MY FIRST ARTICLE AT CARBSMART COM

Well, Ive been keeping a little secret from my readers.  I didnt want to say anything, in case nothing came of it, but when I met Andrew DiMino at the Low Carb Meet & Greet this summer, he asked me if I would be interested in writing for his online magazine, CarbSmart.com.  I thought about it for a few days, wrote an article and emailed Andrew, saying, "The answer is yes and here is an article for you to consider."  And guess what!  He liked it!  It went through a little editing with Dana Carpender and was published very late last night.

I am so tickled to be joining the ranks of Andrew DiMino, Dana Carpender, Amy Dungan, Jimmy Moore and others, in writing articles about the low carb movement and my personal journey in weight loss and improving health.

This is my article to the left, entitled "The Carbiest Generation." Here is a short excerpt:

When future generations look back upon today’s generation, what will they see?  What will set us apart in the timeline of human history?  What contributions have we made to humanity that will define us in a word or a phrase?  Some people in the Low Carb Movement think we will be known as “The First Modern Generation Where the Children Had a Shorter Life Span than Their Parents,” but that’s a little wordy.  I feel a better name would be “The Carbiest Generation,” because, when it comes down to a pretty important aspect of our humanity – our overall health and very existence — this encompasses all that has gone wrong.  Blame it on the food guidelines that have been handed down to us by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and promoted by our government starting in 1977.  That’s when George McGovern took it upon himself to change the way America eats by vilifying saturated fat and cholesterol and glorifying carbohydrates.  In case you don’t remember what happened back then, or were not even born yet, this short video by Tom Naughton summarizes the dubious wisdom and eventual adoption of the tenets of The McGovern Report.  (Read the full article here.)

Read More..

Boost Results on HCG with Lemonade Diet Powder

Im going to let you in on one of my best kept secrets for success on the HCG Diet. Its like a cali kicker, except it tastes better and you can use it at any point during phase 2. Its the perfect remedy for the day after a cheat, a stall, water retention due to menstruation, and hunger. Yup. I wasnt kidding when I said its one of my best kept secret. So what is this magical secret? Its actually not magic, its Lemonade Diet powder. 

So heres a little back story. Lemonade Diet is a versatile supplement that can be used as a stand alone diet (for which youd follow a protocol), or it can be used as a supplement to support whatever diet youre on, which how I use the Lemonade Diet. It was formulated based on the concept of the Master Cleanse so it contains all of the health benefits of lemon juice and cayenne pepper, but it adds in raspberry ketones, chickweed, kelp, burdock root and papaya extracts to give you an array of health benefits in an easy to make, natural, lemonade. 

What are the benefits?

I visited LemonadeDiet.com and did some research, and according to the site these are the two main benefits for HCG users who want to get the most out of their HCG Diet:

Detoxes - The ingredients in Lemonade Diet powder are fomulated to help your body release toxins that have stored up over time. It also helps promote digestive health which was a big perk for me as an HCG Dieter. 

Boosts Metabolism - Not only does metabolism increase after doing a cleanse, but the raspberry ketones in Lemonade Diet powder give you the extra kick you need to continue seeing great results even after a stall.

So how does it work with the HCG Diet? 

You can drink it daily to supplement the HCG diet. Basically would just make the drink as recommended on the label and continue taking your HCG drops and following the protocol.

-or-

If you dont want to drink it every day, you can drink it during stalls, the day after a cheat, or during your menstrual cycle. 

What about the taste?

Ive tried some pretty gross stuff to try and get over stalls. Ive done a Cali Kicker and even shots of apple cider vinegar, and while they worked, they were hard to stomach. Lemonade Diet tastes amazing. And not only did it taste amazing, it works. Lemonade Diet is my go to now. Never again will I spend time making a Cali Kicker or plug my nose to take down a shot of apple cider vinegar.

Where do you get it? 
You can learn more about Lemonade Diet powder and purchase it by clicking here or the image below.

Read More..

MY FIRST BLOOD KETONES TEST

Ive had my blood ketones testing monitor for a week now, but I just got the strips last night.  This morning, I tested for the first time and threw in a blood glucose test just for good measure and to get a more complete picture of what is happening in this crazy body of mine!

Getting all the supplies together was a little overwhelming.  So many packets and boxes and instruction sheets!  And what you see here does not even include all the stuff for the glucose monitoring.  You can use this meter for ketones and glucose, but then you have to recalibrate it for the two different tests.  I already have a separate meter for glucose, so I decided to just use the two meters side by side to make the process go faster.

And talk about drama!  I have not pricked my own finger for almost a year, and I got scared at the last moment.  Since the meter was new and had to be set up and calibrated, it took me awhile before I actually did the pricking, and the whole time my anxiety level was going up and up.  What a baby I am!  I finally worked up the nerve and did the test, trying to make one finger prick give me enough blood for both tests.  After doing the ketones test, the little, tiny hole in my finger snapped back shut and I had to prick another finger for the glucose test.  When I test again tomorrow morning, Ill turn the lancet up a little bit to make a better hole so I can get a bigger drop of blood.

So, at long last, I know that I am in ketosis!  According to Phinney and Volek, nutritional ketosis is achieved with a blood ketone level of between 1.0 and 3.0.  This morning, mine was 3.1.  Success!  I really wish I had tested it before I started this new way of eating, so I could see the change as it happened, but I was too impatient to see some results.  I guess I made the right choice, but it still would have been nice to know.

My fasting blood glucose this morning was 81 and my 1.5 hour postprandial (after eating) was 76.  Both excellent numbers!  Especially considering that, when I was testing last summer, my fasting level was an average of 88 and my 1.5 hour postprandial was an average of 95.  At that time, I was eating an average of 102g of fat, 71g of protein and 49g of carbs.  Since then, which has resulted in these new, good numbers, I have almost doubled my fat, decreased my protein by a third and cut my carbs a little more than in half.  And Im losing weight and inches and feeling good.

Ketone Meter and Glucose Meter - Im locked and loaded!

I only bought 20 ketone testing strips (at $2 each), so I will not test every morning.  I will test for the next five days, and, if I am seeing consistent results, Ill back off and only test every three days or so, and then maybe once per week.  Im not going to post my results here every day unless something goes wrong, so if you are following my results here, assume that everything is fine unless I tell you different.  I will post my overall results on Sunday, as usual, along with blood ketones and glucose.

Here is an amusing little side note:  Well, maybe "amusing" is not the right word.  Anyway, I officially entered menopause 11 months ago, at the age of 55 and 3/4.  Day before yesterday, after being in deep nutritional ketosis for about a week, I exited menopause.  And Im heading in the opposite direction!  Sorry if this is too much information, but, at the age of 56 and 3/4, I am all "meno" and no "pause."  I wonder if anyone else doing this has had a similar thing happen, or if this is just my crazy body being crazy once again.

So, in honor of my backwards journey through time, enjoy Joan Baez singing, "Forever Young."



RELATED POSTS
Testing Blood Ketones with Jimmy Moore
Higher Fat and Lower Protein - Week 1 Results

Read More..

My First Anniversary of Starting the HCG Diet

Looking back over the last year, I am in awe. My life is completely different. I flip through pictures and cant even believe how much Ive changed.

One year ago, this was me. I was obese with high cholesterol, a BMI of 50 and a high chance of developing diabetes. Not only was I a wreck physically, but emotionally I was dealing with a lot. But I guess looking back, I wasnt "dealing" with anything. I had all of these wounds that I was trying to heal with food, and it wasnt working.

Family members would bring my weight up to me, tell me how I needed to eat better and exercise or I wouldnt be happy. And while I knew they all meant well by what they were saying, it felt like nagging. It felt like they were embarrassed of me.

But then, on one particular night I stared in the mirror, tears streaming down my face and I realized, it wasnt my family who were embarrassed by me. I was projecting my feelings on them. I was actually embarrassed of myself. I was embarrassed that I had let things go this far. I was embarrassed that I would do anything to avoid a flight of stairs. I was embarrassed that I couldnt deal with my life without food. Mostly, I was embarrassed that I thought I deserved to be unhappy because I was too scared to strive for anything else. In that moment five little words whirled around in my brain then tumbled off my tongue between sobs, "You deserve so much more."

When you have as much weight to lose as I did, starting can be overwhelming. However, I am blessed to work for a company that specializes in nutritional supplements. One of those supplements happens to be HCG Triumph. I didnt know much about the diet but Id heard all the controversy. I had seen people do the HCG diet then gain all the weight back. But as I learned more about it, and as I talked to customers who have been successful using HCG Triumph, I knew that not trying it would be a missed opportunity. HCG Triumph made the idea of losing weight less overwhelming.

Starting the HCG Diet was hard. Not only was I making major life adjustments, but I was getting rid of the one thing I could hide behind. And maybe those who have never been overweight wont understand that, so let me explain. Being overweight was the reason I sucked at dating. Being overweight was the reason I didnt have a lot of friends. Being overweight was my excuse for everything that wasnt peachy in my life. So to get rid of it? I was going to have to face the fact that fat or not fat, I may still suck at some of the things I sucked at before. Scary.

Then there was the fear of failure. What if I started the diet and failed? I could hear the girls I went to high school with just saying, "Poor girl, we knew she couldnt stick to it."

But those five little words kept coming back pinching me, "You deserve so much more."

I did four rounds. I cycled through Phases 1, 2, and 3 of the HCG Diet four times over 293 days. I dieted through birthdays, holidays, breakups and funerals. I had some extremely good days and some extremely bad days. In total I lost 100 pounds and have been maintaining that weight loss for about 3 months.

I wish I could say it was the good days that taught me the most, but thats not how life works, right?

I learned incredibly valuable things about myself on the days when I was the only one in the office not eating a catered lunch, or when I would stay in on Friday nights just so I wouldnt be around friends when they hit up Betos at 2 a.m.. And the most life changing lessons were learned when I was on the brink of giving up but pushed through all of the pressure, all of the hurt, and all of the frustration.

The HCG Diet has taught me a lot of things, like how to measure food, count calories, keep a food journal, but most of all the HCG Diet has taught me who I am.

-I am strong.
-I can do anything if I am willing to put forth the effort.
-I am capable of dealing with life without using food as an emotional crutch.
- I am competitive
-I am beautiful regardless of what the scale says.
-I deserve so much more than Ive let myself believe.

Looking ahead I can only imagine what challenges and achievements the next year will bring. I plan on maintaining my weight loss and I am focusing on developing long term healthy habits.I try to eat clean, and I am falling in love with running.

To all the people who read my posts, who share my story and who send me emails, I truly thank you. Youre the ones that keep me going on the hard days.

And if youre out there reading this thinking that I am somehow an exception and you could never do what Ive done, youre wrong. You can do it. Remember, you deserve so much more.

Where do you want to be one year from now?

Read More..