Three weeks in

[Lila]

Hi...am three weeks wheat free.  Doing low carb (25g net carbs/day).  Weight loss very very slow so far.

[Rita]

Welcome Lila!  Congrats on going 3 weeks so far.


Have you increased your fat intake?  Be very liberal with that fat.  Butter, bacon, egg yolks, coconut oil, olive oil ....    all  good, and will help you feel full and will help the weight come off.

[Lila]

Yes, full fat everything.  I feel so guilty using full fat cheese. 


Have found some wonderful recipes on Gourmet Girls Cook that are absolutely delicious.


I keep reading about excellent success stories and am a big discouraged.  I have a dr. appt later this week, so we will talk about T3 this time instead of TSH.  I have several articles to show him and hope he will change up my meds.  Maybe that will make a difference.

[Jan in Key West]

Welcome to the forum Lila! Listen to Rita and ramp up the healthy fats....and while I know it's hard to wrap your head around, once you reverse your thinking, it gets much easier! Another thing that helped me was downloading a carb counter and journaling my daily food consumption. When I started WB, I THOUGHT I was fairly low carb already but then realized my morning smoothie consisted of over 27 net carbs alone.....Sheesh! And then there's the fruit.....


After reading and listening to all the testimonials, it seems women have a harder time with weight loss overall than men. Are you on any meds that might impede the process?

[aspexil]

Yes, full fat everything.  I feel so guilty using full fat cheese. 


Have found some wonderful recipes on Gourmet Girls Cook that are absolutely delicious.


I keep reading about excellent success stories and am a big discouraged.  I have a dr. appt later this week, so we will talk about T3 this time instead of TSH.  I have several articles to show him and hope he will change up my meds.  Maybe that will make a difference.

Just give this time.  I did not see results until about 6 weeks in when (by coincidence) I had my blood work done and my triglycerides went from 196 to 139.  Weight loss started about the same time like crazy and in the first 4 months I lost 6" off my waist.  I've never seen that happen on any other diet.  And I was eating bacon and eggs for breakfast every morning. 

[Barbara from New Jersey]

Lila,


Everyone is different and loses weight at different rates.  We all have learned about the food combinations that work for us and those that don't.  We are constantly tweaking our diets and refining them.  This WB way of eating goes against everything we have heard about what to eat.  There is an explosion of unhealthy foods available everywhere.  How to navigate the advertising and learn all about the sugars and other chemicals in those products is something you develop as time goes on.  New recipes and ingredients are an acquired skill as you learn what recipes you like and those you don't care for. 


After 3 weeks, your body is just beginning to adjust.  Give it time.  Drink lots of water to help flush the toxins out.  Check Dr. D's list of supplements that are helpful.  If your carbs are highly glycemic, you will not encourage your liver to burn fats instead of sugar.  If you are drinking alcohol, you liver will process that instead of fats.  It takes days and days to recover from a drink.

[Suzhookem]

Lila ~ Welcome to the forum! I had been wheat free for a year before I joined this group and I've learned so much. The success stories, support and camaraderie here have been great. I look forward to your successes. Going wheat less for 3 weeks is the hardest and you made it!

[Lila]

Thanks, guys.  The wheat free part is really not so hard and for sure my binges have disappeared.  Just hoping the binge-free part lasts. 


I did have an opportunity to eat out at breakfast and luncheon meetings--the breakfast was easy with eggs and crispy bacon (and I checked to make sure the eggs didn't have filler, as sometimes is the case in a buffet line).  Lunch was harder--had to pass over the fish with unknown sauce and chicken with unknown sauce.  But the Brazilian roast beef with onions (and thankfully no gravy!!) was amazing.  And a nice garbanzo bean & squash salad with (amazingly) no dressing. Easily skipped dessert and rolls.


Did you guys find that you enjoy so much more what you eat?  Seriously I used to eat so much that I was miserable and couldn't stop.  Now I can actually stop eating when I'm full.  Yesterday I got full on raw cauliflower. 


I've also given up my artificial sweetener and diet sodas.  Exclusively drinking water, black coffee and unsweet tea.


I think the hardest part is not having alcohol.  I'm trying to abstain completely until I get in a weight loss mode.  I do like (bourbon & diet coke) cocktails or white wine, especially on the weekend. 


Wish me luck having my thyroid talk with my doctor tomorrow.  Hope he doesn't find it offensive that I'm bringing in medical journal articles.

[Lynda (Fl)]

Welcome, Lila.  You are doing great so far.  Don't be discouraged, sometimes it takes awhile to get your weight to move.  It took me a year and a half just to stabilize mine!  If you have thyroid problems, that just might be why your weight loss is difficult.  I can't count the times my dr. and I have had 'that thyroid talk'.  We are having it again next week.    Hang in there; you'll continue to feel better and better.

[Lila]

Had the T3 talk today.  Dr. is adamant that T4 converts to T3 and if TSH is normal all is well with the world.  He said losing weight is just not as easy as that (are you kidding me--as if I didn't know).  He did say he was sorry but adding T3 to my current 150g T4 won't work.  He did not order anything other than TSH test for my next visit.

Not sure why a doctor wouldnt be willing to even try something different

Disappointed and thinking about getting independent lab work. Maybe self medicating...

[Lynda (Fl)]

I know what you mean, Lila.  My dr. seems to think like yours.  He has just now taken my T3 and T4 and we will fight about the results next week.  From the books I've read, it really isn't that simple and there are situations that will give you normal TSH and you are still a mess.  At least you have the T3 and T4 results, which is better than I did for years.  Makes you want to slap them just to wake them up, doesn't it?

[deanna in AR]

My doc didn't want to order the additional tests either. After asking him more than once, he did. Then he really didn't know how to interpret them...just said they're in the "normal" range. So I started asking for an Rx for Armour Thyroid instead of Synthroid. He always said no. Finally I said: why don't you just let me try it? He did but he had to call the pharmacist to check on dosage. I'm on Armour now and still don't know how well I'm doing except that I'm having more hair growth at my hairline on my forehead. He did all the tests again this year, but I still don't know how to interpret them. Some or all of us are definitely out here on our own. Hoping that if we make the move we're anticipating I can find a naturopath or something in that area.

[Lila]

Actually, Lynda I don't have T3 and T4 numbers.  He only does TSH and has ever since my very first visit 5 years ago (when he ordered a more comprehensive set of tests as I was a new patient then).  My TSH was 1.71, "well within normal," he said.  Dr. Davis says we should look for "ideal" rather than "normal," and anything over 1.50 is indicative. 


I wish I knew how to find an MD who would more fully test.  If it comes back normal, then you haven't lost anything except $$.  My doctor says that if I'm not having symptoms (such as temperature preference and hair loss), then the hypothyroidism is well-controlled and he's done a good job.  I otherwise like the physician's practice, and I have liked him (thought he was very scientific until he poo-poo'ed the journal articles I brought him this morning).


Really, I don't see any harm in adding T3 to my T4 prescription, even if just for awhile to see if there's an affect in my ability to lose any weight.  Funny he didn't have any problem writing a script for Metformin (off label because I'm not diabetic or pre-diabetic) to see if it would help me.  It didn't and made me very sick most mornings.


Sorry for venting y'all.  I'll be looking for other solutions.
 

[Barbara from New Jersey]

Lila,


It is very depressing not to find relief anywhere.  Most of the doctors either don't know or don't want to know any new way of handling a problem.  Your health complaint is ignored, your "symptoms" are considered psychosomatic and you are written a script for a pill that doesn't do anything or referred to someone else.  Endless useless batteries of tests determine nothing and if some anomaly is found, they will cut it, burn it or poison it  Making you well is never considered.


This is why those of us who have been there and done that are thrilled to find relief by not eating grains and sugars even if we were told to eat these items abundantly.  Thanks to Dr. Davis' book and his blog, we've taken it a step further and developed a sense of community here to give support, information and perhaps another way of looking at the problem.


So cheer up!  Keep looking for yet another doctor.  We've all had the same type of problem.

[bill]

Lila:

I'm sorry to hear of your obstinate doctor.

According to what I've read, you need to know T4,
T3, Reverse T3 levels also.  TSH is virtually
meaningless.

Some people don't convert T4 to T3.  My
doctor told me that just today.You
may be one of them. 

What city are you in?  I go to a great nurse
practitioner who really understands this stuff
well.

Hope you figure it out.

[Lila]

I'm in the Atlanta area and work at a university.  I'm going to order some tests from LabCorp and then go to the campus physician--maybe she and I can have a chat.

[Suzhookem]

Hi Lila, glad you're taking your health into your own hands. The makers of Synthroid donate big time to medical schools and the only thing they're taught is TSH. My insurance company won't even pay for my Armour. Have you considered supplementing with iodine? I take Iodoral, only 1 in PM. I used to take it twice a day. Might be worth looking into. Hope you find a new doc so you can say goodbye to your current doc! Sounds like he deserves it.

[deanna in AR]

So cute Lila! It's fun to see faces...I may do mine.

[Lila]

LOL--that was a photo taken at our vow renewal in Hawaii this summer.  35 years.  I may post one that has my husband's mug too--it is really a cute one.  I like to see faces too.

[deanna in AR]

I love it Lila! You can see why when you look at my bearded DH...

[Jan in Key West]

I LOVE the photos ladies....always nice to put a name with a face! I may post one with my husband too....he's a lot prettier than me!

[Linda R]

Well, since many of you changed avatars, I did also, BUT, since I am the most non-photogenic person ever and never allow anyone near me with a camera, I put Harley's baby picture in my profile.
Harley was a tiny, little guy when I rescued him from the street 3 years ago. Now he is a handsome, big strapping fellow, probably 10-12 pounds, and runs the house!

[Jan in Key West]

Linda....You are so wrong....I'm the one that always comes off looking like the Jewish mother of the last supper!  But as long as your feline is going WB....we'r all on the same page!

[HungryinTN]

All of my pictures are sooooo old.  If I were to use them on a dating site I'd get accused of false advertisement for putting up pictures of a slender, (relatively) fit 24 year old instead of my dumpy post-divorce, pre-WB self.  I think there are all of two pictures of me over 30 or over 200 pounds (and only one is both).

[Lila]

It is funny that my feline IS wheat free.  In fact, is the reason that I'm wheat free.  We thought he was diabetic this summer and when I did my reading on causes/treatments, I read that all the wheat and grain fillers in dry cat food is what makes most cats diabetic.  Thus, feline diabetes is almost 100% preventable.  So he is now wheat free (hasn't lost an ounce, I'm afraid, but did not test positive for diabetes) and so am I!


Am loving the pictures, even the precious kitty.

[Lynda (Fl)]

Wow, even Harley takes a better picture than me!!  That was amazing about feline diabetes.  We should all take a page from his book.

[deanna in AR]

Jan, glad to see the pic w/ your hubby, but I can't see all your face

[arlin]

It is funny that my feline IS wheat free.  In fact, is the reason that I'm wheat free.  We thought he was diabetic this summer and when I did my reading on causes/treatments, I read that all the wheat and grain fillers in dry cat food is what makes most cats diabetic.  Thus, feline diabetes is almost 100% preventable.  So he is now wheat free (hasn't lost an ounce, I'm afraid, but did not test positive for diabetes) and so am I!


Am loving the pictures, even the precious kitty.

Soon after going wheat free ourselves, we put our 11 year old Welsh Corgi on a wheat free diet as well. She seems to be thriving on the new diet! Her coat is shinier than before and she seems to have more energy. She's definitely lost some weight. I wish I'd lose mine as fast as she's losing hers!  I wouldn't be surprised if this adds a few extra years to her life.

Loving all the pics!