What do you guys think of this:

I haven't been following the diet very well. Sugar, chocolate and fruit, mostly... tasty deliciousness, but I'm not on track.

BUT!:

I feel fine. No bloating, no itching, no constipation, no diarrhea, no upset stomach, no fatigue, no brain fog, nothing, none of the signs/symptoms i had before. No worsening of anything when i take coconut oil.

THEN, i decided to do the ooo/vitamin C flush that Zule recommends. NO PROBLEMS AT ALL. No fatigue, no bathroom problems, no mucus in my stools, nothing at all. I feel absolutely fine.

But. I still can't lose weight. Well... let me rephrase. I can't lose weight on a diet that someone else COULD lose weight on. I mean, I'm not eating THAT great, but I sure as hell am not eating that BAD. I would assume I could lose at least a little bit if: I'm not really gluten intolerant (which i dont know if i am or if im not, blood tests were inconclusive and since all my symptoms are gone even when i eat gluten, i think im NOT gluten intolerant), or If I don't have candida anymore (which the fact that i feel fine and am not having any problems with die off at all, even after eating a poor diet and after i had a LOT of die off before). and If ive got my thyroid problems under control and my vitamin D deficiency under control.

It seems i have all the problems with losing weight under control, but i still cant. i dont think its candida, i dont think its gluten intolerance and im on meds for my thryoid! Ugh! Whats the issue! Pounds should be FLYING off of me! I just am having such a tough time getting back on eating only meat, eggs, veggies since i feel FINE eating small amounts of fruit and cookies. Granted, I'm eating about 60g carbs a day and not all GOOD carbs, but that still is Low carb compared to the rest of the world!

Any opinions?

I'm not insulin resistant either. all my other blood work is in fine order. whats up with me??!

Rochester, NY. Your body hasn't switched over to fat release yet. The weather needs to warm up and sun strengthen a bit more. Then the weight will come off.

Are you moving around too..........getting any exercise.........they say at least (I believe) 30 minutes a day.

I've actually been dropping too much wieght on this diet........I don't want to be too thin!!! I'm trying to eat more......and at least my appetitte is coming back to me.

But if you are not exercising that will lower your metabolism.......maybe it needs kickstarting....

WELL!

I went to the doctor today. My candida antibodies are in the normal range! It appears that I have indeed gotten rid of the beasties, or at least, they are well under control. I think I will continue to take my OOO and coconut oil and the occasional garlic pill. My doctor is really happy with how I'm doing! My iron levels are up and my TSH and Free T3 and Free T4 are in a good range. She upped the dosage of my armour thyroid slightly, just to see if that might help my weight loss efforts. I love her.

The thing is, though, that apparently I'm not quite done with the vitamin D deficiency part. She said my levels were at 35. I thought i read somewhere else that they needed to be up to 50? zuleikka do you have any idea? i know its the right test, the 25 OH D test or whatever...

That amazes me, though, that I'm still slightly deficient even though I've been supplementing 6-7,000 IU for 3 months! But maybe thats what part of the weight loss issue is still... who would have thought it.

BUT! I still feel good. Keep on keeping on ladies. You can win this!

Well, I know the feeling that you should be losing weight because other people eat more than you, but you are you. If you're weighing and measuring and know down to the last ounce what you're eating and how many calories, and it is well under what it should be (based on metabolism charts for your height, weight and age) and you're not losing, then yeah, there might be something wrong with your metabolism.

But until you approach it with that sort of discipline you'll never really know for sure.

I'd focus on weight training versus cardio, Val is having good luck with that.

I seem to be having an easier time maintaining my weight and even losing a tad since I got diagnosed with an autoimmune arthritis and put on a drug to help with that. If I were being halfway disciplined I'd probably be losing weight at a nice clip.

Yea, thats true too. I'm not being nearly as strict as I could be eating.

Its hard, though. Let me moan just a little more.

Aetheana.........your vitD is 35!.....I would kill for that. It is a increase for you at all? I would like that with the sunny season here and your candida under control I bet your levels start to raise faster. -

Keep up the good work!

My last level was 9............mb

Any reading under 60 is deficient. It looks like you need to up the D more and get sun when it's available.

7,000 IU is what I recommend on the conservative side for eliminating D deficiency but some people have had to go up to 14,000 IU per day to see improvement. The range I state for supplementing is 2-14k IU per day.

Vitamin D supplementation level is a very individualized target.

Last summer I supplemented 4,000 IU per day in addition to getting sun. This year I'm going to at least 10,000 IU per day.

Congratulations on beating the candida!!!!

Yea, apparently 35 is an increase for me, but she wants it to be 40. I'm aiming for closer to 50.

I have to admit though, I'm having a bit of paranoia. I read that if you over supplement on vitamin D you can calicify parts of your organs! I don't remember where I read it, and I'm sure its fictitious if you supplement with D3, but I admit to paranoia.

I'm going to at least continue my 8000IU and get some sun, now that its warm outside. Im going to be checked again at the beginning of august.



Holy crap. That sucks. Ummm... Keep supplementing? What are you using for supplements? I really recommend Metagenics IsoD3. Its whats been helping me. All of the Metagenics supplements have helped me a TON. Yes, expensive, but really worth it. Maybe check out their Candibactin BR as well. Also very helpful.

I haven't actually seen the cases, I'll have to research but I suppose it could only happen if you don't supplement with calcium.

Yep, this occurs with kidney disease or an inability to activate vitamin D in the liver due to liver disease. It is also a sign of vitamin D deficiency

Very rare and specific causes/cases.

Please do supplement!!!! That's horrendous!!!! You probably need 14-20k IU per day for at least three months.

Please do read the Vitamin D Experiment in the Challenge Forum!!!