I Can’t Remember The Last Time I Weighed That, Part 1

We’re almost two years into my experience with intermittent fasting and eliminating sugar and grains from my diet, which I primarily began to reverse Type 2 Diabetes. Where I started from in May of 2017:

  • Weight: 311 pounds or 141 kilos, which is about 20 pounds below my high water mark from 2014
  • Blood Glucose (30-day average): 137 mg/dL or 8 mmol/L
  • A1C (based on a blood test): 7.1 (highest was 7.9% from back in 2014)
  • Waist: 54 inches or 137 centimeters (about 2 inches lower than my largest)

After losing 80 pounds in the 10 months that followed, my weight has been hovering around 230 pounds for a little over a year. Which, given the insane amount of travel I’ve been doing, is an accomplishment.

Earlier this week, my weight finally got below 220 pounds (which is under 100kg). It’s the first time I’ve seen a number that low on the scale in maybe 15 years. The sad thing is: I don’t remember exactly when I weighed it, nor do I remember the lowest number I remember seeing this century: 215 pounds. I’m awfully close now.

As of April 2019, here’s where I’m at:

  • Weight: 219 pounds or 99.5 kg
  • Blood Glucose (30-day average): 96 mg/dL or 5.3 mmol/L
  • A1C: 5.4%
  • Waist: About 37 inches or 94 centimeters

What am I doing that’s different than before? A few things:

  • Ditching Dairy: I think I was born a cheese addict. To the point where, until fairly recently, we were buying two pound blocks of Tillamook Extra Sharp Cheddar at least once a month. It’s quite an easy thing for me to over-consume and I was surprised at just how easy it was to give up. And yes, I’ve given up heavy whipping cream, too. I still have a taste of both once in a while, but I don’t eat them every day.
  • Exercise: I’m putting in half an hour on the treadmill almost every day I’m home. I’m actually running, if you can believe that. Not the whole time, but I’m slowly working my way up to that.
  • Going More Carnivore: While I will have the odd veggie every now and again, most of my diet comes from the animal kingdom. Makes it really easy to eat once a day when you’re loading up on protein.

I’ve stopped doing extended fasts for the most part (more than 24 hours). I usually eat only once a day, though sometimes, when traveling, I will eat twice a day.

The only real concern from my last blood test was my cholesterol. I understand your lipid profile can be easily manipulated, so absent some other information, I’m not concerned. My doctor, on the other hand, immediately wrote me a prescription for a statin.

Last time I visited my doctor, I told him in no uncertain terms I was not taking a statin until I got a coronary artery calcium (CAC) score. This is obtained by having your heart scanned with a very rapid CAT scan device, which quantifies how much calcium you have in your arteries. The higher your score, the higher your risk of atherosclerosis or coronary artery disease (CAD).

I have the CAC score procedure scheduled for the end of next week. Based on that, I can make a much more informed decision about whether the potential side effects are outweighed by the potential benefits.


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