room for 2 Japanese maples. I may try to move one that is vase shaped and getting bigger. But it's close to a gas line, so I may have to just cut it down. I'll have some pathways of beauty bark around and through the yard.

It's all I can do to wait to make the pumpkin mousse. But I've got to cut back on the treats in order to keep losing weight. I've had some winter squash with pork chops. I have one more serving of almonds in the freezer and I won't buy anymore for a while.

I went to a little party last night and was going to have a little wine, but I just had a diet pop instead. Wine always makes my ankles swell up anyway.

Week 15: -2, Total 19

Lost 2 of the 3 I gained last week. I cut back on low carb treats. I have been having about 2 handfuls of almonds in the evening. One would be sufficient.

I made two soups on Sunday with some grass-fed chuck roast that I cut up into bite-sized pieces. PCC did not have the soup bones on hand, so the soup wasn't as good as last time. One was a beef soup with dinosour kale, leek, squash, carrots and peas. The other was a chili with beef, red peppers, celery and onion and the New Mexico green chiles. It's a little hot, but gets better when I stir in a little cream cheese and cheddar cheese.

I'm going to my brother's for Thanksgiving. I'm planning on taking the low carb pumpkin mousse, either green beans almondine or broccoli puree and maybe some deviled eggs, but they like deviled eggs too. We'll have fun playing games. Hopefully I can get a hike in over the long weekend. Maybe I can get a niece or two to go with me.

Week 14: +3, Total 17

Oh man. I'm getting nowhere fast by having low carb treats. Plus 3 this week. I made a low carb chocolate mousse and I had some nuts. I had some toasted coconut - big shavings of organic coconut which I baked at 300 for about 10 minutes. Next time, I will add that to a coconut custard. I may have eaten some other things I can't even remember. I had some regular bread too.

My morning blood sugars have been between 99 and 108 for the last week. I need to prove to myself I can maintain 85 for a week! I've only maintained that for about 3 days.

I just had one more treat. I wanted to practice some recipes to use on my family when I have them over. I had read about cooking sliced apples separately and then adding to a pie. So here's what I did for a lower carb dessert:

1 sliced Golden Delicious Apple

Melt some butter in a skillet with the heat on medium low. Add the apple. Add cinnamon to taste and a light sprinkle of other spices such as ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Toss with the apple. Cover and cook for a few minutes. Toss and cook another few minutes. Sprinkle about 3 packets of Splenda. Serve warm with a splash of heavy cream.