Staying strong through blogging

So, I haven't bounced back up yet-- I really expected to! It seems both Hubs and I see our weight fluctuate up and down, but with an overall downward trend. That's the good news!

I have found recently that as nice as it is to be doing this with Hubs, sometimes it is still difficult. He loses so much faster than me and I feel like I'm banging my head against a wall some days. What helps me get through those times is blogging-- both writing and reading. I have really enjoyed reading two blogs in particular: http://purplerosy.blogspot.com/, and http://www.meandjorge.com/.

PurpleRosy has been on the BFC for a long time and her start weight was similar to mine (though hers was less). I like reading her blog because she totally gets the frustration and seeing a long road ahead. I know that the BFC is not (and cannot ever be) a short-term solution. I will need to do this forever. I really want my kids to grow up with healthy attitudes towards food and I can't provide that for them how I was.

Me and Jorge also has a long-ish history, so it's nice to go back and read her earlier posts. She was one of the early participants in Cruise's program as it was being developed. I think her story is even included in the book, but she said a lot of the details had been changed. Anyway, she has lots of good ideas for substitutes and the blog is just generally fun to read.

On a different note, I've been feeling the urge to get back into yoga. I've done yoga in patches here and there and it always makes me feel amazing. I just love the progress you can see in yourself, the change in posture and confidence. Also, I usually get up from a session feeling like I just had a massage and nap! Pretty good stuff!

Shine: Diet soda makes you fat

I read an interesting article on Shine about diet soda making you fat. They never come out and say it, but it sounds like the aspartame suppresses leptin making you feel hungry when you really aren't. (At least I think that's what Dr. Lustig would say about it!) There are plenty of naysayers in the comments, but I think there is more there than just the correlation between being overweight and drinking diet soda.

The article describes that the researchers observed how the brain reacts to sugar and aspartame. Basically, there's more of a "satisfaction" response from sugar. So, aspartame makes your brain expect that satisfaction, but it doesn't get it, so you want to eat.

One of the basic ideas on the BFC is that artificial sweeteners trigger cravings. Cruise does recommend Stevia, however, because it does not have an impact on blood sugar and therefore does not create cravings. This has been true so far for me, anyway.

Bygones are bygones

Two years ago (!) on this blog, I kept track of an earlier weight-loss effort that was mildly successful. I had gone to a weight loss doctor and reduced my calories while taking phendimetrizine and B12 shots. The pills made me jumpy and the shots were a waste of $15/week. The diet was good, though. My biggest complaint was that I had awful cravings almost constantly. Either I just wasn't ready to change or there was something wrong with the diet.

Flash forward two years and I am back in the same place... almost. In the mean time I got married and gained what I had lost, plus 15 pounds. :( After talking to his doctor, Hubby reported that there was this video we had to watch and book we had to read. The doctor was putting Hubs on a diet. Being the supportive wife I (hopefully) am, I sat down with him to watch this video about the evils of fructose and what has happened to the American diet over time.

The video was a presentation by Dr. Robert Lustig, M.D. to the UC Medical School. I can only term it as life-changing. It was like a light went on and I could all of a sudden see where I was at. Why had I gained 20lbs in one year of marriage? How about all the soda I had been drinking? The daily dose of candy or ice cream? Yeah... it was that simple. And besides that, what were those restaurants putting in everything we ate? The short answer was this: fructose.

And the book? It was the Belly Fat Cure by Jorge Cruise. Now, I am not generally a fan of diet books (although I've read and tested a bunch!), but the simplicity of the plan is what got me. It was an easy way to implement what Dr. Lustig had recommended and it didn't take a lot of changes to our everyday life.

So, how are we doing? Great! Hubs has lost 20 lbs and I have lost 10lbs this first month. Yes, it's true-- two sugar-loving, junk food junkies have totally changed how they eat and it wasn't even difficult. One month into this new life and we're feeling great and seeing changes every day.

The best part? No cravings. It's crazy!

If you want to see the video (it's long-- be forewarned!), it's on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

To read about the Belly Fat Cure (BFC), click here: blog.jorgecruise.com/images/Report_v3.pdf