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If dieting related posts annoy you!

I am going to do occasional updates on diet, because I have found it to be almost miraculous. So bear with me!

Last spring I started researching anti-inflammatory diets. I have arthritis areas and there are so few treatments. I tried NSAIDS, they rip up my stomach--as in bleeding stomach (so not good). A primary doc I saw put me on gluten/dairy free with probiotics. Expensive, yucky (I have a texture thing) and I still craved sweets and carbs twice a day, late afternoon and evening. The Cheetos, cookies and Dr Pepper still called my name, and I answered.

My neck pain was horrible and exhausting, but I know what happens--steroids. I have already taken many steroids over the years for my knees and for asthma, with all the side effects, including sky-high blood sugar that would settle down a few weeks after ending the pills. My day job involves two large monitors, so looking straight ahead all the time is impossible. I, who never nap, my preschool years spent bouncing on the bed during my hour nap time, suddenly started napping in the early evenings. My sleep cycle was more than disturbed. My writing life evaporated due to exhaustion.

I felt much older than my age.

My internist said that in the 10 years I'd been seeing him, my weight had not changed significantly, and my asthma was never really in control, despite many medications, ER visits, hospitalizations etc. Some people, he counseled, see great improvement in their asthma by losing at least 20% of their weight. He mentioned a new board-certified weight loss surgeon.

I considered it. But surgeries have a high risk of complications. Scary. Expensive, and I have no faith in health insurance covering costs, they so often weasel out, leaving me with the huge bill.

So back to my least favorite thing, diet.

When you research anti-inflammatory diets you get Keto diets. I researched for about six weeks. The book Keto Clarity, several free books from Amazon Kindle, YouTube videos--the ones I liked the most were the Dr Ken Berry Videos because he links to actual studies and doesn't try to market his supplements etc.. I got his book, also.

Facebook groups. There are tons. Some are entirely dramatic, scolding and cliquish. The one I found to be most helpful is Keto for Women Over Fifty. It also has resources posted.

I got all my stuff and started eating keto lunches several weeks before starting. I have done low carb/high protein in the past, but never made it passed the carb craving stage. When I finally started on May 26, I had a plan for those cravings. A high fat keto snack and electrolyte water. My hubby is diabetic adn like low carb eating so he was happy to make a protein and veg dinner (he is The Cook). My daughters have been super supportive and learned to amke KetoLasagne with zuchini!

It worked. In the dreaded afternoons, instead of Cheetos I had celery with cream cheese. In the evenings I had a cup of coffee with sweetener Erythritol, though now I also use Monk Fruit drops. By the way, I hate spelling the first sweetener so I will call it Ery, lol.

After the first week, no cheats, my neck pain and lower back pain vanished. Poof. Gone. Let me repeat that: After the first week, no cheats, my neck pain and lower back pain vanished.

The carb cravings dropped. I kept with my snack/coffee program because I did NOT want them returning. So many diets crashed due to cravings for sweets or bread. I was free from that.

After the second week I bought a scale and weighed myself. I knew my starting weight from my April doctor visit. I couldn't believe my eyes. 18 pounds in two weeks! I knew it was all water from inflammation, but still. Nothing else had gotten rid of all that inflammation and swelling!

I lost five more pounds and went into a stall, but things were still happening. A number of long-term cysts, which I thought would have to be surgically removed, vanished in August. The spots are plain, ordinary skin now.

I fluctuated two lbs up and down for the next six weeks. One week my husband was hospitalized for an infection, I was pretty sure cortisol alone would keep me from losing anything.

In early Sept I took all my measurements.

I lost 1lb as of today and redid my measurements. Somehow, with a 1b loss and in two weeks, I have lost 8 inches off my gut ( hip measurement over the belly, below belly button). I sure have noticed how my pants are so baggy. So many reports on the Keto group mention inches lost but no weight loss. Now I see it for myself. Pretty amazing.

In the past couple of weeks my appetite has changed so I am rarely hungry and easily satisfied. I have stopped the afternoon snack so I will be hungry enough to eat the tasty keto dinner Hubby cooks! I have more energy, which is great, and no longer feel eighty years old. I might even publish something before Christmas.

My neck never aches.