Thread: July p4 group. [2015] Let's stay connected!

Hi everyone!!

I missed y'al. I've been crazy busy.
I started full time raduate School and I'm working full time. I have gained 20 lbs. No excuses, I just ate, everything.
Time to get myself back on track. I tried to eat sensibly but my stress and cravings were too powerful. So here I am. I started my round a week ago.
Feeling good but tired. More tired than usual.
No hunger, no cravings so far.

Rose- I love your accountability!!
Jayk- how's everything going?
Leez- where are you at? Are you maintaining? Are you reviewing any special diet plan?
I've been away too long.

I'm wondering Leez, have you tried Keto? What's your thoughts for Keto after P4 or during P4?

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Hi Kapluzie, and good luck on your current round. Its wonderful to have this tool to bring us back to body comfort again.

I'm not where I want to be, although I have been fairly careful with my eating to keep to THM principles. Over the winter, some pounds crept on. I'm currently holding at 145-147, but would like to be 135. I'm tempted to blame my winter sourdough baking, but I really don't think that is the issue, as I kept to the right portions and a loaf would last two of us eating it a week or more. So I think its really just that I'm still under-medicated for my thyroid dysfunction. And maybe, I still am eating something inflammatory that I haven't yet identified.

I should do a round, but the good news is that I'm starting to work with a new functional doctor (a PA) in a clinic that actually takes our insurance. My current GP is retiring, so I'm also transfering my primary care to their group. My new primary is the Dr of the team that is working with me, so I will have 3 people consulting on my case. I'm jazzed about it, as the PA says he aims to get thyroid ranges optimal, and also uses LDN therapy (low dose naltrexone) for auto-immune treatment. (Finally someone who understands both thyroid and LDN!) He'll also work on my menopause hormone issues, which is almost more exciting. I've had these sleep disrupting hot flashes for 10 years now. Maybe we'll finally get to the bottom of why BHRT has never touched them.

The team's nutritionist wants me to do and log a 4 week modified elimination diet (basically no grains, no dairy, no starchy vegetables, no beef or pork, no peanuts and I can choose to eliminate nightshades or not. I may, because I do have some arthritis) I think I'm going to give their program a chance to work. If my thyroid levels really do get better, it may be enough to let me stay at goal that way. If I'm still struggling after that, I'll do a round then.

I've also been preparing to go completely gluten free, and am almost there. The elimination diet should help me adjust to that. My GF sourdough bread is getting better, but is good enough now that I feel I can proceed. I discovered that teff flour is pretty close to wheat tasting. The flavor of my GF bread is great, but I'm still not getting a good enough rise, so still experimenting with that. I'm having a last hurrah with my sourdough spelt and sprouted rye, and then will make the complete plunge. I've also found out that Food for Life (that makes Ezekiel breads) is now making a starch-free sprouted GF loaf in several varieties, so I'm looking forward to checking that out. There is a Sprouts in my area that is carrying it now.

Originally Posted by Leez

I can choose to eliminate nightshades or not. I may, because I do have some arthritis) I think I'm going to give their program a chance to work.

If I were you, I would definitely try eliminating Nightshades. They are a major cause of inflammatory gains, as well as joint pain for me after I haven eaten them.

Ya, I probably will. I will miss tomatoes and peppers, but the rest I don't care about. And it is only for a month to see if it helps anything, so that is doable. And in this past year, I've developed a node on my first thumb joint, so something nefarious is progressing. I've not ever seen an obvious reaction to nightshades, but no matter how clean my diet has been, my tests always show some kind of elevated inflammation. It could turn out it has been a problem all along.

Jayk- thank you and sorry to hear about your husband. Sciatica pain is no joke, I felt it myself years back.
As far as fmd- i did it twice. The first time I followed all the rules (and there were alot). I did enjoy the amount of food I got to eat, and I found some of the recipes good. I didn't lose anything after 28 days (Which actually felt like an eternity) but I did maintain and didnt gain. After completing FMD, as with any other diet, I started to gain when I wasn't on their plan using their recipes.
Also, The second time around, I used their food macro ratios and it didn't work for me at all. However, I have always struggled with diets that I can make my own choices with their fat/protein/carb ratios. Even though I measure, and am extremely mindful, I won't lose unless I use their recipe. I've thought it was my food choices but I ate the same foods just put together differently. I honestly think it's just the way these foods react inside of me, if that makes any sense. But to figure that out has been fruitless. I'm confident it's inflammation, but to figure out how that inflammation is occurring has bewildered me.
My round is different than it's ever been before. Losing slowly this time, but steadily. Feeling tired and sluggish, but no hunger. I dare not mess with my dose as in the past that set me into a tailspin of constant hunger that I was not able to get under control which eventually caused me to quit.
I'm powering through. 8 days down and my loss is 10.6
Not my best, but I'm moving in the right direction and it's a steady loss.
My tiredness could be me overdoing it. I work as a long term substitute (full time hours) and I'm in graduate school full time earning my elementary teaching degree. Plus, 3 teens. So, realistically, I'm sure that's contributing to my tiredness.
I'm not a fan of fad diets (except this one. Lol) but I am considering keto for P4. Possibly P3, I'm not versed in the keto plan, and their seems to be many different ways to go about it. A lot of research is needed. Plus, I'm wondering how much variety is on the diet.
Anyways, thanks for giving me a chance to post and reading what I wrote. Haha



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@Jayk: I've tried a little CBD oil for the hot flashes, also full spectrum. It didn't do anything for that or anything else. I was hoping it would help sleep. But since its the hot flashes that are interrupting my sleep, it would have had to affect that for success. Maybe I need something stronger. I was playing with doses between 15-30mg. I'll find out what the functional doc has to say about all the hormone stuff in mid-June.


@kapluzie: Each round can be so different, can't it? Its harder to stay committed when you are tired. Pulling for you!

I didn't lose on FMD either. But the one time I did it for a stretch of 5 months was the only time I didn't gain in between rounds. (After the first month, I allowed greek yogurt and coffee back in, but followed the rest of the plan). I didn't use the recipes, just the food lists. Even though I was able to do it for that long stretch of time, I don't consider it something sustainable long-term. Probably the hardest part for me was that it was difficult to plan for buying and storing the foods that you could only eat for 2 days of the week. You have to keep on top of that if you like fresh produce.

I'll share a recent understanding that came to me about thyroid and keto. They have been intertwined in my own history, which includes both hyper and hypo periods. Through most of my life, ketogenic diets were about the only weight loss techniques that actually worked for me. Stillman and Atkins were the popular ones at the time, and something called a "protein sparing fast" (where you drank pre-digested protein only). Yes, that is as disgusting as it sounds, but its amazing what you can put yourself through when you are desperate. I always felt horrible on these diets, and after a few days, all the meat & eggs would start to gag me, so I often finished whatever time I could stand on them by just not eating at all. It took many years before I could stomach cottage cheese again.

I have had chronic issues with constipation since childhood, and the diets always made that worse. Elimination often stopped all together during these diets. After a bout with chronic fatigue and some time working with a nutritionist, I spent years as a vegetarian, then a vegan. Through working with her, I discovered that "dense" proteins like red meat and eggs always seemed sit like a rock in my stomach and take the rest of the day to digest. Not eating them helped that uncomfortable feeling, but didn't change much else. I have since learned that slow digestion exacerbated by hypothyroidism was the likely cause of my elimination problems. Those have largely been resolved now with the proper combination of magnesium, digestive enzymes, probiotics and thyroid medication. I am so thankful to feel normal now! I remember laughing at my dad when he said, "you know you are getting old when the high point of your day is having a good BM". I don't laugh now. I'm just grateful.

This dealing with a thyroid-induced slow digestion may be a significant factor in why there are some that feel good and have energy on keto, but there are others that do not. I'm in the "do not" category for sure. From what I read, there are likely a lot more people that are affected by low thyroid levels in our culture than have been diagnosed. I feel sad that so many will get swept up in the current keto trend not knowing that it will not be a good path for them in the long run.

I'm hoping that the new FMDoc will have some new things to try that might actually work. I'll find out in a couple of weeks.

Happy loading. May it be the last time you need to.

Jayk- yes, i believe FMD helped me to eat carbs again without gaining.

My round is going slowly. This past week i haven't lost ang weight. I've been bouncing around, but Tom came to visit and Ib think that's the culprit. Looking forward to seeing the scale move downward again.

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