Who Knew?

Over the years I have read so many low-carb and paleo books that I should be a complete expert regarding this way of eating. NOT!

So I have not been cheating at all since November 1st. Mid-December I decided to make my very own beloved german red cabbage. I controlled all the ingredients: red cabbage, onions, apple cider vinegar, bacon fat, lard, salt and pepper. I decided not to add apple. Made 8 - 1 cup servings some of which I froze.

I ate 1 cup of red cabbage daily with all my other foods and each day my feet and ankles swelled, I gained 1 lb every day for 5 days, cravings started kicking in and ended up scratching my head trying to figure out what it was about the red cabbage that was causing all these symptoms. After all, it's one of the low-carb darlings as well as blueberries, bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, etc.

Don't know why I waited the 5 days, but then I did 2 - 24 hr fasts eating nothing but eggs, cheese, coffee and cream and dropped the 5 lbs and my feet went back to normal.

Still trying to figure out what triggered the inflammation, I accidently came across a thread on a low-carb board that spoke to Fructose Malabsorption. The poster stated that she had this condition and listed some of the low carb fruits and veggies that contained high levels of fructose.

My red cabbage, onions and apple cider vinegar contain high amounts of fructose to which I am very sensitive: one of the few women that suffers from gout. Was I so naive and dumb that it never occurred to me that veggies could also contain fructose? I guess I was.

I have now properly researched this and compiled a list of fruits and veggies that are low in starch AND also LOW in fructose.

Live and learn!

November was fantastic

November update

Total lost: 12.4 lbs

Stats:  Fat 75%  Carbs 5%  Protein 20%

Notes:
1. ate a few more carbs early in November
2. by late November ate very few carbs, mostly meat, fish and eggs
3. mid-November added a 36 hr fast weekly
4. decided to keep my foods simple, no low carb replacements for frankenfoods
5. am feeling great
6. seems like metabolism is kicking up a notch as I'm jumping around doing stuff just to move
7. Inflammation has gone down (I can tell my the no-swelling in my feet as I slipped on my winter boots yesterday - my feet look normal again)
8. Did NOT cheat once this month, woo hoo

November was a fantastic month and I hope to duplicate this in December

Lifelong search

Low-carbing has given me back my health. No longer plagued with migraines, depression, arthritis, high cholesterol, bloating, inflammation and other health issues, I am extremely grateful to have found this WOE. However, at my age and metabolic condition, low-carbing has been unsuccessful in contributing to weight loss and loss of cravings.

SO..., I've gone back to meat, fish, eggs, a daily coffee with cream and an occasional onion. Started on November 1st and all my cravings have vanished, I eat once or twice a day and have lost 5 lbs. The edema in my feet has vanished and I have been able to put on my winter boots with no problems so I can shovel the tons of snow off my car and take it out for a spin before my auto mechanic gives me shit for letting it sit during cold weather.

This diet needs to be tweeked by everyone because everyone is different. I found that I can't tolerate whey protein and coconut oil so I've switched to real meat/fish and butter and lard. I can tolerate my one cup of coffee a day with cream. Right now I've got a beef stew in the crock pot with 1/4 onion and no other veggies.

Hopefully, this can be sustained until I lose all the weight I need to lose. When that happens, I can then decide if I want to go low-carb. But for now, it's mostly meat and eggs.

August Update

I actually made it through August with only 1 little cheat which is great for me. Monthly stats are as follows:

Fat 73%
Carbs 9% (including fiber)
Protein 18%

Average of about 30 carbs  and 1600 cals daily

Checked urine with ketone strips and definitely in ketosis.

Dropped 5 lbs. Don't you love being an overweight, older women when it comes to weight loss? If I was a young lad I would have lost at least 25 lbs.

Found seasonings for beef and pork that do not contain wheat or msg and enhance the taste of the meat, which had been a problem for me in the past. How ironic, I can eat liver by the ton with no problem but the smell of cooking beef turns me off. No more.

Propaganda against meat

Read this on BBC online today:

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-28797106

Why is it people lie so much? They talk about being a carnivore so they increase their meat intake and continue to eat buns, bread, etc with it. Then they write a piece for the BBC.

A carnivore is an entity that eats meat/fish/eggs/animals exclusively with a blade of grass here and there just for the fun of it.

I emailed the author asking him how he could have made those statements without actually being a carnivore. Let's see what the response will be if any.

I was a carnivore for 6 months once until I fell off the wagon. Those 6 months were the best in my life and I'm striving to get back to feeling as good as I did and I'm almost there.

Meryl Streep is some lady

I'm not usually a follower of the stars and don't know most of the younger ones as I don't watch TV or go to movies and they (the stars) just don't interest me. However, I inadvertently came across some information about Meryl Streep that made me respect her even more than I did. She's been married to the same man since 1978, has had 4 children with him, has not had her breasts enhanced and, as far as I can see, has not had any plastic surgery. The latest picture of her shows every wrinkle she has earned and no make-up. She sure is a class act.

When I was young...

When I was young I seemed to thrive on new and exciting things. There was constantly something happening in my life that caused happiness or sorrow. There was never a dull moment.

Now that I'm much, much, older I am blessed with very little drama in my life now that I don't have to worry about my parents. Little things such as filling my planters with pansies in the spring makes me happy. Deciding when I'll make an appointment to get my teeth cleaned, when I'm going to do the laundry, what book I'm going to read next, when to go shopping or when to take my car out for a spin on the highway to get it de-carboned, is about as exciting as it gets. Yet I love the sheer lack of drama and stress in my old age very much.

Some of it is due to lack of relatives and living alone. Sure, I meet my sister and/or friends once a month for dinner, talk on the phone to another friend who lives in the next province once a month, keep tabs on my relatives in Ukraine via Facebook, but other than that, I'm all alone and loving it.

Since my eye surgery I've had my nose in several books non-stop. An amazing author I've recently discovered and who is brilliant is Alan Bradley. First novel The Sweetness at the bottom of the pie won several awards and the heroine (Flavia de Luce) now has a fan club world wide. Check it out, I promise you won't be disappointed.