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I concur! But I do take cues from some studies... trying on a suggested thing if it makes sense to me... some fit, some do not. I swear I have the metabolic make-up of an Eskimo!! lol Blubbery fats agree with me.

I think it is best remembered that each of us is different, and even different day to day, depending on our activity and level of health. Most studies are worthless in that they fail to differentiate between metabolic types, this diffusing the results. If they would first isolate their test subjects based on type... then study cause and effect, studies might have some benefit, and some researchers are beginning to use that protocol... but it is few and far between. Till we have that standard there will simply be conflicting results, study to study based on the luck of the draw of who they included in their group. This effect is offset a bit if the study is large enough (50,000+?) but still...

It's hard to offend me, Alex, because I make it a point to not embrace it (offense) :<} Only those who mean me harm offend me.

What you describe sounds to me more of a hypoglycemic situation, whereas all I read into the trainer's article was that for the two hour window following training, to eat sugar / white carbs can inhibit the muscle building one does the exercise for.

Hi Arlene, glad I haven't offended you - it's a subject dear to my heart so I got a bit carried away. I was also remembering an incident in my youth, walking in the mountains in winter. I was into slimming and healthy food so had taken along salad and cottage cheese sandwiches - normally a great choice, but not when doing vigorous hill walking in sub-zero temperatures. A companion had to feed me some kind of sickly confectionery bar, and it was absolutely what I needed. I never forgot the lesson.

Hi Alex! Good to see you again! I think... all that you said, translates roughly to... not believing everything I read? lol

In recent times there has been lots and lots of research into just what and when to eat post workout for the best results. Umpteen research studies completely contradict Dr Mercola's views. They repeatedly show that athletes recover and then subsequently train better if they ingest a mixture of (less) protein and (more) carbs in the post exercise window, firstly some in the half hour after, and then more in the 2 hours after. (Consuming much fat at this time greatly delays digestion, so that the window of opportunity is missed.)

Of course, if people do a little moderate exercise and then eat lots and lots they will not lose weight. Conversely, if a person exercises vigorously and fails to consume adequate carbs, there is a danger that the body will actually "eat" its own muscles for fuel, and certainly will not be able to replenish the muscles' depleted glycogen stores, so that instead of getting stronger they will get weaker.

There are so many self appointed weight loss gurus out there, and they each have to say something attention-catchingly different. I notice that further down the page Dr M is perpetrating the familiar stunt of promising more fitness for less effort - all the benefits of weight training on just 1 hour a week. Maybe if I had looked further on I would have found an advertisement for snake oil too.

Arlene, I am full of admiration for what you are achieving and you clearly need and thrive on a low carb diet. What you are doing should be an inspiration to anyone suffering from diabetes, showing that they can turn their lives and health around, but I really don't think that is the way for all of us to go, particularly those of us who aspire to an athletic lifestyle.

I didn't either, Jim, and blindly followed along the conventional medicine, conventional diet path... until I shot up 20 units one morning from a new vial and IT WAS A BAD BATCH! The terror & extreme unpleasantnes of the experience will remain with me forever. After this episode, the insulin manufacturer gave me a few free vials, but I wanted reassurance above saving money through a buy-off so, on my own, I began an odyssey. From the position I find myself in now, I would advise any diabetic to research their situation further.

Congrats Arlene. I didn't know you could go off insulin after such a long time.

Thank you for cautions and concerns, Mike... I pay attention to them and to my 'experiment'... I really do :<}

After eating a big breakfast of the above listed things, my bg just 1 and 1/2 hours following it, are (right this minute!) 130!!! A diabetic is told to strive for a reading of something less than 170, TWO hours following a meal! So you see??!! I've worked, studied & waited almost 2 years to get to this (seemingly unattainable) place and here I am! Now to maintain! Worried about that part. Maybe the Gymnema Herb I took for a few months early on, renewed some Bata cells? It's reputed to. Maybe the insulin, itself, dumbed down the Pancreas... I got better bg readings with each lessening of dosage. Anyway, if nothing else comes of this, I've learned HEAPS & HEAPS about what to eat and how to eat it.

Just this week, there came in the mail, an itinery of an area hospital's outreach functions... one was a Diabetes Support group and the topic that week was "Diabetes And The Low Carb Connection"... this isn't the first time, I've discovered, on my own, something that's touted by the med community awhile later. I wish I could capitalize, lol... but, truth be told, this feels like quite reward enough :<}

keep monitoring.... and be careful! I always assumed the pancreas would have lost all function after that amount of time; perhaps there is some systemic insulin production? Anyway... great!

This is a very happy post, Mark... continued incremental successes!!

Great to hear your success story! To really kick start your fitness and health, we are doing a special Younger Next Year week in Aspen this October. Check out the details!
http://aspenclub.com/AspenClub/YoungerNextYear.htm

Thanks for the comments both of you...

It's always great to get back on track... enjoy the process, and the benefits!

Well, I read it, Marc, lol.... and even liked it! So there! I'm pleased to learn that you're climbing back on the horse... have my fingers crossed that your back stays strong and comfortable. Good luck! See you here again soon!

I feel lucky up here... hardly any insects... no people (at least most of the time)... no snakes... benign animals (?)... 100's of miles of trails, abandoned roads and traversable canyons...

I wonder... and wonder AT... it, too. Once watched a big bull moose in full velvet, swimming across a half mile wide cove... Moose Flies were horrible and were right at those vulnerable antlers all gorged with blood and unhardened as they were... moose would swim underwater for long distances... I swear he rivalled a loon! Nature is So cool! (When a Maine Moose Fly bites ya... the resulting mark looks like a snake bite! ) They're bahud.

...evening hike yielded up a porcupine... the recluse of the forest. He was not interested at all in having me along, so I moved on off and encountered two young buck deer, nicely in velvet (6-8 pointers). This morning I jumped a bull elk... watching him thunder away down through the forest with that huge rack of antlers... not sure how they do that.

Animals and birds... they add so much to our lives. Never came across a live mountain lion, but have found small caves in WY with many Pronghorn and elk bones, covered with shreds of rotting meat and always there was the VERY strong smell of urine, so I thought it was likely lion's work. Once we startled a sow bear who barked her tiny single cub up a limber, smallish Fir tree, where it clung to the spindle top, which behaved like a wet noodle... each time it dipped him, he squealed with mouth wide open and mama ran to & fro with hackles up and froth on her face. We belly flopped and slid backward down through the thicket in short order!!

Wonder what social contacts you'll make today! I hope mama Black Bear is far away from my wild berry thicket this forenoon!

Arlene... best I can come up with is "why not go there"... I add numerous after the fact rationalizations, but the real reason I drift over the edge is curiosity... and, the effort just feels so good...

Hiking in mud... oh yuk! More muscle and balance involvement though...?

Voluntarily turning the inner eye upon myself is generally an uncomfortable thing for me to do... heck, it even makes me a little uncomfortable when YOU speak of it, lol... What did you come up with?

And so I am.... not with a HR monitor, but becoming more cardio advanced all the time.... I bought one... never have strapped it on! I'm busily advancing on two fronts, simultaneously... the diabetes one and the getting physically younger one... it's a great balancing everything challenge, lol... I'm VERY happy to 'read' YOUR happiness with what's happening for you!! Keep it up and grow younger... and even happier! I'm excited with the fact I just went from a size 6 Avg jean to a size 6 Petite, today.... whoooo! This program brings us all together... more ways than one :<}

Congratulations Arlene! Have you considered buying a set of scales which also measures body fat %? In the UK they are available quite cheaply. Or at least getting you body fat % measured somewhere - in a gym/pharmacy/doctor's office? Though these measurements are not infallible, they do bypass concerns as to how much weight lost is/fat/muscle/water. It is quite possible to gain weight without gaining fat - by retaining fluid in hot weather, while travelling, by eating too much salt etc. Equally, many a crash diet (not your thing, I know very well) leads to exciting weight loss which is actually loss of fluid and, catastrophically, muscle. It is important always to use the same machine, as they do vary widely in their verdicts!

I have been recording my weight and bodyfat % for years. My ideal weight (at 5'9") is 8 stone 7 pounds and 22% fat. Currently, I need to lose 3-4lbs and 1% fat which crept on over the winter when it was too cold to weigh myself naked first thing in the morning! No-one would think me over-weight as I am, but I want to be at my very best.

How fascinating it is to be our own experiments, and to an extent pioneers.

Congratulations! Keep up the great work!

naughty naughty

Your plan sounds to be very well thought out and with your heart muscle already stronger, it's onvious that change for the better is happening precisely as it ought... from the inside out! Great work!!

I know, Mike... and I'm pretty resigned. We have another placid place... it's on a river, 10 miles down road from here... a better place for when we're in our 70's and 80's... because there's good road access. It's a perfect, quiet river for a Grammie SUP boarder, too! We're renovating our little hearts out there, lol. As far as this struggle against Industrial Wind, I've given some money to "The Friends", written editorials to help keep the subject in front of folks & helped with pictures for their video... that's all I'll be doing and about all I CAN do... I like this 2nd place we're renovating and we'll have it ship-shape in about 5 years, somewhere's near the time, we'll seriously consider leaving here. There's still 6 old sled dogs that need to live out their alloted lives here :<}

That has to be frustrating... with such a longterm dedication to such a special area... who would of thunk?! Hope it works out... worth fighting, but.... as before "...and this too shall pass," for better or worse. Keep enjoying the nice moments!

Mike, I'm happy that you're happy with what's being attained and accomplished, but reading these aggressive stats scares me a little, too... but, then, I readily admit to being an unadventurous, unaggressive, slow and steady... VERY slow and steady... type, lol.... keep on trekkin... I heartily cheer for your good health and safety... and success!!

Mike: I gather from your blog that you have lost about 60 pounds from the weight posted in your profile. Yet as Arlene noted earlier, there is no way to edit weight in the your profile. Serious flaw.