histamine reading continues....

While eating a lot of the wrong things myself, i continue to read about theoretically controlling histamine....  :-)  Today's brunch was a really yummy platter of preserved meats (sausage, confit, headcheese, bresaola, ...), goat brie, pickled vegetables and a couple glasses of champagne, and i paid the price -- feeling miserably bloated sitting on the sunny side of the car, and having to soap my ring off when i got home.

I have no doubt that some of my allergy problems are in fact histamine-intolerance issues.  When i first read about the subject a couple of years ago, it rang a bell (set off an alarm clock actually), but something distracted me and i'm only just getting back to it.  This time i'll make every effort to stick with it a little better.

On the way home from the restaurant, though, we stopped by the neighborhood health-food store and i picked up a bottle of holy-basil tincture and at home i took a dropperful -- felt better pretty quickly.  Gonna use it for a little while in place of benedryl and see how it works in the long term.

Well, back to the reading ... but just have to gripe a bit about the people who write on the subject!  OBVIOUSLY know diddly-squat about the subject of nutrition because they seem scared to death they're going to give themselves a case of malnutrition by omitting "whole food groups" -- where have we heard THAT before?  ;-)  ...Unless of course they're talking about giving up MEAT* -- that IS a mistake!
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* and the proclamation against "red meat" is based on the factoid that "Red Meats are hardest on us as they are usually from animals who had antibiotics injected or were force fed etc."  also that they're supposedly very high in omega-6s -- i guess these people don't know about grassfed....

stress and ideal weight

My husband hasn't been away on a business trip in WEEEEKS (and there for awhile we thought he might never be again).  Fortunately, as time has passed, we've gotten used to being around each other so much, again.  Snoring and tossing no longer wakes me up so much during the night, and i hope that whatever i do that discombobulates him is not as acute as it probably was, when he just returned from the last assignment.  There are still times of stress which happen when one has to share living space, but it's reduced, and even reversed in some situations (when the other person takes a burden from one's shoulders).

Of course, i haven't lost a pound since he got home, and he isn't even obstructive about diet.  The gods only know how people manage to change their diet in an environment which is actively hostile!

My weight has, in fact, become quite stable ... at 8 pounds over where i want it [eyes rolling].  This is something of a confirmation of an old hypothesis of mine -- that when you reach and hold a weight for a reasonably long period of time, that "held" weight becomes a new defended normal for the body (i would use the s-word, but i absolutely HATE the connotations that "setpoint" has gained over the last few years).

I don't believe in weight or fat setpoint theories as described by so many purported experts, though i have observed that my body WANTS to maintain a steady state.  Further, it WILL do this as long as i eat a low-carb diet.  I'm not one who says one CAN'T gain weight on VLC, but MY body WILL NOT:  there's no way i could eat and drink enough ketogenic food to make me gain fat -- my appetite switch trips OFF shortly after i get more than 100 grams each of fat and protein under my belt for one day.  In fact, if that point is reached by lunchtime, i don't have any appetite again for almost 24 hours.

No -- the "setpoint" my body wants to maintain is ANY weight it's held reasonably constant for more than a couple of months.  The ONLY way it goes up is through carelessness in carb intake, and the ONLY way it goes down is through a low-alcohol, XLC diet (which is only calorie-controlled because of the "100-gram rule" i described above).  Stress affects the situation (for me) through perverting hormones and sleep ... and desire for alcohol, the "gateway drug to carbs."

I think i'm at a "healthy" weight right now, and some may suspect it is "ideal" because my body is defending it so easily.  My daughter is in a similar position -- her two-decades-plus-younger body is resisting HER attempts at weight loss, too.  But i don't think these weights are ideal even though they are healthy, because (in my case) the 20 pounds of fat i COULD afford to lose are 20 pounds my joints are better off not bearing, and which my systems would be better off not serving with circulation, sensation and nutrients; extra weight without which my "challenged" mitochondria would be much less burdened, when supplying my body with energy!

So as my stress levels lessen (I HOPE), i anticipate dropping some 6-8 more pounds ... which i'll then make every effort to maintain for two or three months before making another "push" for weight loss.  See how good this hypothesis of mine really is!

one mechanism

When weight loss slows or plateaus, my instinct is to read all sorts of articles/chapters of books on the subject, just to encourage myself, clean up my "technique" and reinforce my will to succeed.  Thus i often read things online which could be considered just confirmation of what i already know, by way of a pep-talk ... but i never know if i'm going to come across something new or especially-inspiring.  I'm sure i've read a lot of THIS info before, but this time i was ripe to appreciate a particular aspect of it.

One of the (many) ways we see the basic CICO concept fall on its ass is where isocaloric diets differentiating between low- and high-carb arms show significantly different fat-loss results.  And one of the (many) ways low-carb diets "waste" calories lies in the process of gluconeogenesis -- turns out, 100 grams of protein convert to only 57 grams of glucose!  That's some pretty impressive inefficiency!

But that's not the mechanism i was referring to.  The one that "turned on the lights" for me just now is the fact that alcohol use INHIBITS gluconeogenesis.  I had observed that i could still lose weight on my ultra-LC regimen with one glass of wine with brunch and dinner, but beyond that it was (if i may coin a phrase) orvieto-land -- that CITY ON A PLATEAU [evil grin].

I already knew that for the best weight-loss results it helps to stay strictly on the wagon.  Just a reminder, then....

devil rum strikes again!

And just after Sid commends me for holding my liquor....!  tsk tsk!  I left two important supplements off my list yesterday!

Of course, i've sung the praises of epimedium and mucuna pruriens very recently -- and very literally, in the case of mucuna.  It's been impressive in improving that damned tremor of mine.

How i look forward to finishing two or three bottles of things -- i might SEE my bathroom counter again!  ;-)

"gateway drug ... to CARBS"

:-)  I changed the emphasis in this quote a bit, for dramatic effect.  Unless i'm much mistaken, it needs to be attributed to Dr. Mike Eades.  I made note of it when i first read the words, as important to the scheme of things in my life.

The gateway drug to carbs is ALCOHOL.

I'm not sure of what all the mechanism includes, but part of it is simple disinhibition.  The fact is so well-impressed upon my brain, it isn't easy to sneak up on me with forbidden temptations but i can rationalize to myself under the influence of a couple of glasses, and give myself permission to eat questionable things.  Sometimes -- not often, thank heavens -- the things are downright, unquestionably WRONG for me.

And THIS is the best reason to keep "bad" foods OUT of the house.  Who knows what dark mood, bad event, or simple "liquid overindulgence" might trigger a run for the cheetos?  If they ain't there, it's easier to avoid them.

Yesterday, the shipment from the Concannon wine club arrived, and i had to open a bottle to make sure it shipped all right.  ;-)  Two glasses in, a pizza sure would have tasted good, but i was too strong to be tempted to order one.  The stash of hotel popcorn that i'll be taking to Texas with me, later this month, was less resistable.  At least it had palm oil instead of hearthealthypolyunsaturates....