Re: type one diabetic with weight problems

Hello,
I am insulin resistant and did not want to become a diabetic. I have tried everything to loose weight for over 25 years and nothing worked. I walked a 12 mile mail route 5 days a week for work, worked out at the gym for at least an hour session 5 days a week and ran 3 miles every other day and still proceeded to gain 60 lbs. I saw a doc who determine the weight gain was probably due to hypothyroidism and we now have that under control. He then put me on a diet simular to Dr Mercola's (not quite as extreme as Mercola's) and I just lost a very little bit of weight, but the cravings made it hard to stick to the diet. I decided if I wanted to avoid the Type II Diabetes, I would have to do something a little more radical.

When I came across Dr. Mercola's website, I began to research his diet plan and it made since to me so I decided to give it a try. It seemed it would be too time consuming to follow, but it is not been bad. While it seems like a hard diet to follow, it is not and you are only restricted until you loose the weight and then some of the restricted foods can be added back into your diet. It is ment to help you loose weight and then to maintain the weight loss.

While I understand that not every diet works for every person, I thought you might want to go to Dr Mercola's website to get some info on his diet. He has taken the Adkins diet one step further in a more sensible direction and advocates small amounts (~ 3-5 oz servings) of select organic meats with large portions of select organic veggies, but as with the Adkins diet, no grains, starchy veggies and sugars UNTIL you lose the weight and regain your health. Organic may be a little more $, but totally worth the money spent. I am on a budget as I am a student and also self employed and I managed to handle the cost and time involved. The $ you save not eating junk can go to the organic food expense. Whole Foods and the internet or a local health food store/co-op will be good sources as well as a local organic farm food share program.

He has different levels in 3 phases to make it easier to make the necessary diet changes: Start up, Stablize, and Sustain. In the Start-up phase you control your hunger for 3 days and move on the the Stabilize phase where you work at loosing weight and regaining your health. You are NEVER hungry as you eat 3 meal and 3 snacks per day in the Stabilize phase. Once you loose weight, you move to the Sustain phase where you can add selected grains and starchy veggies along with selected sweeteners back into your diet in moderation. I started in the Advanced level going into the first and second phases as I tend to be pretty disciplined and wanted to get down to business.

I started Mercola's diet (Book: The No Grain Diet) and do not find it too much of a hardship. (Other than having to eat meat again. I have been a lacto-ovo vegetarian for over 15 years and did not really want to eat meat again. I stopped eating meat as I found it an unclean source of food. When I quit eating years ago, you could not get cleaner meat sources such as organic and natural raised meats, so I was not so put out by eating it again with today's resources. It really is amazing how adaptable our palate preferences can be.) I felt more satiated and that was probably due to the fats as my veggie diet was pretty low in fat.

After the first week, I did not have the cravings as I did prior to starting the diet. You have to stop eating the grains, starchy foods and sugars to get rid of the insulin swings and stabilize the insulin reaction to foods. Kind of re-training the body to react properly. This in turn helps to subside the cravings. I really was having a lot of insulin ups and downs from the foods (grains and starchy veggies not to mention the incredible cravings for sugar).

I have followed Mercola's diet pretty close (not totally) to the detail and I have lost 10 lbs in 2 1/2 weeks so far. I did not like cooking with the coconut oil so I use the recommended organic ghee and olive oil instead. I had a hard time with taking the cod liver oil, so I am going to get the cod liver oil pills. My doc said to freeze them first so they are down in your digestive track before they thaw = no after taste. I have tried the raw cheeses and love them. The flavor and texture is so much better than pasturized cheese, that you really are satiated with small amounts. I am still looking into the other raw milk products. The diet is flexible enough that you can select your favorites from what is allowed and not get bored.

I have not even started the exercise part of the program yet. I was completely surprized by the weight loss this early into the diet. I had told myself, I would give the diet 8 months to see if I would loose weight and if not, I was going back on my veggie diet. That is how skeptical I was, but it appears to be working! I may not have to wait that long to reach my goal weight and better health.

My bloodwork does not show up in the insulin resistant range anymore so I have already accomplished halting my progression to Type II Diabetes with just a weight loss of 10 1/2 lbs. Amazing. It is not snake oil, but a fairly easy diet, that with a little effort appears to work for me. I am sorry for this being a little lengthy, but I felt the info may give you some reassurance to keep trying until you find something that works for you. Good luck.