I Can Do This - Locogirl's Primal Journal page

[locogirlp]

I should have started this journal the day I sent my picture in for the "Success Stories In The Making" challenge. Shoulda, woulda, coulda. I'm starting it now.

I'm a 44 year old female, 5'1" and (currently) 137.5 lbs. I was 105 lbs dripping wet my senior year of high school and I could eat whatever I wanted. By my early 20's I noticed some weight beginning to cling to me and by the time I had my daughter at 25 I was 140. Over the years I gained and lost (stress causes me to lose weight and during the stressful periods of my marriage I would lose 15-30 lbs easily) but stayed above 140 generally. During my late 30's I had a hysterectomy and ballooned to 160 and then dropped 30 pounds in three months when I couldn't eat and had to lose my gallbladder. Gained it back and then lost it again when I finally got divorced and out into the single world. It was just back and forth, yo-yo'ing. I know that's not a good way to go.

A few years after my divorce I'd managed to maintain the 135 lb me but when I felt the weight begin again (because I was happy, you see!) a friend encouraged me to go join a gym and do spinning and lifting weights with her. I went ahead and joined -- a complete shocker to my friends and family as they all know me to be a lifelong avoider of exercise. I decided that it would be a great way to lose what weight I was beginning to gain again.

Hah! In the four months I was there, I spent 5 days a week, 45 mins to an hour each day, alternating between spinning on MWF and weights on T-TH. I didn't gain weight, but I didn't lose it either. That was okay, muscle weighs more, etc etc.....but my measurements didn't change around my waist, which is where I wanted it to -- or anywhere at ALL! I felt stronger, definitely, and I could lift a lot more, and my biceps felt great and strong and taut, but really? No change? WTF? What I wanted wasn't happening. I wanted to see something for the intense work I was doing. I mean, feeling stronger was okay but honestly I just HATED exercise so freaking much that I needed to see SOMETHING I valued to keep me focused and at it. I kept at it with my friend, though, until circumstances (and an injury to my back) forced us to have to change our schedule from mornings to evenings. I tried but I couldn't do evenings...I liked morning workouts, and with the back injury killing me, and the disappointment in not seeing any real change to myself, in three weeks I was done.

Looking back, I should have stuck with the weights, at any rate. *sigh*

I let 2.5 years go by. In that time my doctor told me that I had a lot of fatty liver and that my TSH was off and put me on low dose thyroid meds. Add that to the nexium I was already taking for the acid reflux that killed my gall bladder and the hormones from the hysterectomy and I was taking 3 pills daily for 'conditions', more pills than I wanted and certainly 3 more than my 101-yr old grandmother (dad's mom) EVER took in her life! I HATE taking pills. Hate hate hate.

My throat closed up on me one day, scared the bejesus out of me. I learned that I have DES (diffuse esophageal spasms) and no one could tell me why, except that they tend to start in periods of or after high stress. It is an involuntary muscle issue -- and I have other involuntary muscle contraction issues -- so this was just one more of those. Ugh. I took peppermint oil pills when I needed to, to calm the spasms.

As I said, I let 2.5 years go by. In that time I tried to regulate my weight, half heartedly. I suspected I might be celiac and went off wheat.....and lo and behold, I started feeling a LOT better. I lost a bit of weight but more than that, I just felt clearer headed and more energetic. But when my gastro told me that I didn't test celiac I went back on the wheat over sheer laziness and gained the weight back. I just sort of thought to myself, oh screw it. You're 44, you're going to be fat, your mother is fat (my height, 225 lbs), your mother's mother was fat (250 lbs), your mother's grandmother was fat (350 lbs)...just accept it.

So I let myself get up to 151 lbs before the 'acceptance' part snapped. I was visiting my parent's house that day and I was talking to my mom, who is a type II diabetic. She was telling me how she might have to go to morning insulin as well as evening insulin, and I was looking at her ankles, all swollen, and watching her eat a pizza, and I...I dunno....something just went off in my head.

"Oh god. That will be me! Take a good look. You'll be diabetic. You've already got the swelling ankles, the fatty liver, the fat middle. You'll take insulin, and your last years won't be good ones, and it's because you're just accepting it. IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT?"

No, it wasn't. I had seen Mark's site and had read a bit, and that day, right then and there, I decided to try it.

I thought about it and decided to make small changes first, the ones that were easiest for me. I decided I would try an experiment to see EXACTLY how effective DIET alone would be. I determined I would not change up or add to whatever exercise I was already getting (which amounted to 20-30 mins of walking a day). I'd eat more calories and eat more fat and eat more protein and just SEE. What could it hurt?

So....

When I went Primal, it was January 13th. At that time my stats were:

Weight: 151 lbs
Neck: 13
Bicep: 9.5
Waist (tight, measured 2 inches above BB): 32
Bust: 38
Waist (tight, measured at belly button): 38.5
Hips: 42
Thigh: 21
Calf: 13.5


Now, as of last Sunday (Feb 26th) my stats are:

Weight: 137.5
Neck: 12.5
Bicep: 10
Waist (tight, measured 2 inches above BB): 30
Bust: 38
Waist (tight, measured at belly button): 36
Hips: 40
Thigh: 21
Calf: 13


Basically I've lost 2 inches on my 'natural' waist and 2.5 inches off my belly button area, the place where I tend to gain first. I've lost 2 inches off my hips and gained a half inch on my calves and biceps.

WHOOO! I really do feel fantastic. But more than that, so far.....

1) I don't have half as much swelling in my legs at the end of the day.

2) My liver function tests have normalized for the first time in over three years. My latest scans have shown that there are still localized pockets of fatty liver disease in my liver but those seem to be disappearing. I am thrilled about this!

3) My gastro loved the results so much that we talked about the Primal diet and he was very interested in watching and learning from my journey. He is a great gastro and all about alternative methods for all sorts of things so he was totally on board with my change. He gave me the green light to go off Nexium slowly (and believe me, it HAS to be slowly....like 6-8 months slowly. Nexium is a BITCH from HELL with claws. She doesn't freaking let go and makes your stomach confused as all get out. I hope to hell that my digestive system can recover from this, but I'm determined to do it. So far it's been rough -- reflux, burning, etc. Eh. We'll see.)

4) I started taking magnesium because the FDA issued a statement that people who take Nexium and drugs like it had magnesium drained from their bodies. The magnesium has helped me sleep and seems to have mitigated some of my stress issues. Funny thing -- magnesium deficiency can trigger a lot of involuntary muscle issues and I found myself thinking/wondering that maybe my DES spasms could be lessened by the magnesium supplementation. Sure enough, they're still there but they're not as bad! If you cuple this with the hope that I may be able to GET OFF NEXIUM for good and I am very, very hopeful.

5) Did I mention I feel GREAT?

I do plan to add exercise back in soon but I don't know how much. I know I SHOULD exercise but I've always just hated it so. Changing my idea of it from something I must do, to something I have fun at, is a mindset change I need to work on. I want to work on it! However, my initial experiment of just changing the way I eat has been a fantastic voyage of discovery. I preach this, I definitely do, and my friends can see the weight melting off me. I love it.

Lastly....

I go to take my routine yearly physical in late April. I stopped taking my thyroid meds yesterday. I want to see if my TSH levels will normalize as well. If they do I am not taking that any longer either. I'm just curious to know how many of my medical issues were caused by my SAD. (If they don't normalize I'll stay on it, of course!) I'll also be interested to see how my cholesterol tests out too.

Here we go!

[Siouxzee]

Hi Locogirl,
Wow! I'm impressed! Congrats!!
Your thread is really encouraging me as we're both around the same height and seem to have the same issues with fatty liver (well, not you anymore!) and gaining weight around the middle mostly; hating exercise; and fearing becoming our older relatives. In my case it's my older sister who just gets fatter and fatter every year and I am PETRIFIED I'm going to look just like her. I also relate to the incredible TOLL stress takes on our body. I had a naturopath tell me one time that my body was convinced I was trapped on a polar ice cap, starving, which is why I struggled to lose weight. I think I am flooded with Cortisol on a regular basis. I have a great deal of family stress. When I was single and in my 20s I just dropped weight when stressed; now i stand at the kitchen counter mindlessly eating chips and reading a magazine when I've had a bad day.

I never have acid reflux or heart burn etc if I just stay away from processed carbs. I just feel so much better in the mornings when I haven't had gluten the day before.

Anyway, wanted to say "hi" and that I found your post very inspiring!
Sue

[locogirlp]

The last time I posted was on March 2nd.

I wanted to weigh in (haha!) with my latest measurements in my journey. When last I posted, these were my measurements:

Weight: 137.5
Neck: 12.5
Bicep: 10
Waist (tight, measured 2 inches above BB): 30
Bust: 38
Waist (tight, measured at belly button): 36
Hips: 40
Thigh: 21


Now, as of last Sunday (April 29th) my stats are:

Weight: 133
Neck: 12.5
Bicep: 10
Waist (tight, measured 2 inches above BB): 29.5
Bust: 36
Waist (tight, measured at belly button): 34
Hips: 38.5
Thigh: 20

My loss is slowing down quite a bit but that's okay with me. I know that eventually I'll hit homeostasis and come in at a comfortable weight for me. Honestly, 133 (from 151) is pretty darn good. My 'goal' weight is 125 but if I can hover in the 129-130 range I will be more than satisfied.

I am really proud of myself for the weight I've lost but more than that, the INCHES that I've lost! A total of 4.5 inches off my waist at the belly button, 2.5 inches off at the waist two inches above my belly button, 3.5 inches off my hips, and 2 inches off my bust (which is STILL, btw, a healthy 34FF for a 5'1" lady, haha, and will soon go to a 32I once I buy that new bra.....ack!)

The next step for me is to incorporate some movement other than the 10 minutes of stretching/pushups in the morning after rising and the 20-30 minutes of walking that I get 5 days a week at work. My daughter is just starting yoga and she's been encouraging me to give it a try. I have some lower back and neck issues (sciatica, some arthritis) and sure, some stress, that could do with a bit of that! I did show her up last night, though -- when my 19 yr old discovered that 44 yr old mom could still sit down and lower her knees to the ground without effort and do some hip-based yoga poses that were giving my daughter some issues. I attribute that to a lot of inherent genetic flexibility....my mother at 66 could still put her leg behind her head until she had spinal surgery. Ha!

Anyway, life is pretty good otherwise. The only (minor) issue is my cholesterol. I was wondering what would happen when I finally got it checked. My dad and mom both have high cholesterol issues and I wondered if I would, especially going Primal. I don't have any before-primal records to compare it to, but here are my scores as of 4/12:

CHOLESTEROL, TOTAL 226
HDL CHOLESTEROL 60
TRIGLYCERIDES 61
LDL CHOLESTEROL 154
CHOL/HDLC RATIO 3.8
NON-HDL CHOLESTEROL 166

A little high...I expected that because I've been eating eggs like mad!

I will admit to not being happy with some of these results. My dad had a quadruple bypass and arteriosclerosis and all that and I don't want to travel that path. I have never had a cholesterol this high before and even though I've read all the stuff on MDA about cholesterol and how it's not the be-all end-all like CW would have us believe, it IS hard to get out of that mindset. I told my doc what I was doing and he didn't recommend any meds (bless him!) but still. I want to see normal numbers is all. Heck, I want to see awesome numbers!

That said.....since I'd like to see my LDL drop a bit I need to go about doing better. I know that eating lots of green and yellow veggies will probably help lower it and I also admit to not eating as many lawn clippings as I need to. I will resolve to make a change in that department. It's weird....once I START eating it I crave it, but I have to force myself to eat it. That and there's the mindset I have about how expensive salad makings are. A steak being expensive makes sense. But LETTUCE? Come on! It kills me to see a salad at $10 and a sirloin at $14. Give me the steak please.

Ha!

Anyway, resolutions to eat more green.

[Hedonist2]

Welcome. I'm glad primal is going well for you.

[locogirlp]

I haven't kept up with my measurements in a few weeks but I stepped on the scale this morning and it said 129.

129!

I'm 4 pounds from my current goal and only 11 from my ultimate goal.

I haven't seen under 130 lbs in....um.....since the 90's.

WHOOO!

[TexasKel]

Congrats! Love your posts!!!
Thanks for posting on my page too. You gave me some great encouragement!!!

[locogirlp]

Briefly popping in to log my most recent measurements. I will come back later on for a longer update, especially since I've seemed to hit a plateau weight-wise. My measurements are still slowly thinning out but the weight has frozen, especially on my belly -- my most problem area anyway. Grrrr.

I will admit to a bit of boredom eating too. That might be part of it....hahaha! That, and I may need to tweak my ratios. Or start exercising more.

More about that later. Anyway.....

Weight: 130
Neck: 12
Bicep: 9.5
Waist (tight, measured 2 inches above BB): 29
Bust: 37
Waist (tight, measured at belly button): 33
Hips: 38.5
Thigh: 20
Calf: 14

Oh, and before I forget. When I started this back in January I was wearing size 12P-14P. Now I can comfortably wear 8P and I have purchased a few comfortable pairs of 6Ps. (Yay for thrift stores or I'd be broke!) That's a loss of 6 sizes! I'm thrilled about that!

[PrimalPumpkin]

Good to hear you are doing well and having sucess. It feels good to feel good!

[SLB0404]

Hiya, just wanted to say that your journal has helped me loads.

I'm having a bit of a crisis of confidence since I've been primal for 3 months, I did the whole before and after pictures and... SAW NO DIFFERENCE! my boyfriend has pointed out the difference in all of the photos and my measurements (have lost a ridiculous amount off my waist) but for some reason I only see the negative.

I'm at 135lb right now, started at 142 but that loss happened in the first 3 weeks. Fair enough, I do weights so I know my maintenance is muscle but I still don't feel 100% happy with my body (or even 60!) or haven't needed to get any smaller clothes yet...

So yes, my point is your stats were similar to mine and after 6 months you are where I expected to be at 3 months. You've just given me the confidence to keep on going because I know in another 3 months I'll (most likely) find myself where I want to be. Thanks very much

[locogirlp]

Well.....do I dare to show my face in here again?

*sigh* Hi, my name is Locogirlp and I'm a food addict.

There, I said it.

Yep, I went off the wagon. I've gained about 7-8 lbs back since I last wrote. I've been eating badly. I went on a week's cruise and then on an extended trip to see a concert,and let myself eat some 'bad' SAD things that....you know...and it just sort of escalated from there. You think to yourself 'it's just one time', and then it's another, and another, and....you get the picture. I also know that some (well ok, most) of it has been stress eating, because my only daughter decided to sign up for the Navy and she ships out to boot camp tomorrow.

But these things are 'excuses' and not reasons.....not really. They were all MY choices and I own up to them. But the weight has come back and I HATE the way it feels on me. Goodness!

My daughter leaves tomorrow. When she leaves I am going home and doing some therapy/hands-busy work of my own by pulling out everything in my pantry that has her name on it, and everything that is SAD and bad. I'm taking it over to a friend's and I will start anew. I really LOVED feeling the way I did eating primally and I won't make this mistake again.

Wish me luck!