Dr. Visit and 10 Month Update
Hello again. It has been awhile, but up until now, I haven't really had anything to report. After several attempts at getting to my two doctor appointments (one or the other was having issues so appointments kept getting rescheduled) I finally got in to see them both last Tuesday, Aug 27th. So, this is what happened.
My first appointment was with my cardiologist. I have stress-caused atrial fibrillation. Chronic. Which means that I have it all the time rather than sporadic as it used to be. So I have a required yearly exam which does not consist of much other than an ECG and listening to the doctor talk to me about diet and exercise. Last year she was thrilled that I was on the Keto diet. This year, she called the diet, and I quote, "BS." She basically argued with everything I said, and ultimately, I left there feeling very beaten up and deflated. If I could lose pounds by feeling deflated, I would have lost 100 right there!
Weight: Up 10 lbs.
BP: 100/60 which is a bit on the low side for me, especially after just getting to the office from the car. It's a difficult walk for me.
I left her office wanting to just go home and curl up and cry. I was so sure I had lost weight! I mean, people were telling me that they can see it. I can feel it in how my body feels. But the pounds were not coming off. Never mind that my clothes just hang on me.
Now at this point, I can see some of you thinking Keto doesn't work so why bother? But read on...
So I headed on down to my family doctor's office. There I normally see the Nurse Practitioner for the annual exam. I had some things to discuss and of course one of them was this diet. Oh my goodness! What a totally different conversation that was! On their scales, the weight was not much changed from last year. But the message I received was totally different than what I had received at the cardiologist.
First, I was examined by a student Nurse Practitioner. She was not at all surprised that the pounds were not changed much. She explained that I needed a kick start. She explained that when you go on a new exercise regime, your body aches and protests, but after awhile, your body adjusts and that routine becomes your "normal." She said at that point you have to step it up, shock your system. While the cardiologist was saying "BS" to the Keto diet and the intermittent fasting, etc., this nurse was telling me to take two weeks off the diet and eat anything I wanted to eat, and then get back on the diet. So then the regular Nurse Practitioner came in and examined me. She agreed with the student and said that I needed to do a reboot, but to NOT give up and quit. In fact, she herself had lost quite a bit of weight on the Keto diet!!!
They also gave me some good tips including telling me that I was probably eating too much protein. I do agree with that assessment. My a1c was also unchanged and I had thought it would be in the perfect range. They told me that too much protein will turn to sugar in the blood. I do believe at least one of the videos I have shared discussed that as well. They would like me to increase the good carbs since I had been following more of a carnivore diet and only having good carbs a couple times a week. I am always afraid of getting too many carbs so it is just easier to not eat any. And taking a couple of weeks off the diet just to trick my body by getting out of the new "normal" routine. Let me tell you that I left that appointment feeling so much better. It was good to be told that I was following the right path after all, even if, as the nurses said, "It will make 'her' mad, but..." meaning the cardiologist.
Well, I was already planning a bit of a day or two carb splurge, but two weeks? So after just a few days, I felt miserable! Sluggish, bloated, and just yucky, like I had before I started Keto, and how I did every time I would take just a day or two off. So I am doing a sort of half-keto and half anything I want but then it is back to the Keto. I cannot emphasize enough just how good I feel when I follow the Keto diet and how crappy I feel when I don't. Then there is the real fact that things I have wanted for a long time don't even taste all that good anymore. It isn't hard to follow a diet that makes you feel better, and stay away from things that make you feel lousy. While I am partly enjoying the break, I can't wait to just get back on the Keto diet again. I will be checking for new videos that might be educational, especially with breaking plateaus.
I have a follow up visit with the Nurse Practitioner the end of December. This time I am expecting a much better report.
So, if you are following me and my progress, and trying to make this work for you...let me tell you what these sweet nurses told me. Don't Give Up!
My first appointment was with my cardiologist. I have stress-caused atrial fibrillation. Chronic. Which means that I have it all the time rather than sporadic as it used to be. So I have a required yearly exam which does not consist of much other than an ECG and listening to the doctor talk to me about diet and exercise. Last year she was thrilled that I was on the Keto diet. This year, she called the diet, and I quote, "BS." She basically argued with everything I said, and ultimately, I left there feeling very beaten up and deflated. If I could lose pounds by feeling deflated, I would have lost 100 right there!
Weight: Up 10 lbs.
BP: 100/60 which is a bit on the low side for me, especially after just getting to the office from the car. It's a difficult walk for me.
I left her office wanting to just go home and curl up and cry. I was so sure I had lost weight! I mean, people were telling me that they can see it. I can feel it in how my body feels. But the pounds were not coming off. Never mind that my clothes just hang on me.
Now at this point, I can see some of you thinking Keto doesn't work so why bother? But read on...
So I headed on down to my family doctor's office. There I normally see the Nurse Practitioner for the annual exam. I had some things to discuss and of course one of them was this diet. Oh my goodness! What a totally different conversation that was! On their scales, the weight was not much changed from last year. But the message I received was totally different than what I had received at the cardiologist.
First, I was examined by a student Nurse Practitioner. She was not at all surprised that the pounds were not changed much. She explained that I needed a kick start. She explained that when you go on a new exercise regime, your body aches and protests, but after awhile, your body adjusts and that routine becomes your "normal." She said at that point you have to step it up, shock your system. While the cardiologist was saying "BS" to the Keto diet and the intermittent fasting, etc., this nurse was telling me to take two weeks off the diet and eat anything I wanted to eat, and then get back on the diet. So then the regular Nurse Practitioner came in and examined me. She agreed with the student and said that I needed to do a reboot, but to NOT give up and quit. In fact, she herself had lost quite a bit of weight on the Keto diet!!!
They also gave me some good tips including telling me that I was probably eating too much protein. I do agree with that assessment. My a1c was also unchanged and I had thought it would be in the perfect range. They told me that too much protein will turn to sugar in the blood. I do believe at least one of the videos I have shared discussed that as well. They would like me to increase the good carbs since I had been following more of a carnivore diet and only having good carbs a couple times a week. I am always afraid of getting too many carbs so it is just easier to not eat any. And taking a couple of weeks off the diet just to trick my body by getting out of the new "normal" routine. Let me tell you that I left that appointment feeling so much better. It was good to be told that I was following the right path after all, even if, as the nurses said, "It will make 'her' mad, but..." meaning the cardiologist.
Well, I was already planning a bit of a day or two carb splurge, but two weeks? So after just a few days, I felt miserable! Sluggish, bloated, and just yucky, like I had before I started Keto, and how I did every time I would take just a day or two off. So I am doing a sort of half-keto and half anything I want but then it is back to the Keto. I cannot emphasize enough just how good I feel when I follow the Keto diet and how crappy I feel when I don't. Then there is the real fact that things I have wanted for a long time don't even taste all that good anymore. It isn't hard to follow a diet that makes you feel better, and stay away from things that make you feel lousy. While I am partly enjoying the break, I can't wait to just get back on the Keto diet again. I will be checking for new videos that might be educational, especially with breaking plateaus.
I have a follow up visit with the Nurse Practitioner the end of December. This time I am expecting a much better report.
So, if you are following me and my progress, and trying to make this work for you...let me tell you what these sweet nurses told me. Don't Give Up!
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