Hello Friends in Natural Health!
Sorry I haven’t sent an update for a while. Keith and I have been busy implementing some more systems geared toward blood testing (to combine with Nutrition Response Testing). Adding the blood testing has helped us with our own health, so we’re working on sharing this knowledge with you.
But this note really needed to be about something else.
I’m about to self-disclose a bit here.
Laura’s Experience with Weight Gain
I have gained over 20 lbs in the last three years. As I enter my mid-40’s, I think my metabolism is catching up with me.
I have pretty much always been a person who could eat as much as they wanted. This didn’t really change in the last couple of years, it just seemed like my body wanted to put on weight, so it did. It didn’t matter what I was eating. In fact, the whole thing started when I was in the middle of a pretty serious low-carb phase.
A Word of Caution
A word of caution as you read on. Each person is different, when it comes to what foods are best for them. This can change too, with your phase of life, as I’m about to share. So don’t think that just because it was my experience means that all of this will apply to you. I hope that you will read this and it will inspire you to continue to work on making YOUR OWN right food choices. Of course, for some of you, this might be just the bit of info you were looking for.
Back to my story-I have been feeling a bit disgruntled about my weight and fighting with myself wishing I didn’t care etc., etc. Also feeling uninspired about pretty much every option available to lose weight. Keto – forget it. I tried it—It just didn’t work for me. Low carb – nope. I was low carb already, and put on weight on low carb (where most people will do well and lose weight on low carb). Higher carb? Ugh, I feel yucky when I eat more carbs. I like to feel good. Low calorie? Forget it! Cutting calories is just impossible for me. I need to EAT! Why do you think I became a nutritionist?
Dr. Sheehan’s Recommendation
So Keith had a patient with blood sugar that just would not come down. He mentioned to me that he gave this person a diet called the “Protein-sparing modified fast.” I had never heard of it. I am always very interested in new things I have never heard of, so I looked it up. I thought I could do this! When I feel motivated, I like to jump on it so just like that, I started this new way of eating called the “protein-sparing modified fast” (or PSMF for short). Please note – this link is one description I found on the internet. It simply provides more info. I’m not necessarily endorsing this particular approach to PSMF.
Laura’s Experience on the Diet
I started it as I was taking a trip to the Jersey shore for the weekend. This worked out great because otherwise I would have been tempted to eat some gross junk food. The basic gist is that you can eat as much lean protein as you want and as much vegetables as you want. It’s lower-fat than a typical keto diet (and much lower fat than my typical diet). I know, it doesn’t sound exciting. However, I was excited.
The first night at an Italian restaurant I ate a big bowl of mussels and seafood and some Cesar salad. The next morning, I had turkey sausage (and coffee with half and half, of course). For lunch I ate a whole plateful of fish and green beans. It was so filling. By this point, I was starting to feel a little flu-ish. I had a little bit of a sore throat, and my nose was starting to run. This lasted a few days. I soldiered on, determined to make this work. I was also reveling in the fact that I wasn’t eating junky food like everybody else.
Everybody else: “Come on, eat what you want, you’re on vacation!”
Me: “I am eating what I want. Besides, I know what all that cr** tastes like already. What I am doing is actually new and interesting to me!”
For dinner that day I had salmon and more Caesar salad.
Laura’s Results
It has been over three weeks, and I am happy to say I am still interested in the food I am eating. I have even lost five pounds! This is quite an accomplishment since nothing was budging for me on the scale for a couple of years before this (not that I was applying myself terribly in any way, but I tend to observe how different things affect me). I also feel better. I am sleeping better and other weird little problems I was having have resolved too.
One of the best parts of this way of eating is that I get to keep my coffee and half and half. I have even started eating nonfat Greek yogurt. NONFAT. Nonfat has been anathema to me for probably about 15 years. So yes, this is a little different. I am also enjoying the twice-weekly “free” meals. That is, I just eat a “regular” (for me) meal (no binging on junk food!).
Conclusion
I don’t think this way of eating is for everyone, all the time. The guidelines are to follow it for four months, tops. For Keith’s patient with the high blood sugar, this PSMF brought it down beautifully. I think I will stick with it for a little while longer and see what happens, and I’ll keep you posted.
Laura P.S. If you’re curious what we’re up to with the blood chemistry, you can watch a video on it here.
