incremental

[ in-kruh-men-tl]

adjective

increasing or adding on, especially in a regular series.

Trees, like most things in nature, go through periods of growth and dormancy, depending on the season, rainfall, and temperature.

Growth, albeit slow at times, continues for the course of the tree’s life.

Our growth too, can be incremental, coming unevenly over time.

When one lesson has been learned, we're comfortable.

Then just as we're settling in, another lesson reveals itself and pushes us forward once again.

We need to keep learning, trying new things, evaluating and refining to achieve the results we seek.

Growth is not consistent, predictable, or immediate.

It’s incremental.

I started low carb over 5 years ago

(as of publishing this in March 2020).

That's over 1826 days to test, refine and figure out what works (and what doesn't) for me.

When I first started low carb, I was eating all the fat bombs, bulletproof coffee, and bacon that I could.

This helped ease my transition to low carb and I lost weight initially.

After a few months, though, I started gaining weight back, so I looked for other options.

Certainly I loved the blood sugar regulation of low carb and I didn't want to give that up, but weight gain was a concern.

Research and talking to others showed me that high fat can be a problem, especially for women. I reduced the high-fat items I was eating, started tracking my foods more diligently, and the weight came off.

Later that first year of low carb, I discovered that I needed more sodium and learned about electrolytes. The story about the symptoms of low sodium and why we need more sodium/electrolytes is here.

I finally had my fat and sodium intake in check. Low Carb Year 1 was done and I was feeling great.

As I kept learning more about optimal health, vitamin D kept coming up again and again.

I was already taking D3/K2 supplements but my levels were just above the minimum recommendation of 30.

Since my Vitamin D levels had been historically low, I started supplementing with higher doses of Vitamin D3/K2. Optimal D3 levels also help to reduce insulin resistance. and nearly everyone is low on Vitamin D3. (Have your levels checked to be sure with a serum 25-Hydroxy test. Optimal levels are between 50-70 rather than the very minimal 30 that most lab tests show as "good.”)

Later in year 2, I found that I found that with higher protein consumption, I wasn't as hungry in the mornings. I introduced 16:8 time-restricted feeding to give my digestive system a break and now it allows for morning workouts without the wildcards of food or fast-acting insulin onboard.

I've maintained this intermittent fasting for 3-1/2 years and it works incredibly well for me.

Years 3 & 4 were all about insulin & tracking my results.

In October 2017, I said goodbye to using an insulin pump after 13 years and switched to injections. (I even let go of Dexcom and I'm loving life without tech.)

Later, I made the jump to using Regular insulin for dinner. Why did it take me so long??? Regular insulin, which is called NovolinR/HumulinR/Actrapid in various parts of the world, is incredibly well suited to low carb because its longer action time matches well with protein consumption. Game-changer!

Then I tried Tresiba (my story here), then Toujeo and most recently, I switched my basal insulin to Levemir 3x per day as recommended by Dr. Bernstein.

I started fasted HIIT workouts 3x week for 6 months, testing my blood glucose levels frequently, tracking all my BG levels and engineering how I can do intense workouts while keeping my BG level steady.

And almost exactly a year ago, I started running to train for a “Carrer de la Mujer” (6.5K Women's Run) that I ran in April 2019 with my friends here in Valencia.

Since that time, I’ve run a few 10k races and have more already scheduled for 2020.

I don't look at any of this as work. This is an investment in me and my long-term health.

I keep learning, testing and refining, and things keep getting better and better.

Low carb - and diabetes management - is not static. We MUST continue to keep learning, testing, and refining.

If something isn't working for you, don't give up and fall back into bad habits.

Research. Ask questions.

Then test different options, track your results, evaluate, and test some more.

If you need help refining your goals and problem-solving your diabetes management, send us a note

I'd love to hear from you and I'd be honoured to help you reach your goals!