Girl it has been a struggle. I have been up in my head for too long. I am super active and drink a little too much red and my results are invisible. I have tracked calories and kept a deficit and fall off and fall down and get back up.
A couple of years ago my Dr told me my triglycerides were creeping up. I went hard and did the 75 hard. I retested and lost 15lbs and my numbers came back down. Then I gave restriction the finger and went back to my ways.
The goal of this new leaf is to try to find the ground my new menopause body needs. I was talking to my trainer, Dee, the other day and again the topic of insulin resistance came up. I thought it was time to explore this again. Last year when I was on the 75 low carb train I wore a CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor) for two weeks. It really did show me that I could keep my blood sugar constant and I did lose weight and I tell you I felt great.
The trouble was I could not sustain it. I do think I have insulin resistance from years of bad carbs. I think my higher-than-average levels of activity have helped save me but the hormones of menopause are creating a blockade.
When I look at my eating and exercise as an interesting experiment for my type A personality I find it really helps my creative juices and I am engaged differently.
I am going to go on an experiment of controlling my blood sugar but not a no-carb hard restriction because that is a one size fits all approach. What is my body doing?
I can measure blood sugar but not insulin at home so the win for me will be not having large spikes after a meal that would exceed the healthy range of 7.5mmol/L. I will be looking to see if any foods on their own or in combination with others spike my levels. I don't think I need to cut out apples but maybe they need to be served with peanut butter or cheese to offset a spike. The other thing I would like to incorporate is short walks after meals, only 10 or 15 minutes, just enough to reduce the effect of insulin on my body. I will do weights twice a week and will add in other things I find fun and want to truly do.
It is my beginner understanding that if you are insulin resistant when your blood sugar goes high your body releases insulin but the cells in your muscles and liver are no longer listening (perhaps like a man after 20 years of marriage) and they do not accept the sugar that the insulin has brought to the door. Then insulin is like shit now what will I do with this sugar I am packing around the only option left is to dump it in a fat cell as their door is always open. If you can keep your blood sugar more consistent then insulin will bugger off and only come more sparingly. This will help to get the muscle and liver cells back on task as they will be using more glycogen (stored glucose) and then be able to uptake the new ones. It will create a scarcity that they will be now hungry for (like the Husband).
I don't think my body needs a super low carb diet but it needs me to be carb conscious. If I am climbing a mountain cheezies are coming with me. If I am hitting the couch or sitting in my office for 10 hours well then that is an issue.
There are a few things I feel keeping track of will help with seeing if I feel my health is improving.
- Hours slept the previous night
- REM cycles the previous night
- Resting heart rate
- Glucose
- Exercise
- Weight
- Bodyfat %
Though I do want to see the effects on my body fat and weight this is for health and not my focus but I think will be an effect. I will track them weekly on my home analyzer scale.
Today was a very busy day with lots of activity and I did keep my blood sugar fairly stable. Sleep was 8:22 with 4 REM cycles.
The thing that spiked it was a high-protein cereal. This shows me that processed is processed even the added protein could not slow the spike. It had a dip after my two-and-a-half-hour hike. I had an apple with cheese with no spike and I had a serving of chips that were fried in avocado oil with apple cider vinegar on them with no effect and also 2 eggs, 1 sourdough toast, and a little hollandaise sauce (homemade) and sausage - no effect.
I had a dip at night which I have seen before. When I would test with a finger prick it was always a point higher and ok. I read on a site that the monitors are not great with lower numbers so not worried.
Tomorrow I will do a weigh-in and a new before picture. I am going to track for the next eight weeks. Not forever but for information for now. I am my own best advocate.
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