I'm so glad you liked what I had to say. Yes Ivy is fairly healthy and maybe her having to fight for her health and watch me is part of her determination. She continues to improve her diet, exercise, mind/soul and her health follows.
I am improving with RAVF. I went all raw but cheated or added a few things to ease my transition. I didn't stress about them because when I stress about a diet I always fail. I decided to trust that I would progress with time and experience. I have slowly and so comfortably eliminated mayo, mustard, olive oil, dairy, vinegar, non organic herbs, caffeine. I have noticed great improvements with all of these things, but I'm glad I didn't avoid them at first, b/c I healed with them to a point. When I felt the healing momentum start to wane I looked for what I was ready to change next. Sometimes I was sure I needed to change something and sometimes it is just a hunch like caffeine- sure, dairy-hunch.
I was warming up nicely and I have also been cold through diabetes. When my BS is very high I get warm, but anywhere near normal I am cold. I was still getting cold with raw foods but it didn't go to my core, once cold it would take hours in the heat to really warm up. This changed so that my core stayed warm and I could warm my skin and extremities much easier. I started a gentle type of intermittent fasting called fast 5. I eat for 5hrs/day and fast for 19. My BS have been much better but, I am cold again. I can't stand it, but as I understand there is a transition from carb to fat burning, which takes 2-4weeks. I cheated 4days ago so I guess I need to start over from there. If I'm not warm again in 4 weeks I will have to change something. For now I am bundling up and drinking lots of hot tea.
I think I already mentioned getting lots of sleep and exercise helps. I think the book I found on this site called Mastering Leptins could help with hormone and sugar balance. The Key points are on the internet. I'm glad you found the other video I was talking about, but I can at least copy and paste this for you....
"Five Rules for Mastering Leptin - I found this a ready summary of Byron and Mary Richards' book Mastering Leptin. The book itself contains an enormous amount of detail, as the authors present their findings from a thorough research review on the recently discovered appetite controlling hormone leptin.
Never eat after dinner - And finish eating about 3 hours before you go to bed, i.e., never go to bed with a full stomach. Avoid eating anything for 12 hours between dinner and breakfast.
REASON - During the first 6-8 hours after eating dinner, the body is burns calories consumed during the day. During the 8th to 12th hour after dinner comes "the most effective fat burning time." Having a snack before bedtime (or a late evening meal) causes leptin release, which tells your body/brain that no additional energy is required, and no fat will be burned during the latter part of the night.
Eat 3 meals per day - And allow 5-6 hours between meals. Do NOT Snack.
REASON - During the first three hours after a meal, insulin is storing calories from the food we have eaten, putting our bodies in glucose burning mode. In hours 4-6, our bodies shift into fat burning mode. Snacking withing that 5-6 hour window will stimulate insulin release, and thus bypass the fat burning mode.
Avoid eating large meals - Do not give your body more fuel than it can use.
REASON - Regular large meals will invariably lead to leptin and insulin resistance. So eat slowly and chew really well, because it takes your brain ten minutes to let you know you're full. Another technique, after you've eaten half of your meal, take a 5-minute break. And don't feel you have to "clean your plate."
Eat high-protein breakfast
REASON - Keeps your body in the fat-burning mode from your night's fast and may reduce late afternoon energy crashes.
Reduce carbohydrate consumption. But don't cut out ALL carbohydrates.
REASON - Carbs lead to the release of insulin, which puts you in glucose burning mode.
Byron and Mary Richards recommend a ratio of 50/50 of carbs to protein, which amounts to a palm-sized portion of protein and starch, plus eat as many vegetables as you like, except for the peas, corn, cooked carrots, and other starchy veggies, which count as carbs.
Check whether you're eating too many carbohydrates - Weigh yourself first thing in the morning, and again at bedtime. If your bedtime weight is 2 pounds over your morning weight, you've probably eaten too many carbohydrates."
This is off track but, so am I. I new a sweet young woman who had a pretty healthy lifestyle. She was having trouble conceiving and found out she had diabetes. She came to me for a massage (I didn't know her except for this 1 hr period we shared. I intuitively felt she was sad about something else. Her father had died, before all of that happened. I had just read that grief was statistically the most common emotion preceding onset of all types of diabetes. I told her I felt she would be pregnant in less than a year and that diabetes would resolve for her with persistent focus on her health. I suggested that she let herself grieve for her father and realize that all of the sadness came form her love for him. Then she could focus on how she still loved him and was able to feel the love still present and feel that comfort. I got a letter from her that said she had a healthy baby and diabetes was gone and she was taking good care of herself. Success stories are nice. Maybe you don't relate to the grieving, but it is always nice to hear good stories.