I have thoughts about calorie restriction. I have no scientific basis for this. I could probably scour the internet and find studies that back up my ideas, of course, but I'm not really interested in that. I also don't believe this is true for everyone, but I'm certain it's true for me.
I don't think calorie restriction is safe or healthy, for me at the very least. Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know. It's mostly an intuitive thing. I mean, I know I could probably drop some weight by restricting calories again. I bet it would be really easy to stick to 1300 calories on a low carb diet. But I fear what that would do to my health.
I'm 28 years old, 5'7, and 185 pounds. I don't track my calories every day, but once in a while I do, and on those days, they're about 2000 calories. If I was older, maybe post menopausal, I probably would have to be lower calorie simply because my hormones and metabolism wouldn't be the same as they are now.
I have a long history of malnutrition (eating a high carb, vegetarian diet, and making myself really sick with it). I know my body is still recovering from that, and I feel like calorie restriction would only hold my body back from healing itself. A healing body needs more nutrients and calories. Mine needs more protein. You wouldn't believe the muscle I've put on without lifting weights.
I'm also trying to conceive a baby right now. A woman's reproductive system needs to know that her body is well fed, that the baby will be well fed, or it's not going to cooperate. Chad and I have been trying for 13 months, with the only glimmer of hope being a possible early miscarriage (a chemical pregnancy) six months ago. I don't think we're going to conceive until my body has finished healing itself, and it's not going to get any better if I restrict calories. I also think Chad's body needs to continue to heal, too. He was pretty unhealthy before we started, and his body has changed dramatically since going low carb. He's leaner, more muscular, happier, and more energetic than he used to be, but I'm sure he still has a ways to go.
And besides, what do calories have to do with it? I think if you have a very deranged metabolism, yes, calories matter. But I lost weight as soon as I switched from a high-carb, 1600 calorie, vegetarian diet to a low-carb, 2000 calorie, meaty diet. And so did Chad.
So for now, I'm going to continue eating a lot of calories. I'm not concerned about losing more weight. Yes, at 185 pounds, that makes me overweight. As a matter of fact, my BMI is 29 or so, which makes me almost obese. But you know what? I managed to lose 90 pounds (I used to be 275). I have so much loose skin that I wouldn't be surprised that about 15-20 of those "overweight" pounds are actually extra skin. Not to mention the fact that I come from a family of big-boned women, with big feet, wide hips, broad shoulders, and large hands. Of course I'm going to weigh more than someone with naturally petite bones (such as my husband). And despite the fact I've been gaining lots of muscle (I can actually see the difference), I haven't gained any weight. So that tells me I'm trading in fat for muscle.
And I'm healthy, much healthier than I was as a low-calorie, high-carb vegetarian. Isn't that more important than weight?
Showing posts with label vegetarian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vegetarian. Show all posts
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Friday, May 31, 2013
Paleo Make Believe
Back in April, I read a post on Robb Wolf's blog entitled Veggie Burgers, Meatless Chicken and Paleo Bread. It was a pretty interesting argument against the paleo folks who accuse the vegetarians of being silly for eating meatless meat, because in all honesty, that's no different than paleo bread.
The most amusing thing to me was how annoyed some of the commenters were with how, OMG, paleo bread is so fake and why would anyone want to eat something that's not a whole food? And why are there only paleo treat recipes out there? And who would want to eat anything but hunks of meat and vegetables anyway?
I was a vegetarian for almost 14 years, so I get it why other vegetarians want to eat fake meat. I hated it when anyone would make fun of me about it, because they just weren't listening to me when I would tell them I wasn't a vegetarian because I hate the taste of meat.
Of course, I found out that vegetarianism wasn't doing me any favors, and I switched over to a low carb diet. And you know what? When I first switched, I needed those substitutes in order to stick with my new way of eating. I drank diet pop, and I ate low carb cake and sugar-free jello. It was a really hard switch for me, because I was addicted to sugar at the time. If I didn't have those low carb treats on hand, I'm almost certain I wouldn't have made it this far.
That's why it bothers me when people look down on folks who eat sugar free candy, or paleo bread. It's not your place to decide what another person eats, and if you make them feel like a failure because they're not living up to your perfect standards, then they won't stick with it. They'll think, "I can't eat this way if it means I have to give up everything I love. If I can't be perfect, I may as well not do it at all," and they'll quit trying all together. Isn't it more important that people are improving their health? So what if they're eating paleo bread or low carb cookies? It's their choice to make, and if it helps them make the transition, then all the better.
Also, to the commenter who complained that there are only paleo treat recipes on the internet... Seriously? How many ways are there to cook meat and vegetables? Who gets excited by pot roast recipes? Paleo/low carb treat recipes are popular because they're really hard to make and it's a niche category, whereas you can open any cookbook or cooking website and find out how to cook meat.
The most amusing thing to me was how annoyed some of the commenters were with how, OMG, paleo bread is so fake and why would anyone want to eat something that's not a whole food? And why are there only paleo treat recipes out there? And who would want to eat anything but hunks of meat and vegetables anyway?
I was a vegetarian for almost 14 years, so I get it why other vegetarians want to eat fake meat. I hated it when anyone would make fun of me about it, because they just weren't listening to me when I would tell them I wasn't a vegetarian because I hate the taste of meat.
Of course, I found out that vegetarianism wasn't doing me any favors, and I switched over to a low carb diet. And you know what? When I first switched, I needed those substitutes in order to stick with my new way of eating. I drank diet pop, and I ate low carb cake and sugar-free jello. It was a really hard switch for me, because I was addicted to sugar at the time. If I didn't have those low carb treats on hand, I'm almost certain I wouldn't have made it this far.
That's why it bothers me when people look down on folks who eat sugar free candy, or paleo bread. It's not your place to decide what another person eats, and if you make them feel like a failure because they're not living up to your perfect standards, then they won't stick with it. They'll think, "I can't eat this way if it means I have to give up everything I love. If I can't be perfect, I may as well not do it at all," and they'll quit trying all together. Isn't it more important that people are improving their health? So what if they're eating paleo bread or low carb cookies? It's their choice to make, and if it helps them make the transition, then all the better.
Also, to the commenter who complained that there are only paleo treat recipes on the internet... Seriously? How many ways are there to cook meat and vegetables? Who gets excited by pot roast recipes? Paleo/low carb treat recipes are popular because they're really hard to make and it's a niche category, whereas you can open any cookbook or cooking website and find out how to cook meat.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Sadness
I've been meaning to write a new blog post recently, but I've just been too sad to. I've been too sad to do much of anything, to be honest. I feel so hollow inside, and most everything seems pointless when those feelings take over.
You see, it was one year ago that Chad and I started trying for a baby. We did technically take one month off in December; we decided another September baby in the family would be a bad idea. Still, being back in the month of May without a baby in my arms or my belly makes me very sad, and I can't help feeling like I've messed up.
We seriously changed our diets about the end of September or the beginning of October. Before then, we were still eating wheat, legumes, potatoes, soy, seitan, with the once a week sugar splurge. We're not perfect now, but our diets are certainly much more natural. I thought it would only take a couple of months of eating this way to help us conceive. That's what I'd read, anyway.
But it's been six or seven months, and we're still babyless. It almost makes we want to give up trying to eat healthy natural foods completely and just go back to the junk I grew up on. Comforting junk. What's the point, after all, if it doesn't help me get what I want the most?
Sigh. But I guess I need to be patient. I malnourished my body for 14 years as a vegetarian, and for a year and a half or two years, I was a low-calorie dieting vegetarian, which I bet was even more stressful for my body. My body probably just needs time to fully heal. And maybe Chad's does too. My cycles have been changing since I started eating better. Last month was the very first month of testing that I managed to get a true positive on an ovulation test. Before, I would just get a near positive. Actually, when I first started testing, I would only get a line that was half as dark as the control line. And in case you didn't know, to be a true positive, the test line has to be as dark or darker than the control line.
I've been improving in other ways, too, but I won't go into those. Most people don't appreciate the details of a woman's cycle.
It's just so hard to stay positive after a year of waiting.
You see, it was one year ago that Chad and I started trying for a baby. We did technically take one month off in December; we decided another September baby in the family would be a bad idea. Still, being back in the month of May without a baby in my arms or my belly makes me very sad, and I can't help feeling like I've messed up.
We seriously changed our diets about the end of September or the beginning of October. Before then, we were still eating wheat, legumes, potatoes, soy, seitan, with the once a week sugar splurge. We're not perfect now, but our diets are certainly much more natural. I thought it would only take a couple of months of eating this way to help us conceive. That's what I'd read, anyway.
But it's been six or seven months, and we're still babyless. It almost makes we want to give up trying to eat healthy natural foods completely and just go back to the junk I grew up on. Comforting junk. What's the point, after all, if it doesn't help me get what I want the most?
Sigh. But I guess I need to be patient. I malnourished my body for 14 years as a vegetarian, and for a year and a half or two years, I was a low-calorie dieting vegetarian, which I bet was even more stressful for my body. My body probably just needs time to fully heal. And maybe Chad's does too. My cycles have been changing since I started eating better. Last month was the very first month of testing that I managed to get a true positive on an ovulation test. Before, I would just get a near positive. Actually, when I first started testing, I would only get a line that was half as dark as the control line. And in case you didn't know, to be a true positive, the test line has to be as dark or darker than the control line.
I've been improving in other ways, too, but I won't go into those. Most people don't appreciate the details of a woman's cycle.
It's just so hard to stay positive after a year of waiting.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
We bought a cow!
Chad and I are very orderly people. Or I guess the truth is that I'm a very orderly person and Chad is easy to persuade. We have a monthly budget and we divide our money up into nice little groups. Bills, savings, groceries, and we even give ourselves a set allowance so we don't spend more money than we have. Up until very recently, we didn't have a single dime of debt (but we also found out that having no debt means you have no credit should you ever need it, so we decided to bite the bullet and get a car loan instead of buying it outright). It's a very neat little system and it makes me feel very secure about our money. The last thing I ever want to do is spend more than we have. The motto in our house is "Use it up, wear it out; make it do, or do without," and we truly live by that.
But then once in a while, we go mildly crazy and buy something big that we weren't planning on and hadn't saved up for. It's like feel the need to sneak out and be totally bad once in a while. This time, we bought.... wait for it.... a CHEST FREEZER! *gasp*
I had actually been eyeballing a Ninja blender/food processor in Sam's Club (which I've been wanting forever but can't find the justification to actually buy), when Chad happened to spot this beauty behind us. It's a 7 cubic foot GE freezer with a really snazzy lock. I guess the lock is to keep neighbors from coming over and stealing your ice cream.
Once we managed to get id into the car and then down our steep, narrow old basement stairs, turned it on and saw that it works, Chad asked, "now what are we going to put in it?" Lol.
I have big dreams of one day owning a mini-farm, with orchards, a large garden, some laying chickens, and a couple small cows or goats. Unfortunately, we're currently living on 0.1 acre in a town that doesn't let you have livestock on your land. I have a decent sized garden out back, but I'd have to be pretty full of myself to think I could fill that cooler with all my produce.
So I looked around the tubes to see what it had to offer. Local Harvest is a pretty cool website, and offered me up a lot more farms than I knew we even had around here. It's funny how you can live so close to something and not even know it's there. But we're city folk; how would we ever get in contact with farmers without the internet? And I don't want to hear anyone saying, "Oh gee, I don't know... maybe talking to people?"
I did managed to find a handful of local farms selling pastured chickens, organic pork, and grass-fed cows. We decided against ordering pastured chickens for now. Our local Wegmans store sells organic, pastured chickens raised on kind of local Amish farms for an awesome $3.50 a pound. We may order some local birds from a farmer next year, but for now, we decided just to go for something that's harder to get in the store.
Wegmans grass-fed beef is outrageous. It starts at $6 a pound or so for ground, and goes up to $14 a pound for sirloin, and don't even think about the $24 a pound tenderloin steak. We try really hard to buy good quality food, but organic grass-fed/pastured meats are just too much for us. We can't afford that. So my goal was to find some beef we could buy, hopefully cheaper than the store would sell it to us for.
And I did! The first farm I found had so much demand, that they already sold all of their 2013 cows and had most of their 2014 cows sold! Their beef was the cheapest at $3.50 a pound for a half cow, but it was only grass finished and not grass-fed. Fortunately, I found an even closer farm selling completely grass-fed cows, who pasture on certified organic pastures, for $4.50 a pound for a half cow, and that includes the butcher fee!
So I hopped on it. We most certainly weren't planning on buying a cow right away, but I know this will save us money in the long run. We ended up buying a quarter of a devon cow, which is a small breed, and the farmer said that after processing, we'll have between 100 and 130 pounds of meat. I figured it out that that means we'll be spending around $5-6 a pound, and that doesn't include any of the bones or the fat which I plan on asking for.
Now I'm all freaking out because I have no idea what to say to the butcher when he calls in July to ask how we want our quarter cut up. I was a vegetarian for most of my life! All I know about cows is that you get hamburger and steaks from them. "Yeah... um.... can you cut it into... steaks? Oh and can I have the liver? I think cows have livers."
I'll let you know how it goes in July! I kind of wish we could go out and meet our cow, but something tells me I'd feel really terrible if I did. I need more time to adjust to being a meat eater still.
But then once in a while, we go mildly crazy and buy something big that we weren't planning on and hadn't saved up for. It's like feel the need to sneak out and be totally bad once in a while. This time, we bought.... wait for it.... a CHEST FREEZER! *gasp*
I had actually been eyeballing a Ninja blender/food processor in Sam's Club (which I've been wanting forever but can't find the justification to actually buy), when Chad happened to spot this beauty behind us. It's a 7 cubic foot GE freezer with a really snazzy lock. I guess the lock is to keep neighbors from coming over and stealing your ice cream.
Once we managed to get id into the car and then down our steep, narrow old basement stairs, turned it on and saw that it works, Chad asked, "now what are we going to put in it?" Lol.
I have big dreams of one day owning a mini-farm, with orchards, a large garden, some laying chickens, and a couple small cows or goats. Unfortunately, we're currently living on 0.1 acre in a town that doesn't let you have livestock on your land. I have a decent sized garden out back, but I'd have to be pretty full of myself to think I could fill that cooler with all my produce.
So I looked around the tubes to see what it had to offer. Local Harvest is a pretty cool website, and offered me up a lot more farms than I knew we even had around here. It's funny how you can live so close to something and not even know it's there. But we're city folk; how would we ever get in contact with farmers without the internet? And I don't want to hear anyone saying, "Oh gee, I don't know... maybe talking to people?"
I did managed to find a handful of local farms selling pastured chickens, organic pork, and grass-fed cows. We decided against ordering pastured chickens for now. Our local Wegmans store sells organic, pastured chickens raised on kind of local Amish farms for an awesome $3.50 a pound. We may order some local birds from a farmer next year, but for now, we decided just to go for something that's harder to get in the store.
Wegmans grass-fed beef is outrageous. It starts at $6 a pound or so for ground, and goes up to $14 a pound for sirloin, and don't even think about the $24 a pound tenderloin steak. We try really hard to buy good quality food, but organic grass-fed/pastured meats are just too much for us. We can't afford that. So my goal was to find some beef we could buy, hopefully cheaper than the store would sell it to us for.
And I did! The first farm I found had so much demand, that they already sold all of their 2013 cows and had most of their 2014 cows sold! Their beef was the cheapest at $3.50 a pound for a half cow, but it was only grass finished and not grass-fed. Fortunately, I found an even closer farm selling completely grass-fed cows, who pasture on certified organic pastures, for $4.50 a pound for a half cow, and that includes the butcher fee!
So I hopped on it. We most certainly weren't planning on buying a cow right away, but I know this will save us money in the long run. We ended up buying a quarter of a devon cow, which is a small breed, and the farmer said that after processing, we'll have between 100 and 130 pounds of meat. I figured it out that that means we'll be spending around $5-6 a pound, and that doesn't include any of the bones or the fat which I plan on asking for.
Now I'm all freaking out because I have no idea what to say to the butcher when he calls in July to ask how we want our quarter cut up. I was a vegetarian for most of my life! All I know about cows is that you get hamburger and steaks from them. "Yeah... um.... can you cut it into... steaks? Oh and can I have the liver? I think cows have livers."
I'll let you know how it goes in July! I kind of wish we could go out and meet our cow, but something tells me I'd feel really terrible if I did. I need more time to adjust to being a meat eater still.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
An Email to Tom Naughton
In case I haven't mentioned it, I'm a huge fan of Tom Naughton. He has an awesome documentary called Fat Head out there that literally changed our lives, and he also writes regularly on his Fat Head blog about low carb science. What I love about Tom is that he doesn't just tell you that LOW-CARB WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE!!!!! He goes through the science and helps you understand why it's a good idea and what you could gain from cutting out grains and sugar.
Since the first time I watched the Fat Head movie was about a year ago, I decided it was about time I write to Tom and tell him how he's affected my life. Since I got a little rambly, and it describes my history, I thought I may as well post the email here. Hopefully my story will help someone else take up low-carb eating.
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Hey there Tom!
I've emailed you in the past, but usually just to ask questions or make comments about news stories. But today, I figured it was time I sat down and told you how you've changed at least four more lives. I hope you'll bear with me. I tend to ramble.
I didn't have the best upbringing. My mom was a single mom, worked, was going to school, dealt with my older sister who was probably the worst problem child you could ever have (she kept running away, stealing, and got pregnant at 12). Mom drank a lot and sometimes used drugs, and was severely depressed at least at one time. Needless to say, we didn't eat very well back then. I remember a lot of easy stuff, like frozen meals, spaghetti, pizza, and lots of chips, cookies, and candy.
I think partially because my only friends at that time were my cats and guinea pigs, I decided to become a vegetarian at the age of 14. I honestly can't remember what my thought process was, or what spurred me on to make that decision. My mom didn't protest really. Since I was already chubby at that age, I bet she thought it would help me lose weight. When I told my pediatrician, she was pretty upset (this is the only doctor who ever questioned my vegetarianism, but I was a kid so I didn't listen to her). She asked me where I was planning on getting my protein from, and being 14, I told her I ate lots of peanut butter.
It was that year that my health and my life started taking a pretty nasty turn for the worse. Since my mom didn't have the time or patience to cook separate vegetarian meals, I mostly just ate around what she made for herself. If she made mashed potatoes with chicken gravy, I would eat just mashed potatoes for dinner. If she made a sweet and sour stir fry with chicken and rice, I would eat the few vegetables I liked (which wasn't many back then) with rice and lots of sweet and sour sauce. I ate cereal for breakfast. Lots and lots of cereal. Sometimes two huge bowls at a time. I ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. And don't forget all those chips, cookies, and candy I was still eating, because they're vegetarian.
About a year later (right before my 15th birthday), I had to have my gall bladder removed. No ifs, ands, or buts. No one asked if I wanted it done. No one offered alternatives. No one even told me what causes gall stones. I didn't find out what causes gall stones until just last year, and when I found out, I was pretty mad. You know what causes gall stones? Not using your gall bladder (i.e. low-fat diets).
That was also when I started to really pack on the weight. I was already big to begin with. I was a large child; tall for my age, with huge feet and big broad shoulders. I was just big all around. But when I started eating vegetarian, I got really fat. When I had my gall bladder removed, I was 200 pounds. Two years later, I hit my peak of 275 pounds. For a 17 year old 5'8 girl, that's a lot of weight to be carrying.
But it wasn't just the weight that was the problem. I was severely depressed. My hair was falling out. I started growing hair where girls shouldn't be growing hair and my menstrual cycle would skip several months at a time (which I later found out was because I had developed PCOS). I started turning away from the world, and at age 16, I dropped out of school. Luckily I found my future husband around that time, and even though I was morbidly obese and not always fun to be around, he loved me and helped me fight off some of my depression. Also being around him meant I wasn't eating out of loneliness so much, and we spent a lot of time out in nature, so that by the time we moved in together when I was 22, I had managed to get down to 230 pounds.
Then a couple years later, I finally decided to try DIETING! I found a website called Spark People that lets you track your calories and your exercise minutes. I became instantly addicted. I spent literally hours a day on Spark People, reading the nutrition articles, chatting on the forums, and tracking my food. But it wasn't fun. I felt starved all the time. Food was the only thing I thought about. What I would eat, when I would eat it. If I had 50 extra calories at the end of the day, I would plan out what small indulgence I could give myself (not much for 50 calories). I persisted, though, and in five months, I managed to get down to 185 pounds.
Then I got appendicitis. Again, the doctors didn't give me an option. No one offered me alternatives. No one told me what causes appendicitis. I was wheeled into the OR and had one of my organs taken from me. It wasn't until last year that I found out that appendicitis is a "disease of civilization". The worst part is, exactly one year later, my husband had his appendix removed too, and as the cook in our house, I know I did it to him and it makes me sick.
The weight crept back on after that, a little at a time. I would occasionally try low calorie dieting again, but it was almost impossible for me to stick with it. Like I said before, I'm a big girl. Even if I was skinny, I would be big. My hips are big, my shoulders are big, my feet are big. But BMI doesn't take that into consideration, and so to lose weight, I was told on Spark People to eat 1300 calories a day. That's constant hunger.
About a year ago, I was clicking around on Netflix when I saw your movie. I was kind of intrigued, but a little hesitant to watch it because I just LOVED the movie Supersize Me and I didn't want to hear an opposing opinion. But after a week or two, I finally gave in and watched it. Holy cow. It was so life changing. I was like, really? This is how it really works? Why did I have to wait 27 years to hear it? Why did I have to find this information in a documentary filmed by a comedian? Why isn't this information being shouted out across the rooftops for everyone to hear it?
I was excited about the life-changing information, but also skeptical. I wanted to have my husband watch it, but I wasn't sure what he would think about it. So I started just telling him some of the things you said in your film. After about three days of constantly saying, "And something else he said in his movie..." my husband got annoyed and decided to watch the movie for himself.
I can't say we changed our diets instantly. I think it was a couple of days before we really decided to try low carb eating. I was still trying to be a vegetarian at that point, and since I'm the one who cooks, my husband was pretty much vegetarian himself as well. I cooked lots of tofu, seitan (a meat substitute made from wheat gluten....seriously), and some beans. We saw some improvements right away, but nothing huge. After a couple of months, we started slacking off again, and almost completely went back to our old way of eating.
Around last August or September, we decided, you know what? If we're going to do this, we need to really do this right. We cut out all wheat (except for the low carb wraps my husband uses in his lunch), all sugar, and I decided to give up my identity as a vegetarian. The first steak I had was so glorious. It was life changing.
Since then, things have really started changing at the speed of light. For both of us, our energy has increased dramatically. Our moods have really improved, too. My husband used to get really depressed all the time, but now he's so chipper and full of energy when he gets home from work. I have issues with SAD, and even though this winter was rough at times, it was no where near as dark or depressing as last winter. My fingernails are strong and long for the first time in 14 years! I used to always have fingernails that were thin, brittle, and would peel off in layers, but no more. Even though it's gardening season, my fingernails are beautiful.
The most amazing thing to me is the muscles we've both put on. My husband was what you'd call skinnyfat all his life. 6'5, 195 pounds, with absolutely no muscle. Even though I was a weak, depressed vegetarian, I was stronger than him. Now, he's lean and muscular with like a runner's build. He's almost completely lost his belly bulge and is starting to get some definition there instead.
As for me, even though I hadn't lifted weights at all since becoming a low-carb exvegetarian, I put on a lot of muscle as well. I can feel new bulges in my arms and legs, and I don't get winded as much when I'm lifting heavy things. I thought all the "experts" said you can't gain muscle and lose weight at the same time!
My husband started at 195 and is now about 178. Like I said, he's lost almost all of his flabby tummy and the flabbiness around his face and arms. He looks awesome, and I know for a fact that he's eating more now than he did before. He doesn't suffer from severe coldness much anymore, and if he does, he'll eat something really fatty and that helps him get warm again.
I've only lost about ten pounds, taking me back down to 185. But for me, it's not about the weight. It's about my fingernails, my energy, my good mood, no longer having to eat ever two hours, no longer feeling obsessed about food, no longer having crippling wrist pain, or awful IBS, or tons of pimples. It's about eating real whole food that makes me feel like a real whole person. Besides, why do all women have to be stick thin? I think round curvy women are beautiful.
We've been trying for a baby for the last year. Sometimes I fear we'll never be able to conceive, but then I remind myself that my body is still healing from 14 years of malnutrition and carb-overload. And it's all thanks to you, Tom.
I know this email has gone on forever already, but I also wanted to tell you that you've changed more lives than just mine and my husband's. As we've improved and passed on info and shared books with our family and friends, they've been changing their diets, too. My hubby's brother went low-carb and lost at least 20 pounds (probably more by now). My mom's low-carb and has lost 11 pounds and isn't taking her blood pressure meds anymore. My sister, who looks pregnant because she's so fat, is seriously thinking about going low-carb. And even my mother-in-law, who is a complete and total carbivore, has cut out potatoes and pasta, and limits her sweets. Doesn't that make you feel like a rock star?
Thanks again for all that you do. I hope you keep spreading the word. I know I will!
-Julie D
Since the first time I watched the Fat Head movie was about a year ago, I decided it was about time I write to Tom and tell him how he's affected my life. Since I got a little rambly, and it describes my history, I thought I may as well post the email here. Hopefully my story will help someone else take up low-carb eating.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey there Tom!
I've emailed you in the past, but usually just to ask questions or make comments about news stories. But today, I figured it was time I sat down and told you how you've changed at least four more lives. I hope you'll bear with me. I tend to ramble.
I didn't have the best upbringing. My mom was a single mom, worked, was going to school, dealt with my older sister who was probably the worst problem child you could ever have (she kept running away, stealing, and got pregnant at 12). Mom drank a lot and sometimes used drugs, and was severely depressed at least at one time. Needless to say, we didn't eat very well back then. I remember a lot of easy stuff, like frozen meals, spaghetti, pizza, and lots of chips, cookies, and candy.
I think partially because my only friends at that time were my cats and guinea pigs, I decided to become a vegetarian at the age of 14. I honestly can't remember what my thought process was, or what spurred me on to make that decision. My mom didn't protest really. Since I was already chubby at that age, I bet she thought it would help me lose weight. When I told my pediatrician, she was pretty upset (this is the only doctor who ever questioned my vegetarianism, but I was a kid so I didn't listen to her). She asked me where I was planning on getting my protein from, and being 14, I told her I ate lots of peanut butter.
It was that year that my health and my life started taking a pretty nasty turn for the worse. Since my mom didn't have the time or patience to cook separate vegetarian meals, I mostly just ate around what she made for herself. If she made mashed potatoes with chicken gravy, I would eat just mashed potatoes for dinner. If she made a sweet and sour stir fry with chicken and rice, I would eat the few vegetables I liked (which wasn't many back then) with rice and lots of sweet and sour sauce. I ate cereal for breakfast. Lots and lots of cereal. Sometimes two huge bowls at a time. I ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. And don't forget all those chips, cookies, and candy I was still eating, because they're vegetarian.
About a year later (right before my 15th birthday), I had to have my gall bladder removed. No ifs, ands, or buts. No one asked if I wanted it done. No one offered alternatives. No one even told me what causes gall stones. I didn't find out what causes gall stones until just last year, and when I found out, I was pretty mad. You know what causes gall stones? Not using your gall bladder (i.e. low-fat diets).
That was also when I started to really pack on the weight. I was already big to begin with. I was a large child; tall for my age, with huge feet and big broad shoulders. I was just big all around. But when I started eating vegetarian, I got really fat. When I had my gall bladder removed, I was 200 pounds. Two years later, I hit my peak of 275 pounds. For a 17 year old 5'8 girl, that's a lot of weight to be carrying.
But it wasn't just the weight that was the problem. I was severely depressed. My hair was falling out. I started growing hair where girls shouldn't be growing hair and my menstrual cycle would skip several months at a time (which I later found out was because I had developed PCOS). I started turning away from the world, and at age 16, I dropped out of school. Luckily I found my future husband around that time, and even though I was morbidly obese and not always fun to be around, he loved me and helped me fight off some of my depression. Also being around him meant I wasn't eating out of loneliness so much, and we spent a lot of time out in nature, so that by the time we moved in together when I was 22, I had managed to get down to 230 pounds.
Then a couple years later, I finally decided to try DIETING! I found a website called Spark People that lets you track your calories and your exercise minutes. I became instantly addicted. I spent literally hours a day on Spark People, reading the nutrition articles, chatting on the forums, and tracking my food. But it wasn't fun. I felt starved all the time. Food was the only thing I thought about. What I would eat, when I would eat it. If I had 50 extra calories at the end of the day, I would plan out what small indulgence I could give myself (not much for 50 calories). I persisted, though, and in five months, I managed to get down to 185 pounds.
Then I got appendicitis. Again, the doctors didn't give me an option. No one offered me alternatives. No one told me what causes appendicitis. I was wheeled into the OR and had one of my organs taken from me. It wasn't until last year that I found out that appendicitis is a "disease of civilization". The worst part is, exactly one year later, my husband had his appendix removed too, and as the cook in our house, I know I did it to him and it makes me sick.
The weight crept back on after that, a little at a time. I would occasionally try low calorie dieting again, but it was almost impossible for me to stick with it. Like I said before, I'm a big girl. Even if I was skinny, I would be big. My hips are big, my shoulders are big, my feet are big. But BMI doesn't take that into consideration, and so to lose weight, I was told on Spark People to eat 1300 calories a day. That's constant hunger.
About a year ago, I was clicking around on Netflix when I saw your movie. I was kind of intrigued, but a little hesitant to watch it because I just LOVED the movie Supersize Me and I didn't want to hear an opposing opinion. But after a week or two, I finally gave in and watched it. Holy cow. It was so life changing. I was like, really? This is how it really works? Why did I have to wait 27 years to hear it? Why did I have to find this information in a documentary filmed by a comedian? Why isn't this information being shouted out across the rooftops for everyone to hear it?
I was excited about the life-changing information, but also skeptical. I wanted to have my husband watch it, but I wasn't sure what he would think about it. So I started just telling him some of the things you said in your film. After about three days of constantly saying, "And something else he said in his movie..." my husband got annoyed and decided to watch the movie for himself.
I can't say we changed our diets instantly. I think it was a couple of days before we really decided to try low carb eating. I was still trying to be a vegetarian at that point, and since I'm the one who cooks, my husband was pretty much vegetarian himself as well. I cooked lots of tofu, seitan (a meat substitute made from wheat gluten....seriously), and some beans. We saw some improvements right away, but nothing huge. After a couple of months, we started slacking off again, and almost completely went back to our old way of eating.
Around last August or September, we decided, you know what? If we're going to do this, we need to really do this right. We cut out all wheat (except for the low carb wraps my husband uses in his lunch), all sugar, and I decided to give up my identity as a vegetarian. The first steak I had was so glorious. It was life changing.
Since then, things have really started changing at the speed of light. For both of us, our energy has increased dramatically. Our moods have really improved, too. My husband used to get really depressed all the time, but now he's so chipper and full of energy when he gets home from work. I have issues with SAD, and even though this winter was rough at times, it was no where near as dark or depressing as last winter. My fingernails are strong and long for the first time in 14 years! I used to always have fingernails that were thin, brittle, and would peel off in layers, but no more. Even though it's gardening season, my fingernails are beautiful.
The most amazing thing to me is the muscles we've both put on. My husband was what you'd call skinnyfat all his life. 6'5, 195 pounds, with absolutely no muscle. Even though I was a weak, depressed vegetarian, I was stronger than him. Now, he's lean and muscular with like a runner's build. He's almost completely lost his belly bulge and is starting to get some definition there instead.
As for me, even though I hadn't lifted weights at all since becoming a low-carb exvegetarian, I put on a lot of muscle as well. I can feel new bulges in my arms and legs, and I don't get winded as much when I'm lifting heavy things. I thought all the "experts" said you can't gain muscle and lose weight at the same time!
My husband started at 195 and is now about 178. Like I said, he's lost almost all of his flabby tummy and the flabbiness around his face and arms. He looks awesome, and I know for a fact that he's eating more now than he did before. He doesn't suffer from severe coldness much anymore, and if he does, he'll eat something really fatty and that helps him get warm again.
I've only lost about ten pounds, taking me back down to 185. But for me, it's not about the weight. It's about my fingernails, my energy, my good mood, no longer having to eat ever two hours, no longer feeling obsessed about food, no longer having crippling wrist pain, or awful IBS, or tons of pimples. It's about eating real whole food that makes me feel like a real whole person. Besides, why do all women have to be stick thin? I think round curvy women are beautiful.
We've been trying for a baby for the last year. Sometimes I fear we'll never be able to conceive, but then I remind myself that my body is still healing from 14 years of malnutrition and carb-overload. And it's all thanks to you, Tom.
I know this email has gone on forever already, but I also wanted to tell you that you've changed more lives than just mine and my husband's. As we've improved and passed on info and shared books with our family and friends, they've been changing their diets, too. My hubby's brother went low-carb and lost at least 20 pounds (probably more by now). My mom's low-carb and has lost 11 pounds and isn't taking her blood pressure meds anymore. My sister, who looks pregnant because she's so fat, is seriously thinking about going low-carb. And even my mother-in-law, who is a complete and total carbivore, has cut out potatoes and pasta, and limits her sweets. Doesn't that make you feel like a rock star?
Thanks again for all that you do. I hope you keep spreading the word. I know I will!
-Julie D
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
The view from the other side
Not long ago, I was a vegetarian. Not just a vegetarian, but someone who chose that lifestyle as a young teen and who stuck with it, through old fashioned family gatherings and getting married to a meat eater, for almost 14 years. I wasn't a zealot about it, and I believed that it was everyone's choice to eat what they felt was best. But to me, being a vegetarian seemed like the only choice that made sense, for my health and for the planet.
After a while, it started becoming a central part of my identity. Hello, I'm Julie, a Vegetarian. Everyone knew, because I had to be treated differently. I'd ask at parties if there was meat in the dip. I'd have to find out how the soup was prepared. And for God's sake, don't put bacon bits on my salad! I thought that being a vegetarian made me interesting and maybe even mysterious. I know it made me feel like a better person. Simply by avoiding meat, I gained a halo of earth-friendly, animal-activist, kind-hearted, without having to actually do that much.
It wasn't all sunshine and cupcakes, though. About a year after becoming a vegetarian (right before my 15th birthday), I started having severe gallstone attacks. I remember them getting so bad and so sudden that, while swimming at a creek near my home town, I got stranded on the opposite side because I couldn't move without getting physically ill. To this day, I can't remember how I got back across the creek, but I do know that it wasn't long afterwards that they removed my gallbladder in an emergency operation.
I my hair started to thin out, and my nails became incredibly thin and brittle. And then, I began to balloon out. By the time I reached my 17th birthday, I carried an outrageous 275 pounds on my 5'7 frame. I was depressed, had little energy, and I had no idea why I was so addicted to eating.
Fast forward ten years. In the summer of 2012, my hubby and I decided, hey, maybe we should try going low-carb. We'd done the research, and it all sounded so logical. I felt better right away, but I'll admit that being a low-carb vegetarian is incredibly hard. I ended up eating tofu or seitan (a meat substitute made from, of all things, wheat gluten) every single day, and part of me knew that it wasn't good for me to be doing that. So even though I had a lot of doubts, I decided to start eating meat again.
That was in August of 2012. I look back at that, and it makes me wonder... how did I ever manage before then? What on earth did I eat before I started eating meat again? This way of eating is so natural and it feels so right. I don't think anyone could ever convince me to go back to being a vegetarian, and especially eating tofu or seitan daily.
It did take a few months, but my body has changed dramatically since becoming a low-carb meat eater. The first thing I really noticed was my mood. I used to be depressed all the time pretty much, and I had a lot of trouble getting up the energy to take care of my responsibilities, but after changing my diet, my mood brightened way up. The next surprising little find was that my fingernails, for the first time I can remember, are strong and long. In the winters when I was a vegetarian, I couldn't keep them very long. I looked like a nail biter because they would break off close to the skin, and even more disturbing, they would PEEL down where they were attached to the finger. My hair is starting to come in thicker, too, and it's getting longer. I used to only be able to grow it to a certain length, but my hair is certainly growing fast and long now.
The most amazing change I've seen, though, has to be my body composition. Since I started eating this way, I've only lost a little bit of weight. I'm still quite round and I would like to lose maybe another 20 pounds. But even though I haven't moved the scale much, my body looks and feels different. People ask me all the time if I've lost weight. My pants aren't as tight as they used to be. I see muscle now that I never used to have, and I haven't been lighting weights or anything! It's just happened because of my diet shift!
There are times when I'm eating a piece of bacon or whatever, and I catch myself thinking, "OMG what am I doing?!", before realizing that, oh yeah, this is how I eat now! I still feel a little weird eating animals, and I have some trouble handling raw meat or eating any piece of animal that looks like an animal. I would like to be eating more organic, free-range, humanely treated meats, but unfortunately my budget can't afford much of that at the moment. I feel that animals are special, sacred creations of God, and they should be treated as such, but I do wholeheartedly believe that humans were meant to eat them, just as other predators were meant to eat prey. It's just the natural cycle of life.
Of course, I'm not trying to bash the vegetarian lifestyle. I know some people eat that way for religious reasons, and it can be done if you're very careful and you know what you're doing. However, I don't feel that it's the natural state for humans, and I certainly know it wasn't healthy for me.
After a while, it started becoming a central part of my identity. Hello, I'm Julie, a Vegetarian. Everyone knew, because I had to be treated differently. I'd ask at parties if there was meat in the dip. I'd have to find out how the soup was prepared. And for God's sake, don't put bacon bits on my salad! I thought that being a vegetarian made me interesting and maybe even mysterious. I know it made me feel like a better person. Simply by avoiding meat, I gained a halo of earth-friendly, animal-activist, kind-hearted, without having to actually do that much.
It wasn't all sunshine and cupcakes, though. About a year after becoming a vegetarian (right before my 15th birthday), I started having severe gallstone attacks. I remember them getting so bad and so sudden that, while swimming at a creek near my home town, I got stranded on the opposite side because I couldn't move without getting physically ill. To this day, I can't remember how I got back across the creek, but I do know that it wasn't long afterwards that they removed my gallbladder in an emergency operation.
I my hair started to thin out, and my nails became incredibly thin and brittle. And then, I began to balloon out. By the time I reached my 17th birthday, I carried an outrageous 275 pounds on my 5'7 frame. I was depressed, had little energy, and I had no idea why I was so addicted to eating.
Fast forward ten years. In the summer of 2012, my hubby and I decided, hey, maybe we should try going low-carb. We'd done the research, and it all sounded so logical. I felt better right away, but I'll admit that being a low-carb vegetarian is incredibly hard. I ended up eating tofu or seitan (a meat substitute made from, of all things, wheat gluten) every single day, and part of me knew that it wasn't good for me to be doing that. So even though I had a lot of doubts, I decided to start eating meat again.
That was in August of 2012. I look back at that, and it makes me wonder... how did I ever manage before then? What on earth did I eat before I started eating meat again? This way of eating is so natural and it feels so right. I don't think anyone could ever convince me to go back to being a vegetarian, and especially eating tofu or seitan daily.
It did take a few months, but my body has changed dramatically since becoming a low-carb meat eater. The first thing I really noticed was my mood. I used to be depressed all the time pretty much, and I had a lot of trouble getting up the energy to take care of my responsibilities, but after changing my diet, my mood brightened way up. The next surprising little find was that my fingernails, for the first time I can remember, are strong and long. In the winters when I was a vegetarian, I couldn't keep them very long. I looked like a nail biter because they would break off close to the skin, and even more disturbing, they would PEEL down where they were attached to the finger. My hair is starting to come in thicker, too, and it's getting longer. I used to only be able to grow it to a certain length, but my hair is certainly growing fast and long now.
The most amazing change I've seen, though, has to be my body composition. Since I started eating this way, I've only lost a little bit of weight. I'm still quite round and I would like to lose maybe another 20 pounds. But even though I haven't moved the scale much, my body looks and feels different. People ask me all the time if I've lost weight. My pants aren't as tight as they used to be. I see muscle now that I never used to have, and I haven't been lighting weights or anything! It's just happened because of my diet shift!
There are times when I'm eating a piece of bacon or whatever, and I catch myself thinking, "OMG what am I doing?!", before realizing that, oh yeah, this is how I eat now! I still feel a little weird eating animals, and I have some trouble handling raw meat or eating any piece of animal that looks like an animal. I would like to be eating more organic, free-range, humanely treated meats, but unfortunately my budget can't afford much of that at the moment. I feel that animals are special, sacred creations of God, and they should be treated as such, but I do wholeheartedly believe that humans were meant to eat them, just as other predators were meant to eat prey. It's just the natural cycle of life.
Of course, I'm not trying to bash the vegetarian lifestyle. I know some people eat that way for religious reasons, and it can be done if you're very careful and you know what you're doing. However, I don't feel that it's the natural state for humans, and I certainly know it wasn't healthy for me.
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