"Chairman Kaga" (mike-mckinnon)
07/10/2014 at 11:01 • Filed to: None
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"Chairman Kaga" (mike-mckinnon)
07/10/2014 at 11:01 • Filed to: None | 1
| 9 |
In a show of solidarity, I've gone on the Ideal Protein diet with my wife. After our second baby was born (almost a year ago!!!), her pancreas and thyroid freaked out. She was already hypothyroid, but her numbers would fluctuate wildly month to month. She was working out four times a week, getting up at 4:30 to get in a 60 minute boot camp session before going to work at 6:30 (elementary school principal). We eat really well, sticking to a sort of paleo/Mediterranean hybrid meal plan. Low carbs, very little sugar, mostly whole foods a lean protein. Her endocrinologist fully approved of our eating habits. Neither of us were gaining weight, which is again evidence we were eating well and getting enough exercise to maintain, but she also wasn't losing ANY of the baby weight.
Long story short, the Ideal Protein diet was highly recommended by both her endocrinologist and the clinic's nutritionist, so off to the races. My doctor had been after me to lose 25 pounds for a couple of years, so I figured why the hell not. It would help her to have some sympathetic support, and it wouldn't hurt me. My doc said go for it.
A week in, and I feel weird, man.
I've gotten over the empty-stomach nausea and headaches, but I feel warm all the time. Maybe because I'm constantly drinking hot green tea? Maybe because my body is continually burning stored fat? I'm anxious to see if I've lost any weight on Monday. I feel like I have. I also feel like losing 25 pounds could have been an easy goal for me to achieve without going on a prescribed diet and just cutting way back on sugar and simple carbs, but this is REALLY helping me defeat cravings for fat and sugar. I'm hoping it'll serve as a big reset button for those cravings and metabolic need for quick energy.
You can real all about Ideal Protein elsewhere. Trainers hate it because it's "cheating", but most doctors recommend it highly. It puts your body into ketosis, but only gives you enough protein to prevent muscle loss, unlike Atkins which overloads you with protein and fat. My "formula" has me on it for 5 weeks, then transitions me into a regular meal plan that's basically the way we eat now, but much more strict on sugar. Which is fine.
The other half of this ordeal is that earlier this year I'd started swimming four times a week in the early morning. I'd go to the neighborhood pool, which is olympic length and totally devoid of human life before 6 am. I'd swim for 45 minutes, go home and have breakfast, shower and off to work. Muscle tone was returning, I could swim continuously for most of that time, and my blood pressure was returning to Good n Healthy. Then my left shoulder started hurting like a mother. Turns out I have calcific tendinitis, and the calcium deposits have been chewing up my rotator cuff. The pain started when one of the bicep tendons was basically severed when my 65 pound dog saw a squirrel and yanked the leash. I have an MRI tomorrow and the orthopedist said I had a 75% chance of needing surgery. So much for swimming. Looks like Pilates is in my future.
This is what 40 looks like, young 'uns. Eat those triple triples now, and drink as much beer as you can. It won't last forever.
mcseanerson
> Chairman Kaga
07/10/2014 at 11:09 |
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I hate dieting, never helps me weight wise. Best scenario was men's health abs diet where I ate a lot all the time but everything was healthy. Didn't lose but didn't gain. The worst was when people said eat a gram of protein for every pound you weigh. Let me tell you 300+ grams of protein in one day feels like poison.
area man
> Chairman Kaga
07/10/2014 at 11:32 |
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My mom - who is 60 - did the ideal protein thing a couple years ago. She lost a lot (40+ pounds) of weight but has gained some of it back. Apparently once you get off the regimented plan maintenance is tough.
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Chairman Kaga
> mcseanerson
07/10/2014 at 11:42 |
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Yeah, that's what I like about this plan. The protein is limited, but still enough that you don't burn muscle mass.
When I was actually working with a trainer, he had me eating something like 250 grams of protein a day. I felt like crap, so I followed my cousin's advice, who was shortstop for the Baylor baseball team and who I THINK knows a little bit about nutrition and exercise, and followed the Mediterranean diet. I loved that. Lots of fish and raw veggies. I was down to 185 and 20% body fat, which i just about ideal. Funny thing is, my BMI was still 27. I'd have to get down to 170 and 15% body fat to have ideal BMI, or basically maintain a bare minimum physique (meaning bare minimum muscle mass). Nuts.
Slow4o
> Chairman Kaga
07/10/2014 at 11:45 |
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I got you covered on the beer thing. I feel you on the wife with the hypothyroidism though, my wife Grave's disease so she's hyper, but once her thyroid dies she'll become hypo. She's probably had it since she was around 16, and once she was diagnosed we were finally able to explain her crazy mood swings and random bouts of feeling like shit.
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Chairman Kaga
> area man
07/10/2014 at 11:45 |
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It is if you're older with a slowing metabolism (and a pst-menopausal woman of 60 is right in that sweet spot), or if you have bad eating habits that you just can't kick. The trick is to ease off the diet and back into a low carb/zero sugar diet. And it's normal to gain some back. The plan actually has a buffer to account for the gain. They also figure you'll also be increasing your exercise and thus adding muscle mass. Basically it assumes that you'll be motivated to generally be healthier all-around. But yeah, with older folks it's much harder. My mom is 67 and it's damn near impossible for her to lose weight, even though she eats like a bird. I think some of that is her post-cancer treatments, but it's mostly just metabolism. Getting old is hell.
zeontestpilot
> Slow4o
07/10/2014 at 12:01 |
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My wife has Graves's disease as well. Her thyroid is removed though. I thinks it's just her personality that I deal with now, -_-.....
But we married after the surgery, so I only have seen the after math.
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mcseanerson
> Chairman Kaga
07/10/2014 at 12:05 |
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Yeah I don't know how people think that anything over 200 grams of protein is anywhere near reasonable. I was cooking up 2+ lbs of chick breast, a dozen eggs, and drinking like 3 protein shakes a day on top of all the other just regular protein I ate with normal foods. It was like I had to eat so much extra just to get close to it.
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Slow4o
> zeontestpilot
07/10/2014 at 12:05 |
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Lol. Yea my wife decided to not deal with the surgery or radioactive treatment and just take medication to monitor it. I had a good friend that got his removed though and his neck size shrunk something ridiculous lol.
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zeontestpilot
> Slow4o
07/10/2014 at 12:17 |
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Well, my wife looks normal now. I have one pic of her before the surgery, and it doesn't really look like her. Now, she looks very 'womanly', which I tend to like very much, :).
I think that we all can agree though, Graves diseases is probably the coolest name for a disease ever.