Sugar Bugs.

Sugar is crap.  It tastes really good, but it's way too easy to eat too much of it.  It's in most everything processed because people love it.  Also if you add enough sugar to something that doesn't taste very good, all you'll taste is sweetness.  It makes yuck palatable and it makes it unhealthy to boot.

I miss it though.  I've been using the phrase sugar bugs when I talk about carbs with Carboface.  It's become our catch phrase for mocking or talking wistfully about the foods we used to love.  My niece's dentist used the term to explain why they had to brush their teeth.  :)

High Fructose Corn Syrup is a bad idea too, and that's because of the higher fructose content.  Fructose is the crap part of sugar.  It's the part that messes up you up metabolically if you have too much, not just once in a while - consistently.  I don't want to eat anymore of it...even though it is delicious!  But it's easy to get fooled when you read ingredient labels, because it's disguised,  and often the amount of sugar or HFCS is not even accurately represented.  

Sugar or carbs, may feed cancer cells too.

I'm trying to stay away from sweeteners too because they can cause insulin resistance as well.  I think the body responds to the sweet taste, and releases insulin in anticipation of the food energy that would be dumped into the bloodstream, and that insulin dump makes you hungry.

I'm not going to give up sweeteners altogether, but I am treating diet drinks and sugar-free jello with some respect.  They aren't FREE foods.  They are foods I can eat in moderation so I don't miss eating carby treats as much.   I do notice that they rev my appetite some, so it's probably good to have them in conjunction with other more filling foods.

And xylitol is a good sweetener.  It creates a perfect PH balance in your mouth and promotes healing in your gums.  Good news if you have gingivitis.

I have some Omega 3 liquid  that is sweetened with xylitol.  Carboface was worried that it had carbs so when checking it out, I found this info on xylitol incidentally.  My dentist told me it was good to chew sugar free gum as long it had xylitol, and now I know why.

I did a lot of walking today, a few hours worth, and I still feel so surprised and grateful at how I'm much more able to do physical activities.  It's remarkable how much MORE and stable energy I get from NOT eating carbs.  I think back to how I used to have to carry around food all the time in case I'd have a crashing low blood sugar.  It happened ALL THE TIME.  My blood sugars were good, if low at times, but really I was taking too much insulin!

Carboface and I were talking and wondering about the exact chemical processes involved that differ when you process carbs, or protein, or fat, for your body's needs.  Then he found this interview with Robert Lustig.  It's new!  And it has a great little animated segment that really explains what goes on when you eat.  And this article explains the processes too, same here.

I almost forgot, my weigh in this week - I'm down to 165.5, and Carboface hit 210. 


WHAT I ATE TODAY

12:30 pm
2 egg omelet
60g cheddar cheese
1 T spinach cream cheese
1 green onion
1/2 small tomato
1 1/2 slices bacon
arugula

2 cups coffee

4:00 pm
1 oz mozzarella
cucumber
green tea
water

4:50 pm
1 oz cheddar
1 oz mozzarella
cucumber
1/4 cup mixed nuts
lime diet coke
green tea

6:30 pm
1/2 stick pepperoni
1/2 oz cheddar
tea
water

8:30 pm
2 thighs chicken
1/2 yellow  pepper
1/2 green  pepper
soy sauce
butter

10:00 pm
green tea leaves

11:40 pm
1/2 pack soft tofu
sesame oil, sesame seeds
soy
Rooster hot sauce

1:06 am
1 T miso
4 rounds cucumber
slice ham
green tea
water

3:30 am
1/2 pack soft tofu
soy sauce

BLOOD GLUCOSE

11:08 am
before breakfast
7.8

4:51 pm
before cheese, nuts etc
5.5

8:27 pm
before chicken and peppers
5.1

3:23
before bed
4.9

Jello is Yum

I'm getting slacker and slacker about keeping track of my food.  I guess I'm not seeing the point of it much.  It will be much more important when I stop losing weight.   I'll be able to figure out where I can cut carbs and keep the weight loss going.

Another consideration, is how will my diet changes affect my cholesterol and blood pressure?  I am hoping that I won't need to keep taking the blood pressure and cholesterol meds.

I'm happy to continue on with my diabetes meds though, metformin, and maybe piaglitazone though.  At least for metformin, I know that some people consider it an anti-cancer drug. Gary Taubes said that one dude takes it prophylactically.  


WHAT I ATE TODAY

2 egg omelet
butter
cheddar cheese, grated, plus one chunk for munching
green onion
tomato
dill cream cheese
butter
pepper

2 cups coffee

1/2 pepperoni stick
water

Ryvita
dill cream cheese
green tea

6:40 pm
romaine lettuce
mozzarella cheese - shredded plus one chunk for munching
1 slice bacon
Caesar dressing

8:45 pm
beef and veggie curry
greek yogurt
lite spinach cream cheese - I looked for regular, but they didn't have any and I wanted to try this flavour.  It's ok.  I think I like the red pepper, salmon, or herb and garlic better though.  And plain is always tasty.

sunflower seeds, dill and bbq flavour

strawberry jello
with whipping cream

I found the sugar free jello too sweet, so I added some plain gelatin and a cup more water  The flavour isn't as strong, more mellow to my tongue, and  I just made 50 % more jello!

1/2 an orange

bite of pepperoni

2 ham slices
1 processed cheese slice



BLOOD GLUCOSE

2:00 pm
before breakfast
6.5

12:07 am
after orange
7.0

2:18 am
after ham and cheese - before bed
5.7

Food log - April 20, 2012

I went to Fatburger, cheated some with a 1/2 burger and bun, but I also tried a bunless burger and it was good.  I was worried that it would really suffer in comparison, but it didn't.  Topping it with chili really added to it.  And I didn't miss the fries like I thought I would.  I saw so many chubby people eating them and more than wishing for them, I thought if only you knew how much carbs are in that!

I forgot to post this before I went to bed.  I think I ate something else before I went to sleep.  Another Ryvita and cream cheese I think.  I was really missing crackery tastes.

I'm so glad I found some crackers with a net carb of 2. 

Doh!  Their website list a different carb content than what's on the package I've got.  According to them, the crackers are 5.7 net carbs.  That's much more than I thought.  I left a message asking why the difference, but until I hear an explanation, I'm going to assume it's 6 carbs.  Not a snack I'll be having very often during induction.

I'm going to check out a low carb store sometime next week and see what kind of stuff they sell.  I'd like some tortilla's or flat bread so I could make burritos easily.  Salads are nice, but I miss sammichy things. A low carb bread would be good too.   The more variety I can add, the better.  I get tired of eating the same old stuff.  Even though I'm getting full pretty quick on less,  I'm still a foodie at heart.

And I found a recipe for home made gummies, so that will solve the candy craves some.  :)

And tofu puffs satisfy chip cravings some.  They are chewy though and taste oily, but something about them screams guilty snack - like piggie puffs, they are super filling and a little goes a long way.

2 eggs
2 slices bacon
water
salt, pepper
slice of pastrami

2 cups coffee

1/2 double cheeseburger - fatburger
1/2 double cheeseburger - no bun, with egg and chili

diet coke

pepperoni stick
ryvita cracker
dill cream cheese

2 squares 99% cocoa chocolate

ryvita with dill cream cheese
slice of pastrami
cheddar cheese
tofu puffs
water

BLOOD GLUCOSE

2:16 pm
before breakfast
6.2

10pm
before pepperoni stick
6.3

2 am
after cracker, cheese, meat and tofu puffs
6.4

Food Log - April 19, 2012 - WB

I didn't track today, I remember what I ate, but not exactly when or the amounts.  Doesn't really matter though, I kept it low carb.  I ate a lot of different stuff, but my glucose levesls were good. 

We didn't cook today, and that was nice.  Just ate cold foods, except for the fish dinner before the opera. Aida is awesome BTW.


WHAT I ATE TODAY

cold chicken breast
1/4 pickle
water

salad greens
Caesar dressing
1 slice bacon
pastrami
more cold chicken breast
water

green tea
some mixed nuts, about 8

Really nice meal at the VCC cafeteria
poached sole with asparagus and cream sauce
green beans with tomato paste maybe?  It had a tomatoey sauciness, but just a hint of flavouring, also tasted some ginger and garlic.
bit of another veggie dish, mostly eggplant, with some onion and tomato
We shared our different fish entrees, so I also got a bit of trout, and I ate his lemon slice garnish, peel and all.  I think I might be low on vitamin C, since I'm not eating much fruit anymore.

more nuts, 1/4 cup about.
water

pastrami
cold steak
1/4 pickle

orange jello
whipping cream
chocolate green tea

3 strawberries chopped
whipping cream
chocolate green tea

water
 
bowl cauliflower curry
whipping cream


GLUCOSE LEVELS

11:35 am
before breakfast
6.8

5:42 pm
just after salad etc
5.7

11:47 pm
after cold meats and jello
5.6

2:45am
before bed
5.4

Food Log - April 17, 2012 - WB

Haha!  I like how the commentary bitchslaps the author of this article  that tries to call out Gary Taubes for being critical of medical science's credibility when it comes to nutrition. Dude instead gets called out himself for  his slack strawman criticism.

Today I was reading about low carb desserts.  I realized I could get creative cooking low carb cheesecake and other sweets if I want.  I made some jello in celebration of that.  :D

I made the salmon salad, and Carbo Face made the chicken and mushroom supper.  Mushrooms are about my favourite food, and I'm thinking maybe it's because they're fried in butter.  I stole a bite of his mushrooms and remarked how much more buttery they tasted.  He said, I added more butter.  Genius!!

I'm wondering what the calorie content of my meals, but I'm not interested enough to be inputting them to sparkpeople, livestrong or whatever.  I figure my menu will change to reflect more variety once I get familiar working with low carb choices.  Like tonight I told him, isn't there some dish with chicken and mushrooms and sour cream and tomatoes and wine?   Chicken Paprikash?  Or is it a beef dish I'm thinking on?  Beef bourguignon?  Anyhow.  I'm no longer all mournful and thinking of how booooring it is to not have hunger making food taste good.  I can figure out how to make it taste good with FLAVOUR.

btw, FAT is soo flavourful.  It's awesome not being afraid of fat anymore. And maybe not salt either.

 I should be eating like my ancestors.  Probably you should too.

So remember to spice up your food!



WHAT I ATE TODAY 

12:40 pm
2 eggs
1/2 small tomato
1 green onion
spinach
50g cheddar
1 1/2 slice bacon
bacon fat
2 cups coffee

7g


5:20 pm
can of sardines

7:10 pm
50g lettuces
60g cucumber
1 cherry tomato
2 T daikon
6 capers
salmon
2 T creamy cucumber
30g  mozzarella

7g

10:10 pm
55g boneless chicken thighs fried in butter
120g mushrooms fried in butter
20g spinach with butter
1/4 Claussen dill
water
green tea

3g

water
Om tea 

12:30 am 
orange sugar free jello

I think the jello made me hungry, because I wanted more food almost immediately after eating and finally caved. 


1:06 am
slice cooked ham
kraft single

3g

TOTAL = 20 g

BLOOD GLUCOSE

12:07 pm
before breakfast
6.9


6:54 pm
before salmon salad
5.4


10:05 pm
before chicken and mushrooms
5.6

1:30 am
5.6

Food Log - April 16, 2012 - WB

Carbo Face was doing some reading on aspartame and I guess although it doesn't have any carbs, the sweet taste can create cravings for carbohydrates.  I think there's summat to that, so I'm cutting back on the diet drinks.  Though I did buy 20 boxes of aspartame jello this morning.  What can I say, it was on sale.  Besides, I'm not going to be sipping on jello all day long.  I miss dessert and sweet things, and in this initial going for 20g of carbs per day stage, I can't eat much fruit either.  Jello will have to do for satisfying my sweet tooth.

Another interesting bit, just looking at food can stimulate insulin levels.  Your body is primed by images and even just thinking about food can have your body dumping insulin into your bloodstream in anticipation of food.  This is why you get hungry when you see food.

I did notice yesterday, when eating grapefruit, that my tongue seems more sensitized towards natural sugars.  Ruby grapefruit is pretty sweet to begin with, but really, it was like eating an orange.  And even the little bit (1/4) that I had gave me a sugar rush.

And finally here's the poop talk.  I have been having yucky poops!  Like super dense turds that sink and are poky on my poor butt when they are exiting.  This must be because my diet has the ratio of protein to carb so skewed to the protein side.  I'm definitely going to be having more salads and high fibre carbs.

My goal is to have some fibre with each protein meal, and also to cut back on the protein some.  I think I went overboard in the beginning because I was used to eating lots based on the carb fuelled appetite.  As time goes on, I'm adjusting my portions to the idea that I get full on much less.

I'm thinking down the line, maybe I'll even throw in some fast days, maybe once a month, or every 2 weeks, maybe even once a week, if I take to it.  I used to think OMG how can people do that?  I'd literally collapse from hunger.  It seems doable now that I'm not taking insulin.  Low carb stuff doesn't pump up my hunger neither.

GROAN!

Carbo face brought home a scone he got for free, and we both had a nibble.   I declined the free pastries, but I was kinda glad he didn't because that little bite tasted SOOO good.  But now I feel like what the hell?  Why did I do that?   It's much easier to say no to eating carbs when they aren't in your house.

Also, the BMI (body mass index) is bull!

I'm still making my meals too big, and still wanting to clear my plate, not stopping when I get full.  I didn't realize how ingrained it was for me to serve portion sizes that no longer fit my appetite.
 
WHAT I ATE TODAY

1:15 pm
soft tofu
soy, sesame oil & seeds, chili sauce
4 radishes
berryblossom white tea

4g

3:40 pm
2 slices ham
1 kraft single
3 cups mixed salad greens
2T Ceasar dressing
1 cherry tomato
1 cucumber fingerling
berry blossom white tea
11g

5:45
boiled egg
cucumber fingerling
salt
green tea


7:05
2 eggs
20g spinach
25g cheddar cheese
2 cherry tomatoes
1 green onion
bacon fat
25 g cheddar

5g

7:50 pm
1/4 dill pickle

1g

8:05
bit of scone

I'm gonna guess 5g and hope that's not undershooting.


10:00 pm
steak
spinach
mushrooms
butter

5g


11:26 am
7.7

1:09 pm
after walk, before breakfast
7.3

3:38
before ham cheese, salad
6.1

6:40 pm
after boiled egg
5.6


3:00am
before bed
5.4

Food Log - April 15, 2012 - WB

I am having to put a period at the end of the Induction. label, because otherwise auto complete makes it into pre-induction.  What the hell?  I hate when something that is supposed to be a shortcut turns into a huge pain in the ASS!!!

I weighed myself when I woke up, and I'm down to 168.5, I was 177 at last Sunday's weigh in, and before that my highest weight was during my last period, at 185.  I've lost 8.5 pounds this week and 16.5 lbs total.

Bleagh.  I went off the rails today.  Just a little bit of added carbs along the way got me all the way to 35!  And I'll probably want to eat again today before I go to bed.  Dang.  I don't quite have the hang of balancing the carbs out, and I haven't had the foresight to buy enough variety in low carb fruit and vegetables.  Cauliflower and greens are the big winners.  Cucumbers, strawberries too.

I'll figure this out though.

Today I hit a wall in terms of feeling very bored with food.  I miss the roller coaster ride of eating carbs.  My meals used to be so much more enticing.  I don't even feel hungry anymore....well I do, just my hunger is so slack in comparison.  I can understand those people who forget to eat now. 

WHAT I ATE TODAY

2:00 pm
3 eggs, scrambled
50g mozzarella
2 breakfast sausages
2 slices bacon
butter
1/2 cup ice blue kool-aid
2 cups coffee

5 g 


4:00 pm
1 spicy thigh - Church's Fried Chicken
1/4 grapefruit


11g


6:07 pm
1/2 can chili sardines

 2g

7:30 pm
1/4 cup cashews
1 cup ice blue Kool-Aid

7g

9:40 pm
5 strawberries

3g

10:00 pm
1/2 package firm tofu, fried and marinated
soy
rice vinegar
chili sauce
minced garlic
2 1/2 cups raw cabbage - stir fried til tender then with tofu and marinade
1 cup ice blue Kool-aid

8g

12:30 am
soft tofu
soy sauce
sesame oil
chili sauce
sesame seeds
cucumber
water
green tea

3g


BLOOD GLUCOSE LEVELS


1:03 pm
before breakfast
7.3

3:57 pm
before chicken
6.7

12:27 am
before bed
5.1

Food Log - April 14, 2012 - WB

I had some carb cravings today.  Maybe it was going to the theatre and smelling all the popcorn, or maybe it was not being able to buy anything when I went to the cafeteria because the vegetarian meals were so goddamn carby.  I could have bought some boiled eggs but fuck that.  I wanted that spinach curry and rice, or some of that tamale pie.

This isn't going to be as easy as I thought.  I know this food will kill me, but it tastes so damn good!!  I think a carb addiction might be harder to kick than heroin.  At least heroin isn't available EVERYWHERE you go, nor is it constantly being advertised.

Oooo I like this song.  This is my carb free anthem.  I will stay out of the cave of carbs!
 

9:10 am
2 jumbo eggs
2 slices bacon
2 cups black coffee

11am, 1pm
1/2 cup peanuts
1/3 cup almonds
1/4 cup cashews
about 1/2 of mixture = 8g so 4g at each time.

3:30 pm
Church's fried chicken
1 spicy back
1 regular back
can of diet root beer

6:15 pm
4 strawberries

7:00 pm
2 slices ham
1 kraft single
2 cucumber fingerlings

9:30 pm
 2 scoops curry
1 cup ice blue kool-aid made with splenda
2 T greek yoghurt

310g flank steak
1 whole cauliflower, chopped, leaves and stems too
4 small zucchini unpeeled
1/2 large onion
bunch of baby carrots shredded - 1 cup?
2 stalks celery
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 can coconut milk
2 T beef tallow
2 T chicken fat
1 T spicy tuna oil
8 pepperoncinis
garam masala
turmeric
some other curry powder mix

12:15
smoked salmon
cream cheese
green onion
alfalfa sprouts
capers
green tea

2:45 am
1 stick pepperoni
22g havarti
1/4 ruby grapefruit
 
BLOOD GLUCOSE

9:06 am
before breakfast
6.6

3:48 pm
after chicken
6.0

9:00 pm
before curry
6.8

9:44 pm
after curry
6.1

4:34 am
before bed
8.9

whoops!  I forgot to post this before I went to bed.  Doh!

Food Log - April 9th, 2012 - WB

What I Ate Today

11:20 am
2 large eggs, basted in bacon fat
2 slice sourdough toast
2 teaspoons raspberry jam
1oz cheddar cheese
2 cups black coffee

2:20 pm
1 cup romaine lettuce
4" cucumber
1 strip bacon
1 hard boiled egg
2 baby carrots
1 oz Havarti cheese
2 T Ceasar dressing
roasted rice green tea

5:30
5 breakfast sausages
1 cup steamed broccoli and cauliflower - mostly stems
sausage gravy
UK chicken wing hot sauce
water

8:00 pm
4 oz strip loin
1 1/2 cups cauliflower
butter

12:30 am
2 oz Havarti

Blood Glucose

10:40 am
7.3

Damn.  I was hoping 40 units of NPH would mean I would wake up with a lower blood glucose reading.  I guess I'll have to take more than 40 when my bedtime reading is 6.2. 
Oh well.  I'll see where I'm at tonight and try again.

I'm planning to have some toast and jam with my eggs this morning, so I'm going to take some insulin utilising my typical formula of roughly 1/2 of my reading.

Insulin 35 units Toronto


12:28  pm
after breakfast
6.9

meh, it's that's higher than I wanted.  I either need to take more insulin for the that amount of carbs, or eat less carbs. The latter makes more sense though.  Soon...soon soon, I'll be ready to take that step.  I'm still very attached to carbs on a taste bud/habit level.  I'm reluctant to eat them much of the time.  And when I do decide to have some, I'm conscious of the fact that the fructose is very bad for my liver.  Still, once they go in my mouth, all that gets forgotten in light of the taste.

2:16 pm
before salad
6.2

3:45
after salad
6.8

I feel sleepy and sore.  I'm wondering if the roasted rice in the green tea has any carbohydrate value.  My period could be affecting me too.  And Carbo Face was talking about this flu like effect that can happen when you transition to a low carb diet.

I'm going to have a nap and then a shower.

5:22
before sausages
5.4

6:45
after sausages
7.6

8:00 pm
before steak
7.1

9:30
after steak
5.9

10:13
before walk
5.5

11:28
after walk
5.1

12:50
before bed
5.5

Insulin - 40 units NPH

I want to wake up under 8 so I'm going to take 40 units again.  I'm 7 points lower, so I figure the same amount of NPH will do the trick.

I can't remember the last time I tested my blood so often.  11 readings!!!  Maybe when I was first diagnosed, but I doubt it was this many.

Oh yeah, did about a 1/2 hour walk took about an hour but there was sitting on swings and benches in there too, or just standing around looking at the water and stars.  I hear Venus is going to disappear so I was looking for it.


Weekly weigh in - 177

The Benefits of a Low Carbohydrate Footprint

I'm getting more into the idea of eating low carb again.  There are a lot of pluses to maintaining a low carb diet.  One of them is simplicity.  One the one hand, it might feel like deprivation because you've eliminated such a multitude of foods, but the flip side of that is that it's much easier to make choices.   You don't have to think about whether something is a good deal, or if it's healthy.  You don't even have to begin to  sift through the marketing claims of whatever food product, because you only have one criteria to measure.  Is it low carb?  No?  Then get outta my face.

Once you wrap your head around the idea that high carb food is unhealthy, it's like you're a Food Terminator.  You have to switch on your google vision and check the food's metrics.  Does it measure up as edible, or will it be red flagged - toxic.

I'm getting into the groove of things.  In the beginning, I'll be doing a lot of measuring and blood testing, figuring out how my body responds to different levels and kinds of carbohydrates.  I'm finding it alternately tedious and interesting tracking my foods and blood sugar levels so meticulously.  I feel like I'm my own science experiment.  I expect this degree of attention will wane as I learn how my body responds to the changes.

And actually, it was a segment on 60 minutes last week that got the whole low carb business rolling with me again.  Robert Lustig - Is Sugar Toxic?






I almost deleted the show without watching, and I'm so glad I didn't.

April 6, 2012 Food Log - WB

I've been experimenting with my insulin dosing the last few days. I want to see what happens when I don't take any insulin.  My theory is my basal dose, usually 100 units, is too high, and that it's driving my appetite above and beyond what it would be minus the insulin.

I went low carb Wednesday, kept it under 20 grams total.  My glucose numbers were very good, hovering between 4 - 6 the whole day, except for the morning.  

When I woke up it was bit high 6.5,  and 1 hour after eating breakfast, I went up to 8.2, so I gave myself 20 units of Toronto.  I finished the day at 6.2 and woke up 8.4 the next day.   I think even if I eat low carb Bernstein style, meaning 30 grams or so a day, 12 per meal max and 6 in the morning, I might still need to use some basal overnight.  

It'll be interesting to see what happens when I completely emigrate to decarbiNation.

In the meantime, I'm still eating carbs.  I cleared a whole lot out of my cupboards, but I kept some that I like and want to eat.  I'll see how they affect my blood sugars.  I hope to be able to eat some of the carby stuff I'm used to, but I'm prepared to ditch what spikes me.


What I ate today - Wheat Belly

water

2 eggs, basted
2 small breakfast sausages
1 slice bacon


2 cups coffee


slice of fruitcake


slice of cheddar


5 peanuts


2 slices sourdough toasted with butter
4" English cucumber


green tea


diet cola


1/4 lb hamburger patty
1 oz Havarti cheese
1 large slice sourdough, cut in half
lettuce, tomato, mustard, mayo, ketchup, pickle


1/2 slice sourdough with butter


1/2 cup Neapolitan ice cream


4 pieces preserved lemon & ginger

Popcorn
1/4 kernels oil popped
 approx 3 cups popped
2 T melted butter
salt


1 cup cauliflower
5 breakfast sausages
sausage gravy


diet cola


2 slices ham
1 slice processed cheese
1 slice sourdough bread
mayo mustard
2 leaves romaine lettuce


1 cup kombucha



Glucose levels/Insulin doses


4:24pm
before eggs
8.9

Insulin - 60 units Toronto

7:36pm
after cucumber sandwiches
6.5


11:07 pm
after hamburger meal
7.9


3:08 am
after sausage meal
7.6


5:59am
after ham and cheese sandwich
8.2

Insulin - 42 units NPH


Right now my sleep schedule is turned around and I'm falling asleep as the sun is coming up.  I prefer my usual sleep schedule with my sleep window falling roughly between 2 and 10am.  It'll likely fall back into pattern soon though.

Introducing Wheat Belly and Carbo Face

The Last couple days I've been thinking about giving up carbohydrates and how that will affect my life.  I am sick of being sick.  I have a host of chronic illnesses that seem to stem from the fact that my body does not process carbs well.


My partner is healthier than me, but he too has health issues.  He's mainly concerned with losing weight.  Like me, he's struggled with his weight, most of his life.  I'm overweight too, but I have lipodystrophy and the fat in my body is mostly internal adipose tissue, and especially in my liver, there is tons of fat.  I used to feel like there was nothing I could do,  that I straight up had a wonky body that needed tons of meds, but the feeling of helplessness surrounding my health has dissipated.  Like in the movie I was watching tonight, Henry's Crime, where Keanu Reeves's character says,


"I used to go along with everything.  I didn't feel like I could change it."


Now I wonder why I felt that way - so resigned to my fate.


Well, maybe think about that later.  For now, I'm just glad I have this feeling of empowerment over my health.


My goal in starting this blog is to motivate and track our progress while we change what we eat and do.  We're gonna shed the habits surrounding food and lifestyle that aren't supporting health and replace them with eating patterns and exercise routines that are easy to live with long term.  I want these changes to be enjoyable.

All this was prompted when Carbo Face cued up this YouTube interview where Gary Taubes  explains how insulin is used to store fat in the liver.

I have type 2 diabetes,  and I've had that diagnosis for the past 10 years, yet it took a random youtube video for me to get this information. Even though I've been seeing tons of doctors, often more than one specialist a month, I've never had one tell me, well that insulin you're taking  - THAT's why you have fatty liver.  Well maybe it's not that simple, but I mean really.  If just once, a doctor had straight up said, carbs turn to fat because of insulin, well maybe I'd have chosen not to eat carbs instead of taking insulin.


Anyhow.  This is where I'm at right now.


Still eating carbs, but doing it in a conscious way where I'm saying goodbye to the foods I've loved that haven't treated me well.  They've been abusive, so I'm thinking on divorce.  First we'll go for a trial separation, then we'll try a couple dates and I'll see how they treat me.


 I'll be doing a weekly weigh in,  and keeping daily food and medication logs, and also note whatever extra effort is made on the exercise front.


Wheat Belly

182 lbs

waist 45
hips 37
neck 16
bicep 11
thigh  18.5

Carbo Face

220 lbs

waist  47
hips    41
neck   16.5
thigh   24
bicep  14


Here's to a healthier future.