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In this episode of the Dr. Rob Show we read a really powerful e-mail (at least from our prospective) from one of our female listeners, who has really been struggling with her weight all of her life. And considering we have been getting so many similar e-mails, we felt it would be beneficial for all of our listeners.

The e-mail reads:

Hi, Dr. Rob team!

On April 1, really with very little information to back up our decision, my partner and I decided to spend the month of April avoiding sugar (like, the sweet stuff!) to see how it went. I’ve done this before, in 2004, at the advice of my then-physician’s assistant, to tremendous success, so I decided to give it a whirl again … mostly because I’ve lately been feeling really lethargic and just generally gross.

A bit about me: I’m a 35-year-old woman and what the BMI charts would classify as obese. Standing 5’7″, I currently (and this is 18 days into no sugar and few carbs!) weigh 275.2 lbs. As you might expect, most of the women in my family — and most of my family is women! — have a tendency to store fat in our belly and hip/thigh regions. MANY years ago, I accepted that I would always be overweight and have mostly tried to keep myself at or below 250lbs for general health purposes. For my entire adult life, the health markers most physicians look at have been good: blood pressure around 117-120/80 (so not severe), cholesterol is AMAZING (high HDL, low LDL), normal thyroid, normal fasting glucose levels, etc. The only real reason for medical concern has been the weight, but everything else seems in order and I rarely get sick. (I do, however, have very small patches of psoriasis on my right elbow and knee, and unless I use my medicated shampoo twice weekly, on my scalp. I know this is an inflammatory disease, so I’m quite aware that excess belly fat may well play a role in the psoriasis — or, at least, this has LONG been my own personal theory.)

ANYWAY — if you had asked me on April 1, I would’ve adamantly argued that I am not now, nor have I ever been, “pre-diabetic.” I know my body has responded well to avoiding simple sugars and refined/white carbs, but I just figured everyone worked that way. After finding and listening to many of the back episodes of your podcast, though, as well as reading the work of Gary Taubes and hearing some of Robert Lustig’s talks, I’m now completely convinced I’m insulin resistant. There’s simply no other way I could have put on this much weight, considering that — although I do eat a lot of carbs (well, used to!) — I average around 2000ish calories a day and spend on average 2-4 hours a day standing/walking (as a college professor), as well as living a generally semi-active lifestyle (walking, hiking, etc.). It’s now utterly clear to me what the issue is, and for that alone I thank you.

Looking ahead to a longer horizon than just April 30th, though: The household has decided to stick with the low-carb/no-sugar approach to eating, because we all feel so darn good! (I’ve lost about six pounds, which I’m very happy with.) So after that long-winded background, here’s my question. Well, two questions!

1) If you’re insulin resistant, do you become more insulin sensitive as you back off the high-carb diet? Will the body rebound? Or have I come too late to the party to reverse this unfortunate, ignorant state I’m now in?

2) I don’t intend to do so for these first few weeks, but once I get into this new paradigm of eating and have adjusted away from the sweets, I’m thinking of introducing a cheat meal (and later a cheat day) once per week. I know I can handle this, because my perspective on carby/sugary foods is now that they’re essentially poison, not at all good, etc. Being that I am so overweight, though, will this backfire in my attempts to beat back all the years of built-up insulin resistance?I have no problem taking the (very, very) long view, so I think a cheat meal or day could help me feel less “deprived” (of poison, ha!) and generate the other good effects you discuss on the podcast … but, I also obviously don’t want to undermine my successes with a few less-great choices here and there. I hope you have some advice, and although I’d certainly appreciate an email reply, I’d be happier to hear you address this on the podcast, as these are questions I’ve found almost no information about in my last 19 days of obsessive podcast listening, reading, and internet research. All the best, and thanks for what you do!! It’s (literally) a life saver! No, wait. I can’t end there. I seriously CANNOT emphasize enough how utterly life altering it has been to understand what the science is behind my physical appearance, as well as to — FOR THE FIRST TIME, EVER — feel hope that I could ever be something other than terribly, terribly overweight. That hope is just overwhelming. I know I can do it; Lord knows I’ve overcome greater challenges. Knowing that my body is capable of it, though? That’s just huge. I never would’ve believed you before I learned about the science behind it. So thank you.Best regards,
Liz