You’ve done everything they’ve asked you to.

Eat fewer calories.

Avoid saturated fats.

Load up on fruits and vegetables.

Get out and exercise more.

Why isn’t the weight coming off?

If you are a diabetic, weight loss is not as simple for you as it is for others - not that it’s easy for anyone. But as a diabetic, you have a particular metabolic situation that you are dealing with.

Your body is burning fuel and storing energy differently than people who don’t have diabetes.

Over the last several decades that we have been struggling to lose weight, the medical community has accumulated enough evidence to know that low calorie diets do not work. Not for diabetics, not for anyone.

The Experiment

Let me tell you a story about an experiment done in 1944 by physiologist, Ancel Keys and psychologist, Josef Brozek. It was called the Minnesota Starvation Experiment. Let’s set aside for the moment the fact that Keys and Brozek owe an apology to all...

The ketogenic diet has become very popular for weight loss. With good reason. If you can stick to it, it is an effective way to lose weight. In the last post we covered exactly what the ketogenic diet is and the many metabolic benefits of nutritional ketosis including the impact it can have on several chronic health conditions. To get all of that information, just click here.

Today though, we are going to cover the most common reason people think about going keto and that is to lose a little weight.

Why does keto work for weight loss?

Yes, the ketogenic diet does work for weight loss. There are several reasons for this.

1. You are paying attention to what you eat.
2. With fewer carbs you will lose some water weight in the first week or two.
3. Eating fats and protein leaves you feeling fuller than consuming carbohydrates.
4. Some people really do need to limit their carbs because their body has become “carbohydrate intolerant.”

The first reason...

Tell me if you’ve ever done this:

Ate your entire dinner while standing at the kitchen sink…

Ate in front of the TV, in your car, at your desk, while holding your phone in one hand…

Looked down at the empty bowl in your lap and wonder who ate all of your popcorn/chips/pretzels…

Didn’t dirty a single dish for dinner because you ate your meal from a container…

You get the picture, right?

Most of us would benefit from a practice that I call “eating awareness”. I am not asking you to meditate while eating or roll a raisin in your mouth for 5 minutes (although that is a mindfulness exercise that is really beneficial). I would just like to get us all to slow down and be aware of what we are stuffing in our mouths.

Here are some of the tips you can use to become more aware of what you are eating. This will let you enjoy your food more and probably lead you to consuming less. Yes, this could even lead to a...

Menopause.  It just isn’t fair. 

Not only do you get all of the lovely side effects of a decreasing supply of estrogen in your body, but your metabolism slows as well.  This is when many women notice the slow accumulation of weight.  The diet and exercise routine of yesteryear just isn’t cutting it anymore.

This can be especially problematic for breast cancer survivors who may have been thrown into early menopause with therapy or who are on hormone blockers as part of their treatment.  Weight gain is a common side effect of chemotherapy as well.

So what’s a girl to do?  Mother Nature doesn’t have to win this one, but losing the weight is going to be more difficult that it was before menopause.  Just accept that and get to it.

What changes can you make to your diet?  Here’s a checklist of things you want to make sure you are doing.  The closer you adhere to these, the less...