Hi all,
I posted here some time back but have been away from IF/FF for about a year. The reasons are important, as they affected my overall health: I had pneumonia twice over the winter (the last time was March), with chronic congestion and asthma-type symptoms. I discovered in March that it was due to a severe hidden mold problem in my apartment. Needless to say, I haven't felt my best. In addition to being very sick for weeks at a time and feeling crappy the rest of the time, I was trying to keep income flowing in (I'm self-employed) and seek new clients, which was stressful. I've now moved into a new (brand new) apartment, and am slowly starting to feel better.
I didn't cope very well with all the stress, and developed very bad habits of eating way too many carbs and sugar, including liquid sugar in the form of coffee drinks. Of course, I gained weight, about 15 pounds.
Now that I'm starting to get settled in my new place (with a pool and gym), I am committed to being more fit and healthy. So the first thing I did was to start FF. It has been a fairly easy transition so far, even though I've only done it for about 3 days. The first two days, I ate anything I wanted. Yesterday, I started focusing more on healthy (lower carb, protein, veggies, fruits) food and planned meals.
Here's my concern/question. I also started checking my blood glucose, because it's motivating to me to see the levels stabilize, based on http://www.phlaunt.com, which I read about here. Generally, my levels are in the high normal range and they stabilize into the normal or low normal range.
However, now my blood glucose levels are much higher than they've ever been and they stay high. Though I only have a few days, the pattern seems to be roughly:
First thing in the morning: 140-185
Before break fast (approx 2-3 pm): 95 (high normal) (this is lower than day 1, which was 107, so there is a positive trend)
1 hour after dinner: 165
2 hours after dinner: 175-180
Clearly, my illnesses and foray into high carb has not been good for my system, as I've never experienced these levels before. It is taking at least 14-16 hours for my blood sugar to return to normal after dinner, when it should be taking 1-2 hours. From reading, it appears this indicates insulin resistance? This also helps explain why I'm still not feeling terrific even though my lung symptoms have decreased substantially.
I know that I've read here that people have reported higher readings with FF at first, though I think my higher readings are due to the high carb period, as I haven't been doing FF or lower carb long enough to help. I remember reading that FF and low carb have helped people lower their BG levels, and my own limited experience supports that.
My plan is to continue FF, choose high quality foods higher in protein and fairly low in carb (mostly meat, non-starchy veggies and some fruits) at two planned meals during my window. I also plan to resume taking probiotics to help with digestive issues I've experienced since taking the strong antibiotics, as well as a high quality multi-vitamin, calcium, and vitamin D. (I was diagnosed as D deficient a few years ago, but have fallen off the supplement wagon, which I know doesn't help.) Exercise wise, I'll start off easy at first with a few strength training sessions each week and walking in my new neighborhood, which has trails.
I'm going to go back and read the older blood glucose posts over the next few days. I guess I just need a bit of encouragement to stay the course and not get freaked out by the "you must eat every few hours" mantra I've been reading while researching blood glucose issues.
Any advice or encouragement is appreciated.
Thanks.
Susie
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