Terror at the Doctors

As my glasses were fogging up from the mask, I told her I was a nervous wreck. My heart was pounding and I know I was hyperventilating. I was also hypertensive and big-time overweight at 258. Before she even opened her mouth, I knew she was going for the metformin (137), beta-blocker, an ace inhibitor for hypertension and tachycardia (129), and probably a statin because my stupid ratio was slightly out of wack. My Doctor has a beautiful mind and I could sense she was reaching the end of her rope. It was brutal. I had to lie and tell her it was white lab coat syndrome. I really didn’t fast. I’m starting a new diet that I’m sure will work. The lies just rolled on and she agreed to give me one more chance to turn it around. I ended up with an extension of six months with a dreaded A1C draw to be completed 2 weeks before my appointment. On my way home, I got some beer and pizza. I was ready to tackle this head-on. Luckily, I also started my journey with enlightenment from a plethora of true healers. As a retired healthcare professional, not in the field of nutrition, I appreciate how Dr. Berg weaves the complex medical information with simple explanations. I kept hearing terms like insulin resistance, low carb, keto, and fasting for autophagy among other things. Coincidentally, a friend of mine I hadn’t talked to in a while got in touch with me and told me about the way that he was losing weight by juicing. It’s hard to fast at first. Juicing puts the foot in the door. It gives you your daily intake of the super nutrients provided by fruits and vegetables. This takes the edge off when you fast. Give it a three-day detox followed by a one-week juice-only fast. At my age (65) it went pretty fast. Expect misery through the detox. Take plenty of showers and you might as well stay in bed. Juice when you feel like you're hungry. You will probably have to adjust intake depending on your individual needs. Most importantly, inform your healthcare provider to assist. If they won’t, then find someone who will. At first, I was juicing 3 times a day. Earlier the next day, kinda stepped it up some. Found out what I liked or hated. Combining different stuff. Kinda like cold cooking. I wouldn't say it was fun but really easily tolerable. Towards the end of the 10 days, I was naturally decreasing the times to two per day. I was also shrinking my window until it was a four-hour window. After the 10 days is over, the next week was replaced with a low carb, high protein meal that I ate only to satiation. I had to learn to eat again. I gained some back but my goal was always 10 lbs from the previous goal when my eat week was over and I went back to the 10-day juice fast. I also kept closing my window until I was at one meal a day (OMAD). The great thing about fasting is how versatile it makes nourishment. You are no longer a slave to your cravings. Nourishment comes under your control and convenience. Through moving away from sugar, anything processed, with seed oil or sugar, staying low carb eating, or juicing I’ve dropped to 210. This has been over a total of 40 (4 tens) days juice only fast lately OMAD with an eating week. I seem to lose weight the fastest on the OMAD juice-only fast. During eating week, l lose on the OMAD but not nearly as fast. If I go to a four-hour window I seem to stay the same. I’m now three days into my next 10 and find myself extending my fasts and experiencing Autophagy. In seven days, when I’m below 200, I wonder if I should call her and ask for an early A1C? ◦ It’s been a month since I wrote this. I still juice some but have added it to a clean paleo/keto(?) in a 4 hour window. I’m fluctuating between 194 and 198 these days and slowly adding exercise to my routine.