It's Time for a Party!

Yes, folks! It's time for a party! (And that's a good thing, because this has been a hard week around here, and I could use the extra cheer!)

And the cause of our merrymaking?

Cause of Celebration #1.... We Survived a Blizzard!

Okay, the snowfall may not have "technically" equaled the exact definition of blizzard... and the snow may not have happened exactly at our house (or anywhere nearby)... but I stick with my original claim. If snow can mean a blizzard, then we had a blizzard. And furthermore, I survived it. So there.

In all seriousness, the valley did indeed see SNOW yesterday, which is nothing short of miraculous here in the valley of the sun. It has never happened (to my knowledge) in the ten years we've been Phoenicians. I didn't see any of it, but I saw plenty of Facebook pictures last night, as well as getting to drive through some of the post-hail/post-snow whiteness as I drove to Scottsdale last night. Absolutely gorgeous!!

Cause of Celebration #2.... My Blog Manager Is Fixed! 

Quite a while ago, I posted that I was having problems with my blogger blog-reader manager function. We found that it actually was a bug in my account - a bug shared by quite a lot of others - and we were quite unable to fix it. Thus, although I could subscribe to blogs in my reader, I could not unsubscribe from them - ever. At the end, I finally had something like 190 blogs in my reader. It was a nuisance!

Yesterday, however, we finally received a tip on how to circumvent this problem, and as of now it seems that the problem is finally FIXED! Hallelujah! I spent all of my free time last night blissfully deleting blogs from my reader - to the tune of something like 100 blogs deleted (*singing songs of joy*). It was absolutely marvelous. I deleted blogs that I've lost interest in, blogs that are no longer active, and quite a few blogs that, due to spiritual and personal growth over the past couple of years, I now find somewhat repugnant. It has felt absolutely marvelous to shake off that mental clutter and the monkeys that have been hanging around even though I have long outgrown them. It was a lovely feeling.

And now, the original purpose of the party...

Cause of Celebration #3.... Another Dietary Milestone! 

I have completed six months on the Very Low Carb (VLC) Diet! Woo hoo! I'm so excited to be at this point!

At this point, the diet is not at all difficult. It's extremely restrictive, yes, but now it is just a way of life. I have developed a repertoire of recipes (still under development), I'm used to mixing VLC cooking for me and somewhat more standard cooking for the family, and I'm used to taking my own food to every party, potluck, and gathering. It's not as difficult as it looks from the outside (thanks to the grace of God!).

Reporting In...

Health 

I feel better than I ever have! Also, I find that now that I am accustomed to the diet longterm, I can go for longer amounts of time without eating, and not suffer nausea as a result. All postpartum nausea is gone as well (as it was within a few weeks of starting the diet).

Weight Loss

Unfortunately, I am stalled about 10 pounds short of my target goal. This may be due to breastfeeding, or a longer-than-usual plateau, or I may need to add intermittent fasting or increased functional movements to get to that goal.

However, where I am is fine with me, and I am not planning on trying anything to go any further. I'm completely happy with how far I've come, I feel much better, and I'm satisfied!

This has been my first experience with weight loss (serious weight loss, that is), and it's been a thoroughly interesting experience. Here are a few things I've learned:

- The VLC diet is the first method that has had any effect for me. Typical recommendations of low fat, move-more-eat-less, etc., have done nothing. 

- As I've read on so many nutrition blogs, weight loss really is in the kitchen. The weight that I have lost has been 100% through diet - I have not added any additional exercise to my daily routine. 

- Weight loss is slow! I had expected that a few weeks would do the trick, but no, it's quite a bit longer than that (bummer!). I had to settle down for the long haul. 

- Weight loss includes plateaus - after steady weight loss, one will stick at a certain weight and stay there for some time before continuing to lose. I experienced weight loss plateaus every five to ten pounds. 

If You're Wondering Why I'm Doing This...

Newcomers to the scene may not know why I am doing the VLC diet. (Hint: It's not weight loss.) I started my researches into this diet several years ago, when I read the following article:

The Low-Carb Gynecologist

This article is an interview with a Florida fertility doctor (reproductive endocrinologist) who uses the very low carb diet to treat infertility problems and increase rates of spontaneous conception (thus reducing the use of IVF technologies). This is a great article - please go and read it!

(*crickets chirping*)

The part of the article that stood out to me, of course, was the following:

WD: I was also interested in hearing more about your experience with morning sickness and the effects of a low-carb diet. Could you tell us more about this? Also, any thoughts on why this happens? 

 MF: As we continued to expand our thoughts about VLCD and fertility/pregnancy, we began to extend the nutritional approach into pregnancy. We know that pregnancy hormones dramatically worsen insulin resistance that is responsible for the condition, gestational diabetes. If insulin resistance is worsened, then reactive hypoglycemia is worsened. One of the biggest symptoms of hypoglycemia is nausea. So, in response to this, we have counseled our patients on the diet in pregnancy and have found a dramatic reduction in nausea. We recommend snacking every two hours in pregnancy.

Continuing in these researches, I have spent the last few years reading and self-experimenting to find out if this diet has any effect upon hyperemesis. The jury is still out! But you can read about the results (so far) of my experiment here.

Next stop... Nine months!!! See you all then!