induction challenge

Since we returned from the cruise, my husband has been enthusiastic about buckling down and losing weight.  Suits me!  In solidarity, i started doing the original 1972 version of Dr. Atkins' induction with him.  Of course, we do a cleaned-up version with minimized omega-6 fats, coconut milk/cream favored over dairy cream, and other tweaks of the like nature.  We're both nixing alcohol this week.  That's the hardest part!  :-)

Although he's dropped 8 pounds since we got home on the 19th of May, he's disappointed it hasn't been going as fast as it did the first time.  Every time his ketosticks are less than dark purple he feels a bit discouraged -- telling him that mine NEVER get that dark is no consolation.

I'm pleased to find that his blood glucose is in a healthy range!  J has been so prone to growing skin-tags, and i understood that they're a sign of excessive insulin levels (but have no source for the idea)....  He's been regularly checking BG in the mornings as well as using the ketosticks; both are good.

But of all the interesting things that Jackie Eberstein (Atkins' long-time nurse-assistant) said on the Low Carb Cruise, one thing sticks in my memory -- DO NOT expect your body to perform "the way it used to."  This mind-trap may affect men in our age-bracket more than women, because women tend to see the changes very clearly, and men have fewer reminders.  Age changes a lot of things in all of us, and the way we respond to dietary and nutritional input changes over time just like our responses to exercise do.  Older people don't absorb nutrients as well, for one thing.  We have to do more and try harder all the time, as our bodies actually resist our efforts at an increasing rate.

Before you say "upper 50s isn't OLD" remember that until comparatively recently it WAS considered reasonably advanced.  Hell, 35 was "middle-aged" (half of that threescore-years-and-ten, you know).  Just because 40 is the new 20 doesn't REALLY make us "young"....

We have to be more patient with ourselves, because we can't drop fat or put on muscle as well as we used to.  We haven't escaped unscathed from the passing decades.  We have to be more careful and less indulgent if we want to enjoy our retirement the way we want.  Thank the gods for the benefits of low-carbing!

So we're chugging along with our diets as we also are with our house rehab.  It's 117 years old -- no wonder it takes so long for it to start looking better!  :-)