astraea82's Journal, 06 Sep 23

I'm hearing Whitesnake, "Here I go again on my own, going down the only road I've ever known." Good on you for turning that corner and doing something positive for your self esteem 🙂 I have also avoided events due to shame about body size (and depression). You will see initial results quickly and that will motivate you to keep going 💪 

Go, go, go again as long as you can. Use every drop of your motivation. Go get it!!! 

I was recently diagnosed as a pre-diabetic this past February and I can assure you that you don't want no parts of this disease. Since carbs turn into sugar, I have to maintain a strict low carb diet to keep my sugar levels low which has prevented me from taking diabetes medication. Not only I have to avoid ice cream, I also have to avoid pasta, mac and cheese, pizza, sandwiches, cookies, cakes, oatmeal, pancakes etc... pretty much all of my favorite foods. 90% of the food in the grocery store has carbs so it becomes extremely challenging to maintain. My diet has gotten easier but I still have sugar cravings every once in a while. Wishing you all the best!  

I'll try to find the article but I was just reading an article that was talking about the change in the chemical structure of pasta when it's cooked and then cold and how that it doesn't Spike once blood sugar at the same way that normal carbs do. this of course would be no license to eat carbs with wild abandon but it might be worth looking into and allow you to eat more carbs in your diet while you help yourself to reduce your reliance or carbohydrates and acclimate into a diet and focuses more on complex foods. give me a little bit of time to look back through my feet to see if I can find the article or some of the sources that supplied the information that they looked at. but the gist of the information was that by the heating and the cooling even if the pasta was reheated again the chemical structure changed and that bacteria started to develop that helped prevent this rise and glucose levels when pasta was eaten and interesting thought about how the gut biome influences how our body behaves when we eat. I'm sorry you're going through an emotional time I know how relationship stress can really change the way we eat and see food and I hope that you see food in a more positive manner as you move through this. Fighting 💪💓 

So I didn't find that article I was originally looking for but here is a link to a similar article that's talking about how if you cook pastas and potatoes then cool them whether you recook them or not that it changes them into something called a resistant starch. https://www.sciencealert.com/heating-your-pasta-makes-it-significantly-better-for-you Which reduces the glucose spike when you consume them. which will allow you to consume the more often with less issues not that this would be a free pass of course to eat them but what allow you to eat more of them in your diet. just a thought to help you as a fellow pasta and potato lover. 😊 Another trick is that when you do eat foods with sugar or fruit with is to eat other foods with high amounts of fiber which will help slow the absorption/digestion of those sugary foods to prevent as much sugar as possible from entering the intestines during the digestion process. It's kind of cheating because really what you're doing is preventing some of that sugar from being digested and pushing it out of the digestive system as waste, but as long as it works who cares. You got this. 🤗 

Those are great tips Leah. Thank you for sharing ❤️ 

You can do it!! 

I gave myself type 2 diabetes during Covid initial years ALSO by eating WAY too much junk. (Prob had it prior to that even) So, now I’ll have it forever. My own fault. I truly regret it, too. I’ve since lost 51 pounds (182 to av 130lbs) through low carb meals, strength training 2-3 Xs per week, walking daily, and tracking calories. I was off diabetic medicine after 6 months of eating right, mainly eating whole freshly cooked foods and eliminating a lot of processed foods and sugar. I’d say 85% fresh, 15% processed. I feel so much better! The idea that I control food and it doesn’t control me makes me happier. Good luck on your journey. This FS community is a good one!! 

The most successful people in the world are incredible at their craft because of one thing – discipline. Without discipline, it’s hard to be unbelievable at anything. And the best part about is discipline is that it’s contagious. Start by making your diet and exercise a consistent habit and watch how it manifests in other areas of your life. 

"So here I am again. This is the most weight I've ever gained. I literally gained 50lb in one year. Who does that. Someone who just sits around eating ice cream and cookies." Well the answer to that is -- just about everyone here. Most of us have traveled down that road (in my case addictive, self-destructive, depressive behavior). 

how do those switches happen?, ericahollister. we go along just fine, and then something happens. and then we get the goofy mindset. Eat more, exercise less.  

I DID IT. your not alone.  

You got this !!!!! 

You go girl 💪💪🎶🎶🔥🔥 

You will have a great support system here! You can do this!👍 

focus on 'addiction'. cravings. they're both physical and psychological. But for me, controlling it requires abstinence from sugar. Hyperpalatable foods do me in, if I indulge, so I just have to keep it clean. Low Carb. 

I am in a similar situation. I had lost 50 lbs and was in the best shape of my life, then Covid hit. I got sick, then injured. Now here I am again. 260 lbs and starting from scratch. But we have done it before and we can do it again. One day at a time. I have faith in you. I have faith in me. We can do this. 

Scientific research is interesting. The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article last month: "Ozempic Settles the Debate: It's Biology Over Willpower". 

I gained 25# in 3 weeks on Vacay, I can just look at food and it attaches to me somehow!!!Now I'm back with the struggle of getting it off, I feel your pain!!! 

Sorry everyone, I hadn't even seen these comments! I am trying to stick with it. Now on day four! Just trying to take it one day at a time. Thanks for all of the encouragement.