Wednesday:
Ok, lets try this again! I'm over my two days of PMS and ready to begin.
I think my PMS is getting worse. When I was a teenager I such horrible cramps I had to take a day off school each month. I was put on the pill and that helped a lot. I've always had a lot of physical problems with my cycle and have tried a few different pills over the years. I don't remember any emotional issues, or just a very rare weepy day in my 20s, until maybe the past ten years. Since I had children? Maybe before that, but not so bad it really affected my life. Now I generally have two days when the world seems a dismal place and I'm annoyed with everyone and everything. I'm both sad and snappy and try not to take it out of my family too much but I don't know how well I succeed. The best I can do is keep my mouth shut. If I let myself make major decisions on those days I certainly wouldn't have a puppy any more and I don't know what else. I don't want to think about it. I also eat too much and don't exercise. Maybe I need a strategy for that, but for the moment I'm just going to accept that I need to do whatever I can to get through those days without any consequences more dire than gaining a little bit of weight.
I'm ready to do more exercise than just walking Thor. I seriously considered joining the gym again - I have at various times in the past enjoyed BodyStep, BodyPump, the rowing machine, the elliptical and the weights machines, but I get bored with them within a few months so next time I join the gym it will be for three months instead of a year and wasting most of my money. But going to the gym is a huge time investment with all the driving and finding parking and changing twice and showering etc, an hour exercise takes nearly two hours out of my day. So for the moment I'm going back to dancing at home. I still have to change and shower but it takes travel time out of the equation.
I was inspired by a new TV show, "Bringing Sexy Back" (terrible terrible name!) which is like an accelerated Biggest Loser. Each week they show a new person or couple, and follow them over about three months with a personal trainer and help from a celebrity chef and a big makeover and reveal at the end. They do it all from home, fitting healthy living around their normal work and other commitments so it is a tiny bit more realistic than Biggest Loser where all you do is exercise.
I did some writing this morning (I have rewritten what was lost and moved on) and then an hour of dance. It went well. I'd dipped my toe back into dance a few times recently but had trouble keeping up with the energy levels and the choreography, neither my mind and body were cooperating. But today I was back in the groove. I'm working my way through getting 5 stars in every dance on medium difficulty in Dance Central 3. I love a goal.
Then I had my lunch, and took a cup of tea outside with the puppy so he could run around a bit without getting lonely. I did some work reading, then took Thor for a walk that went past the school on our way home. Thor is getting a bit better with walking. He still pulls a lot. The kids rarely ask to walk him now, it's not very pleasurable. Yesterday I started giving him food treats as well as verbal praise when he was behaving well, and it certainly keeps his attention on me more! My previous dog, a collie, was not particularly motivated by food and was very eager to please so I don't think I ever used food treats, just attention and praise. The working dog (sheepdog) temperament. But Thor, both sides of his ancestry from hunting/gun dogs, likes praise but it takes food to distract him from the exciting outdoors! He tries to chase birds, too, and points his little foot. Very cute. But he is much nicer to walk when you don't end up with the lead strap embedded in your hand.
Today is a low carb day. I've gone a bit over my very low carb allowance (36 - 90 grams) because I was surprised by a few things. My banana had nearly 22 g, the orange 17 g and the Yakult a very unexpected 11.6 g of carbohydrate considering it is a tiny 50 mL bottle. I know I could have checked before I ate things but I don't want to give up fruit regardless so I'm not sure how I'm going to get around that on low carb days. Maybe only one piece of fruit? The Yakult is a rare thing, just to help my gut flora rebalance. Apart from that, my carbs came from one slice of toast, four wholegrain crackers and lots of non-starchy vegetables. If I cut out any two things (not the veges) I would be under my limit. On high carb days I get 180 grams of carbohydrate, plenty for just about anything, but high carb days are low fat days so I still have to monitor everything carefully.
If you haven't tried Yakult it is a fermented drink full of probiotics that I expected to be like slightly nasty runny yoghurt but in fact tastes just like melted vanilla ice cream. Delicious. Full of sugar, of course. I don't get it very often, but I buy a pack after a stomach upset. And hide it from the kids.
... (A bit later.) I had a lovely low carb dinner of steak and salad. Then ate three chocolate biscuits. So, hmm. I'm still giving myself a B for today's healthy eating. Mostly I did very well. I ate at least five serves of vegetables. And I did an hour and a half exercise! And drank seven glasses of water! And wrote! Overall an excellent day.
Showing posts with label carbohydrates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label carbohydrates. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Sunday, August 17, 2014
What can I eat that will make me feel better?
Monday:
Apparently people without food issues don't look to food to solve problems that aren't hunger. Isn't that a weird thought? Whereas I (and I imagine a few of my readers) look to food to solve sadness, anger, tiredness, boredom, frustration, and even an upset tummy. And it does kind of work, in the short term.
Tim and I both still have this stomach bug that we'd thought we got over (twice). It's a bit annoying, although I feel ok most of the time. It certainly hasn't stopped me eating! In fact I eat to settle my stomach. But it has stopped me exercising. Funny, that.
I haven't been sticking to any kind of diet for a couple of weeks. That doesn't mean binging, but I haven't been worrying if something is fried, I have some dessert if I want to, I take a chocolate from my hairdresser's reception desk. Last Thursday I was 81.8kg, about the same as I'd been hovering around for a few weeks.
Then this weekend was absolutely horrendous in terms of unhealthy food. We had family staying. I provided desserts and snacks. My sister-in-law brought dessert and snacks. I actually started eating junk on the Friday before they even got here because me and chips in the house? How have I not learned yet that that is a problem? I indulged in everything while they were here. I ate some leftover cheesecake after they left.
This morning, resolving to start over and needing to know the worst, I got on the scales. 81.8kg. No change. I was puzzled but I'm not complaining! The body can be weird. It doesn't do what you expect.
I'm calling this a new diet, starting today. A new plan. The old one has been dead for weeks. I'm doing it this way because I find I do better during the honeymoon period of a new diet. New rules to follow. Some people are better off refreshing the same plan. I like having something new. I just want to stress that I'm am not looking for that one perfect diet that will quickly and effortlessly make the weight fall off. I just enjoy researching and planning a new diet, it gets me motivated again.
That said, I'm thinking about carb cycling. Intermittent fasting is popular at the moment but I can't do that, I feel awful if I try to fast (as I have done for charity - I didn't make it through the whole 40 hours - or for a shorter stretch for medical reasons) - sick, tired, headachy, trembly, miserable and irritable. How can anyone work through that or do anything other than lie in bed? Maybe it's because of my insulin resistance. I also can't do very low carb, I've tried that too and feel almost as bad as fasting, which makes sense because it's the carbs that affect blood sugar. On the other hand, I lose weight if I reduce carbs. And I feel just as sick, in a different way, if I eat too many carbs. Really sleepy and bloated.
Carb cycling, as I understand it, alternates days of low carbs with days of higher carb intake. You eat more protein on the low carb days and very little fat on the high carb days. It was apparently developed by body builders to strip off the fat layer before a competition so all their huge muscles would show better. For me, it would mean 1200 calories on Mon, Wed & Fri (low carb) and 1500 calories on the other days (high carb). As with any reasonable diet, there is a focus on lots of fruit and vegetables, lean meat, and "healthy" carbohydrate (ie not cheesecake). There is a formula for how many carbs and protein grams I should be eating based on my weight that could be a bit fiddly to translate into daily meals - but isn't that what I want? To spend time on the technical aspects? Worth a try.
Apparently people without food issues don't look to food to solve problems that aren't hunger. Isn't that a weird thought? Whereas I (and I imagine a few of my readers) look to food to solve sadness, anger, tiredness, boredom, frustration, and even an upset tummy. And it does kind of work, in the short term.
Tim and I both still have this stomach bug that we'd thought we got over (twice). It's a bit annoying, although I feel ok most of the time. It certainly hasn't stopped me eating! In fact I eat to settle my stomach. But it has stopped me exercising. Funny, that.
I haven't been sticking to any kind of diet for a couple of weeks. That doesn't mean binging, but I haven't been worrying if something is fried, I have some dessert if I want to, I take a chocolate from my hairdresser's reception desk. Last Thursday I was 81.8kg, about the same as I'd been hovering around for a few weeks.
Then this weekend was absolutely horrendous in terms of unhealthy food. We had family staying. I provided desserts and snacks. My sister-in-law brought dessert and snacks. I actually started eating junk on the Friday before they even got here because me and chips in the house? How have I not learned yet that that is a problem? I indulged in everything while they were here. I ate some leftover cheesecake after they left.
This morning, resolving to start over and needing to know the worst, I got on the scales. 81.8kg. No change. I was puzzled but I'm not complaining! The body can be weird. It doesn't do what you expect.
I'm calling this a new diet, starting today. A new plan. The old one has been dead for weeks. I'm doing it this way because I find I do better during the honeymoon period of a new diet. New rules to follow. Some people are better off refreshing the same plan. I like having something new. I just want to stress that I'm am not looking for that one perfect diet that will quickly and effortlessly make the weight fall off. I just enjoy researching and planning a new diet, it gets me motivated again.
That said, I'm thinking about carb cycling. Intermittent fasting is popular at the moment but I can't do that, I feel awful if I try to fast (as I have done for charity - I didn't make it through the whole 40 hours - or for a shorter stretch for medical reasons) - sick, tired, headachy, trembly, miserable and irritable. How can anyone work through that or do anything other than lie in bed? Maybe it's because of my insulin resistance. I also can't do very low carb, I've tried that too and feel almost as bad as fasting, which makes sense because it's the carbs that affect blood sugar. On the other hand, I lose weight if I reduce carbs. And I feel just as sick, in a different way, if I eat too many carbs. Really sleepy and bloated.
Carb cycling, as I understand it, alternates days of low carbs with days of higher carb intake. You eat more protein on the low carb days and very little fat on the high carb days. It was apparently developed by body builders to strip off the fat layer before a competition so all their huge muscles would show better. For me, it would mean 1200 calories on Mon, Wed & Fri (low carb) and 1500 calories on the other days (high carb). As with any reasonable diet, there is a focus on lots of fruit and vegetables, lean meat, and "healthy" carbohydrate (ie not cheesecake). There is a formula for how many carbs and protein grams I should be eating based on my weight that could be a bit fiddly to translate into daily meals - but isn't that what I want? To spend time on the technical aspects? Worth a try.
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Carb loading and fat jeans
Monday:
I've resisted buying new clothes forweeks months years because I wanted to wait until I lost some weight, but the blue jeans I wear nearly every day in cooler weather started fraying on the inner thigh seams and there are now actual holes. I don't have that much else to wear so the situation had become critical. Today I forced myself to go jeans shopping. I tried on quite a few pairs but ended up getting the same ones as last time which are actually men's jeans. But in a bigger size. Sad face. The same size were just too squeezy and gave me a horrible muffin top. I know they stretch, but then they also shrink again when you wash them. The old ones had had a year or more to get to their current comfortable shape.
I forced myself to get them because I need something to wear at the size I am now, even if I'm not happy at this size. They have to be taken up, of course, because of my short legs, so I won't get them for a couple of days. I'm hoping my old ones hold together for that much longer.
I also got some track pants to walk in during winter.
I'm feeling ok about myself, actually. Really determined to get healthy and lose this weight. I still can't use my CPAP due to frequent coughing fits (tried again last night but had to give up) so I'm tired, but I'm over the flu and feeling so much better, even with the coughing!
I started carb loading this morning ready for my glucose tolerance test on Thursday. I always grumble about carb loading. Yes I like toast and potato and rice and biscuits and fruit and pasta. Just not in these quantities! It makes me feel kind of sick. They do know I have insulin resistance, right? So strange, to be deliberately eating the stuff that makes my body sick, so I can so just how sick I get! Like when Dr House makes someone run on a treadmill to see if they have a heart attack. But it's all for a purpose.
I've resisted buying new clothes for
I forced myself to get them because I need something to wear at the size I am now, even if I'm not happy at this size. They have to be taken up, of course, because of my short legs, so I won't get them for a couple of days. I'm hoping my old ones hold together for that much longer.
I also got some track pants to walk in during winter.
I'm feeling ok about myself, actually. Really determined to get healthy and lose this weight. I still can't use my CPAP due to frequent coughing fits (tried again last night but had to give up) so I'm tired, but I'm over the flu and feeling so much better, even with the coughing!
I started carb loading this morning ready for my glucose tolerance test on Thursday. I always grumble about carb loading. Yes I like toast and potato and rice and biscuits and fruit and pasta. Just not in these quantities! It makes me feel kind of sick. They do know I have insulin resistance, right? So strange, to be deliberately eating the stuff that makes my body sick, so I can so just how sick I get! Like when Dr House makes someone run on a treadmill to see if they have a heart attack. But it's all for a purpose.
My mum is shrinking
Sunday:
We spent the weekend in Sydney, Saturday with my husband's relatives (now mine too, of course!) and Sunday with mine. We took my mum out to lunch because it was her birthday today, and Mother's Day last week.
Nearly the first thing I said to her, perhaps a little tactlessly, was something like "you are shorter!" It's true I was wearing my hiking boots with lots of tread on the soles and she was only wearing slippers, but nevertheless she has always been a few inches taller than me and now she was shorter. She agreed that she felt she was shrinking a bit, especially with her limp, and she also said her own father (who just turned 96 and is going strong, still living in his own house and having family over for dinner regularly) has shrunk down to her height over the past 20 years. I can't afford to shrink when I get to my 70s, I have to stand on a chair to get to my own high cupboards as it is!
Mum was doing well. She has a long-awaited follow-up appointment with her oncologist this week and she's hoping for some answers and a prognosis now they've had time to see how the treatment is working.
I think I did reasonably well negotiating all the bad food this weekend. Not brilliantly, but I resisted quite a bit of junk that I could have easily scoffed down. Like today at the restaurant; I should have had no dessert, I could have eaten a whole dessert, but what I actually did was share a dessert with my mum. A compromise.
I also took my niece out for a short walk with the pram. Apart from that, lots of sitting in the car or in people's lounge rooms.
I am starting carb-loading in the morning for my blood test on Thursday, and I am determined to eat all those extra carbs while not overdoing the total calories.
We spent the weekend in Sydney, Saturday with my husband's relatives (now mine too, of course!) and Sunday with mine. We took my mum out to lunch because it was her birthday today, and Mother's Day last week.
Nearly the first thing I said to her, perhaps a little tactlessly, was something like "you are shorter!" It's true I was wearing my hiking boots with lots of tread on the soles and she was only wearing slippers, but nevertheless she has always been a few inches taller than me and now she was shorter. She agreed that she felt she was shrinking a bit, especially with her limp, and she also said her own father (who just turned 96 and is going strong, still living in his own house and having family over for dinner regularly) has shrunk down to her height over the past 20 years. I can't afford to shrink when I get to my 70s, I have to stand on a chair to get to my own high cupboards as it is!
Mum was doing well. She has a long-awaited follow-up appointment with her oncologist this week and she's hoping for some answers and a prognosis now they've had time to see how the treatment is working.
I think I did reasonably well negotiating all the bad food this weekend. Not brilliantly, but I resisted quite a bit of junk that I could have easily scoffed down. Like today at the restaurant; I should have had no dessert, I could have eaten a whole dessert, but what I actually did was share a dessert with my mum. A compromise.
I also took my niece out for a short walk with the pram. Apart from that, lots of sitting in the car or in people's lounge rooms.
I am starting carb-loading in the morning for my blood test on Thursday, and I am determined to eat all those extra carbs while not overdoing the total calories.
Friday, October 18, 2013
Whole30 - review of week 1
Saturday:
I got through a whole week of Whole30! No grains, dairy, sugar, alcohol or legumes.
Alcohol was easy, I don't drink very often and when I do it makes me very sleepy so I wouldn't cry if I had to give it up forever. Legumes have always upset my stomach and I was actually told by a doctor years ago to avoid them. I eat podded legumes like snow peas (which are ok on Whole30 because they are mostly pod) and I do have peanuts and peanut butter (not while I'm on Whole30). I've had to give up satay for the time being.
Giving up grains was a bit harder, but I have never been a "carb addict" like my husband so it hasn't been too bad. I can be satisfied with meat and veges, but if I don't serve high-carb foods with dinner both my husband and daughter will be cruising for toast or something afterwards.
Dairy and sugar have been the hardest. I want my sweet white tea! I didn't think I was addicted to sugar either, I don't eat lollies much and many things other people think are nice (like sugary drinks or commercial yoghurt) taste disgustingly sweet to me. But still, I love chocolate, and sugar in my tea. I've almost given up caffeine altogether this week, black tea is nasty. I've found myself craving a bit of sweetness after meals sometimes. At least I can still have fruit! Dairy is hard to give up too, I love cheese and milk and butter and cream and even plain yoghurt with fruit mixed in.
Where can I do better? I've been snacking a bit between meals, approved foods, but the thing is I'm not actually hungry. The meals are very filling. I'm just in the habit of grazing all day. So I need to curb that a bit.
Also my exercise has been very gentle this week because I've been feeling a bit yuck from detoxing. Time to ramp that up.
I feel that I haven't been getting enough carbs. This is not supposed to be a low-carb diet, but I just can't stand the carby vegetables (pumpkin, squash, sweet potato) that are allowed. I've tried, I really have. I have decided to take the controversial step of reintroducing some white potato. I pondered this long and hard, I am worried that it is a slippery slope to meddle with the formula. BUT on the Whole9 website they give reasons why you can't eat all the other things they ban, then for white potato they say "This is a bit arbitrary..." so I feel that they are not as strongly opposed to it anyway. I think they just think it's fattening? Not much info on the website and I'm still waiting for the book from the library. Other paleo sites seem to say you can eat white potato "only if you are skinny".
I know from experience that low-carb makes me miserable and also unpleasant to live with, my body just doesn't like it. And low-carb isn't the intention of the Whole30. So there, I've talked myself into it.
I got through a whole week of Whole30! No grains, dairy, sugar, alcohol or legumes.
Alcohol was easy, I don't drink very often and when I do it makes me very sleepy so I wouldn't cry if I had to give it up forever. Legumes have always upset my stomach and I was actually told by a doctor years ago to avoid them. I eat podded legumes like snow peas (which are ok on Whole30 because they are mostly pod) and I do have peanuts and peanut butter (not while I'm on Whole30). I've had to give up satay for the time being.
Giving up grains was a bit harder, but I have never been a "carb addict" like my husband so it hasn't been too bad. I can be satisfied with meat and veges, but if I don't serve high-carb foods with dinner both my husband and daughter will be cruising for toast or something afterwards.
Dairy and sugar have been the hardest. I want my sweet white tea! I didn't think I was addicted to sugar either, I don't eat lollies much and many things other people think are nice (like sugary drinks or commercial yoghurt) taste disgustingly sweet to me. But still, I love chocolate, and sugar in my tea. I've almost given up caffeine altogether this week, black tea is nasty. I've found myself craving a bit of sweetness after meals sometimes. At least I can still have fruit! Dairy is hard to give up too, I love cheese and milk and butter and cream and even plain yoghurt with fruit mixed in.
Where can I do better? I've been snacking a bit between meals, approved foods, but the thing is I'm not actually hungry. The meals are very filling. I'm just in the habit of grazing all day. So I need to curb that a bit.
Also my exercise has been very gentle this week because I've been feeling a bit yuck from detoxing. Time to ramp that up.
I feel that I haven't been getting enough carbs. This is not supposed to be a low-carb diet, but I just can't stand the carby vegetables (pumpkin, squash, sweet potato) that are allowed. I've tried, I really have. I have decided to take the controversial step of reintroducing some white potato. I pondered this long and hard, I am worried that it is a slippery slope to meddle with the formula. BUT on the Whole9 website they give reasons why you can't eat all the other things they ban, then for white potato they say "This is a bit arbitrary..." so I feel that they are not as strongly opposed to it anyway. I think they just think it's fattening? Not much info on the website and I'm still waiting for the book from the library. Other paleo sites seem to say you can eat white potato "only if you are skinny".
I know from experience that low-carb makes me miserable and also unpleasant to live with, my body just doesn't like it. And low-carb isn't the intention of the Whole30. So there, I've talked myself into it.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Putting on my determined face
Friday:
The last 22 hours or so I've been feeling denial, anger, guilt, fear, sadness and determination. Whether I've got diabetes or "just" pre-diabetes that is getting worse, I've let this happen and I need to do something about it. When I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes last year I was very proactive for a little while but then slumped back into my old ways. I can't let that happen again.
Different authorities give conflicting advice about how much carbohydrate diabetics should eat (Australian diabetic diet guidelines are fairly high in carbs but ONLY low GI, the US doesn't seem as into the whole GI thing and suggests smaller amounts of carbs) but everyone agrees that I need to:
1) lose weight
2) exercise regularly (not just to help lose weight, exercise has other benefits for diabetics)
As a tertiary issue I need to spread carbs throughout the day. I will be going with a slightly lower-carb version of my dietician's advice and having small amounts of low GI carbs with every meal and snack. And drink a lot more water. And take my vitamin D tablets like my doctor says.
I have already cleared six months (nearly a month of that has already gone) to write a novel, which I can only work on for a couple of hours a day due to my RSI. My only other commitments within school hours are doing a bit of housework and getting the shopping done etc -- all in my own time. I have the most available time of anyone you know to fit in regular exercise. So I have the least excuse of anyone you have ever met to not exercise. I don't have to get up before dawn, or go to the gym after work, or squeeze in a run at lunchtime like many people. So I will just do it!
I can't completely shed the guilt, denial etc (yet) but I am working on building up the determination. I can absolutely do this. Lose 20 kg, get rid of the dangerous abdominal fat, get into a regular rhythm of exercise for the rest of my life, which will be long and healthy. The only thing stopping me is inertia. It is easier to sit around than get into my exercise gear and start moving. The wheels are stuck in the mud. But I've just had a huge shove to help me get going.
I felt so ill most of the day after that glucose test. And I got up four times in the night to pee like a racehorse as my body tried to get rid of all the sugar. For the next few days in particular I am going to work on being gentle to my pancreas. Regular small doses of healthy carbs that won't stress the poor thing. It's been through enough lately.
The last 22 hours or so I've been feeling denial, anger, guilt, fear, sadness and determination. Whether I've got diabetes or "just" pre-diabetes that is getting worse, I've let this happen and I need to do something about it. When I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes last year I was very proactive for a little while but then slumped back into my old ways. I can't let that happen again.
Different authorities give conflicting advice about how much carbohydrate diabetics should eat (Australian diabetic diet guidelines are fairly high in carbs but ONLY low GI, the US doesn't seem as into the whole GI thing and suggests smaller amounts of carbs) but everyone agrees that I need to:
1) lose weight
2) exercise regularly (not just to help lose weight, exercise has other benefits for diabetics)
As a tertiary issue I need to spread carbs throughout the day. I will be going with a slightly lower-carb version of my dietician's advice and having small amounts of low GI carbs with every meal and snack. And drink a lot more water. And take my vitamin D tablets like my doctor says.
I have already cleared six months (nearly a month of that has already gone) to write a novel, which I can only work on for a couple of hours a day due to my RSI. My only other commitments within school hours are doing a bit of housework and getting the shopping done etc -- all in my own time. I have the most available time of anyone you know to fit in regular exercise. So I have the least excuse of anyone you have ever met to not exercise. I don't have to get up before dawn, or go to the gym after work, or squeeze in a run at lunchtime like many people. So I will just do it!
I can't completely shed the guilt, denial etc (yet) but I am working on building up the determination. I can absolutely do this. Lose 20 kg, get rid of the dangerous abdominal fat, get into a regular rhythm of exercise for the rest of my life, which will be long and healthy. The only thing stopping me is inertia. It is easier to sit around than get into my exercise gear and start moving. The wheels are stuck in the mud. But I've just had a huge shove to help me get going.
I felt so ill most of the day after that glucose test. And I got up four times in the night to pee like a racehorse as my body tried to get rid of all the sugar. For the next few days in particular I am going to work on being gentle to my pancreas. Regular small doses of healthy carbs that won't stress the poor thing. It's been through enough lately.
Monday, July 22, 2013
A fear of dentists
Tuesday:
I still hoping for a ticket to my daughter's dance concert, a school friend of Jasmine's is the granddaughter of the woman who owns (or runs, maybe) the dance school so I am using that connection and it looks like I might be able to get at least one. Yay for knowing the right people!
It's day two of carb loading. I ate nearly 3000 calories yesterday but that really wasn't necessary -- I had a lot of fat to go with my carbs. Potato in the form of hot chips, lots of butter and cheese with my bread etc. I had really planned to do better today but had a stressful morning then a comfort binge. I know I really need to work on how I deal with stress. Not just turning to food but in other ways too, I get so churned up inside and can't think straight.
Today's stress was the dentist.
I am really scared of the dentist. For a while I thought I was allergic to the anaesthetic they use because I always shake and feel sick until my dentist pointed out I have that reaction even when I don't have an injection! I'm not scared of doctors or needles but there is something about the dentist that freaks me out. I assume it goes back to lots of dental work and braces when I was only 10 or 11 (I had my braces done and off before I got to high school, very mature teeth, but small mouth with no room for them all). I remember hanging on to the parked car for dear life while my mum tried to drag me into the dentist surgery for my next extraction. Injections in the roof of your mouth hurt!
Today was just a clean and check-up. It was mostly done with a manual pick, which I can deal with ok so I got through it merely feeling like a seasick limp rag. It's the air, water, suction, drill, polishing etc that I struggle with. Strong gag reflex, but all psychological - I often gag when they are working right at the front of my mouth. There was only a little bit of that, and the hygenist was very good at giving me breaks when I needed them. But the problem is what they want to do in the future. At my last check up my dentist said she wanted to replace a couple of fillings as they are jagged and stopping me from flossing properly. I made an appointment but then cancelled. It just didn't seem worth the stress when it wasn't an actual emergency. But she pushed it again this time, prevention being better than letting decay start. Two hours (over two appointments) in the dreaded chair; with all the feared appliances. She even talked about using a dental dam - my last dentist tried that once for about two minutes and I felt like I was drowning in my own spit and panicked.
I've made the first appointment, but I don't know if I can do it. I know I should be brave and get it over with, and maybe straight after today's appointment (with the horror so fresh) isn't the best time to make the decision. I'll leave it for now.
But I filled the gaping void of fear in my belly with food.
I'm usually against non-sugar sweetners but yesterday I bought Natvia (made from the stevia leaf and supposed to be natural) because I really do want to cut down on sugar and carbs (after tomorrow) and I haven't had much success with sugar-free tea. Less than half a calorie and no carbs per sachet. I love it! If anything, it tastes better than sugar, although I bet I couldn't actually tell the difference in a blind taste test. So unless I read somewhere about how bad it is for me I'll be using it in my tea and maybe introduce it elsewhere as well.
I still hoping for a ticket to my daughter's dance concert, a school friend of Jasmine's is the granddaughter of the woman who owns (or runs, maybe) the dance school so I am using that connection and it looks like I might be able to get at least one. Yay for knowing the right people!
It's day two of carb loading. I ate nearly 3000 calories yesterday but that really wasn't necessary -- I had a lot of fat to go with my carbs. Potato in the form of hot chips, lots of butter and cheese with my bread etc. I had really planned to do better today but had a stressful morning then a comfort binge. I know I really need to work on how I deal with stress. Not just turning to food but in other ways too, I get so churned up inside and can't think straight.
Today's stress was the dentist.
I am really scared of the dentist. For a while I thought I was allergic to the anaesthetic they use because I always shake and feel sick until my dentist pointed out I have that reaction even when I don't have an injection! I'm not scared of doctors or needles but there is something about the dentist that freaks me out. I assume it goes back to lots of dental work and braces when I was only 10 or 11 (I had my braces done and off before I got to high school, very mature teeth, but small mouth with no room for them all). I remember hanging on to the parked car for dear life while my mum tried to drag me into the dentist surgery for my next extraction. Injections in the roof of your mouth hurt!
Today was just a clean and check-up. It was mostly done with a manual pick, which I can deal with ok so I got through it merely feeling like a seasick limp rag. It's the air, water, suction, drill, polishing etc that I struggle with. Strong gag reflex, but all psychological - I often gag when they are working right at the front of my mouth. There was only a little bit of that, and the hygenist was very good at giving me breaks when I needed them. But the problem is what they want to do in the future. At my last check up my dentist said she wanted to replace a couple of fillings as they are jagged and stopping me from flossing properly. I made an appointment but then cancelled. It just didn't seem worth the stress when it wasn't an actual emergency. But she pushed it again this time, prevention being better than letting decay start. Two hours (over two appointments) in the dreaded chair; with all the feared appliances. She even talked about using a dental dam - my last dentist tried that once for about two minutes and I felt like I was drowning in my own spit and panicked.
I've made the first appointment, but I don't know if I can do it. I know I should be brave and get it over with, and maybe straight after today's appointment (with the horror so fresh) isn't the best time to make the decision. I'll leave it for now.
But I filled the gaping void of fear in my belly with food.
I'm usually against non-sugar sweetners but yesterday I bought Natvia (made from the stevia leaf and supposed to be natural) because I really do want to cut down on sugar and carbs (after tomorrow) and I haven't had much success with sugar-free tea. Less than half a calorie and no carbs per sachet. I love it! If anything, it tastes better than sugar, although I bet I couldn't actually tell the difference in a blind taste test. So unless I read somewhere about how bad it is for me I'll be using it in my tea and maybe introduce it elsewhere as well.
Carb loading
Monday:
It's after dinner on day one of three days of carb loading for my glucose tolerance test. I've had 200g of carbohydrate today (the equivalent of 13 slices of bread) and I still need to have another piece of fruit, a couple more serves of vegetables and a bowl of cereal before I go to bed (I could have pasta instead of the cereal but I don't see myself whipping up some penne for supper). Feeling very full and sleepy.
Major family disaster today. My daughter does dance (jazz funk) lessons and they have a concert in two weeks. I didn't get around to buying tickets, I was waiting to hear back from grandparents but also just didn't make it a priority, and they are sold out! I am on a list in case someone doesn't need theirs but as I am halfway down the second page of names I just don't see that happening. I haven't told my daughter yet. Horrible stuff-up on my part. I don't know what to do about it. I wonder if there is a chance I'll be able to watch her bit of the final dress rehearsal? She's only nine and very excited about the concert. We bought $60 worth of costume and $85 worth of make-up for it, plus $20 for a lesson on how to apply stage make-up. She is going to be very upset if none of her family can be there. I'm waiting to talk to my husband first but I don't know if there is a solution.
It's after dinner on day one of three days of carb loading for my glucose tolerance test. I've had 200g of carbohydrate today (the equivalent of 13 slices of bread) and I still need to have another piece of fruit, a couple more serves of vegetables and a bowl of cereal before I go to bed (I could have pasta instead of the cereal but I don't see myself whipping up some penne for supper). Feeling very full and sleepy.
Major family disaster today. My daughter does dance (jazz funk) lessons and they have a concert in two weeks. I didn't get around to buying tickets, I was waiting to hear back from grandparents but also just didn't make it a priority, and they are sold out! I am on a list in case someone doesn't need theirs but as I am halfway down the second page of names I just don't see that happening. I haven't told my daughter yet. Horrible stuff-up on my part. I don't know what to do about it. I wonder if there is a chance I'll be able to watch her bit of the final dress rehearsal? She's only nine and very excited about the concert. We bought $60 worth of costume and $85 worth of make-up for it, plus $20 for a lesson on how to apply stage make-up. She is going to be very upset if none of her family can be there. I'm waiting to talk to my husband first but I don't know if there is a solution.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Pre-pre-diabeties test
Wednesday:
It's been nearly a year since I found out I had pre-diabetes and last time I saw my doctor a couple of months ago (actually it was the first time I saw this new doctor who I am going to stick with) she gave me a referral for another test. Glucose tolerance, plus iron and folate and everything else she could think of. There is a list of 13 things to test for! I assume they do it all with the same bit of blood? Or not too many vials, anyway.
I've booked the test in for next week. The GTT (glucose tolerance) requires three days of "carb loading" then a fast. I always complain about the carb loading because it is so much starch/sugar -- much more than I usually eat -- but this time I am going to enjoy it while I can before I cut right back afterwards.
I found that giving up on losing weight makes me even unhappier than trying and failing. The trying is also difficult and unpleasant, but right now I'm in the best of all possible worlds; holiday indulgence/doctor-mandated carb-loading but with the virtuous feeling that I am going to start being "good" very soon. That's kind of a joke, but true at the same time. The "I'll start on Monday" promise that lets you feel good about yourself while not actually making any changes in the now. Giving up your cake and eating it too.
We had spaghetti bolognaise last night, obviously a high-carb meal, so I tested my blood two hours later -- something I haven't done for a while. Not as accurate as the real GTT but gives me an indication. It was 8.5 mmol/L (up to 7.8 is normal, 11.0 is diabetes) which is a little high but not too bad. I don't expect this GTT to say I have diabetes. Probably still in the pre-diabetes range. It will be interesting to see if I am better or worse, because I did work hard for a while (before I got slack again, but never as bad as I used to be) on eating low GI foods, not too many carbs at once etc. I hope a bit better.
My main anti-diabetes goal was to lose weight and I have failed at that. Right now I am a couple of kgs heavier than I was then. Not a big increase, but it should be a loss not a gain.
I seem to be having two hormonal emotional slumps each cycle instead of just PMS (something to discuss with my doctor) but I feel a lot more hopeful today than when I wrote the last post.
It's been nearly a year since I found out I had pre-diabetes and last time I saw my doctor a couple of months ago (actually it was the first time I saw this new doctor who I am going to stick with) she gave me a referral for another test. Glucose tolerance, plus iron and folate and everything else she could think of. There is a list of 13 things to test for! I assume they do it all with the same bit of blood? Or not too many vials, anyway.
I've booked the test in for next week. The GTT (glucose tolerance) requires three days of "carb loading" then a fast. I always complain about the carb loading because it is so much starch/sugar -- much more than I usually eat -- but this time I am going to enjoy it while I can before I cut right back afterwards.
I found that giving up on losing weight makes me even unhappier than trying and failing. The trying is also difficult and unpleasant, but right now I'm in the best of all possible worlds; holiday indulgence/doctor-mandated carb-loading but with the virtuous feeling that I am going to start being "good" very soon. That's kind of a joke, but true at the same time. The "I'll start on Monday" promise that lets you feel good about yourself while not actually making any changes in the now. Giving up your cake and eating it too.
We had spaghetti bolognaise last night, obviously a high-carb meal, so I tested my blood two hours later -- something I haven't done for a while. Not as accurate as the real GTT but gives me an indication. It was 8.5 mmol/L (up to 7.8 is normal, 11.0 is diabetes) which is a little high but not too bad. I don't expect this GTT to say I have diabetes. Probably still in the pre-diabetes range. It will be interesting to see if I am better or worse, because I did work hard for a while (before I got slack again, but never as bad as I used to be) on eating low GI foods, not too many carbs at once etc. I hope a bit better.
My main anti-diabetes goal was to lose weight and I have failed at that. Right now I am a couple of kgs heavier than I was then. Not a big increase, but it should be a loss not a gain.
I seem to be having two hormonal emotional slumps each cycle instead of just PMS (something to discuss with my doctor) but I feel a lot more hopeful today than when I wrote the last post.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Carbohydrate binge and a cold
Saturday:
Huge carb cravings yesterday. Maybe because it was a really cold day, maybe because I've been reading a book about how bad carbs are for me (which of course made me think about them), partly because I scratched my eyeball first thing in the morning and spent the next four hours with a very sore eye and was squinting and blinking with tears running down my face, and now I think maybe because I was coming down with a cold.
For whatever reason/s, I spent the whole day fighting off cravings to eat sugary carbohydrates. Then in the evening (straight after dinner, when I wasn't even hungry) I caved and ate two slices of bread slathered in butter, some chocolate, and then half a bag of Doritos and a cider.
I spent the evening exhausted and with a headache, which I thought at the time could be because of my binge, but woke this morning with a sore throat and feeling generally yuck and I think I have a cold. I was hoping I'd feel better once I'd been up for a while, but I'm definitely getting worse. We had big plans for this weekend but I think I'm going to have to stay home which is a bummer. I could drag myself around, but I worry about passing on germs to my aging mother and my baby niece, amongst others. The thought of spending hours in the car, sleeping on a horrible futon, and being sociable all weekend also just sounds like a nightmare. Will have to postpone. I need my soft bed and my undemanding television. And I need to get well by Monday! I'm not taking a sick day on my first day of work. (You can see I care a lot less about infecting my new colleagues than my family.)
Huge carb cravings yesterday. Maybe because it was a really cold day, maybe because I've been reading a book about how bad carbs are for me (which of course made me think about them), partly because I scratched my eyeball first thing in the morning and spent the next four hours with a very sore eye and was squinting and blinking with tears running down my face, and now I think maybe because I was coming down with a cold.
For whatever reason/s, I spent the whole day fighting off cravings to eat sugary carbohydrates. Then in the evening (straight after dinner, when I wasn't even hungry) I caved and ate two slices of bread slathered in butter, some chocolate, and then half a bag of Doritos and a cider.
I spent the evening exhausted and with a headache, which I thought at the time could be because of my binge, but woke this morning with a sore throat and feeling generally yuck and I think I have a cold. I was hoping I'd feel better once I'd been up for a while, but I'm definitely getting worse. We had big plans for this weekend but I think I'm going to have to stay home which is a bummer. I could drag myself around, but I worry about passing on germs to my aging mother and my baby niece, amongst others. The thought of spending hours in the car, sleeping on a horrible futon, and being sociable all weekend also just sounds like a nightmare. Will have to postpone. I need my soft bed and my undemanding television. And I need to get well by Monday! I'm not taking a sick day on my first day of work. (You can see I care a lot less about infecting my new colleagues than my family.)
Thursday, May 16, 2013
So why DO we get fat?
later Thursday:
My zombie-fleeing friend told me that the original Zombies, Run! app (not the C25K one I have) doesn't actually require you to run, it is designed so you can walk as well -- you just have to speed up from whatever you were doing when a zombie appears. A brisker walk is fine. So I downloaded it today and am happy to have my zombies back. Unfortunately it hadn't finished downloading by the time I went out, but I'll use it to walk to work.
I walked half an hour to the hairdresser (and incidentally found it will take me about 20 mins to walk to work, where I start on Monday) through a chilly morning. I love the massage and the hair-washing. The hairdresser did what I asked and I think the cut is ok, but it's hard to tell at present because despite my saying at least twice that I don't like my hair straightened, she blow-dried it straight down beside my face. It really doesn't suit me. And two minutes after going back into the wind I was left with a mouthful of hair and a bird's nest on my head. I'll wait and see until I wash it next and get its natural wave back.
I went to the shops and found myself a pair of black work pants (yay!) and put them in to be shortened. Then had a lovely lunch at a Thai restaurant. It was a lunch special with rice and a chicken/vegetable dish, and when it came out it was so big my first thought was to take half home. But I ended up eating it all except I only had a little bit of the rice. On my tracker, I counted it as my own home-made stir fry plus extra meat, the cashews, the bit of rice, and presumably sugar in the sauce. So quite a lot more calories, really!
Then I walked home, another half an hour of briskness (carrying a backpack full of fruit this time), then into the afternoon routine of taking Child 2 to gymnastics, Child 1 to the library, home for a while, pick up Child 2, make dinner...
Since everyone else in the house loves pasta (so do I, for that matter) but I'm not eating it at the moment, I made myself a baked chicken breast and vegetables with really hot sauce. It was great! I didn't miss the pasta at all. As long as I make myself something yummy, I don't resent not eating stuff like that.
A book I picked up for myself at the library is Gary Taubes' Why We Get Fat and what to do about it, and although I don't like the title (it just seems a bit dumbed down) I am finding it fascinating. I should disclaim, first, that I don't necessarily believe everything I read -- it would be almost impossible these days as everything contradicts everything else. But I enjoy exploring the arguments. Anyway, Taubes argues that there isn't, and never has been, any evidence that either low calorie diets OR exercise do anything to help you lose weight. He looks at the original studies that this idea was based on and debunks them. I am only a quarter of the way through but he says up front in the Introduction that it's easily digested carbohydrates that are the problem, not the balance of calories in/calories out, because of their affect on hormones like insulin which then trigger you to get fat.
I have been convinced for quite a while that exercise -- while good for you in many ways including strength, endurance, and mood -- does not make me lose weight, but the idea that the number of calories I eat doesn't have relevance is a bit hard to get my head around. I will read on.
My zombie-fleeing friend told me that the original Zombies, Run! app (not the C25K one I have) doesn't actually require you to run, it is designed so you can walk as well -- you just have to speed up from whatever you were doing when a zombie appears. A brisker walk is fine. So I downloaded it today and am happy to have my zombies back. Unfortunately it hadn't finished downloading by the time I went out, but I'll use it to walk to work.
I walked half an hour to the hairdresser (and incidentally found it will take me about 20 mins to walk to work, where I start on Monday) through a chilly morning. I love the massage and the hair-washing. The hairdresser did what I asked and I think the cut is ok, but it's hard to tell at present because despite my saying at least twice that I don't like my hair straightened, she blow-dried it straight down beside my face. It really doesn't suit me. And two minutes after going back into the wind I was left with a mouthful of hair and a bird's nest on my head. I'll wait and see until I wash it next and get its natural wave back.
I went to the shops and found myself a pair of black work pants (yay!) and put them in to be shortened. Then had a lovely lunch at a Thai restaurant. It was a lunch special with rice and a chicken/vegetable dish, and when it came out it was so big my first thought was to take half home. But I ended up eating it all except I only had a little bit of the rice. On my tracker, I counted it as my own home-made stir fry plus extra meat, the cashews, the bit of rice, and presumably sugar in the sauce. So quite a lot more calories, really!
Then I walked home, another half an hour of briskness (carrying a backpack full of fruit this time), then into the afternoon routine of taking Child 2 to gymnastics, Child 1 to the library, home for a while, pick up Child 2, make dinner...
Since everyone else in the house loves pasta (so do I, for that matter) but I'm not eating it at the moment, I made myself a baked chicken breast and vegetables with really hot sauce. It was great! I didn't miss the pasta at all. As long as I make myself something yummy, I don't resent not eating stuff like that.
A book I picked up for myself at the library is Gary Taubes' Why We Get Fat and what to do about it, and although I don't like the title (it just seems a bit dumbed down) I am finding it fascinating. I should disclaim, first, that I don't necessarily believe everything I read -- it would be almost impossible these days as everything contradicts everything else. But I enjoy exploring the arguments. Anyway, Taubes argues that there isn't, and never has been, any evidence that either low calorie diets OR exercise do anything to help you lose weight. He looks at the original studies that this idea was based on and debunks them. I am only a quarter of the way through but he says up front in the Introduction that it's easily digested carbohydrates that are the problem, not the balance of calories in/calories out, because of their affect on hormones like insulin which then trigger you to get fat.
I have been convinced for quite a while that exercise -- while good for you in many ways including strength, endurance, and mood -- does not make me lose weight, but the idea that the number of calories I eat doesn't have relevance is a bit hard to get my head around. I will read on.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Ultra fit
Friday:
I borrowed a couple of "Ultra Fitness" magazines from the library yesterday. I enjoy reading all sorts of Health and Fitness literature, from the very basic stuff to the more complex, and these ones are at the higher end without being boring or only for super-elite athletes who want to improve their race time by 0.3 seconds by doing 2 hours of pylometric exercises every day. Anyway, there was lots to inspire me.
It is just over 12 weeks to my next birthday (I will turn 43). I haven't been to the gym for ages but I rang them to check when my membership runs out and coincidentally it will end the day before my birthday. So I have 12 weeks of neglected gym to use. It's a good time to return to the gym as the weather is starting its slide towards winter here in chilly Canberra.
One article suggested that my best time for exercise would be 12-2 (to do with cortisol levels of an unfit person) so I am going to try lunchtime exercise classes for a while. A mix of Pump and Step, plus some dance at home and climbing mountains on the weekend. This gives me my alert morning period for getting brain work done.
Speaking of which, I am finding my current editing job really hard going. It is an intense traumatic true life story which is giving me flashbacks to some bad periods of my own life so I am working in fairly short bursts with lots of breaks.
My son is home sick from school today with a barking cough; he's sick enough to stay home but not sick enough to need to be in bed. Bad combination for me getting anything done today, but I'm trying. Shopping and going to the gym are out, but I can get him interested in his Lego or whatever and squeeze in some work and later dance a bit at home.
I've been lurching up and down with my diet plans. Every Monday or so I try again with a new variation of lower carb: cutting out just sugar and flour, or all starchy carbs including potato and quinoa, or all processed foods... then I have a binge and fall snout-first back into junk food. My fitness mag is all about clean eating -- ie no processed food -- so that is the current focus.
Oh, I haven't trained for running for more than a week, only one week to go until the race. My current feeling is I won't be doing it at all, but my husband suggested I have made a committment to do and paid my money... I don't know! Arg! If I do, it will mainly be a walk.
I borrowed a couple of "Ultra Fitness" magazines from the library yesterday. I enjoy reading all sorts of Health and Fitness literature, from the very basic stuff to the more complex, and these ones are at the higher end without being boring or only for super-elite athletes who want to improve their race time by 0.3 seconds by doing 2 hours of pylometric exercises every day. Anyway, there was lots to inspire me.
It is just over 12 weeks to my next birthday (I will turn 43). I haven't been to the gym for ages but I rang them to check when my membership runs out and coincidentally it will end the day before my birthday. So I have 12 weeks of neglected gym to use. It's a good time to return to the gym as the weather is starting its slide towards winter here in chilly Canberra.
One article suggested that my best time for exercise would be 12-2 (to do with cortisol levels of an unfit person) so I am going to try lunchtime exercise classes for a while. A mix of Pump and Step, plus some dance at home and climbing mountains on the weekend. This gives me my alert morning period for getting brain work done.
Speaking of which, I am finding my current editing job really hard going. It is an intense traumatic true life story which is giving me flashbacks to some bad periods of my own life so I am working in fairly short bursts with lots of breaks.
My son is home sick from school today with a barking cough; he's sick enough to stay home but not sick enough to need to be in bed. Bad combination for me getting anything done today, but I'm trying. Shopping and going to the gym are out, but I can get him interested in his Lego or whatever and squeeze in some work and later dance a bit at home.
I've been lurching up and down with my diet plans. Every Monday or so I try again with a new variation of lower carb: cutting out just sugar and flour, or all starchy carbs including potato and quinoa, or all processed foods... then I have a binge and fall snout-first back into junk food. My fitness mag is all about clean eating -- ie no processed food -- so that is the current focus.
Oh, I haven't trained for running for more than a week, only one week to go until the race. My current feeling is I won't be doing it at all, but my husband suggested I have made a committment to do and paid my money... I don't know! Arg! If I do, it will mainly be a walk.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Elegant birthday lunch
Friday:
Yesterday was Tim's birthday. I hope he had a good day. We started with presents in bed, then French toast with raspberries for breakfast (my blood glucose was a bit high after). He went to work for half a day then I picked him up and we went to a swish restaurant; the kind that has beautifully plated food that also tastes delicious. We had three courses but each one was quite small so the total amount of food was just right for a decadent but not gluttonous lunch. Then back just in time to pick up the kids from school. Aiden begged off gymnastics because he was so excited about the computer game he had given daddy for his birthday, so that was how the boys spent the rest of the afternoon.
Unfortunately that cake I bought yesterday wasn't very nice, we had some for afternoon tea but it was rather disappointing. Oh well, you can't win them all and the rest of the day went very well. I made the requested veal schnitzel and potato bake for dinner, and everyone chose vanilla icecream instead of more cake for dessert (I didn't have anything). A rather carb-laden day.
And I have paid for it today with intense carb cravings, which I have totally given in to. I'm also very tired and lurgy. It's going to take a big effort to put the brakes back on.
I've spent the day finishing an editing job, got that done and sent off.
Totally under/un-prepared for the stair climb on Sunday! I've used work and rain as excuses not to do some stair-climbing the past couple of days. I've done a bit of dancing, but no sprint work which is what I really need.
Yesterday was Tim's birthday. I hope he had a good day. We started with presents in bed, then French toast with raspberries for breakfast (my blood glucose was a bit high after). He went to work for half a day then I picked him up and we went to a swish restaurant; the kind that has beautifully plated food that also tastes delicious. We had three courses but each one was quite small so the total amount of food was just right for a decadent but not gluttonous lunch. Then back just in time to pick up the kids from school. Aiden begged off gymnastics because he was so excited about the computer game he had given daddy for his birthday, so that was how the boys spent the rest of the afternoon.
Unfortunately that cake I bought yesterday wasn't very nice, we had some for afternoon tea but it was rather disappointing. Oh well, you can't win them all and the rest of the day went very well. I made the requested veal schnitzel and potato bake for dinner, and everyone chose vanilla icecream instead of more cake for dessert (I didn't have anything). A rather carb-laden day.
And I have paid for it today with intense carb cravings, which I have totally given in to. I'm also very tired and lurgy. It's going to take a big effort to put the brakes back on.
I've spent the day finishing an editing job, got that done and sent off.
Totally under/un-prepared for the stair climb on Sunday! I've used work and rain as excuses not to do some stair-climbing the past couple of days. I've done a bit of dancing, but no sprint work which is what I really need.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
WIWT 77.7kg and swapping to Cycle Two
Friday:
This morning, after a week of the 17 Day Diet (followed imperfectly, I admit, but a pretty good effort) I was 77.7 kg, down 1.2 kg. A decent loss. I was down to 77.0 kg a couple of days ago but that was after a tummy bug so I'm not surprised it went up again.
I've stuck to Cycle One, the first 17 days of the plan, for a week; but the whole time I've been wondering if it was worth it. Losing weight is a good and important thing and I'm willing to go through a certain amount of unpleasantness for it. And "they" say it takes a while to get used to low carb. But I've felt so tired and a bit sad and like I'm living in a fog. I've had little interest in anything. I was halfway through the last book of a trilogy I was really enjoying, but set that aside as too much mental effort and turned to children's books like Alice in Wonderland -- I often do this when I'm sick. I go back to bed during the day. I watch morning TV. This isn't living!
I've decided to move on early to Cycle Two, which allows some carbs (and red meat) every second day. In fact I'm going to have limited carbs every day. I realise this can no longer be called the 17 Day Diet. I'm now on Natalie's 7 Day Diet. It is loosely based on the 17 Day Diet, but designed for my body. And I'm adding back "forbidden" fruit like bananas! And green grapes. How come I'll allowed red grapes but not green?
It will still be low-processed and moderate-carb.
I need more energy to exercise. And to just think normally. I had carbs at lunch time and it made me feel so happy.
This morning, after a week of the 17 Day Diet (followed imperfectly, I admit, but a pretty good effort) I was 77.7 kg, down 1.2 kg. A decent loss. I was down to 77.0 kg a couple of days ago but that was after a tummy bug so I'm not surprised it went up again.
I've stuck to Cycle One, the first 17 days of the plan, for a week; but the whole time I've been wondering if it was worth it. Losing weight is a good and important thing and I'm willing to go through a certain amount of unpleasantness for it. And "they" say it takes a while to get used to low carb. But I've felt so tired and a bit sad and like I'm living in a fog. I've had little interest in anything. I was halfway through the last book of a trilogy I was really enjoying, but set that aside as too much mental effort and turned to children's books like Alice in Wonderland -- I often do this when I'm sick. I go back to bed during the day. I watch morning TV. This isn't living!
I've decided to move on early to Cycle Two, which allows some carbs (and red meat) every second day. In fact I'm going to have limited carbs every day. I realise this can no longer be called the 17 Day Diet. I'm now on Natalie's 7 Day Diet. It is loosely based on the 17 Day Diet, but designed for my body. And I'm adding back "forbidden" fruit like bananas! And green grapes. How come I'll allowed red grapes but not green?
It will still be low-processed and moderate-carb.
I need more energy to exercise. And to just think normally. I had carbs at lunch time and it made me feel so happy.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Ankles and yoghurt
Wednesday:
The aftermath of the run yesterday morning was that my left hip and ankle ached a bit for the rest of the day (no muscle soreness at all) and then my ankle was worse today. It's the one I twisted months ago, and it's been a bit delicate since. I toyed with the idea of cancelling tomorrow's run but decided that backing out on the second time is really setting a bad precedent for myself. I'll go, and if my ankle is really sore I'll just walk the whole time. It might also be raining. Even if it's not actually raining at the time, the grass will be sopping wet again as it's been raining all today. Oh well, I managed to get my sneakers dry in a very slow oven.
I feel like everything else I can think of to say is very whiney: oh low-carb makes me tired, oh it's too humid with all this rain in summer, oh why do I have to get up early tomorrow. Boring.
The weight loss has picked up, I have lost nearly 2 kg in five days. But half of that was last night after a bit of a stomach upset, and probably doesn't count. Still, it's been a steady downward direction since that hiccup on day two. I think 2 kg in the first week would be awesome, and then I would be happy with 1 kg a week after that.
I haven't got through a 100% diet-compliant day yet. Red meat and chocolate, mainly. But I've stayed away from the carbs and I think that is the main element of this plan. Tonight we had a lovely chicken casserole with potato and some crusty bread to mop up the juices and I only had the chicken and non-potato vegetables. And a salad. So strong!
I seem to have found a yoghurt I almost like. Generally I think yoghurt is cold and slimy and unpleasant, and the fruity ones way too sweet and the low-sugar ones way too fake-sweet but the natural ones too tangy -- like milk that has gone off. Which maybe it is. But I occasionally eat it to be virtuous and this diet demands either yogurt or a variety of things even more revolting (like some kind of fermented sour milk thing I've never heard of) for pro-biotics. So I tried a few different brands and I've found I almost like the Roaming Cow natural yoghurt (neither low-fat nor Greek-style, just natural) with chopped up fruit mixed in. Real fruit provides just enough flavour and sweetness. Passionfruit, raspberries and strawberries are all good.
I am also drinking yakult every day, that little bottle of stuff that tastes like melted ice cream. Now that, I like. I've hidden it from the kids or I wouldn't get any.
I'd better get me to bed, I have to get up early tomorrow! My goal for the session, assuming my ankle allows, is to do better than yesterday. Ie, run the whole of more than two of the eight intervals. And not complain so much to Joe about having to get up early. At least it is light by the time I get out the door.
The aftermath of the run yesterday morning was that my left hip and ankle ached a bit for the rest of the day (no muscle soreness at all) and then my ankle was worse today. It's the one I twisted months ago, and it's been a bit delicate since. I toyed with the idea of cancelling tomorrow's run but decided that backing out on the second time is really setting a bad precedent for myself. I'll go, and if my ankle is really sore I'll just walk the whole time. It might also be raining. Even if it's not actually raining at the time, the grass will be sopping wet again as it's been raining all today. Oh well, I managed to get my sneakers dry in a very slow oven.
I feel like everything else I can think of to say is very whiney: oh low-carb makes me tired, oh it's too humid with all this rain in summer, oh why do I have to get up early tomorrow. Boring.
The weight loss has picked up, I have lost nearly 2 kg in five days. But half of that was last night after a bit of a stomach upset, and probably doesn't count. Still, it's been a steady downward direction since that hiccup on day two. I think 2 kg in the first week would be awesome, and then I would be happy with 1 kg a week after that.
I haven't got through a 100% diet-compliant day yet. Red meat and chocolate, mainly. But I've stayed away from the carbs and I think that is the main element of this plan. Tonight we had a lovely chicken casserole with potato and some crusty bread to mop up the juices and I only had the chicken and non-potato vegetables. And a salad. So strong!
I seem to have found a yoghurt I almost like. Generally I think yoghurt is cold and slimy and unpleasant, and the fruity ones way too sweet and the low-sugar ones way too fake-sweet but the natural ones too tangy -- like milk that has gone off. Which maybe it is. But I occasionally eat it to be virtuous and this diet demands either yogurt or a variety of things even more revolting (like some kind of fermented sour milk thing I've never heard of) for pro-biotics. So I tried a few different brands and I've found I almost like the Roaming Cow natural yoghurt (neither low-fat nor Greek-style, just natural) with chopped up fruit mixed in. Real fruit provides just enough flavour and sweetness. Passionfruit, raspberries and strawberries are all good.
I am also drinking yakult every day, that little bottle of stuff that tastes like melted ice cream. Now that, I like. I've hidden it from the kids or I wouldn't get any.
I'd better get me to bed, I have to get up early tomorrow! My goal for the session, assuming my ankle allows, is to do better than yesterday. Ie, run the whole of more than two of the eight intervals. And not complain so much to Joe about having to get up early. At least it is light by the time I get out the door.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Day 4/17: Compliance
Monday:
I struggled a bit with complying to the rules of this diet for the first few days as I was trying to work around the fact that I had already planned and shopped for meals. Although I stayed away from all starchy carbs, I did have lots of red meat and some take-away rotisserie chicken.
I did the shopping this morning and should be able to follow the rules more closely. Tonight we had san choy bau, made with turkey mince instead of pork. I couldn't tell the difference. Lots of vegetables and wrapped in lettuce leaves. I chopped everything beforehand then did the run back and forth to the kids' activities then cooked quickly when I got home.
I did 45 mins of Dance this morning and got 5 stars on three more dances, only 11 to go. Getting up tomorrow to do my C25K training with Joe.
I'm not sure how I'm going with the fairly low-carb nature of this diet. I've been feeling a bit down, not sure if it's related. When I tried a really low-carb diet I was miserable and irritable, but this isn't so extreme -- I have two fruits a day and most vegetables. I haven't noticed any cravings except I would really like a bit of sugar in my tea! But overall my spirit is a little low. I'll continue to give it a go, but if I think it is affecting me adversely I will jump to Cycle 2 of the diet which allows some carbs (and red meat) every second day.
I don't think I am exercising with full energy either, but it's only for two more weeks so I am not worried about performance. I'll be having carbs by race day.
I struggled a bit with complying to the rules of this diet for the first few days as I was trying to work around the fact that I had already planned and shopped for meals. Although I stayed away from all starchy carbs, I did have lots of red meat and some take-away rotisserie chicken.
I did the shopping this morning and should be able to follow the rules more closely. Tonight we had san choy bau, made with turkey mince instead of pork. I couldn't tell the difference. Lots of vegetables and wrapped in lettuce leaves. I chopped everything beforehand then did the run back and forth to the kids' activities then cooked quickly when I got home.
I did 45 mins of Dance this morning and got 5 stars on three more dances, only 11 to go. Getting up tomorrow to do my C25K training with Joe.
I'm not sure how I'm going with the fairly low-carb nature of this diet. I've been feeling a bit down, not sure if it's related. When I tried a really low-carb diet I was miserable and irritable, but this isn't so extreme -- I have two fruits a day and most vegetables. I haven't noticed any cravings except I would really like a bit of sugar in my tea! But overall my spirit is a little low. I'll continue to give it a go, but if I think it is affecting me adversely I will jump to Cycle 2 of the diet which allows some carbs (and red meat) every second day.
I don't think I am exercising with full energy either, but it's only for two more weeks so I am not worried about performance. I'll be having carbs by race day.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Changes
Tuesday:
This is day six of the new regime. So what changes have I actually made?
I'm exercising most days, but still not all.
I have cut out almost all sugar, salt, and wheat -- and therefore almost all junk. There are exceptions. I am allowing myself chocolate a couple of times a week, so that has sugar of course. But it is dark chocolate which maximises the intensity with minimal sugar. I haven't added table salt to anything, but I have had things like soy sauce which are salty and probably has a little wheat as well, and salted nuts so I probably still need to reduce that a bit. But we do need some salt, most people just get way too much. Last night after taking Aiden to gymnastics, then Jasmine to dance lessons 15 mins away, then back to pick up Aiden, then back to pick up Jasmine ... we got take-away rotisserie chicken and chips and coleslaw. Which counts as junk in anyone's language, with huge amounts of salt and fat and also sugar in the coleslaw.
But.
No sugar in my tea.
No salt on my dinner. I usually cover everything in salt.
Lots of water.
No bread or pasta or cake or biscuits or lollies (candy) apart from a little chocolate, even during a party, and no dessert even when we had visitors.
Low fat cheese.
Natural yoghurt with no sugar or chemicals in it, into which I stir some real fruit.
More than five serves of vegetables a day, and two of fruit.
Around 1400 calories a day. This is not actually my focus, but is has been easy to achieve due to what I have been eating.
I am still eating plenty of carbohydrate, in the form of quinoa, potato and other vegetables and fruit. Lots and lots of vegetables. But within my pre-diabetic guidelines.
I've lost over a kilogram.
I feel quite tired, but I often do so it is hard to judge if that is any different. I am still eating carbs, but I could be having sugar withdrawal.
I am drinking twice or three times as much fluids as usual, but paradoxically I am now thirsty all the time (this often happens when I drink more, it must turn on my dehydration meter whereas my body usually thinks I must live in a desert so it doesn't bother me with thirst) and also my skin has suddenly become very dry. I have dry patches on my face, the inside of my nose is getting sore because the mucus dries up (sorry for that image) and my hands are dry too. I am rarely in air conditioning as the weather has been quite temperate lately, so it isn't that. My body is weird.
So I couldn't say that I feel like I'm bursting with health or full of energy. Hopefully that will come.
This is day six of the new regime. So what changes have I actually made?
I'm exercising most days, but still not all.
I have cut out almost all sugar, salt, and wheat -- and therefore almost all junk. There are exceptions. I am allowing myself chocolate a couple of times a week, so that has sugar of course. But it is dark chocolate which maximises the intensity with minimal sugar. I haven't added table salt to anything, but I have had things like soy sauce which are salty and probably has a little wheat as well, and salted nuts so I probably still need to reduce that a bit. But we do need some salt, most people just get way too much. Last night after taking Aiden to gymnastics, then Jasmine to dance lessons 15 mins away, then back to pick up Aiden, then back to pick up Jasmine ... we got take-away rotisserie chicken and chips and coleslaw. Which counts as junk in anyone's language, with huge amounts of salt and fat and also sugar in the coleslaw.
But.
No sugar in my tea.
No salt on my dinner. I usually cover everything in salt.
Lots of water.
No bread or pasta or cake or biscuits or lollies (candy) apart from a little chocolate, even during a party, and no dessert even when we had visitors.
Low fat cheese.
Natural yoghurt with no sugar or chemicals in it, into which I stir some real fruit.
More than five serves of vegetables a day, and two of fruit.
Around 1400 calories a day. This is not actually my focus, but is has been easy to achieve due to what I have been eating.
I am still eating plenty of carbohydrate, in the form of quinoa, potato and other vegetables and fruit. Lots and lots of vegetables. But within my pre-diabetic guidelines.
I've lost over a kilogram.
I feel quite tired, but I often do so it is hard to judge if that is any different. I am still eating carbs, but I could be having sugar withdrawal.
I am drinking twice or three times as much fluids as usual, but paradoxically I am now thirsty all the time (this often happens when I drink more, it must turn on my dehydration meter whereas my body usually thinks I must live in a desert so it doesn't bother me with thirst) and also my skin has suddenly become very dry. I have dry patches on my face, the inside of my nose is getting sore because the mucus dries up (sorry for that image) and my hands are dry too. I am rarely in air conditioning as the weather has been quite temperate lately, so it isn't that. My body is weird.
So I couldn't say that I feel like I'm bursting with health or full of energy. Hopefully that will come.
Friday, February 1, 2013
A New Hope
Friday:
I've had two whole days of eating cleanly -- yay! Yesterday I actually ended up only eating about 750 calories, which is really weird and certainly wasn't planned, but when you cut out sugar and flour and replace it with lots of vegetables you end up being full on very few calories. Who knew? More balanced today, with quinoa at lunch and potato at dinner, although I am a bit pissed off right now after plugging my dinner into my tracker. I had oven-baked salmon to be healthy, we don't eat fish much in this house and I had to cook something else for my husband and daughter, and it turns out my 200g fillet was 400 calories! It was quite a big serve, but still. It was FISH! It is supposed to be all healthy, damnit, not fatty and calorie-ridden.
My dietitian told me to stop having sugar in my tea six months ago and I resisted and resisted, telling myself I would cut down, buying low-GI sugar, even trying fructose instead. But I was just in denial. Yesterday I went cold turkey. "They" say you get used to it, and eventually prefer it that way. At the moment it still tastes a bit nasty. Oh well, I switched from a tiny splash of lemon cordial to a squeeze of real lemon juice in my water ages ago and I definitely prefer that now so I hope it does work out.
While in this slightly annoyed after-dinner mood I read a post from a weight-loss blog I follow and it was all about God loving us. It's her blog and totally her right to talk about her Christianity as she does sometimes, usually I think it's kind of sweet if deluded. Tonight I wanted to comment: yes, he shows his love with earthquakes and cancer, he embraces us with his bushfires. But I restrained myself. Earlier today I also stopped myself making a irritable comment on another person's blog. Hmm, seeing a pattern here.
Aside from this rant, I've been feeling pretty good. I thought I would have big sugar cravings but I haven't really. I've probably had small amounts of sugar in the soy sauce, tomato salsa, and splash of salad dressing I've had over the past two days. Anything in a bottle or jar is going to have salt and sugar. But I've cut down a lot. I didn't even put salt on my potato tonight, maybe for the first time in my whole life.
I'm never sure if tracking is a good idea for me. I get so calorie-focussed. Suddenly yoghurt, or any dairy, seems too high-calorie to fit into my day. Salmon is evil. I'm tracking for the moment because I do like doing it, but I'll keep note of how it makes me feel. I do need to keep track of carbs though.
I'm not really sure what my long term plan is. I'm cutting out sugar and flour (and salt) but still having other "white" starches like rice and potato -- in moderate amounts of low-GI versions. Chips (crisps) are my worst binge trigger and I don't plan on having any of those for a while but I will have some chocolate a couple of times a week.
I am feeling tentatively hopeful.
I wish I had weighed myself yesterday before I started, but I was up to 79.6 (or was it 79.7?) kg a few days ago. I was 79.0 kg this morning. It's a start.
I've had two whole days of eating cleanly -- yay! Yesterday I actually ended up only eating about 750 calories, which is really weird and certainly wasn't planned, but when you cut out sugar and flour and replace it with lots of vegetables you end up being full on very few calories. Who knew? More balanced today, with quinoa at lunch and potato at dinner, although I am a bit pissed off right now after plugging my dinner into my tracker. I had oven-baked salmon to be healthy, we don't eat fish much in this house and I had to cook something else for my husband and daughter, and it turns out my 200g fillet was 400 calories! It was quite a big serve, but still. It was FISH! It is supposed to be all healthy, damnit, not fatty and calorie-ridden.
My dietitian told me to stop having sugar in my tea six months ago and I resisted and resisted, telling myself I would cut down, buying low-GI sugar, even trying fructose instead. But I was just in denial. Yesterday I went cold turkey. "They" say you get used to it, and eventually prefer it that way. At the moment it still tastes a bit nasty. Oh well, I switched from a tiny splash of lemon cordial to a squeeze of real lemon juice in my water ages ago and I definitely prefer that now so I hope it does work out.
While in this slightly annoyed after-dinner mood I read a post from a weight-loss blog I follow and it was all about God loving us. It's her blog and totally her right to talk about her Christianity as she does sometimes, usually I think it's kind of sweet if deluded. Tonight I wanted to comment: yes, he shows his love with earthquakes and cancer, he embraces us with his bushfires. But I restrained myself. Earlier today I also stopped myself making a irritable comment on another person's blog. Hmm, seeing a pattern here.
Aside from this rant, I've been feeling pretty good. I thought I would have big sugar cravings but I haven't really. I've probably had small amounts of sugar in the soy sauce, tomato salsa, and splash of salad dressing I've had over the past two days. Anything in a bottle or jar is going to have salt and sugar. But I've cut down a lot. I didn't even put salt on my potato tonight, maybe for the first time in my whole life.
I'm never sure if tracking is a good idea for me. I get so calorie-focussed. Suddenly yoghurt, or any dairy, seems too high-calorie to fit into my day. Salmon is evil. I'm tracking for the moment because I do like doing it, but I'll keep note of how it makes me feel. I do need to keep track of carbs though.
I'm not really sure what my long term plan is. I'm cutting out sugar and flour (and salt) but still having other "white" starches like rice and potato -- in moderate amounts of low-GI versions. Chips (crisps) are my worst binge trigger and I don't plan on having any of those for a while but I will have some chocolate a couple of times a week.
I am feeling tentatively hopeful.
I wish I had weighed myself yesterday before I started, but I was up to 79.6 (or was it 79.7?) kg a few days ago. I was 79.0 kg this morning. It's a start.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Putting it off until the perfect moment
Tuesday:
My exercise has been a bit inconsistent lately but for some reason I am fairly confident I can get that back on track. Yesterday afternoon I did an hour of Just Dance 4 and my husband joined me after a while. It was kind of funny in that it started off with me getting much higher scores (on dances that neither of us had done before) but as he warmed up and I got tired things changed. His score got closer, then on one dance he just beat me by a nose, then the next one by more, then finally by a lot. He has much better stamina than me, and my ability to follow new choreography goes sharply downhill when I run out of energy.
Anyway, I am not at all confident about my management of food. I was thinking today about when to start tightening control. Not right now, obviously. It is Jasmine's birthday tomorrow and so she got to choose the menu and activities for the day; French toast for breakfast, lunch at the food court and treats at a movie, lasagne for dinner with Vienetta ice cream for dessert. Her wish is my command. Then I can't start a diet straight after that because her party is on Saturday, with family staying for the weekend. I'll start after the weekend. In fact, the kids finally go back to school next Tuesday, so that would be a perfect day to stop eating junk and get into a routine.
Except that we have our regular D&D game and supper on Tuesdays.
If you let yourself think like that, there is always a great reason to delay taking control of your life. Valentine's Day in a fortnight, must eat chocolate! Then my sister-in-law's baby shower. Easter -- more compulsory chocolate! The Canberra Show. My cousin's wedding. Husband's birthday. There is something every couple of weeks, with regular Tuesday binges to fill in the gaps.
A friend (one of the D&D guys, who is quite fit and not overweight but who does binge in a major way on chocolate at Tuesday supper) is currently doing a low-carb diet in solidarity with his wife. I am not against low-carb diets per se, but their take on it seems quite odd to me. They are having very little fruit and vegetable, from what I can make out, and I think that is very unhealthy -- but I might be wrong about the vegetable, they might just have restricted choices. But more oddly, they have one "free" day a week when they eat as many carbs as they want. From all that I have read (and experienced) of low-carb, the first week or so is the worst as you fight through the withdrawal and cravings. So they are in a continual cycle of cravings, loading up on carbs just when they are nearly through the worst. I put this to my friend and he just said that it's just a short-term weight loss strategy, not a lifestyle change, and he is not trying to wean himself off carbs. This didn't seem to me to address the issue, but I let it go. That family has such different ideas about so many things, compared to my family, that I rarely understand their reasoning behind choices. If they are happy doing their diet, who am I to argue against it?
I had a dream the other night, or rather early in the morning after Aiden had crawled into our bed for a cuddle then left again. Bob, the trainer from the US version of Biggest Loser, was trying to put me on a really weird and restrictive diet that I cannot now remember the details of. He was eating something that looked like a sausage but was apparently made of baked beans (or it might have been one huge baked bean) with a chutney made of charred eggplant (I obviously got the eggplant chutney from the previous nights episode of MasterChef). He was very insistent that his way was the only way to lose weight. I was nearly in tears as I argued with him. I laid out for him my idea of what a healthy diet was:
A small amount of lean protein with each meal.
Unlimited vegetables.
Fruit for snacks.
2-3 serves of low-fat dairy a day.
Lots of water.
If only I could stick to that! I think I woke up before I talked Bob around to my way of thinking.
My exercise has been a bit inconsistent lately but for some reason I am fairly confident I can get that back on track. Yesterday afternoon I did an hour of Just Dance 4 and my husband joined me after a while. It was kind of funny in that it started off with me getting much higher scores (on dances that neither of us had done before) but as he warmed up and I got tired things changed. His score got closer, then on one dance he just beat me by a nose, then the next one by more, then finally by a lot. He has much better stamina than me, and my ability to follow new choreography goes sharply downhill when I run out of energy.
Anyway, I am not at all confident about my management of food. I was thinking today about when to start tightening control. Not right now, obviously. It is Jasmine's birthday tomorrow and so she got to choose the menu and activities for the day; French toast for breakfast, lunch at the food court and treats at a movie, lasagne for dinner with Vienetta ice cream for dessert. Her wish is my command. Then I can't start a diet straight after that because her party is on Saturday, with family staying for the weekend. I'll start after the weekend. In fact, the kids finally go back to school next Tuesday, so that would be a perfect day to stop eating junk and get into a routine.
Except that we have our regular D&D game and supper on Tuesdays.
If you let yourself think like that, there is always a great reason to delay taking control of your life. Valentine's Day in a fortnight, must eat chocolate! Then my sister-in-law's baby shower. Easter -- more compulsory chocolate! The Canberra Show. My cousin's wedding. Husband's birthday. There is something every couple of weeks, with regular Tuesday binges to fill in the gaps.
A friend (one of the D&D guys, who is quite fit and not overweight but who does binge in a major way on chocolate at Tuesday supper) is currently doing a low-carb diet in solidarity with his wife. I am not against low-carb diets per se, but their take on it seems quite odd to me. They are having very little fruit and vegetable, from what I can make out, and I think that is very unhealthy -- but I might be wrong about the vegetable, they might just have restricted choices. But more oddly, they have one "free" day a week when they eat as many carbs as they want. From all that I have read (and experienced) of low-carb, the first week or so is the worst as you fight through the withdrawal and cravings. So they are in a continual cycle of cravings, loading up on carbs just when they are nearly through the worst. I put this to my friend and he just said that it's just a short-term weight loss strategy, not a lifestyle change, and he is not trying to wean himself off carbs. This didn't seem to me to address the issue, but I let it go. That family has such different ideas about so many things, compared to my family, that I rarely understand their reasoning behind choices. If they are happy doing their diet, who am I to argue against it?
I had a dream the other night, or rather early in the morning after Aiden had crawled into our bed for a cuddle then left again. Bob, the trainer from the US version of Biggest Loser, was trying to put me on a really weird and restrictive diet that I cannot now remember the details of. He was eating something that looked like a sausage but was apparently made of baked beans (or it might have been one huge baked bean) with a chutney made of charred eggplant (I obviously got the eggplant chutney from the previous nights episode of MasterChef). He was very insistent that his way was the only way to lose weight. I was nearly in tears as I argued with him. I laid out for him my idea of what a healthy diet was:
A small amount of lean protein with each meal.
Unlimited vegetables.
Fruit for snacks.
2-3 serves of low-fat dairy a day.
Lots of water.
If only I could stick to that! I think I woke up before I talked Bob around to my way of thinking.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Too low
At the moment, after my scare on Wednesday, my whole focus is on food. All day it's: what am I eating next? When? Does it have enough carbs? Too many carbs? Is it low-GI? Is it time to test my blood glucose again yet? Has two hours passed since I last ate so I can test my blood then have a snack?
Yesterday I was so paranoid about my blood sugar going too high that I didn't have enough carbs. My blood sugar was too low (not hypo-low, but within the range it should be before breakfast not where it should be after meals) and I felt tired and lackluster all day. Then I had pasta for dinner and my blood sugar went up appropriately and I suddenly felt much better.
I tried to eat a bit more carbohydrate at breakfast today but my blood sugar was stubbornly low two and a half hours later (I wasn't home to check at the two hour point). I am still waiting to test for lunch. Who would have thought it would be hard to get my blood glucose high enough?
I went for two walks yesterday, today I plan to do some dancing once I've digested lunch a bit. We've had a cool spring but it is starting to heat up now that we're only a week away from summer so I think I'm going to have to move the exercise indoors into air conditioning. The gym and the Kinect. I may end up putting off running until autumn, which is a bit of a shame, but my fair skin and I are not fans of summer. It's not really hot yet, so I could still do some running training. Exercise isn't wasted even if I don't end up doing a 5K race this year.
One of the best things about summer (still thinking about food, I'm afraid) is all the lovely fruit. Apples and oranges and kiwi fruit are nice enough, but then the weather warms up and the fruit bowl is full of mangos and peaches and nectarines and grapes and passionfruit and strawberries and watermelon. Today at the shops I bought a whole tray of mangos. Our neighbours over the back fence have a row of fruit trees that reach over our side. Last year they trimmed them all back hard and we got nothing (very disappointing) but the kids are already harvesting mulberries every day and I think there is going to be a bumper crop of plums. There is a quince tree too, I've never tried one but I understand you have to cook them because they are very astringent. Then again, some people say you have to cook tamarillos and I love them raw. I like my fruit tangy sour. I'll grab a couple of quinces if any come over our side.
photo of mulberry by Rosh Sillars
later: still low after my carefully carb-counted lunch, even lower after exercise during which I felt quite dizzy. If this continues over the weekend I will contact the diabetes people to get some help managing my levels.
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