Your fat can make you thin

So, here's the thing. One thing has been bugging me in regard to Opti throwing your body into supposed  ketosis and today I took the proverbial bull by the horns and did a little research. I have a son who's now almost 16, and at 3 and a half he was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes. I remember one of the most important rules when dealing with his disease was that he must never get into Ketoacidosis - that is to show ketones on the wee stick.  We were told that it wastes the muscles and you only had to see my child when first diagnosed to realise that it's so true. He lost 6 kilos in about a week, and it happened so damn fast it was breathtaking (and here I'm talking about when he was first diagnosed, which one of the reasons we picked up he wasn't well in the first place. He had been staying with his Oma for the best part of a week and as I was bathing him that same night after he'd arrived home I noticed his severe weight loss.)  It's happened a few times to him over the years - generally when he's been ill, and we have to get back out quick damn smart. That meant testing his blood glucose numerous times a day and adjusting his insulin to bring him back up into the normal range. 

So, I have been a little  worried about this whole optifast regime as its supposed to place your body into a state of ketosis. As of today, I have found what a diabetic goes through with ketones and placing ourselves in a state of ketosis is actually two different things. Well, perhaps not different but generally not as terrible for us who are able to produce our own insulin. I found this on the net this morning, which for me helped clear up my worries some. 

A dangerous condition called ketoacidosis can develop in those with type 1 diabetes, and it is sometimes confused with normal ketosis. The body usually avoids this state by producing insulin, but people with type 1 diabetes are unable to produce insulin. Even most people with type 2 diabetes who inject insulin usually produce enough insulin of their own to prevent ketoacidosis.

My own feelings on this, is that it's probably okay for a little while (for example, for those weeks we are on opti). After all, our key aim here is to defat the liver (and most of us know by now that the liver has the job of being our body metaboliser and if its fatty, it's not going to work too well). That we lose weight by placing ourselves into a state of ketosis is a just a by-product... and not a bad one if we get right down to it. 

On another note, today I'm on day four of opti (my first official day!) and I think I'm doing ok. My head feels clear, I have heaps of energy and I had another win. If I'm on these shakes for three weeks then I want to be able to get them down without wanting to throw up each and every time. Slowly, I have been adjusting and adding things to it (all stuff though that's on my sheets, nothing I shouldn't be having) and I took Nola's advice about the coffee this morning. What a difference! I had tried throwing a teaspoon of coffee into my choc shake once before and thought, phew! bad, bad, bad, BUT this morning (and this is where her advice came in, thanks Nola lol) I added hot water to my teaspoon of coffee before I added it and OMG...it was so different and very, very palatable. Not even that horrible aftertaste. A minor miracle. 

My nine year old came up to me this morning and gave me a hug. He looked up at me with his big brown eyes, gave a grin and said, "Mum, you are losing weight. Before I could only touch my hands and now I can hold each wrist."  At least I have my cheer squad if nothing else.(I don't think I have lost THAT much yet lol but it was nice to hear the encouragement regardless.)

                                 Here is a picture of him with our dog Max. They 

                                  both have the biggest brown eyes. Too cute! 

'till next time, Cara xxx