#keto | MY PLACE - POETRY , AFFIRMATIONS & MORE

Svelte – Belly blast program

17 May 2024 Leave a comment

by Katz in Fasting Keto & Health Chatter, Rants and Raves Tags: #extremeweightloss, #keto, #lumen, #MEREDITHSHIRK, #metaboost, #svelte, #weighloss #weightlossmaintenance, inspiration

Yay!! Day 4 ..made it!

Day four of what you ask. Well I would say day four of clean, healthy eating, vegan, no inflammatory foods allowed, no caffeine …and today I feel great!

My previous post I detailed about a recent program I purchased by a fitness coach called Meredith , program Metaboost#metaboostconnection by #svelte.

There are many options offered by this online fitness coach, however the one that I chose involved a one-day fat flush followed by a 3-day belly blaster program…. Followed by another 7 days of clean eating.

This not a vegan program, however, in the first 4 days there are no dairy or eggs, yet you are permitted to have lean protein.

I just finished the first 4 days so I’d like to give a small review on that. But first let me do some whining.

It seems like lately this girls weight just wants to go upward and outwardm I’m almost feeling desperate as all my go-to’s are not working for me to get off these 20 lb I gained.

Skipping back through my life , my lifelong pursuit of working on a healthy weight and a healthy metabolism, I’ve been led down many roads.

What Ive learned is, I can take what I like from the programs, and leave all the rest, no regrets no real expectations.

Ultimately, I’m just working on learning about my own health and how my body works specifically.

So working towards eating a daily meal plan , after following an alternate day for 4 years, I realized I absolutely enjoy eating every day and maintaining my weight. And this is something that I’ve learned just this past few months

Truth is, I didn’t believe that eating daily and not gaining weight could happen; that I could leave keto or alternate day fasting and not blow back to that 330 lbs that I was 8 years ago. However, I’ve learned just since February it appears I can maintain my weight and eat everyday.

I will continue to enjoy fasting as well , so I’m learning to incorporate intermediate fasting with these different new techniques as I work on losing these 20 lbs.

In February this year , I began using the #Lumen device. This device helps measure your CO2 and determines whether or not you are in sugar burning or fat burning. The eating plan that came with this device suggested eating everyday to increase your metabolism and provides low carb, high carb and super high carb days based on your reading so that you can learn to carb cycle and challenge your metabolism.

I was very curious about what that device would tell me about my metabolism .

What I’ve learned and according to what I see based on my #Lumen readings is that I have a fairly flexible metabolism and I easily switch between fat burning and carbohydrate burning .

Bonus!! Some people using the Lumen have a very hard time getting the readings I get and I would have to believe it’s because I followed a keto low carb diet for so many years.

I admit, I gained those 20 -23lbs honestly over the last year.

Just after entering postmenopause, and with so much going on in my personal life, I became a weekend warrior last summer consuming ice cream and pie far more often than I should… which of course I knew was a bad idea at the time .

While practicing ADF (alternate day fasting ) I always chose one day on the weekend where I had had whatever I wanted, even if it meant getting severe bloating and inflammation . Foods like pizza, pasta and most complex or processed carbs seem to be really impossible for me to digest. In turn, what happens is my abdomen, ribs, back , legs and almost every part of me aches 4 days later as my mid section expands blowing out like a 9-month pregnant woman causing me almost unbearable pain… And doing this to myself every weekend for years it used to be everyday but now just every weekend for years, so I can’t even imagine what I’m thinking.

Brain screams “Oh I can tell you! I want to be normal. I just want to eat whatever I want. I guess just like everybody I want all that I want … Even when we know our bodies don’t agree”.

The inflammation typically lasts for about 3 or 4 days , or often until I eat like those foods again.

Ive maintained my 170lb weight loss allowing myself to gain 8 lb from my lowest weight because I felt too thin , and it seemed as long as I had only one naughty day a weekend to my weight maintained,

I felt I could manage and live with the inflammation that happened from eating carbohydrates & sugar . Each Monday the scale taunted me with an alarming weight gain of 10 lb (or more) however, my clean keto & ADF diet during the week , the scale would be back down on Friday and I would lose those 10 lbs of water weight, which is what it appeared to be…thus maintaining my weight and I was basically happy with this.

Yet my body had other ideas.

When I began using the #Lumen in February, I began eating everyday and I noticed that the inflammation response lessened. Yes The inflammation was still there however it was still there only when I ate processed foods or high carbs on the weekend . I began getting less inflammation as my weight only increasef about four or 5 lbs( instead of 10) over the weekend. I also began maintaining my weight and have maintained my weight despite the fact that I’m eating everyday and still having a cheat day on the weekend , so I’m pretty happy with that

Now let’s get back to this felt #svelte plan…..

So drum roll please !!!

After my 1-day fat flush the scale moved 4lbs !! Wow… That’s pretty good because what was happening prior to that was it was taking Monday to Friday for me to lose the 4 to 5 lbs of inflammation, this time it came off overnight!! Wow!

I also wanted to say that the recipes and smoothies that were offered in this program were absolutely delicious and it really made me excited to try something different.

The results offered as testimonials from #svelte program were reports that some lost over 8lbs overnight, with the average closer to 4 or 5 lb which is still pretty awesome as that’s where I was.

As I eat very healthy throughout the week, I really didn’t give a lot of hope to think that this change in eating would move any of the weight that’s been on my body stuck now for more than the past 6 months.

However, let’s have another drum roll please !!

Results are in from my 3-day belly booster!! Yes I’ve lost another 5.8 lbs which is pretty darn amazing!!

Yes, that’s a total of 9.8 lbs from Monday to Friday!!

Thanks #MEREDITHSHIRK, You are right, this program does work!

Typically I do lose a regular inflammatory weight of approximately 4 to 5 lbs each week between Monday to Friday, but not 10, not since I eat daily that is.

.So that means I’m down a net of 5.8lbs … Wow! I’m pumped!!!

A little secret I’ll admit is the sugar addict inside of me has been collecting chocolates as I plan my next cheat day!! I know I need to work on my sugar addiction and I know that I’m just hurting myself. So as soon as I get this sugar addiction under control hopefully I won’t have to deal with this inflammation anymore.

I sometimes try to tell myself that I’m self-harming when I’m eating chocolate and chips etc but I do look forward to cheat days as that’s when I comfort myself with the things that I grew up feeling comfort with.

I’m not sure if I can manage a fully clean diet at all times without having some cheat days.

However, for now, I will continue for the next 7 days to complete this #svelte because they are so many more tips & recipes then I’ve seen another program so I am still very curious.

I did not buy their fitness program or the connection to their live community as it cost an extra $27 Canadian per month to access and I’m already paying the $27 a month for the Lumen community to access which is ridiculous of course, but they are really helping me and part of my journey it seems, so I have some decisions to make in the future about which platform works best for me.

Well what’s ahead ..

The next 7 days is more clean eating still dairy-free.

I’m really missing my cheese and butter.. but maybe this is the way I have to go in order for me to at least get off these stubborn pounds.

For those that are using this #svelte #metaboost program, they report that they lose 10 to 15 lb and over the full 11-day program …and as long as I can keep fighting off the Doritos and chocolates that keep appearing in my life it looks like it could be possible to get my weight back under control.

Wish me luck !

Written by

Corrina

My journey

11 May 2024 Leave a comment

by Katz in Fasting Keto & Health Chatter, Rants and Raves Tags: #adf, #challenges, #extendedfasting #weightlosssuccess, #fasting, #keto, #lowcarb #diet #extremeweightloss, @basalmetobolicrate

I seem to beat myself up all the days long!!!

And of course this statement stems directly from my own rumination about my weight loss /gain and maybe this also false idea about how other people feel about my weight loss.

Realizing my thoughts are created from the space between my ears, I wish I knew how to silence that voice and find a way where I can stop beating myself up. Instead Id like and focus more on a self-love direction while turning a blind eye to that voice inside my head and try ignoring what I feel are unfair standards of what normal looks like.

The whispers in my mind certainly are not just imaginary ; they come from my experience with people and a knowing of how people sometimes react to people who are obese or even to those who have lost an extreme amount of weight like I have.

These perceptions that I have are consistently perpetuating the shame I still carry having been morbidly obese for almost 10 years. Even though it may not be society making those negative comments directly at me, the impact of what I know to be true is that women are expected to look a certain way. Despite wanting to be seen as a strong woman /feminist with a lot of self-love for myself , I still absorb and reflect negativity at my own image every day.

The year 2007 was a very hard year for me. I lost my mom to lung cancer. I had also left my toxic marriage the summer of 2006 and now carried the weight of being a single mom with two small children in a basement apartment. Let’s just say I certainly was not living the dream!

It was a year later that I met my boyfriend who didn’t seem to have a problem with the current or notably monthly increase in weight gain which came on rapidly after we first met . I remember it seemed that every bite of food stayed on my body from 2007 onward. Having a man beside me that didn’t seem to care about my weight was new to me, and I’m sure that somehow contributed to my acceptance of my weight gain and what was happening in my body at that time.

A few years back just before I became married, I decided to do a weight loss program and had lost 80 lbs in 8 mths. The goal was always to find and sustain healthy weight however this goal was one just to lose weight so that I could feel good in my wedding dress.

The 80lbs weight loss from the Herbal Magic diet was managed for approximately 3 years, and low and behold surprising enough as soon as I could no longer afford those magic tablets, the pounds quickly rushed back on starting in 2007 , and even more than ever before.

I was stuck in what I called a fat suit that the zipper was broken on.

Im also pretty sure those herbal magic tablets also contributed to my now continued digestive issues and bowel issues that have never improved and remain a constant issue in my life

Booming upwards and outwards , I rapidly gained more than 150 lbs in just a few short months. I had no idea how this craziness happened to me. Truth is I was so unhappy , I hated myself at that time . I just lost my mom. I had a failed marriage and an ex husband who was still harassing me and I also quit smoking.

I remember at some point looking in a mirror, I did not recognize who I was at all . I was the saddest girl ever. I still can’t stand looking at the pictures of myself in those years , I feel so angry about it because those years when I raised my children, were amazing years!

It’s funny how our choices haunt us for years and years.

I never really knew how to eat. I’m still trying to figure it out.. What I have learned is the uniqueness of my own journey, we all have one.

I’m still doing my best to learn to love myself and I guess that’s all I can really ask of myself right now is to do my very best.

Written by

Corrina

Lumen & Me

27 Apr 2024 Leave a comment

by Katz in Fasting Keto & Health Chatter, Rants and Raves Tags: #dietdoctor, #drfung, #extremeweightloss, #health #lchf, #keto, #ketolifestyle, #lchfchallenge, #lowcarb #diet, #lumen, #lumendevice, #weightloss #abundance #healing, health

Arggggg Still struggling ..ugh!

So here we go!. I think it’s important to provide some insight & personal reflection on this new metabolic device that I had recently purchased.

I call the Lumen device my accountability tool ; as it seems like all this tool is actually doing for me at this time is reading a printout of my current metabolism, and not that much more.

It’s been just over two months since I began blowing in the lumen and started as recommended the “eating every day lifestyle”.

I say eating everyday because I typically practice (ADF) alternate day fasting, a lifestyle I followed for approximately just under 5 years; a lifestyle which directly followed my 3year keto journey and low carb lifestyle. So eating every single day for these last couple months is quite a change for me, as I haven’t done that for many years.

Just in case anyone’s curious. Yes I have gained approximately 2lbs more, that’s not so bad considering I usually don’t eat everyday , and not so bad as I am trying to follow the Lumen guidelines.

Truth is , I purchased the Lumen on a whim ( like most things in my life). And it actually caught me off guard a little bit with the cost as it turned out to be much more expensive in CAD than I would’ve liked.

The Lumen also comes with an app in the form of a monthly membership ( I just received my bill and it’s approximately $26 Canadian a month, again more than I would like to pay).

I really believed upon purchase that this app part of Lumen( the plan basically) was optional, however, it turns out it’s Lumen recently changed their rules and the membership is no longer optional and you cannot opt out of the app support. It’s now a must have to go with the device or else the device is basically redundant.

So as it’s too late for me now, I would suggest reading all the fine prints before you invest.

On the day I purchased the Lumen device; my overly excited pointer finger punched that purchase button so fast I didn’t even realize at first that the product was offered from a US site, and a few minutes later I realized that the exchange rate would have me paying a much higher cost than I initially thought.
Even then when I realized the cost was in the U.S.funds, I was still curious and excited about the Lumen thinking that it was somehow a ketone reader.

I knew the cost would come through on my credit card soon enough and I would have to look at it; however, for now I soothed myself by saying that it’s okay to treat myself with the money that brother had given me for Christmas.

I have great hopes that this Lumen device would assist me with my health journey, yet 2 months later, I’m still not so quite sure of that.

The idea of an additional tool/device in my life was not really something I was looking forward to, however with that being said, I was still super hopeful that this device would give me some answers, answers to why my metabolism is such a jerk.

Every morning I blow into this little device and with the combination of the paid app, of course , it gives me a reading that provides me details of how my metabolism is operating and “tells me” if I’m in fat burning, sugar burning or a mixture of both. The numerical value on the breath reading represents where my metabolic system is at that time and based on your morning reading, the Lumen identifies which macros would work best for you and whether it’s a low carb, high carb or a boost day, which is super duper high carb day .

As a person who is definitely insulin resistant, I only realized after I purchased the Lumen, that it was not a ketone reader, but instead a metabolic reader. I was still very excited for the first month to see whether or not I had a flexible metabolism.

In some ways Ive learned to absolutely love Lumen because it is 100% accurate in telling me that I am not in fat burning and when I am in fat storage mode.. and of course, most people who have been following the keto diet or low carb diet also can tell when you are probably not burning fat because of your consumption of food, however, what I find very helpful is that being a keto low carb lifestyle person for almost 8 years, I always wondered how long it would take me to get back into ketosis once I stopped eating sugar or once I had a better day that was more low carb or healthy.

The Lumen device really surprised me in learning about my own metabolic flexibility, and I truly believe that the numbers and readings that it provides are 100% accurate.

There are many, many people who have been using the Lumen for many years to help them with their weight loss goals, metabolic flexibility and just overall health. I do believe that it provides all of these features and it’s not a weight loss tool. It’s just a reader that provides you with insight on what’s going on with your body and for sure I have learned a lot in the last 2 months.

But I also learned that my body is still very different from other people and even though I may be following the macros correctly according to their Lumen when it comes to protein and fat, I certainly can’t always eat the amount of carbs that it suggests because I know I’m insulin resistant. Some people may have a metabolic flexibility that when they are high in flexibility they can still burn fat easily, but because I’m insulin resistant it seems that my fat burning is not that easy and that in order for me to burn fat, I still need to stay either keto or really not eat anything after 4:00 p.m.

The end of the story of this story is that I do believe the Lumen is extremely helpful to my overall understanding of what’s going on in my body, which I really love. I’m also not regretful that I purchased this device , which turned out to be over $200 CAD. However I am pretty pissed about the fact that I have to pay $26 a month just to get a reading from this device. I’m going to do a little bit more research but I understand that it can’t be used without the app and it’s not really fair. If you already know what those numbers represent when you blow into the Lumen device, to continue to pay for the membership ongoing is really not really that inspiring, and I actually feel mad about it.

If you know that you’re blowing high numbers and you’re not in fat burning then naturally you would just reduce your carbs for the next few days until you blow a low reading, therefore not needing the app to consistently tell you what to eat because it’s based on the reading. Eating low carb usually means that you will blow a high fat burn and a high score means that you are not burning anything… Pretty simple science.

However even with knowing the science and how the Lumen works and how it can work for me without this app, I am still forced to be paying over $300 annually to use this app. And of course I’m going to have to keep investing in it for a little while because I paid close to that cost alone just for the Lumen device.

Knowledge is power but reading to fine prints is also important.

Written by

Corrina

Keto Challenge- August- Sept

23 Sep 2019 Leave a comment

by Katz in Fasting Keto & Health Chatter Tags: #fasting #drfungtoronto #obseitycode, #keto, #Lowcarb, #obseitycde #weightloss #successfulweightloss #extended fasting

Image result for Dr fung Extended Weight

Through my recent journeys and numerous Keto re-starts of my “lazy keto lifestyle”, it had become insanely obvious that I was stuck and stalled for a ridiculous amount of time. I thought I tried many variations of my fairly new keto lifestyle and I could not figure out why my scale was not staying down. Each week I watched in frustration as the same weekly 3-4 lbs of weight fell off only to find its way back again over and over. It seemed my tried and true method was no longer giving me results and I was about to lose my marbles.

Image result for marbles cartoons

I knew the many times over the past year since I plateaued I had not been faithful to myself or to my keto or low carb diet & lifestyle. I began to not pay as much attention to what went in my mouth and stopped tracking my macros allowing my new habits to slip to a mere afterthought.

I also began having regular weekly cheat (High Carb) meals which I looked forward too as I knew in my mind that within a couple days of low carb eating I would be back on track. Each week, as I clearly predicted, the scale balanced as long as I followed a couple strict low carb days before my weekend hit; and then I would do the same thing all over again. I lied to myself that I was trying really hard (especially through May-July when I hunkered down with an occasional one meal a day and several 18:6 fasts. Looking back I can now see “the tried really hard part” was not necessarily true. What I could see is that my weight had more or less stabilized and did not want to budge , seemingly comfortable with my lifestyle. My body had adjusted to a new set weight which was in no way ideal for me as I had not reached my goal weight. I knew something had changed from when I started a low carb lifestyle when 3lbs would literally fall off my body every week. I tried so hard to get back on the band wagon of loss however defeat faced me each day when I stepped on the cruel reality of my bathroom scale. The frustration I faced after strictly following three weeks of strict keto and Intermediate fasting (daily 18:6 & the few 24hr fasts) was truly getting me into a rut and the fear that I could not , would not lose anymore weight, which truly haunted me. I really didn’t know what was happening as I staggered around hungry, confused and bewildered!!!

I knew I had to do something different from the Keto & Intermediate fasting diet I had been doing but to me this lifestyle had been the only lifestyle that resulted in weight loss and maintenance, so my bigger fear was that there was NOTHING else! All along I kept telling myself “I got this, it will happen”, yet it didn’t, nothing happened except despair! I watched week after week the scale going up – down, up – down. Was there really anything else I could do, had the keto magic disappeared? How was this possible?

So I thought let me go back to the beginning before I learned the bad habits I developed since I began keto and started back with the basics. I ran over to the local book store Chapters and invested in myself and bought Dr Fung’s initial book “The Obesity Code”. Had it not been for an article promoting Dr. Fungs book more than 2 years ago I may never has heard or known about the low carb lifestyle which eventually led me down the road to my weight loss. for the past 2.5 years I had been following many low carb , keto websites and blogs however never read the book. I’ve sworn myself to at least starting to read the book for if not for Dr. Fung, these amazing, significant changes to my life would never had occurred.

I still remember that first day when I learned that there is another way to eat. The news came in the form of a newspaper article I read stated ” Toronto Doctor finds cure for Obesity”. Being skeptical and having tried “everything else” I though I would read on and learn more. That article led me to many other links about this lifestyle/diet and then to the excitement that I could in fact be referred to the Doctor who wrote the article, Dr. Fung , for weight loss, wow!

I found and began to follow the guidelines of low carb diet and excitedly pursued a referral to Dr. Fung’s clinic in Toronto, eventually meeting Dr. Fungs Dietary Clinician, Megan Ramos. I was so ready to get started yet the to Dr. Fung took approx. 6-8mths or so and I had decided to begin the low carb diet with what information I could find online as I did not want to wait to begin my journey. Eventually I met with Megan at Dr. Fungs clinic and Megan gave me the bones of what the clinic could do for me and an outline of the low carb/keto / Fasting lifestyle which she advised would definitely benefit me. Part of the plan was weekly support group sorta meetings which I opted out of as I wanted to continue trying on my own as my work hours made the clinic group meetings difficult for me to attend. Armed with additional information, support and bounties of enthusiasm I began my journey.

After deciding to buy Dr. Fungs book I had a perfectly timed pop up on Facebook about a Fan Group for Dr. Fung. When I joined this group I then learned the group is actually a group to support those who follow the a fasting lifestyle and that’s when I realized where my path needed to go. Until this point I had practiced extended fasting once for 96hrs which did not end pleasantly, however I was willing to give it a try.

Having practiced lazy keto and intermediate fasting many times I didn’t realize at the start that this group would have such a powerful effect on my journey. One of the first posts I read was about a 42 hour fasting challenge whereas you fasted from 7pm Sunday till – 1pm Tuesday’s. I really wanted to end my August with something special as I knew I had been doing ok however I also felt not much has changed so I decided my last week of August would be 3 x 42 hr fasts. Once again I jumped in with both feet and decided to kick it up a notch and started my first ever 42hr fast which terrified me, the hunger, yikes!!

So feeling scared, excited and hopeful I weighed in on August 31st after my one week of 3 x 42 hr fasts and a fair effort of staying in keto all month and taaa daaaaa…I had drop of 8.4lbs since the beginning of the month, or I should say since the beginning of this year!!!

WOOT WOOT WOW! My first weight loss in 10mths!! I finally broke my plateau, I was so happy!

This month, Sept, I decided I’d do it again, except this time I committed myself to the full month of September, 3 x 42hr fasts week after week, no weigh ins and also to increase my exercise by adding in strength training and 4-5 flights of stairs at work every Mon, Wed & Friday.

With this being my last week of the month I cant wait to see where my scale finds me on Friday this week.

I began taking pictures since week 1 and I can definitely see changes, so I am very excited to see where I am in numbers. Id love to see an 8lbs loss again, but 5lbs will made me very happy! Cross your toes for me!

Written by : Corrina Leblond

Images by : https://www.cartnstock.com; https://www.amazon.ca/Complete-Guide-Fasting-Intermittent-Alternate-Day/dp/1628600012