I. Am. So. Frustrated!

fasting
progress
experiment
(Adam Kirby) #106

Hmm your insulin seems very low. This is a very interesting case to me, where a person has low insulin but no fat loss.

#107

Still leaves satiety and BMR as targets for change.

(What The Fast?!) #108

I just had my BMR and BF tested via DEXA scan and an RMR machine last week as well! Iā€™ll edit the above post to include that.

(Kathy L) #109

Yea-I agree-I had a fasting insulin 3 months ago of ā€œ2ā€. But Iā€™ve been on a stall for over a year w/ 70-80 more lbs to lose. I asked jimmy Moore about that & he said to have it retested -probably isnā€™t rightā€¦

(What The Fast?!) #110

Seems like a weird response, a bit of a ā€œif the answer doesnā€™t match what youā€™re looking for, it must be wrong,ā€ no?

(Kathy L) #111

Well, sort of -but on the other hand-how can it be so low when I clearly have a ton more to lose & have been stalled for so long? Is it right?? He said it wouldnā€™t hurt to have it tested a few more times to see if it is indeed correctā€¦ thatā€™s allā€¦

(What The Fast?!) #112

Got it. Well, it looks like we may have a similar situation (low insulin, good BG, but no weight loss). Iā€™m excited hear @daveketo ā€˜s thoughts as wellā€™

(Crow T. Robot) #113

I agree. Itā€™s a reasonable to recommend rechecking a seemingly anomalous reading, but not a very complete answer.

Hereā€™s the thing: your fasting insulin is just that ā€“ fasting ā€“ your post-prandial insulin could be high and you wouldnā€™t know without a Kraft insulin assay.

(What The Fast?!) #114

But why would it be if Iā€™m not eating carbs? And my BG stays stable throughout the day as well.

(Crow T. Robot) #115

Not as high if you were eating carbs, but any food has an insulin response.

(Dave) #116

This pattern Iā€™d normally match up with a ā€œLean Mass Hyper-responderā€ per some of my earlier conversations given your HDL-C > 80 and LDL-C > 250. LDL-P is concordant, which Iā€™d likewise expect (it is usually the case, but not always).

And of course, your smLDL-P is <90 meaning youā€™re maxing out on the Pattern A ā€œlarge and fluffyā€ LDL-P (as noted by the LDL size of 22.3).

This is worth coming back to in a momentā€¦[quote=ā€œKetoLikeaLady, post:105, topic:13227ā€]
CMP Panel:
Glucose, serum: 71
Everything in this panel shows in the suggested range except my Creatinine Serum was 0.69 (Low)ā€¦no idea what that is.

HbA1C: 5.1
Insulin: 2.2 (Low)
Iā€™d love to know what low insulin means?
[/quote]

This leads me to believe you are definitely on the straight and narrow with regards to the diet. Low FBG, low a1c, low fasting insulin. Check, check, check.

And hereā€™s where Iā€™m thrown off. Your labs look very much like an semi-athletic hyper-responder in just about every way. But Iā€™d assume a lower body fat % for the boosts to show up as they do in the lipidsā€¦ but maybe your closer to my profile. (Note Iā€™m purposely sedentary right now due to maintaining the confounding variable). Iā€™m interested in what labs from your CBC came in a little low as I wonder how much of this can be parsed on a metabolic burn rate.

All in all, your labs look great and Iā€™d consider them a good signal youā€™re exercising a strong keto diet with good results showing up internally. But I donā€™t know yet about the weight situation just yetā€¦

(Dave) #117

@KetoLikeaLady - have you had a thyroid panel done yet?

(What The Fast?!) #118

@DaveKeto
These thyroid numbers are from a blood test I had done in July 2014
TSH: 1.46 (Healthy scale of .40 -4.5)
T4: 6.0 (Healthy scale of 4.5 - 12.0)
Free T4: 1.1 (Healthy scale of .8 Ā­ 1.8)
T3 Uptake: 33.2% (Healthy scale of 25 - 35%)
Cholesterol: 232 (Healthy scale of 125 Ā­ 200)

These are from a blood spot test in June 2016
Free T4: 1.2 (range of .7-2.5)
Free T3: 3.1 (range of 2.5-6.5)
TSH: 2.1 (range of .03 - 3.0)

Donā€™t feel bad if youā€™re stumpedā€¦welcome to the last 30 years of my life. :slight_smile: Here are the successful ways I have lost weight: in high school, I didnā€™t know any better and decided to run a mile, lift weights, and eat an apple, a banana, and a turkey sandwich everyday until I got skinny. I lost about 40 lbs doing so. You want will power? I got it.
In college, I gained the weight back (not all of it) I lost weight by under-eating, taking stimulants, and working out. I got down to about 127lbs, the lowest Iā€™d ever been.
Later in life, still working out consistently, I found my weight was around 140-145 and decided to HCG (a 500 calorie diet with a ā€œhomeopathic version of the HCG hormoneā€). I got down to around 132. Now, I find myself at 150, in great shape (aerobically), but my physical body wonā€™t catch up.
What I mean to say here is that Iā€™ve only successfully lost weight doing very dramatic/extreme diets. Iā€™ve tried a LOT of other things - IIFYM, Paleo, South Beach, etc - but the only things that seem to drop the weight are these really intense diets. I know there was metabolic damage from all that, but based on my hormones/thyroid, lab results, I believe thatā€™s in the past and that my metabolism is healthy now? I dunno, thatā€™s my guess. Would love your thoughts.

CBC Numbers:

CBC1.jpg2276Ɨ1552 277 KB

(Dave) #119

What are your typical exercise routines right now?

Do you have any unusual eating habits or cravings that you noticed when not adhering to these diets mentioned above?

Metabolically, how alike are your parents?

(Crow T. Robot) #120

Have you tried fasting? If you can do the HCG diet, alternate day fasting should be a snap. Itā€™s a good way to raise your metabolic rate as well. Just do ADF until you reach your goal and keto (preferably with a big steak) on your off days.

(What The Fast?!) #121

I currently do 16:8 and have done a couple EFā€™s - 26 hours, 40 hours, 24 hours, and 61 hours. I could certainly try ADF. Do you eat additional calories on the days you DO eat, or no? Like, if Iā€™m eating between 1300 and 1600 now, would I eat more like 2000 doing ADF? And do you keep a specific eating window?

I work out 4-6 days a week. I usually do one long ride (25-40 miles) on the weekends, depending on what weā€™re training for. I do TRX or kettlebells 2 days a week, then the rest is either hot yoga (which believe me, is a workout) or hot pilates. Sometimes Iā€™ll do gentle yoga if I need it.

I recently decided that Iā€™m going to move more toward just hot yoga and biking. I think that the stress of the high intensity workouts may be causing part of the issue. My muscles are really bound/tight, so I was going to combine fascia blasting with yoga to loosen it up and see if that helps. (Now that I see these numbers are normal, I have a feeling the issue may be in that arena, rather than a hormonal issue.)

(Dave) #122

How many of these fasting periods were while you were keto? How did you feel overall while doing them?

(What The Fast?!) #123

All of them. Like anyone else, the first one was hard. They get easier for sure - seems like theyā€™re more of a mental game. But, in general, I feel good. On the 60 hour one, I worked out twice and was fine. I didnā€™t have some crazy boost of energy or mental clarity, I just felt normal. I lost a few lbs but then it all came back (youā€™ll see it in my weight chart).

(What The Fast?!) #124

Also guys, I have to share this. Iā€™ve introduced 3 people to keto. My mom, my boyfriend, and his brother.
Boyfriend = 11-12 lbs loss in about 4-6 weeks (I canā€™t remember when he officially started)
Mom = 17 lb loss in a month
B/Fā€™s brother = TEN lbs in a 9 days. And he is already a lean guy. (Heā€™s also 25 with a healthy metabolism.)

So, likeā€¦the good news is that Iā€™m a believer. :slight_smile:

(Mary Ann) #125

Such great data in this thread. Iā€™m eager to see how this turns out! Itā€™s like an unraveling a mystery. And I hope you get the answers you need. :slight_smile: