Well, I can do it for a couple of days and I lose a lot of water, then I crave carbs so badly, I lose it. I binge and that is not good. I do know I have to limit the carbs, but I cannot give them up completely.
Lots of people swear that Atkins is the greatest. It scares me that you can eat so much fat on it. Supposedly you are not hungry because of it. Anyplan that limits fruits and veggies, doesn't sound right to me. Too many nutrients are eliminated from your diet.
Since I haven't been able to drop any weight, I guess I can't say too much. I am just happy that I have been sort of maintaining my weight. I just have to keep making the best choices I can and not obsess over the things I cannot or shouldn't eat.
I fell off the low carb wagon yesterday and feel real bad today. My husband was very ate gettting back and had no dinner so I went out with him and just ordered an apple muffin and decaf. (But they brought a BASKET of them and at gun point made me bring them home. LOL!)
I woke up early as the nausea hit from low blood sugar and ate another to get over that hangover and now I have felt crummy all day.
After not eating much sugar, it is very obvious I should never eat the stuff. But it is my "drug" if I chose to have one...don't like alcohol or anything else. Just don't get by with this now.
And it bloats me out....
I am the carb police but I am turning myself in. :)
Anyone else want the job?...
Nancy, looks like we'll be sharing a cell. I, too, am fully aware that sugar is poison for me - literally poison, yet I, too, fall off the wagon. When I did a low-carb program a few years ago, I felt so much better. The one good thing that came from introducing that program into my life was turning me off to bread, BUT I never even ate sweets the way I have started craving sweets since menopause.
Problem is, I love the carbs. I am finally off sugar, and I think it must be addictive because I had a hard week or so - wanting to climb the walls - then the cravings stopped. That doesn't mean that at the first sign of stress I won't wish for a quart of chocolate ice cream :wink: but it helps to know that there is some withdrawel to deal with and work through it.
I really don't feel like an adult today and want my mommy to bake me some cookies :)hugs, jeanne
If the triglycerides aren't over twice the HDL, it is ok according to Atkins.
I am trying to give up wheat--so hard--yesterday instead I hate a "million" carob covered peanuts to compensate. Wheat was one of my food allergies ten years ago and I only am supposed to eat it every four days at most, but I think it made me bloat up too.
I know it is the carbohydrates that make the cholesterol go up and I get checked the first part of July.
It is frustrating because biscuits, bread etc. are comfort foods but I think they are making me fat and have less energy that I could.
If you think the Atkins diet is hard, look at the Mayo one--it is zero carbs. Don't know if I can do that, but want to restrict carbs more.
I am making a brocolli, cauliflower cream soup....need to eat more vegetables I think and not rely on bread so much in my diet....
Sugar now tastes too too sweet.....cookies are not that good to me anymore...but biscuits now that's a different story.
Wish me luck in giving up the white flour stuff...
However, I've heard that the diet endorses (besides tons of fat) large quantities of grapefruit, and I talked to a sales clerk (in her 50's) who told me she lost 30 lbs. by eating three grapefruits every day--like medicine, she said. I actually tried eating a few after listening to her try to convince me, but I just could not eat that many, especially without sugar!
How are you? Good I hope...
My doctor gave me a sheet or rather sheets of instructions called the New Mayo Clinic Diet. It says "You are not counting calories on this diet. You are eliminating carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are starches and sugars."
And "This diet is given to heart patients needing to lose weight fast for by-pass surgery."
It allows certain vegetables, meats, fats, and sweeteners (Equal and Sweet-n-Low). Certain vegetables are not allowed like corn, white potatoes, peas and beans (starchy).
Breads and grains are off limits. No fruits except grapefruit which is l/2 three times a day.
Regarding fat, it seems to have the same approach as Atkins. It says that the diet completely eliminates sugars and starches which are lipids and form fat. Fat doesn't form fat. It helps burn it up. You can fry food in butter and use butter--but do not use margarine.
It looks like this comes from a book called 14 Days to Dieting Success.
I think this is way too strict for me to attempt. I do plan to restrict wheat and see what happens. It is one of my food allergies that I never eliminated.
It says in 2.5 months, you should lose up to 52 pounds!. You are on 12 days and off 2...until losing the desired weight.
I think you could lose drastically on this if you could do it...I have willpower but this is harder than Atkins.
This is an example of three meals:
Breakfast: l/2 grapefruit or 8 oz. of juice 2 eggs any style 2 slices of bacon l cup coffee or tea (no sugar or cream)
Lunch: l/2 grapefruit or juice salad ( any kind of dressing) meat ( any kind any amount)
Dinner: l/2 grapefruit or juice meat (any kind any amount) vegetables (nonstarchy)
Bedtime snack: glass of tomato juice or skim milk
You may double or triple amounts of these foods and eat until you are full.
I think you would lower cholesterol and weight on this because you are eliminating breads, bagels, sugar, etc. But it would not be easy....but they say you would not get hungry. Wonder what maintenance would be after losing...
I am sure the Mayo Clinic would not want to be connected to this as it is nontraditional.....
Way too strict for me....I don't think it would hurt you short term though.
I'm with you, Karen..........I see food, and I eat it 
I don't eat when I'm depressed, like a lot of people do...I eat when I'm happy.........the better things are going, the more I crave something to eat..............and if I have to choose between being depressed and miserable, or being happy and gaining a few extra pounds...........oh,well..........I'll take feeling good any day :cool:
Love and hugs :cheesy: Ann
I asked my pharmacist yesterday about grapefruit with Norvasc (a calcium channel blocker) since I have heard it can make meds stronger in effect (and be dangerous) like you say.
He said only cholesterol medication was affected.
He must not be right on this. ??
I do love grapefruit generally and would like to have it at night when I take my Norvasc. What do you know about other hypertension drugs like this? I will ask my doctor when I go back but just wonder about this....
I would say your pharmacist is definitely mistaken. My Procardia comes with a large warning about not using grapefruit, and my oldest daughter has two medications (one for hypertension and one for sinus...I can't remember the names, but they're different from mine) that have the same warnings. I've also read about several others that can be a problem, too. That's the thing that I hate about having to take medication...........they're always finding new things wrong with them..........and it usually takes someone getting very ill or dying before they discover it. However, my blood pressure runs so high since meno that I really have no choice.....sigh 
hugs, jeanne
Anyway, it sounds terrible. I think that the nutritionists who advocate a change in lifestyle and a healthy, balanced diet for your entire life are more on the right track, as who could stick to something like this for any length of time? ( I think by the fourth grapefruit, I might throw up.) I think eliminating simple carbohydrates would always be a good idea, but not whole grains like oatmeal, brown rice, lentils, all of that healthy stuff that the very long-lived cultures eat (think how thin the average Japanese woman is--I guess their bodies don't think carbs are actually fat!). The only "fad" diet I ever do is based on that old cabbage soup diet (I don't really follow it, I just make up a big pot of soup, which has like no calories, and eat a bit every afternoon to prevent overeating at dinner.
The problem I have is not with the type of food, it's really a will-power or disipline problem. I definitely eat to feel better emotionally or even just because I like a particular food. So it is always a battle.
How much weight do you think you need to lose (I'm wondering since that diet says you can lose such enormous amounts so quickly)? Now if I could only lose 10 pounds...(like my life would change or something--ha!)
This Mayo thing reminds me of the strict part of the Atkins diet. Too strict for me to try....
If you read any of Atkins books, he says we need to restrict carbs drastically only if we are insulin resistant. This varies from person to person in how much we restrict it to lose. In other words, some people cannot lose on Weight Watchers or sensible plans because they gain on even modest amounts of carbs....that is who the Atkins approach is for. He is a cardiologist and sees good results.
I exercise faithfully and still need to lose about 30 or would like to. I have gone up two sizes in 10 years with no change in sensible diet. I was on a low fat low calorie all that time. That is what made me wonder about low fat.diets ...it made my cholesterol and weight go up.
This diet however is too strict. I need my oatmeal and beans etc. But I do think restricting sugar and white flour is beneficial. I think the insulin resistance is there because diabetes is in my family.
When I had a glucose tolerance test many years ago, I could not think at all and felt confused during the test. The numbers were normal.....but I did not feel normal...but they did not go by how I felt but I did learn I am very sensitive to refined carbs.
I am drinking some stevia sweetened lemonade right now--it is pretty good...
I
Well, I still think most of the weight we gain at this age is metabolism changes (that's what I tell myself, anyway!).
Hope this helps.
I called back my pharmacy and a different pharmacist answered. He said my Norvasc is not on the list but keeps seeing more and more med's added. So as a precaution not to eat grapefruit within 6 hours of my medication. So that would make it ok for breakfast possibly but not for lunch or dinner as I take the Norvasc with my evening meal.
My husband likes to peel grapefruit at night after dinner and take all the sections apart and all that membrane stuff out and they are great.....I don't have the patience to do that.......and I guess I will pass on that....
Would be nice to have someone peel grapes for me too...LOL!
I had success with lowering cholesterol by doing a modified form of Atkins. I cut my former carb intake in half. This experiment and what I did will be in a Rodale book out later this year along with what many other people have done for cholesterol..
With some experimenting I found I only could start to lose on 40 grams of carbs a day and that has been difficult to do consistently as I can go to 60 or 80 and maintain general good health. This is what I learned in reading Atkins' books and my own trial and error.
I have made cookies out of stevia thinking I would not gain on them and I would bloat on the flour...Still better than sugar and flour together though.
I have dreams of those famous donuts--Krispy Kreme...probably don't taste as good as I remember....right...
"Hold The Mayo: That Diet Name's Counterfeit'Mayo Clinic Diet,' A Myth That Won't Die, Gets New Life On The 'NetFor more than 30 years, tales have circulated of miraculous results from this special diet -- "Lose 52 pounds in 2 1/2 months!" -- "Eat until you're stuffed!" -- "You can double, or even triple the meat you normally eat!
Sound too good to be true? It is.
It's called the Mayo Clinic Diet, or sometimes, the New Mayo Clinic Diet. But it has nothing to do with the Mayo Clinic. In fact, the famous clinic -- with hospitals in Minnesota, Florida and Arizona -- has gone to great lengths to distance itself from the counterfeit diet plan that carries its legendary name.
"There is no Mayo Clinic diet," the real clinic's Web site proclaims. Words echoed by the clinic's spokesman, John Murphy. "There is no Mayo Clinic diet," he said when contacted recently. "That's really all I can tell you."
This so-called diet has been kicking around for no less than 30 years, promising to melt away pounds at the rate of more than several dozens a month. All of this is supposed to take place while its adherents gorge themselves on as much meat and other high-protein, high-fat foods they can put away.
Real Mayo Clinic dieticians field hundreds of questions about the bogus diet each month -- so many, in fact, that the calls are automatically routed to a recorded message at (507) 538-0287. The message tells all callers that, yes, there is no such thing as a Mayo Clinic diet.
Most alarming, say Mayo Clinic dieticians, , is that some callers are claiming their own doctors recommended the plan.
"We want you to know that this diet, which emphasizes eggs, meat and certain 'magical' properties of grapefruit -- did not originate at The Mayo Clinic. We don't use it. And we don't endorse its use," says a clinic dietician. "Please share this information with friends and your doctor."
If the Mayo Diet wouldn't die before, the explosion of the Internet has only give it more life. While the diet's instructions formerly circulated on photocopied sheets passed by hand or fax, they now show up as postings on Web sites, multiplying their exposure.
The Myth Behind The HoaxThere is a fanciful tale behind the fakery. The urban legend has it that this bizarre diet was first prescribed for heart patients at The Mayo Clinic who had an urgent need to shed major poundage before bypass surgery could be performed.Sounds enticing to those of us who would love to lose plenty of pounds and still be able to "bypass" surgery -- liposuction surgery.
That tale is picked up on one Web site that posts the so-called Mayo diet -- the personal home page of David Miles Viers, a consultant from the Chicago area. Viers distances himself from the diet with this disclaimer: "Mayo Clinic Does NOT, I REPEAT...DOES NOT endorse this diet. They claim no responsibility and neither do I." But the next sentence offers tempting results: "In 2 1/2 Months You Should Lose 52 Pounds."
The version that Viers posted is basically three meaty meals accompanied by the magical grapefruit. The instructions assure dieters they are allowed to eat red onions, green onions and many vegetables. The only foods they're banned from eating are white onions, potatoes and -- that dreaded saboteur of weight-loss efforts -- celery. (Click here to read the version of the diet that Viers posted)
In an e-mail interview, Viers explained that he got the text of the diet instructions from his wife, who got them from a co-worker, who in turn got them by fax from a friend, and so on.
"My wife and I tried the diet and liked the results, so I posted the diet on my personal Web site because everybody we knew wanted a copy of the diet," Viers wrote. "After about 12 close friends and relatives asked me for the URL for the diet, I decided to add it to various search engines. "My only goal was to put the information out there to desperate people, like myself. What they do with the information, unfortunately, is beyond my control," Viers added.
Viers said he didn't research the medical soundness of the diet, but his wife said her friend had been told be her physician that the diet was a good one. He added that he receives several e-mails a week from people curious about the diet.
"I tell each person to talk with their doctor before trying a diet like this. In NO means am I an expert on nutrition or diet. I am just a distributor of information that people obviously are looking for," Viers said. "I am seriously thinking about getting rid of the diet from my Web site now, because I do not want to upset anyone, especially the Mayo Clinic (which is why I put that disclaimer on the Web site to begin with).
Hard To BelieveGood intentions aside, looking at the diets dos and don'ts, two problems jump out at the most casual observer:The diet condones the consumption of mega-quantities of fat and cholesterol -- both artery-cloggers, not cleanersThe diet promises major weight loss will take place in mere days.A more sensible approach, according to The Mayo Clinic, is to forego miracle diets promising rapid weight loss,'' in favor of sensible eating and a balanced diet with a more healthy weight-loss goal of no more than a pound a week.
A similarly sensible approach is suggested by Karen Fleischer Freeman, a practicing dietitian in La Jolla California who is associated with the American Dietetic Association.
"The only way to lose weight is to take in fewer calories than you expend," she says. You aren't doing that, she points out, if you're gorging yourself on high-calorie, high-fat foods on a diet that doesn't even address the other end of the equation. If you're taking in that many calories, she says, you're going to have to do some marathon exercising to make up.
Plain old polyunsaturated common sense should tell you these claims are 100 percent bogus. Eating lots of anything, especially the bacon that's not only tolerated but actually highly recommended, rarely leads to weight loss.
Also suspicious is the Mayo diet's heavy reliance upon the ingestion of grapefruit.
The grapefruit is supposed to act as a catalyst to ignite the fat burning process. There is no medical evidence to support this thesis, says Freeman. but then, there is no evidence supporting any other aspect of this diet either.
"This is (the Atkins diet) revisited," she said, adding that she knows of no legitimate dietitian who would recommend gorging on a high-fat food while passing up vegetables known to contain vitamins and other beneficial nutrients. Another problem, experts say, eating only meat and grapefruit means forgoing foods high in fiber, and fiber has proven health benefits.
Not Entirely WorthlessIs there anyone who could benefit from this plan?Well, says Freeman, "Maybe someone stuck at the Antarctic who gets a shipload of grapefruits every month and doesn't have anything else to eat except, maybe all the bear or beaver he can shoot."
To sum up, it's unclear how this diet took on the name "Mayo Clinic," but what is clear is that the real Mayo Clinic wants you to know it has no connection whatsoever with the diet that bears its name.
Perhaps the creators of this diet, so in love with fat and cholesterol, meant to call it "The Mayonnaise Clinic Diet." That sure would have made the folks at The Mayo Clinic a lot happier.
This diet offers no variety of food choice. There is no balance in the amount of food you're allowed to eat from the various food groups, and there is no consideration given to the always sage advice that moderation is a good thing.
Is there a diet or weight-loss product you'd like us to scrutinize? E-mail your tip to dietdetective@ibsys.com."
Thanks for the info...it really is a very high protein diet and I can't tell it is that different from Atkins strict induction diet.
I do realize from this it is not connected to the Mayo Clinic....hope my doctor does not think it is...would like to think our doctors are not misguided about the origins of things...
Anyway, live and learn...
Plus, the exercise is really key. For me, weight training is the one thing I am consistent about, but I just hate aerobics. It seems more women enjoy the aerobics more than the weights, though. I've found that even though I have gained weight, it really doesn't look too bad (I'm hoping) because I am fairly "tight." In the fall I'll be walking more outdoors (too hot here to walk) with my dogs and maybe lighten up the weights at that time. Wish I knew how to swim!
I have heard of people who have followed the 'diet' strictly and the levels have gone up. My father was one of them. He was so "good" for 3 months and his numbers went up. It seems his body manufactured cholesterol because he wasn't getting enough in his diet. With all this...he never had heart trouble.
My point was...it may not be you and your diet why you are not having better results with diet and exrecise. It just could be your genes. It seems my family has inherited it also. So, we just do the best we can and hope for the best. We try to eat right, exercise, don't smoke, drink, and don't have any other risk factors, like high BP or diabetis. Taking all that into account, we might do ok. Just have to keep tabs on it.
I hope you can find what works for you...don't get discouraged. You are doing everything right even though you are having trouble with food allergies. Just wanted to let you know you touched me with your posts and I hope you are doing OK.
Hang in there!!
Grace
Go for it is my advice. Even if you don't learn for some reason, I bet you'd have a fine time trying :)hugs, jeanne
I ate a little sweet things at a party and I felt hyper after that and didn't sleep well. Sugar almost has the same effect as caffeine on me now. It has also triggered hot flashes for me too. Christiane Northrup who wrote the Wisdom of Menopause says sugar can trigger hot flashes also.
Anyway, I don't want to advocate the use of prescription drugs, neccessarily, but I just read an article that bupropion (aka Zyban or Wellbutrin) can be used successfully to control cravings; it has been used very successfully to quit smoking by many people I know.
So, for those of us with our Buddha bellies who know that we need to cut back on carbs, has anyone ever heard of this approach? Has anyone ever talked to their doctor about it? I'm thinking of asking my dr, perhaps for a trial of it, say 8 weeks. Does anyone have an opinion on the wisdom of that? All opinions welcome!
My question is --- does this diet work???? Even after a hysterectomy? I need hope -- anything that tastes this good makes me feel like I'm gonna balloon.
I just had bloodwork and my thyroid was high for the first time...he is changing the type of med. I have had no particular new symptoms though.
Also with problems in keeping the blood pressure down as low as it should be with meds and cholesterol creeping up, my doctor thinks it is insulin resistance and pre-diabetes. That is why even with a good diet and exercise I have trouble losing weight. There is much type 2 diabetes in my family.
He is prescribing Glucophage to help with preventing type 2 diabetes. It may help with weight if it makes my insulin more sensitive and less prone to storing fat.
Has anyone use Glucophage and had it help lose weight? It may even help cholesterol levels from what I read about it.
It usually is used for those already with diabetes but some studies show it helps prevent type 2 diabetes.
My blood sugar was okay but the hypoglycemia thing is hard to deal with. Maybe if I did not fluctuate so much with insulin levels I could lose some...
I already really watch the carbs...so frustrating!
Anyway, have you read about how taking 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon daily caused dramatic decreases in blood sugar levels in diabetics? That is a LOT of cinnamon! I've tried it, but probably shouldn't have put it on ice cream, right? I'm going to put it in oatmeal more often. You know, with my memory it may have actually been a whole teaspoon (it's probably out there on the 'net).
In addition, I read (I think in Dr. Duke's herb books) that, for reasons they do not fully understand yet, lemon juice added to ANY food decreases its glycemic level. Needless to say, I don't know how much lemon juice! (I've been putting it on pasta w/broccoli, stuff like that.) I just gather all of these things because of my husband's insulin problems (his triglicerides were 900 which they found were due to insulin problems).
I read about the Schwarzbein diet, too, and it sounds the best to me so far. I just couldn't get into the Atkins-dripping-with-fat diet. The Schwarzbein diet is high protein, but with lots of fresh veggies and complex carbs. Sounds really ideal for me (with a bit of chocolate cake thrown in).
I am very leary about the Glucophage but don't know what else to do to get my body to handle carbs better. I eat so few carbs; no sugar at all and little bread.....so frustrating.
I did some reading on the side effects and it scary, but thinking at the low dose of 500 per day which is l/4 to l/5 the dose for diabetes it might be okay. It depends on how the liver handles it and detoxes....
My doctor is not coming up with anything more natural than the diet and exercise I already do but I guess I could be even stricter...much more strict like Atkins.
I have ordered a book with a diet approach for insulin resistance but don't know if it is anything I don't already do. I remember the Swartzbein theories also....
Mainstream doctors just use drugs....can't get away from that. To do anything else you are on your own unless you go to a naturapath I guess....
I was wanting to focus on the aloe for my fatigue but maybe the way I handle sugar is the cause of fatigue as well...?
It is interesting about the cinnamon and lemon....You could put the cinnamon in capsules..!
How is your husband doing and what kind of doctor does he go to? Is he doing an all natural approach?
I have not tried any new meds yet....I am going out of town for the weekend and will wait until next week to change over to the new thyroid first. I do need to only try one new thing at a time. I don't like taking any drugs but am at a loss for what to do about my risk factors especially not being able to get my weight down more.
Hope you are feeling well these days!
Have you actually read and tried the Schwarzbein plan? She seemed to believe that doctors have created more Type II diabetics than they have helped. She also thinks some thyroid medications are very bad for you, contributing to high blood sugar and insulin resistence. She also thinks you shouldn't take your carbs too low, and maybe that's what you've done? She advocates 7 to 15 carbs per snack (twice a day), and 15 to 30 carbs per meal (3 times a day), for someone who is overweight and moderately active. Your carbs always have to be eaten with proteins and fats, to slow down the level of your blood sugar rising. That means that for a snack you could have a slice of toast loaded with natural peanut butter. Not a bad thing! However, you do have to cut out table sugar altogether, as well as artificial sweeteners, which she says do exactly the same things to your body as table sugar. Anyway, interesting plan, I've been following it for a week, I feel great, have lost a pound or two, have lots of energy, and know that I'm eating very healthily without too much effort.
My husband goes to an internist, who is a graduate of our very own Duke Medical School, so I guess she knows *something* and did finally solve his triglicerides (triglicerides are really affected by sugar/insulin problems) by trying different medications (it's actually a cholesterol medicine, not one of the common ones, can't think of the name). She's the mean doctor who looks exactly like a man and I was afraid was going to hit me when I forgot to tell her that we had mail-in prescriptions. I have been asking for the P.A. instead of her, lately. The P.A. is really naturally-oriented and is the one who told me that when I'm craving sugar to eat something *salty* and the sugar craving would go away (she'd heard this at an alternative health conference). It did work, but sometimes I eat the sugar just because I want to (I don't seem to have any sugar problems).
Calgaryamanda, I'm going to have to get that book by Schwarzbein. I read about it in a magazine, and as I said, it just makes complete sense to me. And I know complex, whole grains (I love quinoa) are supposed to be really good for blood sugar, since they have so much fiber. I hope the library has it because I've put a moratorium on book buying. The sad thing is that over the last 20 years I've probably read 200 health and diet books--it's not that I don't know what to do, it's that I don't want to do it! Give me chocolate or give me death-by-chocolate.
I really should read the Schwarztbein book just out of curiosity. When I had the amount of carbs you talked about, I had high triglycerides and gained weight like crazy. So I think I am insulin resistant like Atkins talks about. Now I have good triglycerides....but that is the only good cholesterol number right now....oh well...maybe the book has some different insights that I am not getting.
Wordgirl....you made me laugh about the chocolate. I took a box of chocolates to my 80 something year old aunt this weekend at an assisted living home. My brother told me that it makes her very happy.... She has had no problems with sugar or weight of all the aunts on my dad's side of the family. She tore into the box and gulped a few down. She has outlived them all on that side as she never did have the sugar thing. So I guess it does make a difference not to battle this particular thing.
Oh, I saw my diabetic brother this weekend when I went to my hometown....he takes two kinds of diebetic medicine...one of which is Glucophage so that made me feel better about trying it. He considers it a "wonder drug."
If you have read all those books, no wonder you are so smart girl.. ...I have read maybe 25 or so on nutrition. I am actually reading the last few books that have nothing to do with fitness or health but just fun novels....sort of nice for a change.
I had such a good trip by the way....I have wonderful brothers and we laughed a lot....someday we will retire to my old hometown area I think.
Dr. Schwarzbein seems to have all the answers to all your questions. She says to basically ignore cholesterol numbers. She says that lots of people with very healthy cholesterol have died of heart attacks, and lots of people with very high numbers have never had any heart problems. She says that cholesterol numbers are just a number, and don't tell you how that amount of cholesterol is going to affect your body. Also, when you had that smaller amount of carbs, and your blood sugar shot up, did you have the carbs with protein and fiber? Because, according to Dr. S., you should NEVER have carbs alone. Let me know,
Do you think you have insulin resistance? Now I can't remember back if you mentioned this or just going for weight loss and/or health.
The Schwartzbein plan is very similar to a book I read today called The Insulin Resistance Diet. by Dr. Cheryle Hart. It is for people that are prediabetic like me but not diebetic yet and want to lose and cannot seem to with regular dieting.
She too advocates what she calls balancing the carbs with protein and fat. I may have been eating too many fats as well in the past with salad dressings etc. going more by Atkins.
The only thing is she does use some "sugarfree" stuff which I gather includes Aspartame which for me makes me feel bad. She thinks if you have the artificial sweeteners alone without balancing with protein that it causes problems then because some insulin is released as well.
What do you think about stevia? Does Schwartzbein think it safe for people with insulin problems?
I think what you are saying with the Schwartzbein diet and this book on the insulin resistance diet is a very natural way of eating seemingly.
This way of eating would actually be more carbs for me and would be very nice.
Actually last night out I had chicken, some rice pilaf and green beans. I guess that was a balance but I also am keeping my portion sizes smaller. Atkins advocated much more food but I don't think that was working for me perhaps.
I am glad you are feeling good on this. That is the main thing....feeling good and then you don't need to eat carby stuff so much or crave it.
Keep me posted on how you do. I am rethinking all this diet stuff.
I am going to try this approach and just see how I feel.
Oh, my book said the Glucophage may be helpful for this condition also so I am not quite as wary. I will try this approach and see. I also want to have more energy.
Enjoying your posts... !
(Edited by salms at 11:50 pm on Aug. 27, 2002)
Eat Great Lose Weight is good but any of her books will help you get started. I do not eat all the fats she allows though...I still try to go low fat most of the time. I make great salads for dinner and I feel really satisfied after a meal.
I also like on the plan that you can avoid carbs at night which is recommended with menopause by Dr Northrup.
Good luck...
Grace
I like somersizing because you still eat carbs and you can eat a lot of fruit and veggies...I don't feel hungry on it. Just have to get over the carb cravings when they hit and I am having a protein meal.
I would think it is worth a try. Getting sugar out of your system is the best thing you can do now with menopause.
Good luck with the depression. Try to do some sort of exercise...it will help you feel better emotionally!
Hugs...Grace