Priya wrote:Hey I’m also new here, joined last month after I to realised what APOE 4+4 meant and had a major 48 hour anxiety attack. Now it comes in waves. I too am trying to lose weight, my BMI is 37 so I have a longer way to go than you! Thanks for sharing, it really helps to know we are not alone.
It’s SO great to know we are not alone! What are your weight loss strategies? I am focusing on walking every day, cutting sugar out completely (harder than I thought!), and focusing on veggies as the main parts of all my meals. And I’ll just keep adding on healthy habits from there! Best of luck to you!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
In a nutshell.....
Walk more
Weights
Less carb
More protein
12 hours between dinner and breakfast
Have so much to lose it’s tough!
4x4 and Hashi - Currently anxious but searching for calm
Hi Allison! You've landed in a fantastic place, the people here are wonderfully supportive. I found out my 4/4 status about a year ago, at age 45, and this group has been tremendous in helping me learn to take deep breaths, and channel my freak out moments into motivation.
Like you I'd cleaned up my diet significantly before finding out my 4/4 status, but I dithered a bit on willpower to stick with it all the time. A few months before I found out I was 4/4, I'd felt a push to get my health in order, lose that last lingering 10-15 lbs, and get into a diet I could maintain long-term. I found myself frustrated and fascinated at the same time by the conflicting dieting advice for the general public, and sat down to use my poli sci opposition research training to find where the sweet spot really was. I read 17 different diet and wellness books, the corresponding research (or as much as I could until my eyes crossed) and then set down what they all had it common. Then I started to eliminate pieces based on flimsy backing, or being too unrealistic for the average person to follow long term. I tell you all of this to say this: you've caught this early enough that the biggest thing you can do is find something you can do long-term, that's maintainable and reasonable with a young family and a long, healthy life in front of you. Something that is full of great food you love, but that also feeds and fuels your body.
Personally I landed on a mediterranean diet combined with 24 hr intermittent fasts for a long-term healthy diet. Spanish, French, Greek, Israeli and Turkish food? YES PLEASE. They're foods I naturally love and that fuel my body. I can eat this way easily and maintain it, without feeling like I'm somehow missing out. It's lots of whole, real foods, fresh fruits and vegetables at every meal. Eggs, cheeses, seafood and good probiotic foods. Lots of olive oil, olives, and more. I do two 24 hr fasts a week, from lunch to lunch, so I still get two meals each day but all the benefits of the longer 24 hour fasts. (I've read the sweet spot for fasting is between 18-24 hrs.) Today is actually a fasting day, so I'm sitting here stuffing my face trying to get all my fats in before I switch to water and tea for the rest of the evening.
That said, I still had weight to lose, so I've adapted it for the time being to a ketogenic mediterranean diet--meaning its the mediterranean diet minus the grains. Some days I have beans and some days I don't, just depends on how aggressive I want to be with the weight loss at the moment. My general goal is to be below 100 grams of carbs a day for the rest of my life. Weight loss phase, I'm under 30-50/day. Since August I've lost 33 lbs and counting--I actually weigh less now than when we got married 20 years ago. I've lost significantly more than I ever thought was possible. We shall see how much further I drop--I'm now setting goals 5 lbs at a time because I know I'm close to done.
Some other suggestions:
--we've found hibiscus tea really lowers our blood pressure. My husband was hypertensive before we cleaned our diets up, and hibiscus tea really helped lower it for him. My son and I normally tend towards low blood pressure, and I find if I drink too much of the tea (I love it, it's yummy!) that I start to have spells where my blood pressure drops too low, I get dizzy, etc. Anyway, It's an inexpensive idea to try without a lot of side effects. It's just dried hibiscus leaves in hot water, which I then pour over ice in a giant pitcher and add a cinnamon stick to it.
--Find an exercise you love, it helps the brain tremendously but it REALLY helps to calm the stress and the panic. You start to feel stronger, and each time you move forward a little bit more you feel more in control, and less like you're at the mercy of the big old boogeyman named APOE. For me personally this has been an indoor bike using the Peloton app, combined with a series for Kickboxing abs.
--You're going to have friends and family who don't understand why you're pushing as hard as you will. They're going to say "c'mon, you're already healthy. It's Tom's birthday/vacation/friday/the wind is blowing..." They're going to have lots of reasons why you should "let loose" just this once. Only it isn't just this once, because they make these same excuses a few times a week. It helps to know now what you're going to say to them. Something that shuts the door firmly but politely, while they continue on. I recently read the book Bright Line Eating and one of the things I love about the approach is that it helps you set some hard and fast lines that you decide now you're just not going to cross. Then she helps you figure out how to tell this to friends so they'll leave you alone about it. I usually stick to some form of "No thanks, it looks fantastic but it makes me sick/I'm allergic." People seem to understand that and make a few pity noises then move on. Tell them you can't eat it because of your diet and they'll harp on you endlessly!
I eventually stopped freaking out and started looking at this news as a gift. I have the motivation I needed to finally once and for all make permanent lifestyle changes that have dramatically improved my life. You know those people in movies we all love, where they're faced with a tough choice, and we cheer for them to take the hard road and make the really hard life decisions that give them the happy ending? We all want to think we're that person, but so many of us aren't willing to take that harder road to get it. (John Maxwell says we have uphill intentions and downhill habits.) I'm determined to say HELL NO to alzheimers, or at least go down fighting. In the process I'm teaching my teenagers--who will have inherited at least one of the APOE 4 copies--how to live better as well, so they have it easier from the beginning. You have that opportunity with your kids too. You're young, and you have the opportunity to avoid a lot of the damage that most Americans do to their brains in their 30's and 40's. You've got this!
Priya wrote:Hey I’m also new here, joined last month after I to realised what APOE 4+4 meant and had a major 48 hour anxiety attack. Now it comes in waves. I too am trying to lose weight, my BMI is 37 so I have a longer way to go than you! Thanks for sharing, it really helps to know we are not alone.
It’s SO great to know we are not alone! What are your weight loss strategies? I am focusing on walking every day, cutting sugar out completely (harder than I thought!), and focusing on veggies as the main parts of all my meals. And I’ll just keep adding on healthy habits from there! Best of luck to you!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
In a nutshell.....
Walk more
Weights
Less carb
More protein
12 hours between dinner and breakfast
Have so much to lose it’s tough!
I think with that basic frame of healthy habits you will lose quite steadily. Do you track on Chron-o-meter? I’ve found that to be extremely helpful to help me have a true view of what I’m eating. I’ve also been thinking of trying some form of intermittent fasting also! We can do it!
HeatherLst wrote:Hi Allison! You've landed in a fantastic place, the people here are wonderfully supportive. I found out my 4/4 status about a year ago, at age 45, and this group has been tremendous in helping me learn to take deep breaths, and channel my freak out moments into motivation.
Like you I'd cleaned up my diet significantly before finding out my 4/4 status, but I dithered a bit on willpower to stick with it all the time. A few months before I found out I was 4/4, I'd felt a push to get my health in order, lose that last lingering 10-15 lbs, and get into a diet I could maintain long-term. I found myself frustrated and fascinated at the same time by the conflicting dieting advice for the general public, and sat down to use my poli sci opposition research training to find where the sweet spot really was. I read 17 different diet and wellness books, the corresponding research (or as much as I could until my eyes crossed) and then set down what they all had it common. Then I started to eliminate pieces based on flimsy backing, or being too unrealistic for the average person to follow long term. I tell you all of this to say this: you've caught this early enough that the biggest thing you can do is find something you can do long-term, that's maintainable and reasonable with a young family and a long, healthy life in front of you. Something that is full of great food you love, but that also feeds and fuels your body.
Personally I landed on a mediterranean diet combined with 24 hr intermittent fasts for a long-term healthy diet. Spanish, French, Greek, Israeli and Turkish food? YES PLEASE. They're foods I naturally love and that fuel my body. I can eat this way easily and maintain it, without feeling like I'm somehow missing out. It's lots of whole, real foods, fresh fruits and vegetables at every meal. Eggs, cheeses, seafood and good probiotic foods. Lots of olive oil, olives, and more. I do two 24 hr fasts a week, from lunch to lunch, so I still get two meals each day but all the benefits of the longer 24 hour fasts. (I've read the sweet spot for fasting is between 18-24 hrs.) Today is actually a fasting day, so I'm sitting here stuffing my face trying to get all my fats in before I switch to water and tea for the rest of the evening.
That said, I still had weight to lose, so I've adapted it for the time being to a ketogenic mediterranean diet--meaning its the mediterranean diet minus the grains. Some days I have beans and some days I don't, just depends on how aggressive I want to be with the weight loss at the moment. My general goal is to be below 100 grams of carbs a day for the rest of my life. Weight loss phase, I'm under 30-50/day. Since August I've lost 33 lbs and counting--I actually weigh less now than when we got married 20 years ago. I've lost significantly more than I ever thought was possible. We shall see how much further I drop--I'm now setting goals 5 lbs at a time because I know I'm close to done.
Some other suggestions:
--we've found hibiscus tea really lowers our blood pressure. My husband was hypertensive before we cleaned our diets up, and hibiscus tea really helped lower it for him. My son and I normally tend towards low blood pressure, and I find if I drink too much of the tea (I love it, it's yummy!) that I start to have spells where my blood pressure drops too low, I get dizzy, etc. Anyway, It's an inexpensive idea to try without a lot of side effects. It's just dried hibiscus leaves in hot water, which I then pour over ice in a giant pitcher and add a cinnamon stick to it.
--Find an exercise you love, it helps the brain tremendously but it REALLY helps to calm the stress and the panic. You start to feel stronger, and each time you move forward a little bit more you feel more in control, and less like you're at the mercy of the big old boogeyman named APOE. For me personally this has been an indoor bike using the Peloton app, combined with a series for Kickboxing abs.
--You're going to have friends and family who don't understand why you're pushing as hard as you will. They're going to say "c'mon, you're already healthy. It's Tom's birthday/vacation/friday/the wind is blowing..." They're going to have lots of reasons why you should "let loose" just this once. Only it isn't just this once, because they make these same excuses a few times a week. It helps to know now what you're going to say to them. Something that shuts the door firmly but politely, while they continue on. I recently read the book Bright Line Eating and one of the things I love about the approach is that it helps you set some hard and fast lines that you decide now you're just not going to cross. Then she helps you figure out how to tell this to friends so they'll leave you alone about it. I usually stick to some form of "No thanks, it looks fantastic but it makes me sick/I'm allergic." People seem to understand that and make a few pity noises then move on. Tell them you can't eat it because of your diet and they'll harp on you endlessly!
I eventually stopped freaking out and started looking at this news as a gift. I have the motivation I needed to finally once and for all make permanent lifestyle changes that have dramatically improved my life. You know those people in movies we all love, where they're faced with a tough choice, and we cheer for them to take the hard road and make the really hard life decisions that give them the happy ending? We all want to think we're that person, but so many of us aren't willing to take that harder road to get it. (John Maxwell says we have uphill intentions and downhill habits.) I'm determined to say HELL NO to alzheimers, or at least go down fighting. In the process I'm teaching my teenagers--who will have inherited at least one of the APOE 4 copies--how to live better as well, so they have it easier from the beginning. You have that opportunity with your kids too. You're young, and you have the opportunity to avoid a lot of the damage that most Americans do to their brains in their 30's and 40's. You've got this!
Hi Heather, what an amazing response! Thank you for these suggestions and encouragement. I actually have some hibiscus tea, I’m going to make some today! I love the advice to find something that sustainable for my life. Not a diet, a new way of living! Thanks again
