Here’s a repost of a popular entry from last December — it’s that time of year!

This month, a lot of people weigh more than they did in the fall at their last appointment.  The problem is so widespread that, especially in people who are working to lose, I make it a point to applaud their efforts even if they have simply maintained their weight at the same number over the last few months. That’s because December is probably the single time of year in which people are most likely to eat large amounts of sugar and white flour.

Some folks don’t want to know what they weigh, so we make an agreement.  I get the number, and I don’t tell them what it is.  I remind them that I don’t really care about the number itself; I’m just looking for changes, up or down, from the last visit.  I really care a lot more about how their pants fit.  Are they looser, or tighter, or the same?  That’s a lot more important to me.   

Why is December such a problem?  It has to do mainly with the amount of desserts.  What happens when you eat a lot of sugar or starch?  You use a lot more insulin.  What happens when you use a lot more insulin? You store fat more efficiently, and you lose the ability to tell when you are full.  Then you increase your food intake accordingly.  In other words, you eat more. 

In my experience, about three days after you start eating a diet that requires less insulin, you notice that your appetite decreases a little bit.  Here’s why:  When you eat a diet like the standard American diet, which requires a lot of insulin, the high insulin levels coat the satiety centers in your brain and make it very hard to tell that you are full.  When you make changes like the ones in my “Four Recommendations,” you end up using less insulin.  On the third day after you start using less insulin, your body finally gets the message that it doesn’t need so much insulin anymore.  That’s how long it takes your body to begin to respond to the fact that it doesn’t need as much insulin.  Then your pancreas “downregulates” insulin production.  Then you’re not as hungry anymore.

Less insulin means less hunger. Three days after you start eating an “insulin-conserving” diet, you wake up noticeably less hungry than you used to be. 

So don’t worry about what you weigh.  That the number will take care of itself as you get back on track making smart choices.  And it does.  It’s okay to celebrate the holidays.  It’s okay to have a piece of wedding cake.  Or birthday cake.  It’s probably okay to have a slice of pie every weekend.  But you can’t have it every day.  Our insulin levels will manage fine if we let them spike only once in a while.  The problem comes when we eat foods that make them spike every day.  Every meal.  Because when your insulin levels are rising every day, they are no longer spiking.  Now they are just high. 

That’s why I say that what happens in December stays in December.  It’s not what we do once in a while that gives us trouble.  It’s what we do all the time.  You can’t live in December and expect to remain healthy.  But you can visit it from time to time.