Lifestyle changes

I have talked a little bit on my social media about how I am having to change.  About 2 months ago I was diagnosed as Insulin Resistant.  For me, this came with a huge change to my eating habits.  I have always been a sweet eater, a walking sweet tooth.  Food was always a huge comfort thing with me, and it was a struggle for me to let go.

I had one last "normal" weekend date with Jason.  He has been utterly amazing.  We went out and had Steak and Shake with happy milkshakes to soothe my fear of what was to come.  He also stopped on the way to get cookies from Sifted (our favorite cookie shop).  I whined a lot that weekend.  I was scared of failing, I was scared of being sick, and I was scared of not knowing.

So the following Monday I started my new diet and medication.  I went on a "no" sugar, no gluten, no starch diet.  I say "no" sugar because of my intolerance to artificial sweeteners.  Many of the artificial sweeteners were migraine triggers for me, so I asked if I could have a tablespoon of sugar for my morning coffee/tea and my Dr said that should be fine.  I also found that to be just enough to keep the sugar withdrawal headache at bay.  I do plan to pull away from that sugar in the future as I find an alternative sweetener that does not hurt me.  My diet is 40-50 carbs a day (I usually stay between 20-35 to be safe).

So when I started in June, I was 210-ish and my hips measurement was over 50'.  At my July check-up, I weighed in at 188 and almost cried at the Dr. Office.  My hip measurement decrease to somewhere around 45".  Thus far I have dropped almost a full 2 pant sizes, my size 16 pants were tight and this weekend I bought size 12!  Yes, I know women sizes are just random but still to go from a nearly 18 to size 12 is big to me.

Jason has been my rock, my lifeline, and the best thing ever.  He has tried to do these big changes as well, although he allows himself around 80 carbs a day.  He too has lost weight and I think a pant size or 2.  But the big thing is he was there besides on the hard nights when I would cry through my cravings.  Feeling like I was starving and just wanted buttery toast to soothe my stomach.

Let me clarify, due to the excess insulin in my system my "your full" signals were not received.  So I would eat a huge meal and still be hungry. I knew I should not be hungry.  I knew I was full.  But my body just kept wanting more food.  I had a bad couple of weeks while my insulin "flushed" out of my system.  I cried a lot. 

Today I am surprised how easy it has been to give up sweets.  What I am still struggling with is not having buttery toast, really was my favorite comfort food.