There's HOW many carbs in that!?

I hadn't thought about it, but I'm surprised yesterday was the first time someone offered me something I didn't want to eat, and when I politely declined got the "Oh come on, one little XXX won't hurt you."

First off, why do people say that? Ok, I think it could be considered polite if the food is offered a 2nd time, in case the recipient may be shy about accepting, but after that, let it go.

But the idea that someone knows better than you what you want, and what will hurt you?

Actually, what springs to mind first are people who offered me a drink after I stopped drinking, and kept at it (they would always be drunk themselves) or worse, offering me cocaine. One guy got really aggressive about it, but that's another story.

No, that whatever it is you're offering me won't in itself hurt me. But if I eat it, it's going to take my body a couple of days to get back into ketosis. The next day I'm going to be getting random strong hunger pangs (for which I can eat something appropriate, I don't go hungry). The 2nd day I might be back on track, but I might not. Sorry, but whatever it is you're offering me that I don't want absolutely isn't that delicious.

I'm not just saying I don't care for any, I really don't want it, thanks.

(My following comments are regarding people who insist you try something and get pissed if you refuse) (but I am keenly interested in staying healthy, diabetes also runs in my family)

They are food bullies. I have an occasional problem with extremely low potassium levels...It usually means an ambulance ride to an emergency room. On one of those occasions, I was in a bed where patients were separated by only a curtain and you could usually hear everything going on around you. One woman came in after me, and she had severe breathing problems. It was stressful hearing her struggle to breath. I assume they gave her epinephrine or something, but it was good to hear her breathing improve, and eventually she was able to speak. She explained to the docs that she had been at a bake sale and bought a brownie after asking if it was home baked from scratch. She was assured everything was home made, but after biting into the brownie she immediately knew she was in trouble....Turns out some people think making brownies from a boxed mix is home made. She had a sensitivity to an additive used in boxed cake and brownie mix....it wasn't nuts or dairy.

People who insist you consume something you don't want to consume have got to stop doing that. I had a sensitive stomach for many years after my gall bladder was removed.....I was only about 27 when I had the surgery and very rich or very fatty foods would immediately cause major distress. The kind of distress that would keep me in a bathroom for hours. So when my mother-in-law would boil fatback into all he ******* veggies 'to season them' and be certain that I was just being bitchy and dissing her skills as a food cook, she would make me so ill it wasn't funny at all. So, don't force food on others, you might make them sick.

To continue on the last couple of posts. BTW I find the following quite funny. It's an observation of how deeply ingrained certain things are/have become.

A dear American friend is visiting from Mexico, where he now lives, and he brought along with him a Mexican friend, and her son.

They are all delightful people. Sometimes though, I just want to stare at them as in "didn't you just ask me that/didn't we just go over this?"

It's interesting because the actual subject of food or eating has never come up as a topic of conversation as a stand alone, but it's always there in the background (not on my end).

When they arrived, one of the first things my friend said was that he noticed I've lost a good amount of weight. He then said to his friend that I had changed my diet because of blood sugar issues. I added in "yeah, the only carbs I eat are vegetables that grow above the ground." She actually asked me something about that, so it wasn't as if she was paying no attention.

Now, these people are not assholes. They are both highly educated as well. At some prior time I had a converstaion with my friend where it came up how much better I feel, and that unless I'm actively preparing or eating food that I want, thoughts of it aren't even on my radar, which is literally about 95% of the time.

That's why I can't help but notice how these same people, who honestly aren't pushing, or trying to sabotage are unwittingly caught up in the "are you sure you don't want some?" mentality. There's this idea somewhere in them that I'm actually resisting something. My question is, even unaware, trying to be polite, why would you ask again a question which in your own mind is going to make this person have to resist more? Thankfully, resistence isn't even on the table for me.

So far I've been offered apple pie a la mode, some kind of cake a la mode, whipped sweet potatoes, grapes, chex snak mix, orange juice, ranch dressing (even though I had olive oil and vinegar), half of them with an "are you sure" before moving on. Weirdly, I haven't been offered a bite of their meat, or fish, broccoli, or eggs, or bacon.

Jesus, I realized just how difficult it must be for someone who is living what I think of as this "half life" or living on the edge of desire. The social expectation of offering food to someone has got to be painful to someone who is still running their body on some carbs, feeling cravings, trying "to be good" and refusing/resisting something their body is screaming for, because they are keeping themselves in constant withdrawl.

Yesterday I was dining alone with my friend, who was the one who offered me the sweet potato, then a taste of his apple pie. At the pie moment, I looked over, picked up a little glass bowl and said, "Craig, honestly, I have as much desire to eat that as I do to eat this bowl. This isn't food, and neither is that"

He finally got it.

To some extent, you just summed up why so many people are overweight and why so many who try to shed the extra find it near impossible, what with family and friends continually pushing it at them.

In the end, it works similar to the alcoholic or drug addict, learning to say no in a polite manner, trying to resist clobbering the person who keeps offering.

grr...at 2:40.

Update to the above.

Weight loss from Oct 2016 to this date, 8/3/17: 26 lbs total

It just keeps slipping off.

This video is great.

It address all the "experts" that claim eating a ketogenic diet is somehow dangerous, impossible to maintain, and that somehow not experiencing hunger for prolonged periods and no longer experiencing cravings is "cheating" the way things are "supposed" to be.

BTW, I love 3:06

Random bitch fest warning.

Let me say first though, that the following does not diminish my general admiration for physicians. Especially those who listen to their patients.

I had to switch doctors this year because of changing my insurance plan. Thank goodness next year I'll be able to switch back.
I've only seen this doctor twice. The first time I thought she had already made up her mind about me before she even entered the room and saw me for the first time. I thought that she was a bit of a bitch. Then I thought that maybe we just hadn't got to know each other yet.

Nope. She's a bitch, which is a personal thing, but worse, she spent the entire time with me today trying to cram me into some mold she thought I should fit. Finally, (yes and I know she's a doctor) she really tried to feed me a bunch of baloney, quasi threatened me, and dismissed me as if I was a 5 year old telling her stuff.

On my first visit to her in April, she didn't have my medical records from my other doctor, so I filled her in how I had become borderline diabetic, had started eating a keto diet, and how from my daily BG monitoring I was very hopeful, and fairly confident that my A1C had come down. BTW, it did, went all the way down to 5.4, totally normal.
On that first visit, she asked me when I had last had various screenings, like a colonoscopy. I said I didn't know when the last one was, but that my former doctor had told me I was going due for one within the year.
She: So when did you have your last one?
Me: I don't know, but again, Dr. L. said I was just coming up due for my next one.
She: When was that?
Me: When I saw her last, about 8 months ago.
She: And when did you have your last one?
Me: I don't know. You'll have to wait until you get my medical records. I'm letting you know what Dr. L. said.
She: Have you had one before?
Me: Yes! I've always followed all recommendations for having all screenings. I know I've had 3.
She: 3? That would mean you had some kind of problem. When did you have the last one?
Me: (internally) Jesus Tap Dancin' Christ. (out loud) You'll have to wait to see my medical records.

She basically rolled her eyes when I said I was eating keto, and didn't want to hear how I was now eating so many more vegetables, since I had cut out fruit, breads, all dairy except for cheese, sour cream, and cream, etc. She also obviously wasn't listening when I said how I had lost (at the time) 17 pounds, since I was sure I was actually eating more calories overall, what with all the fat.

Oh well, no biggie. I was really interested how my A1C would be come this month, October. A year since starting to eat keto.

These last 3 weeks have been challenging to me, what with travel, and coming back from my travel 2 weeks ago with a cold, the cough of which still lingers.

I noticied my BG in the last 2 weeks has definately gone up. I asked on a diabetic forum I frequent, and a lot of other members said that, oh yes, being sick will raise your BG, as your body is fighting being sick.

Plus, not feeling 100% has frankly made me not as conscientious about my diet. Nothing tastes good. It's not like I'm splurging on obviously bad choices. I've basically let some bread slip into my diet, in the form of "I'm too tired/don't care about eating, so I'll just eat that extra sandwich my husband made and decided he didn't want." The problem is that's enough to kick me out of keto, and then things just aren't right. I haven't been exercising the way I want, as I'll have coughing fits. Basically, just a crappy month.

So I go to my appt today with (as requested) a list of all my meds. Plus I jotted down 4 or 5 other items I needed to address/request. I walked in prepared.

Right off the bat, she acted (as I noted in another thread) as if I was asking her for meth, rather than an antibiotic for this cough that makes my lungs burn, keeps me fatigued and forces me to take cough medicine I don't want. I toughed it out this long knowing I'd be seeing the doctor, and hoping it would have gone away by this time. From past experience, I have learned lung things don't resolve quickly with me.

I finally just had to tell her I was tired of feeling sick, and didn't want to take another month to slowly climb out of this. I want to be aggressive and knock it out.

I then asked her to take GERD off my list of diagnosis since it had resolved itself since shortly after cutting out carbs. I quickly realized carbs had been inflaming my entire system.
She said, like she had on the first visit, that the GERD went away because I lost weight (now 25 pounds). I said I didn't think so, as I had developed GERD at least 12 or more years ago, when my weight was quite a bit less than it is now. I also added since I eat a lot of fat, you'd think I would get heartburn, but instead I go for many hours without eating (which in itself would give me heartburn), and then eat what is a pretty large calorie and bulk wise meal.
So now according to her, the GERD went away because "I wasn't eating all the time"

Ok, fine, whatever.

I then asked her for a prescription re a personal matter, and she asks "Is that covered by your insurance?"

Well lady, HTF would I know? Write me a script and when I get to the pharmacy, if it costs a million dollars, I just won't get it, and will find an alternative.

She then said she was taking pre diabetes off my list, as my A1C had been 5.4, 6 months ago.
I asked if she could wait to see what my A1C was this time, as I was concerned it had gone up.

She actually said "That doesn't matter"

It doesn't matter?! One time in the past, I don't know, 5 or 6 years, my A1C was in the normal range and you don't want to wait to confirm with a 2nd test? It doesn't matter?

I guess she couldn't contain her disgust with me not fitting into her agenda anymore. She asked "So what is this you're doing? Paleo?"

No. Keto. There is a difference.

"Well" she said dismissively, "That's not a good way to eat"

Me: Why?
She: It's not healthy
Me: How?
She: You eat a lot of fat.
Me: Yes. That's why my BG is normalizing, I lost weight, my brain is clear, and I'm much less stressed. When you did my bloodwork in April, didn't my lipid panel improve all around, as well as my BG? I don't think anything was out of range, and at least a couple of things were before.
She: Eating a lot of beef is a concern re cancer.
Me: I don't eat a lot of beef. I eat wild salmon a lot though. That has a lot of fat. Most of my fat comes from avocados and avocado oil, olive oil, and eggs.
She: High fat is associated with cancer.
Me: What kind?
She: Colorectal
Me: That's why I always get colonoscopies as recommended. (zing)
She: There are other ways to loose weight. Keto is all right to lose 5 or 10 pounds, but then you need to stop (yeah, and gain it back, and more)



Then, because quite frankly I was tired of her, I said. "Look, I know nothing I'm saying will make you tell me different. The thing is, I feel better than I have in years. I was always happy, but now I'm happier. You're not listening to me when I've said I'm eating this way because of blood sugar control. Losing weight was just a by product. My mother died of diabetes, other people in my family have it. Cancer doesn't run in my family. If I had to make a choice between having cancer, and diabetes, I'd take cancer. Isn't colorectal cancer one of the easiest to cure if you catch it early? I tried for years to lose weight, nothing worked, and I gave up on that. Now weight is coming off, and I don't really care. I just feel good. I'd rather feel good than follow these recommendations that never worked for me, and feel bad.

We didn't have much to say to each other after that.

What is so maddening is that there are physicians that have no issue with giving half asses advice that keep people on the constant edge of failure, instead of knowing how the body metabolizes fat so much more efficiently than other forms of food like carbs.

To celebrate my doctors visit, I came home and ate creamed spinach, an avocado, and eggs.

I then looked up colorectal cancer, and saw it's not just fat, but processed food that is a concern, and I eat a miniscule amount of processed food.

Jesus.
I just got around to checking my VM, and there was a message from the pharmacy saying they wanted to confirm the antibiotic as I'm allergic to what was prescribed for me. They had in the meantime called the doctor and had it changed to the doxy.

What she had prescribed would have sent me into anaphylactic shock. I had even verbally confirmed with the doctor while I was there what I was allergic to.
Thank God I'm going back to my former doctor at the beginning of the year.

Woot!

Just got my bloodwork back and it's better than ever.

Triglycerides low
Cholesterol low
LDL's low
HDL's high
Ratios terrific
For some reason A1C wasn't recorded, I'll have to check on that. I had a random glucose test since I wasn't fasting, and it was low...89

So much for the dangers of eating high fat.

Watched this interesting documentary of Netflix last night, see below.

I wish they had gone into the science behind it, I find that most interesting.

However, it still brings out some good information to the public.

The part that really made me think was if animals are allowed to graze in pasture rather than feed lots, gorging on corn (which they are not meant to eat) we wouldn't be depleting land. Pasture land grows perenial plants/grasses, which grow deep roots and prevents soil erosion. It creates a natural cycle of give and take. If you want to see that part, forward to around 1:05.

Bookmark to self

Starting taking MCT oil yesterday.

That is something I won't be touching. Painful allergy to coconut when ingested.

Yowzers, then stay away from that!

This is something you're supposed to start slow, taking a teaspoon a day for a week or so, then building up to a tablespoon.

This is to insure you tolerate it, (which you'll know within an hour of taking) and don't get "Disaster Pants" as it is called.

So far, so good.

What I've learned from my research...

Different brands of MCT oil have different combinations of C6, C8, C10 and even C12. Although many don't consider C12 a true medium chain trigl, and it was just arbitrarily put in that catagory.

The well reviewed brand I got has the C6, C8 and C10. It's the C6 that give people the issue.

If this goes well, I think I will try Brain Octane, which is made entirely with C8, which is converted in minutes into ketones, by passing the liver.

Just took an at home A1C test.

Results were 5.4 so in the normal range, not even prediabetic.

Will be going to see my doctor for annual within a month or 2, so she will be taking it there.

Happy with these results. Could not have done it without keto.