skinny!

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baysidewalk
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skinny!

Post by baysidewalk »

Hi --
By introduction I'm 75 and APOE4. I've been on the protocol fairly strictly for about 5 years and sinking slowly. That means I have more trouble being consistent, I have a highly social family and friends, so it is difficult to maintain the diet in social occasions but I do m best. My worst non-habit is not doing the brain training and I know I need to make an appointment with myself! But aside from that, I have lost so much weight -- I dropped 20 lbs when I was diagnosed and as I get older, I feel and LOOK like a SCARECROW. And I live in a warm climate so it's no fun to cover up.

Reading through the forum, I did read "you can almost drink EVOO so I'll do more of that. I use it on salads and avocados and avocado oil for cooking but I'll increase it. I put MCT oil in my morning coffee. I snack on 90-plus chocolate, and I eat keto-friendly food when I've checked the ingredients and fat percentage. Nuts give me diarrhea so I limit those pretty strictly. I do exercise; I do weight training with a trainer twice a week and I'm getting PT for low bone density in my back and hips.

Any suggestions for weight gain would be appreciated! Thanks for this forum!
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SusanJ
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Re: skinny!

Post by SusanJ »

baysidewalk wrote:Any suggestions for weight gain would be appreciated!
Adding more fat doesn't seem to do the trick for me, so adding some extra carbs is the only way I can maintain a reasonable weight and be active (currently 5'6" and around 115). I eat somewhere around 150 grams/day, sometimes more, sometimes less. The more I read, the more I think there is a bit of a genetic component to needing more carbs. And I've been eating this way for several years, so I feel I'm probably in the metabolically flexible camp at this point.

I don't have a meter, but with this strategy, my last Organic Acids Test flagged pretty high ketone metabolite values (3-Hydroxybutyric was 7.3, their reference range is <3.1, and Acetoacetic was 25, their reference range is <10, and they noted these can be high on a keto diet).

Unless you have insulin resistance, I'd suggest you add a few healthier complex carbs, like sweet potato, plantains, or other root vegetables. If you have a meter, you can see what they do to your glucose and/or ketones, to see what options might work best for you. I even eat rice or beans now and then (with a healthy dose of other good foods, like an Asian stir fry or vegetable soup).

Good luck and let us know what works for you!

Edit: BTW, I'm 67.
baysidewalk
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Re: skinny!

Post by baysidewalk »

Thanks for your reply Susan! I do include both sweet potatoes and green bananas in my diet -- I get a bit crazy if I can't. However, my insulin resistance level has gone up recently, and I have a son with type 1 diabetes though there is only one remote relative (my mother in law's brother and she's 101!) who had type 1. So it IS hard to stay away from carbs. I don't eat bread and drink VERY little red wine on special occasions. that said, I've certainly been known to blow the diet when faced with a Michelin rated dinner. Ya gotta live!
Cindy
baysidewalk
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Re: skinny!

Post by baysidewalk »

And statistically, I'm 5'8" and 120 lb. My bmi hovers around 18-19.
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floramaria
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Re: skinny!

Post by floramaria »

baysidewalk wrote: Tue Aug 09, 2022 5:50 pm And statistically, I'm 5'8" and 120 lb. My bmi hovers around 18-19.
baysidewalk wrote: Tue Aug 09, 2022 5:49 pm ….my insulin resistance level has gone up recently,
Hi Cindy, It is great that you are doing strength training! Building muscle may help you gain a few pounds. You are hovering pretty close to the lower limit for healthy BMI . My first idea after Reading your post was that you cycle out of a low carb diet for one or two days a week. For some people, having a day or two of eating higher carbs is the only strategy that works for maintaining their weight at a healthy level. When you say that your “insulin resistance has gone up lately”, what measures are you using to determine that? Are you actually insulin resistant? Certainly you don’t want that, but you also don’t want to continue losing weight.
I am one of the “oil guzzlers” on the site. I pour olive oil on top of just about everything I eat. But I also eat a lot of nuts, which doesn’t sound like an option for you. Is that true of all nuts and nut Butters? Have you tried different nuts? How about seeds? Can your system tolerate tahini for example? Hemp seed?
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