ashamed to be primal? +metformin question page

[spakesneaker]

Hi everyone,

I have been eating vaguely low-carb off and on for the last year and a half, which helped break my former sugar addiction, as well as reverse the symptoms of PCOS/insulin resistance/pre-diabetes (along with metformin). I'm a 22 yo female (obviously, with pcos, ha) who has always been overweight, who was diagnosed at age 18 after a rapid weight gain of 30 pounds within less than a year. Eating fairly primally for a few months (or as much can be allowed in a college dining hall) last spring, I lost 15 pounds and stalled there after straying from Primal for the next year-- I think it was my mostly broken sugar addiction that kept me from gaining all that weight back.

Now I cook for myself and have dedicated myself wholly to living primally. However, I know it will take time, and in the meantime, I'm still visibly overweight (5'2", 167 pounds, with the unfortunate pcos tendency to gather fat around the middle). I feel rather silly sometimes telling people who notice my weight loss and ask if I've been working out a lot (for some reason, that's what they assume) that I mostly changed my diet. Luckily not too many of them press me for details. But then there's going to the supermarket on my way home from a yoga class, in what kind of looks like workout clothing, with bacon, eggs, and butter in my cart and feeling self-conscious. I feel like people must be thinking, "No wonder she's so fat!" The irony is, having grown up in an Indian household (with a vegetarian mother!), I never ate bacon until college (and I thought it was gross since it was basically cooked 'til it became carcinogens, now I've acquired a taste for the bacon that I cook), and she also -being health-conscious- would get rid of the egg yolks and not use butter (now she's fine with using olive oil). I know, I know, I shouldn't embarrassed by what I eat, but I guess it's a lifetime of self-esteem issues tied to diet and body weight at work here. I was wondering, does anyone else ever feel this way, and how do/did you deal with it?

Also, I was wondering if any of you had recommendations about decreasing metformin dosage (it's currently at 2000 mg per day). I'm worried that if I stop taking it after almost three years of taking it almost-regularly, I will balloon up again. But I know that I'm probably using it as a crutch by now, and also that as long as I regulate my blood sugar with Primal, I shouldn't be too worried. I definitely want to slowly decrease dosage, and start doing that soon though. Does anyone have any experiences of going off metformin here?

[scubasam]

I totally get your self consciousness wrt shopping and what you eat. I also feel like I need to start losing weight and having people see it before I let them know I am eating full fats, lots of red meat etc. I too have PCOS and IR and am on 1000mg of Glucophage at night. It never helped me lose weight and I have read that it most often doesn't lead to weight loss (unless the person follows a calorie restricted diet).

If you want to get off it, I would wean off 500mg at a time and keep testing my sugar levels. Are you taking the 2000mg at night, or 1/2 in the am, 1/2 in the pm? 1-2 weeks of weaning down should work, but you may still need some help with insulin sensitivity, so keep checking your sugars.

Good luck! I am still figuring out this whole primal thing and have yet to see any weight loss (but am not doing it 100% yet).

[meepster]

I have found that a good phrase to repeat to yourself every so often is "What other people think of me is none of my business."

[Harry]

We would worry less what other people thought if we realized how seldom they do.

[sap]

I have very similar numbers (I'm 5'1 and was up to 166 at one point) and I also have a lot of PCOS symptoms, so I can definitely relate.

Anyway, I did my first primal shopping trip last week and although I had fatty food in my cart, I also had a ton of vegetables, so I didn't feel overly self-conscious about it. Plus, I have to consider the fact that I don't often pay attention to what other people are buying, so they are probably not paying attention to me... You know what you are doing is right for you, especially considering the PCOS, so anyone who might be judging can go jump in a lake of high-fructose corn syrup.

[Roach]

I actually feel a rush of pride when I hit the checkout stand with beef, fish, coconut milk, bacon, eggs, raw milk, some veggies, etc.

It's great.

[PrincessGrok]

I actually feel a rush of pride when I hit the checkout stand with beef, fish, coconut milk, bacon, eggs, raw milk, some veggies, etc.

It's great.

+1.
It's pretty cool to have my fatty cart rolling around while wearing size 2/4 pants. I always sort of snerk and giggle a bit at the looks of dumbfoundedness I get.

[Steve1907]

We would worry less what other people thought if we realized how seldom they do.

+1

@ imasin - I have learned over the years that I often would project my anxieties/fears onto others and think "what will they think", but as Harry rightly points out, THEY rarely notice or care what I was most concerned about. You should examine your concern about the people in the grocery store, it may be more that you are concerned what your mother may think.

If you have really committed yourself to the primal lifestyle, then you will have to deal with your concerns. Get educated and be assertive.

The community here is terrific; supportive but frank. There are very knowlegable people with the answers you are looking for.

I wish you well and sucess on your jouney to health.

[Diana Renata]

What really throws people is when they notice you losing weight while eating such wonderful fatty foods. They can't seem to understand it.

[kennelmom]

I have found that a good phrase to repeat to yourself every so often is "What other people think of me is none of my business."

This is great! I love it...