SugarFree Protocol – Tracy

Tracy will join us on Monday, September 3, but you can read about her now.

Tracy’s Introduction:

Hello! I am forty-one, 5′ 7″, and weigh 216 pounds. This is not my heaviest (that was 265 pounds), but it is a far cry from my lightest weight, which was 118. What’s scary is that I was eight pounds lighter last week this time – so you get the idea of how fast I’m putting it on.

Pick a size between 2 and 22, and I have been there. As an adult I have struggled with mild eating disorders, severe problems including endometriosis and PCOS, and bouts of frighteningly fast weight gains. I have told my doctors for several years that I must have thyroid and/or hormone issues to no avail. My latest blood work shows a host of low counts that should be significantly higher: Vitamin D, Ferritin, T3, T4 — and some high counts that should be significantly lower: A1c, TSH, Leptin and Insulin. I am Hypothyroid, Insulin Resistant, and am in the early stages of diabetes.

While I have tried to eliminate sugar and refined carbs from my diet, I don’t do it consistently and I don’t have a good handle on what specific foods do to my body. I am hoping Protocol will teach me this, as well as produce fat/inches losses and blood work improvements that are obvious and sustainable. I want to wear a size 8 or 10 dress with a healthy lean body mass, regardless of my ‘scale’ weight. I want to stop craving carbs and sugar and obsessing about food all of the time, and I want to stop feeling bad with fatigue, headaches, chronic pain, etc. In other ways I feel a lot younger than I am so I need my body to fall back in line. After trying everything in the book(s) this is my last-ditch effort – so here’s to success!

Protocol Round 1, Week 1, Day 1 – 9/3

Weight: 216.2 pounds

Measurements:
Bust: 44″
Waist: 41.5″
Hips: 49.5″

Lunch:
– 9 oz pork shoulder-blade steak
– 3 oz spinach
– 5 oz kale
– 9 oz asparagus
– 2 T. butter
– .5 T. olive oil

Fitday stats:
Calories: 715
Fat: 50.5 grams (64%)
Protein: 55.3 grams (31%)
Carbs: 9.9 grams (5%)

Ketostix: trace

Blood Glucose:
Fasting: 93
1-hour PP (after lunch): 83
2-hour PP (after lunch): 90

I had a very difficult time eating all of the food in one meal without feeling overstuffed. I typically graze throughout the day (which causes my blood sugar to go up and down more often, so I get the logic of doing it this way), but I hope it gets easier.

[Note: It will. To make it easier now, toss your veggies in olive oil and crushed garlic (if you like), sprinkle with salt and pour onto a large heavy-weight cookie sheet lined with non-stick foil, parchment or silpat. Roast in a 400 degree oven (preheated for thirty minutes!) for 20 minutes or so. All the water (and most of the volume) will be gone, and all the natural sugars will be enhanced. Delish! :)]

Protocol Round 1, Week 1, Day 2 – 9/4

Weight: 213.6 = down 2.6 pounds

Lunch:
– 10 oz chicken liver
– 8 oz broccoli
– 5 oz green beans
– 1 oz white potato with skin
– 2 T. butter
– 2 oz sour cream

Fitday stats:
Calories: 782
Fat: 54.8 grams (63%)
Protein: 54 grams (28%)
Carbs: 18.2 grams (9%)

Ketostix: small to moderate

Blood Glucose:
Fasting: 79
1-hour PP (after lunch): 94
2-hour PP (after lunch): 94

Glad to see the water weight dropping off! Yesterday afternoon I got a raging headache and it hasn’t gone away yet. I suppose some of it is lack of caffeine. Since I do not like coffee without stevia I am off cold turkey until I can stomach it black. I was also EXTREMELY irritable yesterday. Scary irritable. That is a little better today. I was very tired this morning but that got better into the afternoon. Regarding my blood sugar, the fasting reading was quite different yesterday to today, and the addition of the potato at lunch (I assume) seemed to shoot it back up quickly.

[Note: The headache (and irritability) is also partially due to sugar withdrawal. It affects many participants, and sometimes lasts as long as a week. Sugar is a hard drug to drop. Your fasting glucose was much better today, because for the first time in a long time your insulin was actually able to get your sugars into the normal range. 🙂 Your 1-hr PP went up after eating, which it is supposed to do, but it is a sign of your insulin resistance that your 2-hr did not drop back into the fasting range (or a bit higher) as it is supposed to do. That will come over time on Protocol.]

Protocol Round 1, Week 1, Day 3 – 9/5

Weight: 212.2 = down 1.4 pounds

Lunch:
– 14 oz chicken thigh, bone in, with skin
– 8 oz kale
– 11 oz zucchini,baby
– 2 T. butter

Fitday stats:
Calories: 722
Fat: 56.5 grams (64%)
Protein: 60.9 grams (31%)
Carbs: 9.7 grams (5%)

Ketostix: moderate

Blood Glucose:
Fasting: 77
1-hour PP (after lunch): 81
2-hour PP (after lunch): 97
3-hour PP (after lunch): 74

My headache lessened today and my mood has stabilized. Last night my stomach was growling so bad I went to bed to distract myself. I am extremely foggy, but SugarFree said that is normal during sugar withdrawal and will lift in another week or so.

I purchased all of my supplements last night so I am excited to take them when they arrive. My second blood glucose reading after eating today was way higher than the first reading but about fifteen to twenty minutes before that, I had a VERY STRESSFUL encounter with someone. It was one of those situations where I literally felt my blood pressure rise, my heart flutter, and a myriad of other body stress signals. SugarFree has written many times that stress raises cortisol, which depresses insulin, which raises sugars, so that must be it.

Protocol Round 1, Week 1, Day 4 – 9/6

Weight: 210.8 = down 1.4 pounds

Lunch:
– 10 oz rainbow trout
– 8 oz spinach
– 5 oz fennel bulb
– 3.5 T. butter
– 1 T. shallots

Fitday stats:
Calories: 744
Fat: 50.4 grams (61%)
Protein: 60.5 grams (33%)
Carbs: 12 grams (6%)

Ketostix: large

Blood Glucose:
Fasting: 67
1-hour PP (after lunch): 76
2-hour PP (after lunch): 81

Even though I was tired most of yesterday I got the burst of energy that is to be expected at this point last night. I feel pretty good today.

Protocol Round 1, Week 1, Day 5 – 9/7

Weight: 209.0 = down 1.8 pounds

Lunch:
– 10 oz chicken liver
– 8 oz broccoli
– 9 oz asparagus
– 1 oz duck fat
– 1 oz white potato, with skin
– 1.5 oz sour cream

Fitday stats:
Calories: 747
Fat: 51.2 grams (62%)
Protein: 55.4 grams (29%)
Carbs: 16.2 grams (9%)

Ketostix: high

Blood Glucose:
Fasting: 63
1-hour PP (after lunch): 105
2-hour PP (after lunch): 83

I feel like I have been run over by a truck, and took the day off from work. I woke up to do my Ketostix, fasting glucose reading and weigh, then I could not even finish my hot tea. I immediately fell back to sleep and slept until lunch. Then I was nauseous and felt faint. My heart beat hard through my chest. I even slept again between my two after-meal glucose readings. Between whatever is going on today physically and having the potato at lunch, I was disappointed but not surprised to see my first after lunch reading spike. Still, this is as high as it has been since starting Protocol. Looking back at my other readings for the week, the second reading tends to stay high so I was relieved that it came back down. Regardless, it looks like there is no starch in my weekend future.

[Note: Tracy, it’s not the ‘starch’ — it’s that your meter has confirmed what your body told you: you’re either fighting off something, or coming down with it. I hope you feel better soon!]

Protocol Round 1, Week 1, Day 6 – 9/8

Weight: 207.2 = down 1.8 pounds

Lunch:
– 3 oz bacon, weighed raw
– 3 large eggs
– 2 T. butter

Fitday stats:
Calories: 550
Fat: 48 grams (79%)
Protein: 28 grams (20%)
Carbs: 1.5 grams (1%)

Ketostix: high

Blood Glucose:
Fasting: 67
1-hour PP (after lunch): 84
2-hour PP (after lunch): 77

After my day yesterday with sinus problems, weakness and nausea, I am on a “sick/recovery” meal until I feel better and can eat again. Even though the meal smelled and tasted great, I still had a hard time getting it down with my nausea. I spent most of the day today again in bed.

Protocol Round 1, Week 1, Day 7 – 9/9

Weight: 207 = down .2 pound

Lunch:
– 3 oz bacon, weighed raw
– 3 large eggs
– 2 T. butter

Fitday stats:
Calories: 550
Fat: 48 grams (79%)
Protein: 28 grams (20%)
Carbs: 1.5 grams (1%)

Ketostix: high

Blood Glucose:
Fasting: 67
1-hour PP (after lunch): 88
2-hour PP (after lunch): 83

I slept late today but tried to get up and about and get a few chores done. I did about one eighth of what I would usually do on a Sunday and had to take rests about every 20 minutes from just feeling so run down. Hopefully tomorrow will start to be better.

Protocol Round 1, Week 2, Day 1 – 9/10

Weight: 206.6 = down .4 pound

Measurements:
Bust: 43″ – down 1″
Waist: 41″ – down .5″
Hips: 49″ – down .5″

Lunch:
– 3 oz bacon, weighed raw
– 3 large eggs
– 2 T. butter

Fitday stats:
Calories: 550
Fat: 48 grams (79%)
Protein: 28 grams (20%)
Carbs: 1.5 grams (1%)

Ketostix: high

Blood Glucose:
Fasting: 72
1-hour PP (after lunch): 80
2-hour PP (after lunch): 75

My exhaustion is better today, although my nausea is still present. My sinuses aren’t great, but they are better, too. Since I still cannot stand the thought of food, I am trying one more day of the “sick/recovery” meal. My weight loss slowed quite a bit this weekend, but my pants feel looser.

[Note: They should feel looser — you lost ten pounds and two inches of fat last week. :)]

Protocol Round 1, Week 2, Day 2 – 9/11

Weight: 204.4 = down 2.2 pounds

Lunch:
– 11 oz grouper
– 8 oz kale
– 5 oz green beans
– 1 oz duck fat
– .5 T. olive oil
– 1 T. butter

Fitday stats:
Calories: 742
Fat: 49.9 grams (61%)
Protein: 63.1 grams (34%)
Carbs: 10.1 grams (5%)

Ketostix: high

Blood Glucose:
Fasting: 63
1-hour PP (after lunch): 81
2-hour PP (after lunch): 78

I’m finally starting to feel normal. I was nauseated this morning and it took me a long time to eat my meal but the nausea has subsided. I am anxious to see the results of the rest of the week to see my total weight and inches loss at the end of two weeks on Protocol.

[Note: Because you were ill and ate very little but fat and protein, you fell into deep ketosis (never a good place to be), which is what made you nauseous. Eating a good, full meal stopped that, and you should feel fine from here in. Plus — you’re only 5 pounds from OnederLand! :D]

Protocol Round 1, Week 2, Day 3 – 9/12

Weight: 204.4 = no change

Lunch:
– 10 oz chicken liver
– 8 oz broccoli
– 11 oz zucchini, baby
– 2 oz white potato with skin
– 2 T. butter
– 1 T. duck fat
– 2 oz sour cream

Fitday stats:
Calories: 886
Fat: 62.7 grams (64%)
Protein: 59.4 grams (27%)
Carbs: 21 grams (9%)

Ketostix: high

Blood Glucose:
Fasting: 80
1-hour PP (after lunch): 97
2-hour PP (after lunch): 88

My energy level is back to normal!