Hi,
It's official! I lost an average of 2.5 pounds in week two for a current total of 9.5 pounds lost so far. My blood sugar on Saturday morning was 99, too. Of course I expect an increase in weight after the cheat meal but if it happens to go like last week that should right itself by Monday or Tuesday.
I had my spaghetti cheat meal yesterday with my friend Julie. I had been thinking about and planning on cooking the spaghetti myself and on Saturday (my day seven) I was surprised that I enjoyed waiting. I chose to follow the rules and not have it for breakfast so I had salad and eggs for my morning meal. I actually kind of put it off till later in the day and savored the
expectation that "today is the day." Part of me wanted to even put it off till
the next day just so I could savor the expectation a little longer. How funny!
The day itself, was rainy. In fact I have not seen the meadow across from my home so full of puddles and run off before. The deep drainage ditch was about half full of water and I was kind of amazed by that. It started raining some time in the night and when I woke in the night it was coming down heavily and steadily. When I got up in the morning, it was so rainy that I wanted to stay in bed. I turned up the heat to my normal daytime temperature and crawled back under the covers until the place warmed up. Of course I then fell asleep and did not actually get up until noon!! It was still raining and I decided to do indoor exercise rather than go for a swim. I just did not want to go out in all that rain.
I got out my exercise plan and did all the "land" exercises plus traction for my neck. That felt pretty good. Then I got the idea to call Julie and see if she wanted to join me for dinner. I knew I could never eat all the spaghetti by myself. I had decided to cook it all to avoid having "remaining" ingredients in the house. I was glad when Julie decided to come over and join me. I had forgotten about the Parmesan cheese and garlic bread so called and asked if she had any. She stopped at the store and got some of both. We had a real good time and the spaghetti was some of the best I ever made -- even though I burned the onions. Julie kept telling me they were carmelized -- but I did not think black edges was exactly carmelized. I thought it might ruin the flavor, but, it really did not seem to even affect it. Then afterwards I gave all the leftovers to Julie and she happily took them home with her!
Been wondering where Tricia is. I thought maybe she would post last night but I did not hear from her. Hope I did not scare her off. That would be a shame. I was really enjoying the back and forth between us.
Today I seemed to have a bit of a hard time getting back on the program. At one point when I was napping between church sessions I fell asleep and was dreaming about eating bread from a loaf that never seemed to dry out no matter how long the bag was left open. In the dream I kept going back to get more and more of it to eat. When I woke up, it took some decision power to make the right food choices. If I had had some left over spaghetti in the house, I think the temptation would have been more than I could resist, but since it was not there, I simply ate right and moved on.
I did not have such strong feelings after the last cheat meal but every day is a new day and you have to deal with what is current. I did take a tiny side step for my evening meal (by the way I did not go to evening service). I did seem to want some "carby" food pretty strongly, so I steamed some broccoli and ate a quarter-pound hamburger with spicy brown mustard. The steamed veggies just seemed to lay on my tummy for quite a while and I did not feel "right" after eating them. Later I had some raw salad and then began to feel better.
I think I am back on track again and am looking forward to making a new salad tomorrow morning.
Not much more on my mind about all this so I'm signing off.
Hope you are doing well!
Be back soon,
Marcia
Monday, January 23, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
The Difference Between Hunger, Cravings, and Thirst
Hi,
Been staying on the program pretty well. I did have one mishap last Tuesday, but I immediately made the correction and got back on track so the weight loss still seems to be happening. So far this week (on day 6) I've lost an average of 2.14 pounds. I'm happy with that.
Tomorrow is the cheat meal and I'm planning on making home made spaghetti. I've bought all the ingredients and have been reminding myself that they are for Saturday only -- which, oddly enough -- has been working. I think it has only been possible because my meals are healthy and satisfying and, for the most part, I've not been craving -- just as promised on the program.
This means a lot to me because I've never been one to be able to clearly distinguish hunger from cravings or even from thirst. I've discovered that for most of my life I was dehydrated. I did drink water but only an average of one, maybe two, tall glasses of water per day was all I would normally do. I was never a big soda drinker and rarely drank coffee or tea, either. I drank milk pretty often, and occasionally had some orange juice but not often because it would always make my stomach burn. I did not actually realize that I was dehydrated until just a few years ago. Perhaps that is part of the reason I rarely had any "get up and go."
I think that I may have been responding to thirst as if it were hunger. So I would eat when I was thirsty, not being familiar with the distinction. Even now I nearly never think that I am thirsty unless my mouth is actually dry. I can only tell if I am dehydrated by low output of water on the other end. So it is rather important for me, especially, to pay attention to getting 64 ounces of water into me every day. I have three 32-ounce bottles in the fridge with the aim of drinking two of them each day. The other is for backup or if I need more for some reason.
In the morning, I have some prescriptions and supplements to take. Quite a few supplements, in fact. So I have about three pretty large handfuls of pills to take and it requires an entire 12-oz bottle of water to down them properly. Then I fill the bottle again (from the larger bottles in the fridge so I can passively keep track of my intake.) I may sit my drinking bottle on the counter and swig from it every so often, or I might put it in the fridge to keep the water cold. Somehow, through the day, the water gets downed -- for the most part -- so that works for me.
Since I still don't have an active "thirst detector" I pay attention to the clues my body gives off. Sometimes just seeing the bottle sitting there waiting prompts me to swig a little. Sometimes if I recognize that I've been sweating I will drink a bottle to replenish. If I've been doing some house cleaning and my throat feels dry, I drink a little to "whet my whistle."
I try to drink both before and after I swim -- just like my therapist would have me do in her office. Before I go to bed I have one more handful of pills to take so I often drink half a bottle, at least, before bed. I also make sure I have a bottle of water ready in the fridge before I go to bed. Then when I get up in the night and switch sleeping places I grab that bottle of water and have a few sips. I place it on the table beside me and I sip some more during the night sometimes, and I sip a little more when I wake up. Now that I'm drinking two or three cups of different kinds of tea during the day that helps keep me from being dehydrated, too. So that is how I deal with "thirst."
Having been eating pretty right for two weeks now, and knowing that eating low carb will eliminate "cravings" I can usually now recognize when I am hungry. I gotta admit that sometimes, especially on the first three days, while I was going through "sugar withdrawals," I got hungry way more often than I thought was right or even possible. What I did was to follow the program advice and simply eat some veggies and a protein when I felt hungry -- whether it made sense to my mind or not. I just said "oh well," and ate. That got me through until things started to normalize.
Now I trust my body when it gives me the sensations that make me realize that I am hungry. I don't worry that it might be "too soon" according to some one else's ideas (and especially not my own!). If I feel hungry I eat. Having the salad ready in the fridge really is helping me to eat right. I fill up my salad bowl and choose a protein. Not always, but sometimes, I eat the salad before the protein is done cooking. That does not bother me either. It does not matter except that I need to eat them together. I figure one right after the other is pretty darn "together." For the most part, I eat them at the same time but do not hesitate to satisfy my hunger whenever it is upon me.
Cravings. Cravings are a whole different animal. Cravings are insistent -- but they always and only insist on something sweet -- or maybe salty. Cravings are pressurized. I remember the first time I recognized the "pressure" right in the middle of a huge craving that I was trying to control with will power. I noticed I was picturing the item of choice at the moment (probably candy or sweets of some kind) but did not want to submit. I suddenly looked inside my body and noticed I was clenching my teeth and my muscles were tight and I might even have been holding my breath. I was shocked that I was under so much pressure! In the past I gave in to the pressure, threw up my hands, and went and got the item in question. When I would eat it the craving would go away and I could breath normally again. I would be comforted by eating the item, but always felt guilty for the bad behavior.
Cravings bring up pictures of "favorite" high carb items in my mind. Rarely do they bring up into inner vision a cucumber, or a salad, or a healthy low carb item. Cravings are indicative of a hormonal imbalance. Cravings come on the heals of previous high carb meals or snacks -- in fact, the more meals you eat with high carb items, the more intense and often come the cravings knocking at your psyche. The more high carb items you eat, the more you want them. At least that is how it is for me, and it seems to be universal from the reading that I've done. You know what that means? It means you really are experiencing an uncontrollable bodily reaction -- an addiction. Think of a drug addict. They behave exactly the same way -- even going so far as to steal from family and friends to support their habit. Addiction is a powerful negative force inside the body that if left to its own resources will kill you.
That is why it is hard for a carbohydrate addict to tell the difference between hunger and cravings. Cravings take a normal bodily function (hunger) and transform it into a beast within you. If your hunger seems to be in the form of a roaring lion that insists on being fed unhealthy sweets and snacks beyond all reason -- that is probably not normal hunger. But there is a rather simple solution to the problem of taming the lion of carvings.
I'm not going to get technical and discuss insulin, blood sugar levels, and ghrelin or even adiponectin -- I'm only going to talk about the solution to the cravings. The solution to cravings is a three-day carb fast that allows the "out of balance" to come back into balance. It allows insistent insanity to subside and be replaced with peaceful sanity. The sanity comes when, on those three days, you simply eat raw veggies and protein when you feel the slightest craving. They will come often, but will temporarily subside with veggies and protein.
If you do that for three days (at the most four) you will then begin to experience some peace. You can put that lion to sleep if you keep eating raw veggies and protein for the next week. You will even lower your blood sugar numbers and probably lose some weight, too. If you continue on to week two, you still might stumble a little, but it will be easier to get back on track.
Carbs are not the culprit. Eating carbs too often is the culprit. The body actually needs some carbs to function properly but if you are living on the back of the lion, you are giving your body way too many carbs for it to handle. It is just so odd that if you eat too many carbs, you only want more and more to infinity -- but that is how it is. The only way to reign in the lion is with the three-day carb fast and following the program as outlined on http://cureprediabetes.blogspot.com/2012/01/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html There are, of course, other programs that will give you the three-day fast -- but if you are a diabetic or a pre-diabetic ... and if you are a post-menopausal woman (or not).... this one may work for you.
The weekly, hour-long, cheat meal lets you consume your favorite high carb items once a week. You don't have to be completely deprived of your favorite foods. You can keep the lion sleeping while you tip-toe past and eat your favorite things if you follow the guidelines that help you replenish and rev up your metabolism without waking up the lion.
You won't know for sure until you try it. That is what I am doing -- I am trying it out. I am on day six of week two and looking forward to my cheat meal tomorrow but it is not like it was when I was on the back of the lion. The real test will be on weeks three and four and beyond.
I felt quite happy when I spoke to my sister-in-law and she shared that her grandson told her exactly the same thing about the cheat meal that I'm trying out. He said he keeps his weight under control with a once a week cheat meal and it was gratifying to hear about his success. It seemed only a coincidence that he is doing what I am starting to do... but I'm glad I got confirmation from another trustworthy source.
I hope you are well and have gotten off the lion, too. Comment below and let me know how you are doing. Even if you are not doing well -- sharing about it will help to motivate you. Taking action sometimes comes from simply sharing your testimony about what is happening with you. It gives you a more clear picture. That is what the blogging does for me. Go ahead and take the opportunity to support yourself by commenting below.
Be back soon,
Marcia
Been staying on the program pretty well. I did have one mishap last Tuesday, but I immediately made the correction and got back on track so the weight loss still seems to be happening. So far this week (on day 6) I've lost an average of 2.14 pounds. I'm happy with that.
Tomorrow is the cheat meal and I'm planning on making home made spaghetti. I've bought all the ingredients and have been reminding myself that they are for Saturday only -- which, oddly enough -- has been working. I think it has only been possible because my meals are healthy and satisfying and, for the most part, I've not been craving -- just as promised on the program.
This means a lot to me because I've never been one to be able to clearly distinguish hunger from cravings or even from thirst. I've discovered that for most of my life I was dehydrated. I did drink water but only an average of one, maybe two, tall glasses of water per day was all I would normally do. I was never a big soda drinker and rarely drank coffee or tea, either. I drank milk pretty often, and occasionally had some orange juice but not often because it would always make my stomach burn. I did not actually realize that I was dehydrated until just a few years ago. Perhaps that is part of the reason I rarely had any "get up and go."
I think that I may have been responding to thirst as if it were hunger. So I would eat when I was thirsty, not being familiar with the distinction. Even now I nearly never think that I am thirsty unless my mouth is actually dry. I can only tell if I am dehydrated by low output of water on the other end. So it is rather important for me, especially, to pay attention to getting 64 ounces of water into me every day. I have three 32-ounce bottles in the fridge with the aim of drinking two of them each day. The other is for backup or if I need more for some reason.
In the morning, I have some prescriptions and supplements to take. Quite a few supplements, in fact. So I have about three pretty large handfuls of pills to take and it requires an entire 12-oz bottle of water to down them properly. Then I fill the bottle again (from the larger bottles in the fridge so I can passively keep track of my intake.) I may sit my drinking bottle on the counter and swig from it every so often, or I might put it in the fridge to keep the water cold. Somehow, through the day, the water gets downed -- for the most part -- so that works for me.
Since I still don't have an active "thirst detector" I pay attention to the clues my body gives off. Sometimes just seeing the bottle sitting there waiting prompts me to swig a little. Sometimes if I recognize that I've been sweating I will drink a bottle to replenish. If I've been doing some house cleaning and my throat feels dry, I drink a little to "whet my whistle."
I try to drink both before and after I swim -- just like my therapist would have me do in her office. Before I go to bed I have one more handful of pills to take so I often drink half a bottle, at least, before bed. I also make sure I have a bottle of water ready in the fridge before I go to bed. Then when I get up in the night and switch sleeping places I grab that bottle of water and have a few sips. I place it on the table beside me and I sip some more during the night sometimes, and I sip a little more when I wake up. Now that I'm drinking two or three cups of different kinds of tea during the day that helps keep me from being dehydrated, too. So that is how I deal with "thirst."
Having been eating pretty right for two weeks now, and knowing that eating low carb will eliminate "cravings" I can usually now recognize when I am hungry. I gotta admit that sometimes, especially on the first three days, while I was going through "sugar withdrawals," I got hungry way more often than I thought was right or even possible. What I did was to follow the program advice and simply eat some veggies and a protein when I felt hungry -- whether it made sense to my mind or not. I just said "oh well," and ate. That got me through until things started to normalize.
Now I trust my body when it gives me the sensations that make me realize that I am hungry. I don't worry that it might be "too soon" according to some one else's ideas (and especially not my own!). If I feel hungry I eat. Having the salad ready in the fridge really is helping me to eat right. I fill up my salad bowl and choose a protein. Not always, but sometimes, I eat the salad before the protein is done cooking. That does not bother me either. It does not matter except that I need to eat them together. I figure one right after the other is pretty darn "together." For the most part, I eat them at the same time but do not hesitate to satisfy my hunger whenever it is upon me.
Cravings. Cravings are a whole different animal. Cravings are insistent -- but they always and only insist on something sweet -- or maybe salty. Cravings are pressurized. I remember the first time I recognized the "pressure" right in the middle of a huge craving that I was trying to control with will power. I noticed I was picturing the item of choice at the moment (probably candy or sweets of some kind) but did not want to submit. I suddenly looked inside my body and noticed I was clenching my teeth and my muscles were tight and I might even have been holding my breath. I was shocked that I was under so much pressure! In the past I gave in to the pressure, threw up my hands, and went and got the item in question. When I would eat it the craving would go away and I could breath normally again. I would be comforted by eating the item, but always felt guilty for the bad behavior.
Cravings bring up pictures of "favorite" high carb items in my mind. Rarely do they bring up into inner vision a cucumber, or a salad, or a healthy low carb item. Cravings are indicative of a hormonal imbalance. Cravings come on the heals of previous high carb meals or snacks -- in fact, the more meals you eat with high carb items, the more intense and often come the cravings knocking at your psyche. The more high carb items you eat, the more you want them. At least that is how it is for me, and it seems to be universal from the reading that I've done. You know what that means? It means you really are experiencing an uncontrollable bodily reaction -- an addiction. Think of a drug addict. They behave exactly the same way -- even going so far as to steal from family and friends to support their habit. Addiction is a powerful negative force inside the body that if left to its own resources will kill you.
That is why it is hard for a carbohydrate addict to tell the difference between hunger and cravings. Cravings take a normal bodily function (hunger) and transform it into a beast within you. If your hunger seems to be in the form of a roaring lion that insists on being fed unhealthy sweets and snacks beyond all reason -- that is probably not normal hunger. But there is a rather simple solution to the problem of taming the lion of carvings.
I'm not going to get technical and discuss insulin, blood sugar levels, and ghrelin or even adiponectin -- I'm only going to talk about the solution to the cravings. The solution to cravings is a three-day carb fast that allows the "out of balance" to come back into balance. It allows insistent insanity to subside and be replaced with peaceful sanity. The sanity comes when, on those three days, you simply eat raw veggies and protein when you feel the slightest craving. They will come often, but will temporarily subside with veggies and protein.
If you do that for three days (at the most four) you will then begin to experience some peace. You can put that lion to sleep if you keep eating raw veggies and protein for the next week. You will even lower your blood sugar numbers and probably lose some weight, too. If you continue on to week two, you still might stumble a little, but it will be easier to get back on track.
Carbs are not the culprit. Eating carbs too often is the culprit. The body actually needs some carbs to function properly but if you are living on the back of the lion, you are giving your body way too many carbs for it to handle. It is just so odd that if you eat too many carbs, you only want more and more to infinity -- but that is how it is. The only way to reign in the lion is with the three-day carb fast and following the program as outlined on http://cureprediabetes.blogspot.com/2012/01/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html There are, of course, other programs that will give you the three-day fast -- but if you are a diabetic or a pre-diabetic ... and if you are a post-menopausal woman (or not).... this one may work for you.
The weekly, hour-long, cheat meal lets you consume your favorite high carb items once a week. You don't have to be completely deprived of your favorite foods. You can keep the lion sleeping while you tip-toe past and eat your favorite things if you follow the guidelines that help you replenish and rev up your metabolism without waking up the lion.
You won't know for sure until you try it. That is what I am doing -- I am trying it out. I am on day six of week two and looking forward to my cheat meal tomorrow but it is not like it was when I was on the back of the lion. The real test will be on weeks three and four and beyond.
I felt quite happy when I spoke to my sister-in-law and she shared that her grandson told her exactly the same thing about the cheat meal that I'm trying out. He said he keeps his weight under control with a once a week cheat meal and it was gratifying to hear about his success. It seemed only a coincidence that he is doing what I am starting to do... but I'm glad I got confirmation from another trustworthy source.
I hope you are well and have gotten off the lion, too. Comment below and let me know how you are doing. Even if you are not doing well -- sharing about it will help to motivate you. Taking action sometimes comes from simply sharing your testimony about what is happening with you. It gives you a more clear picture. That is what the blogging does for me. Go ahead and take the opportunity to support yourself by commenting below.
Be back soon,
Marcia
Monday, January 16, 2012
Charting My Weight Loss
Hi,
I've been keeping a chart of my daily/weekly-average weight since about July of last year. I learned to do this from Dr. Richard and Dr Rachel Heller who are the authors of "The Carbohydrate Addict's Lifespan Program." I gleaned a lot of information from them but found their daily "reward meal" made it hard for me to stay on track.
After continuing to search and read I discovered that there are a lot of people, especially body builders, who do cheat meals where they load up on carbs -- but they rarely do it every day. So the science about the timing and the double insulin release was from the Heller's and the weekly cheat meal revving up the metabolism was from somewhere else. (Still have not found what, where, or who I was reading when I filed that one in my brain.)
Through trying it out I have discovered that what the Heller's teach about weighing every day and taking an average at the end of the week unplugging you from the fear of the scale is actually true. I no longer dread getting on the scale. I do it second thing every morning. First thing is to go to the bathroom. I simply write the number down and whether it has gone up or down it no longer puts me into a panic. A person's weight can vary quite a lot from one day to the next. The practice is now just routine for me. I write the number on my daily food journal page with no hesitation and simply make a mental note of whether it was up or down so I'm aware of my current status and know if I need to make adjustments.
Then at the end of the week I transfer the daily numbers to a chart I devised so that Excel calculates the average for me. It also tells me whether I went up or down this week (on average) and how much I've lost from my highest weight of 355.
I previously reported that I had lost five pounds last week, but when I plugged in the numbers the chart told me I had actually lost 7.02 pounds!! Then the day after my cheat meal I had put on two pounds, but today I went down three pounds for an average weight loss, so far this week, of .93. So I'm excited that the cheat meal weight came off the next day and that I'm still losing what appears to be rather quickly. Here's hoping for a continuation. Of course, it is still only week two, so the end of week three (and later weeks) will be the real test of how the cheat meal affects my weight loss. For now, it is looking good.
So far my total weight loss is about 30 pounds -- again. When you examine my chart below, you will see I had previously been putting weight on, but that has turned around and I'm losing again, now. Thank God!! The blanks are a couple of what I call "missing days" when I discovered that I did not weigh myself on those two days. Missing days are not a good sign, but if I were not making a daily record I would not have noticed that I even had any missing days. I don't fuss about them, I just take them as an indication of where I really am on my program. Keeping the chart allows me to refocus much more quickly.
You cannot argue with your own actual statistics!! And they really burst the balloon on magical thinking. I feel good about this system. It works for me and I advocate it for others if they really want to know how they are doing. Thank you to both Dr. Richard and Dr Rachel Heller for the good advice and instructions on how to do it.
One other thing I wanted to talk about is the difference between the program theory and actually doing the program that I outlined on this blog post: http://cureprediabetes.blogspot.com/2012/01/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html
For nearly all of my meals on the six-day portion of the program I eat exactly as is outlined. This means that I'm consuming varying percentages of raw veggies and cooked animal protein for nearly every meal and every snack. It is that word "nearly" that I want to delve into. Sometimes at the end of the day I am just not interested in more salad. Especially if it is within about two hours of when I normally go to bed. Sometimes for that last snack of the day I only eat a small portion of animal protein. It could be eggs, or a half a steak, or a thin breakfast pork chop seasoned the way I like it. This seems to satisfy my hunger without keeping me up all night. It also does not seem to interfere with my weight loss, so I just do that from time to time.
I start the day by making a huge salad which I store in the fridge. This means I don't have to stop and make a salad every time I want to eat. It is already made and waiting for me to fill my salad bowl. Every day I vary the lettuces to keep my body in balance. Some days I add broccoli and cauliflower to the salad. I might also add a few radishes or cucumber. Some times I put in some green or red pepper or some broccoli sprouts. Each time I make the salad I try to do a little something different than the day before.
After I have filled my salad bowl from the big bowl I sprinkle on the salt, pepper, herbs, and spices that add good flavor to my salad. I vary the herbs and garlic each time to give it a unique flavor each time. I also vary the salad dressings. I used to always make my own dressing from extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), vinegar, and prepared mustard. But since I re-read the Heller's book a while back, I've been trying out salad dressings according to their program. They recommend that it is OK to eat any salad dressing that does not have sugar in the first four ingredients. I've tried a couple but they are still too sweet for my taste buds. I hate wasting stuff so I usually end up adding some mustard and vinegar to bring the taste closer to what I like.
I buy my protein (cuts of beef or hamburger, chicken pieces, or skinny pork steaks or ribs) in the family packs and then separate them before freezing. I use the large size plastic zipper bags but I lay the portions in the four corners of the bag and then lay them flat in the freezer. Then when I want to take one or even two out, I open the zipper bag, remove what I need and place it, still frozen, on my Nu-Wave Oven. I sprinkle the flavors, set the timer, and it thaws and cooks them at the same time. Depending on the size of the portion it can take from about five minutes up to a near maximum of twenty minutes. It all depends on whether I'm cooking skinny breakfast pork chops or a rib eye steak. (I don't do rib eyes very often -- they are expensive -- but they are a nice treat once every other month or so.) I also go through at least a dozen eggs in a week -- and sometimes more. I have been known to use about four cans of tuna during a week, also. Sometimes more.
With the way the program is set up, I still feel like I'm eating what I want to eat. It suits my life style to decide when I'm hungry, what I want to eat at that moment. That is the way I was taught to do it as a child and I still operate that way. I'm not so good with "menu's" so I have my shopping list to remind me what I can buy and I stock up on the right foods. Then when I'm making my meal time choices I am choosing from the right ingredients. My meals are plain and simple, flavorful and effective at keeping blood sugars low and it is helping me to lose weight.... so far.
The charts keep me on track. Having the right food in the house keeps me on track. The decision not to eat food that I should not, keeps me on track. Here is to keeping on track! Hear! Hear!
This is a copy of my personal current chart:
Feel free to use the idea if you like.
You are loved and you are worthwhile!!
Be back soon,
Marcia
I've been keeping a chart of my daily/weekly-average weight since about July of last year. I learned to do this from Dr. Richard and Dr Rachel Heller who are the authors of "The Carbohydrate Addict's Lifespan Program." I gleaned a lot of information from them but found their daily "reward meal" made it hard for me to stay on track.
After continuing to search and read I discovered that there are a lot of people, especially body builders, who do cheat meals where they load up on carbs -- but they rarely do it every day. So the science about the timing and the double insulin release was from the Heller's and the weekly cheat meal revving up the metabolism was from somewhere else. (Still have not found what, where, or who I was reading when I filed that one in my brain.)
Through trying it out I have discovered that what the Heller's teach about weighing every day and taking an average at the end of the week unplugging you from the fear of the scale is actually true. I no longer dread getting on the scale. I do it second thing every morning. First thing is to go to the bathroom. I simply write the number down and whether it has gone up or down it no longer puts me into a panic. A person's weight can vary quite a lot from one day to the next. The practice is now just routine for me. I write the number on my daily food journal page with no hesitation and simply make a mental note of whether it was up or down so I'm aware of my current status and know if I need to make adjustments.
Then at the end of the week I transfer the daily numbers to a chart I devised so that Excel calculates the average for me. It also tells me whether I went up or down this week (on average) and how much I've lost from my highest weight of 355.
I previously reported that I had lost five pounds last week, but when I plugged in the numbers the chart told me I had actually lost 7.02 pounds!! Then the day after my cheat meal I had put on two pounds, but today I went down three pounds for an average weight loss, so far this week, of .93. So I'm excited that the cheat meal weight came off the next day and that I'm still losing what appears to be rather quickly. Here's hoping for a continuation. Of course, it is still only week two, so the end of week three (and later weeks) will be the real test of how the cheat meal affects my weight loss. For now, it is looking good.
So far my total weight loss is about 30 pounds -- again. When you examine my chart below, you will see I had previously been putting weight on, but that has turned around and I'm losing again, now. Thank God!! The blanks are a couple of what I call "missing days" when I discovered that I did not weigh myself on those two days. Missing days are not a good sign, but if I were not making a daily record I would not have noticed that I even had any missing days. I don't fuss about them, I just take them as an indication of where I really am on my program. Keeping the chart allows me to refocus much more quickly.
You cannot argue with your own actual statistics!! And they really burst the balloon on magical thinking. I feel good about this system. It works for me and I advocate it for others if they really want to know how they are doing. Thank you to both Dr. Richard and Dr Rachel Heller for the good advice and instructions on how to do it.
One other thing I wanted to talk about is the difference between the program theory and actually doing the program that I outlined on this blog post: http://cureprediabetes.blogspot.com/2012/01/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html
For nearly all of my meals on the six-day portion of the program I eat exactly as is outlined. This means that I'm consuming varying percentages of raw veggies and cooked animal protein for nearly every meal and every snack. It is that word "nearly" that I want to delve into. Sometimes at the end of the day I am just not interested in more salad. Especially if it is within about two hours of when I normally go to bed. Sometimes for that last snack of the day I only eat a small portion of animal protein. It could be eggs, or a half a steak, or a thin breakfast pork chop seasoned the way I like it. This seems to satisfy my hunger without keeping me up all night. It also does not seem to interfere with my weight loss, so I just do that from time to time.
I start the day by making a huge salad which I store in the fridge. This means I don't have to stop and make a salad every time I want to eat. It is already made and waiting for me to fill my salad bowl. Every day I vary the lettuces to keep my body in balance. Some days I add broccoli and cauliflower to the salad. I might also add a few radishes or cucumber. Some times I put in some green or red pepper or some broccoli sprouts. Each time I make the salad I try to do a little something different than the day before.
After I have filled my salad bowl from the big bowl I sprinkle on the salt, pepper, herbs, and spices that add good flavor to my salad. I vary the herbs and garlic each time to give it a unique flavor each time. I also vary the salad dressings. I used to always make my own dressing from extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), vinegar, and prepared mustard. But since I re-read the Heller's book a while back, I've been trying out salad dressings according to their program. They recommend that it is OK to eat any salad dressing that does not have sugar in the first four ingredients. I've tried a couple but they are still too sweet for my taste buds. I hate wasting stuff so I usually end up adding some mustard and vinegar to bring the taste closer to what I like.
I buy my protein (cuts of beef or hamburger, chicken pieces, or skinny pork steaks or ribs) in the family packs and then separate them before freezing. I use the large size plastic zipper bags but I lay the portions in the four corners of the bag and then lay them flat in the freezer. Then when I want to take one or even two out, I open the zipper bag, remove what I need and place it, still frozen, on my Nu-Wave Oven. I sprinkle the flavors, set the timer, and it thaws and cooks them at the same time. Depending on the size of the portion it can take from about five minutes up to a near maximum of twenty minutes. It all depends on whether I'm cooking skinny breakfast pork chops or a rib eye steak. (I don't do rib eyes very often -- they are expensive -- but they are a nice treat once every other month or so.) I also go through at least a dozen eggs in a week -- and sometimes more. I have been known to use about four cans of tuna during a week, also. Sometimes more.
With the way the program is set up, I still feel like I'm eating what I want to eat. It suits my life style to decide when I'm hungry, what I want to eat at that moment. That is the way I was taught to do it as a child and I still operate that way. I'm not so good with "menu's" so I have my shopping list to remind me what I can buy and I stock up on the right foods. Then when I'm making my meal time choices I am choosing from the right ingredients. My meals are plain and simple, flavorful and effective at keeping blood sugars low and it is helping me to lose weight.... so far.
The charts keep me on track. Having the right food in the house keeps me on track. The decision not to eat food that I should not, keeps me on track. Here is to keeping on track! Hear! Hear!
This is a copy of my personal current chart:
Feel free to use the idea if you like.
You are loved and you are worthwhile!!
Be back soon,
Marcia
Observations After the First Cheat Meal
Hi,
It is late Sunday night and I wanted to share about yesterday's cheat meal and the later body reactions I observed and recorded.
First I want to explain the purpose of the cheat meal on my veggies and protein diet which is, essentially, a low-carb program. (I'm not going to get technical -- because at the moment I can't find the original sources I read on these ideas. Sorry. When I find them, I'll post and share them. For now, this is what I remember about it and what I'm basing my program on.)
The best explanation I've heard, and the reason I wanted to try it, was a description of the progress of a person on a normal low-carb diet which often follows a pattern similar to this:
Week one -- six-pound weight loss (oh happy day -- all is well and I'm feeling very successful)
Week two -- three-pound weight loss (still happy)
Week three -- one pound loss, happy to still be losing but wishing it were more
Week four -- half pound loss, happy to still be losing but getting a little frustrated at doing all the right stuff and only losing half a pound
Week five -- no weight loss, but hey, you did not put any on, so that is good (trying to remain optimistic about still doing all the right stuff and seeing no results.)
Week six -- one pound gain -- and you were good all week long -- what gives?
A few weeks of no weight loss and then some weight gain and, man, this is getting harder and harder -- I'm doing everything right and not losing any weight -- so what's the use?
Binge
OK, you get the picture and if you've ever dieted you know exactly what I'm talking about. The information I read said that the diet itself is the culprit because what is happening is your metabolism is actually slowing down which slows down the weight loss. Your body has perfectly adjusted to what you are feeding it and it has gone into "starvation mode" meaning it is not giving up any more weight, no matter what. What the once-a-week, hour-long, cheat meal does is rev up your metabolism again, so that you don't hit plateaus, but continue to lose pounds each week. The cheat meal actually fools your metabolism and takes you out of "starvation mode" so you can continue to lose weight. At least that is the theory that I'm testing.
I have first-hand experience in knowing that carbs are what I call "cumulative." It takes a while to totally remove or deplete them and their effects from my body. It takes three days for the cravings to stop, because it takes that long for the body to adjust to a lower amount of carb intake. It takes about three days for edema to disappear. It takes six days for the pain levels to reduce. Excess carbs, which produce excess sugar in the blood and excess fat to be stored in the body, which also causes inflammation and pain are still affecting the body for six more days.
All this is evidence that excess carbs are stored in the body. Notice I'm talking about "excess" carbs here. The body uses a normal amount of carbs to keep us going, to keep us feeling good (comfort food), and they are necessary for certain processes in the body but excess carbs are ultimately stored as fat in the body. The Diabetic or Pre-Diabetic person has a body that no longer functions quite properly in relation to excess carbs. It has gotten worn out and is in the process of being completely overwhelmed by sugar and trying to deal with it. It is very slowly shutting down and the medical profession calls this "diabetes."
So, for these reasons, I believe the cheat meal, replenishes just enough carbs for our bodies and brains to function properly (stay healthy) without adding too much which causes both inflammation, cravings, edema, and weight gain.
The reason for the one-hour time limit on the once a week cheat meal is that when you first start to eat, even when your mouth starts watering, your body sends out an insulin release to prepare for the onslaught. Insulin is called the "hunger hormone" because it makes you feel hungry. If you eat your meal in under an hour that initial response is the only insulin release your body sends out and you experience a normal amount of hunger.
But, if you eat (or even sample something) at from 65 to 75 minutes later, your body sends out another insulin dose -- and you get hungry again which leads to a great deal of over eating. So if you limit the time period to one hour (60 minutes) you don't get that "hungry again" reaction -- and you keep your blood insulin levels lower -- which keeps your inflammation (and pain) response smaller. (Think about Thanksgiving and how you could not believe you were still eating after the meal. All you had to do was have one cookie and you were off again and eating more of everything. This was the meal after the meal. That occurred as a result of the second insulin release. If you had simply not sampled that cookie past the one-hour time limit, you would not have wanted any more food.)
There are also psychological purposes behind the cheat meal -- if you know that every week you will have one real opportunity to "go crazy" on your favorite food for an hour you won't feel so "deprived." Oddly enough that feeling of diet deprivation can lead to resentment and rebellion -- at least in me. Having that one-hour long cheat meal, once every seven days means that I don't have to give up everything I love! I can have my cake and eat it -- as long as it is only once a week. If I am not rebelling against my own diet... if I am not in resentment.... I am more likely to stay on the program the other six days. And that also is why I'm trying out the cheat meal approach.
So now. I've had my first cheat meal and wanted to record the observable reactions of my body and psyche -- just for the record.
What I did was go to a Chinese buffet with my cousin Julianna at about two p.m. and purposefully pig out on all the things that I normally avoid and the first reaction I had to this experience was a feeling of freedom and relief. It was almost exciting to know that I could eat anything on the buffet that I wanted without restrictions. It was like being let loose in a candy store. LOL.
I was actually a little timid as I wandered the aisles with my empty plate. First, I very carefully chose one spoonful of fried rice, a couple of small pinches of angel hair rice noodles, and a few of their stir fried potatoes. I also had a little chicken and broccoli. Then I took an almond or "finger-nail" cookie. It was a bit strange to not be in a state of rebellion, but in a state of obedience, while I did this. It was kind of nice, really. As I ate my plate of food I savored the textures and the flavors. They had a new item, chicken pie, which reminded me of chicken pot pie, but it was in small wedges rather than a round bowl shape and I really liked it. Then since the hour was not up... I had a second plate of food.
By the end of the second plate I was beginning to feel absolutely stuffed to the gills. That is when I remembered that I don't really like that kind of "stuffed" feeling. It feels almost bloated and stiff or nearly painful, but not quite. I always feel like the food is somehow expanding in my stomach and making me feel uncomfortable. Then I had ice cream and cookies for dessert.
When I mentioned that I could "feel my heart beating," Julianna did not seem to understand what I was saying. I meant that after gorging on all that high carb food my body was reacting and I could feel the slow, pump, pump, pump of my heart as I secretly wondered if I had gone too far. Since she did not have a point of reference, I just changed the subject.
When I got home, I had to sit in my chair with my feet up and rest. After about twenty minutes the heart pumping disappeared and I felt a little better -- especially after I had burped a really loud one. I laughed and challenged Julianna to beat that one. Her reply was that a lady does not do such things. That gave me pause, so I asked her if she had just told me I was not a lady, and reproved her for talking to her elderly cousin that way. We both had a good laugh!!
At about 7:30 Julianna said she was hungry so I offered to cook one of the steaks I had originally planned for our get together along with a bowl of salad -- but I was way not ready to eat anything, yet.
At a little after 8 p.m. I also got a little hungry so I had a large sausage patty and that was it. I could not face a whole steak, yet, and did not want any salad -- so I just smothered the sausage in spicy brown mustard and ate that.
This morning my blood sugar was 109 but my blood pressure was a little high at 166/83. I ate properly today and had no cravings. That was what I wanted to find out the most. Would that crazy cheat meal put me into craving mode. It did not. Not even a little bit. So far. So good.
I don't want to start applying more restrictions to the cheat meal but I think it would be wiser if I did not go quite so far over board next Saturday. I am wondering if I should cook my own cheat meal next week -- but I'm afraid of having left overs in the house. I will decide when the time is nearer if I will once again go out, or if I will make something myself. Oh well. That decision is for another time.
Anyway. I think this might work really well. I had lost five pounds before the cheat meal, and I put on two pounds this morning -- but my ankles were not swollen even a little bit this morning. So I will record my daily weights this week and see what happens.
Hope you are doing well and walking your chosen path with hope in your heart.
Be back soon,
Marcia
It is late Sunday night and I wanted to share about yesterday's cheat meal and the later body reactions I observed and recorded.
First I want to explain the purpose of the cheat meal on my veggies and protein diet which is, essentially, a low-carb program. (I'm not going to get technical -- because at the moment I can't find the original sources I read on these ideas. Sorry. When I find them, I'll post and share them. For now, this is what I remember about it and what I'm basing my program on.)
The best explanation I've heard, and the reason I wanted to try it, was a description of the progress of a person on a normal low-carb diet which often follows a pattern similar to this:
Week one -- six-pound weight loss (oh happy day -- all is well and I'm feeling very successful)
Week two -- three-pound weight loss (still happy)
Week three -- one pound loss, happy to still be losing but wishing it were more
Week four -- half pound loss, happy to still be losing but getting a little frustrated at doing all the right stuff and only losing half a pound
Week five -- no weight loss, but hey, you did not put any on, so that is good (trying to remain optimistic about still doing all the right stuff and seeing no results.)
Week six -- one pound gain -- and you were good all week long -- what gives?
A few weeks of no weight loss and then some weight gain and, man, this is getting harder and harder -- I'm doing everything right and not losing any weight -- so what's the use?
Binge
OK, you get the picture and if you've ever dieted you know exactly what I'm talking about. The information I read said that the diet itself is the culprit because what is happening is your metabolism is actually slowing down which slows down the weight loss. Your body has perfectly adjusted to what you are feeding it and it has gone into "starvation mode" meaning it is not giving up any more weight, no matter what. What the once-a-week, hour-long, cheat meal does is rev up your metabolism again, so that you don't hit plateaus, but continue to lose pounds each week. The cheat meal actually fools your metabolism and takes you out of "starvation mode" so you can continue to lose weight. At least that is the theory that I'm testing.
I have first-hand experience in knowing that carbs are what I call "cumulative." It takes a while to totally remove or deplete them and their effects from my body. It takes three days for the cravings to stop, because it takes that long for the body to adjust to a lower amount of carb intake. It takes about three days for edema to disappear. It takes six days for the pain levels to reduce. Excess carbs, which produce excess sugar in the blood and excess fat to be stored in the body, which also causes inflammation and pain are still affecting the body for six more days.
All this is evidence that excess carbs are stored in the body. Notice I'm talking about "excess" carbs here. The body uses a normal amount of carbs to keep us going, to keep us feeling good (comfort food), and they are necessary for certain processes in the body but excess carbs are ultimately stored as fat in the body. The Diabetic or Pre-Diabetic person has a body that no longer functions quite properly in relation to excess carbs. It has gotten worn out and is in the process of being completely overwhelmed by sugar and trying to deal with it. It is very slowly shutting down and the medical profession calls this "diabetes."
So, for these reasons, I believe the cheat meal, replenishes just enough carbs for our bodies and brains to function properly (stay healthy) without adding too much which causes both inflammation, cravings, edema, and weight gain.
The reason for the one-hour time limit on the once a week cheat meal is that when you first start to eat, even when your mouth starts watering, your body sends out an insulin release to prepare for the onslaught. Insulin is called the "hunger hormone" because it makes you feel hungry. If you eat your meal in under an hour that initial response is the only insulin release your body sends out and you experience a normal amount of hunger.
But, if you eat (or even sample something) at from 65 to 75 minutes later, your body sends out another insulin dose -- and you get hungry again which leads to a great deal of over eating. So if you limit the time period to one hour (60 minutes) you don't get that "hungry again" reaction -- and you keep your blood insulin levels lower -- which keeps your inflammation (and pain) response smaller. (Think about Thanksgiving and how you could not believe you were still eating after the meal. All you had to do was have one cookie and you were off again and eating more of everything. This was the meal after the meal. That occurred as a result of the second insulin release. If you had simply not sampled that cookie past the one-hour time limit, you would not have wanted any more food.)
There are also psychological purposes behind the cheat meal -- if you know that every week you will have one real opportunity to "go crazy" on your favorite food for an hour you won't feel so "deprived." Oddly enough that feeling of diet deprivation can lead to resentment and rebellion -- at least in me. Having that one-hour long cheat meal, once every seven days means that I don't have to give up everything I love! I can have my cake and eat it -- as long as it is only once a week. If I am not rebelling against my own diet... if I am not in resentment.... I am more likely to stay on the program the other six days. And that also is why I'm trying out the cheat meal approach.
So now. I've had my first cheat meal and wanted to record the observable reactions of my body and psyche -- just for the record.
What I did was go to a Chinese buffet with my cousin Julianna at about two p.m. and purposefully pig out on all the things that I normally avoid and the first reaction I had to this experience was a feeling of freedom and relief. It was almost exciting to know that I could eat anything on the buffet that I wanted without restrictions. It was like being let loose in a candy store. LOL.
I was actually a little timid as I wandered the aisles with my empty plate. First, I very carefully chose one spoonful of fried rice, a couple of small pinches of angel hair rice noodles, and a few of their stir fried potatoes. I also had a little chicken and broccoli. Then I took an almond or "finger-nail" cookie. It was a bit strange to not be in a state of rebellion, but in a state of obedience, while I did this. It was kind of nice, really. As I ate my plate of food I savored the textures and the flavors. They had a new item, chicken pie, which reminded me of chicken pot pie, but it was in small wedges rather than a round bowl shape and I really liked it. Then since the hour was not up... I had a second plate of food.
By the end of the second plate I was beginning to feel absolutely stuffed to the gills. That is when I remembered that I don't really like that kind of "stuffed" feeling. It feels almost bloated and stiff or nearly painful, but not quite. I always feel like the food is somehow expanding in my stomach and making me feel uncomfortable. Then I had ice cream and cookies for dessert.
When I mentioned that I could "feel my heart beating," Julianna did not seem to understand what I was saying. I meant that after gorging on all that high carb food my body was reacting and I could feel the slow, pump, pump, pump of my heart as I secretly wondered if I had gone too far. Since she did not have a point of reference, I just changed the subject.
When I got home, I had to sit in my chair with my feet up and rest. After about twenty minutes the heart pumping disappeared and I felt a little better -- especially after I had burped a really loud one. I laughed and challenged Julianna to beat that one. Her reply was that a lady does not do such things. That gave me pause, so I asked her if she had just told me I was not a lady, and reproved her for talking to her elderly cousin that way. We both had a good laugh!!
At about 7:30 Julianna said she was hungry so I offered to cook one of the steaks I had originally planned for our get together along with a bowl of salad -- but I was way not ready to eat anything, yet.
At a little after 8 p.m. I also got a little hungry so I had a large sausage patty and that was it. I could not face a whole steak, yet, and did not want any salad -- so I just smothered the sausage in spicy brown mustard and ate that.
This morning my blood sugar was 109 but my blood pressure was a little high at 166/83. I ate properly today and had no cravings. That was what I wanted to find out the most. Would that crazy cheat meal put me into craving mode. It did not. Not even a little bit. So far. So good.
I don't want to start applying more restrictions to the cheat meal but I think it would be wiser if I did not go quite so far over board next Saturday. I am wondering if I should cook my own cheat meal next week -- but I'm afraid of having left overs in the house. I will decide when the time is nearer if I will once again go out, or if I will make something myself. Oh well. That decision is for another time.
Anyway. I think this might work really well. I had lost five pounds before the cheat meal, and I put on two pounds this morning -- but my ankles were not swollen even a little bit this morning. So I will record my daily weights this week and see what happens.
Hope you are doing well and walking your chosen path with hope in your heart.
Be back soon,
Marcia
Friday, January 13, 2012
Keeping the Goal in Front of You
Hi,
I shared once before about watching the TV series "Heavy" on Netflix and hearing one of the coaches say: "Keep your goals in front of you. Sometimes to reach goals you have to do very difficult things."
I have those words on a sticky note stuck to the edge of my monitor and sometimes my eyes wander to it. It always encourages me.
The goals: 1. Normalize blood sugar levels, 2. Lose body fat, 3 Reduce body pain
Practical application to reach the goals: eat only fresh raw vegetables and some kind of animal protein for every meal and snack for six days. On day seven for one meal, eat a high carb "no holds barred" cheat meal that can last up to one hour at some time during the day. On day eight begin again with the fresh raw veggies and protein. Exercise three times a week.
I think I may begin referring to these two phases as "Six day" eating and "Cheat meal" eating for simplicity. (For complete information on lowering your blood sugar levels with this eating plan see: http://cureprediabetes.blogspot.com/2012/01/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html )
Is this diet for everyone? No. There are people out there who do not have Diabetes hanging over their heads. They can eat some other way and be healthy and happy. This diet is for that person who has pre-diabetes, or type II diabetes, and who is also grossly obese, too. This diet is for the one who has "tried everything" and nothing works. This one works even for the woman who is post-menopausal. Yippee!! It took quite a while for me to figure this one out. I think it took a long time because it was difficult for me to accept that I had to do something that seems so drastic to the American eye.
I wanted to be able to eat anything I wanted. I still do. But if I am going to normalize my blood sugars, reduce my A1c to below 6.0 and keep it there, and also lose weight and reduce the body pain, I have to cleanly follow this program. Whenever I add in something that is not on the shopping list (see link above) I will see the effects by the end of the day -- or in the morning.
For one thing, it will actually affect my emotions. It will be a very subtle change, but my body will feel "differently." I will put on water weight so my weight will go up the next morning instead of going down. My ankles will swell up a little larger than normal by the end of the day. I will feel a bit "foggy." And the feeling of "full" will have a different sensation to it. I am not sure I can describe it so another person can understand but in giving it a go I would say: when I eat the fresh raw veggies and protein, I feel full, clean, and satisfied. When I eat in some other way, including things that are not on this program, for a couple of days, I feel full and hungry at the same time. This means the addiction has kicked in and if I don't get myself back in line, I will be out of line for quite a while. This means my weight will steadily go up, day by day. My morning blood sugar numbers will start to creep up. And my aches and pains will become persistent, again.
This diet is supremely simple, but it is not easy if you have never done it before. Sometimes we need to be reminded why we are eating this way and not eating from the middle of the grocery store. I know I need to be reminded. I consider myself to be a relatively intelligent person with an addiction to processed foods and starchy carbohydrates. The addiction sometimes shows its ugly head in the form of "forgetfulness" or in "justifications" and most often it is both. I call it "magical thinking." Somehow my mind will just magically begin to think it is OK for me to eat a forbidden food and it will seem perfectly justified at the time. Don't laugh. It can sneak in at any moment.
The one thing that really keeps it real for me is to keep personal records and to blog -- so this blog is as much (and more so) for me as it is for you, the reader. The one thing that allows me to re-apply the practical habits I need is to make the decision to do so. The one decision that has the most positive effect and keeps me in line the most, is to decide not to eat "that forbidden food."
Keeping the goal in front of me, helps me to make the right decisions.
I hope you are doing well. Here is to the next meal being clean and good for us. Hear! Hear!
Be back soon,
Marcia
I shared once before about watching the TV series "Heavy" on Netflix and hearing one of the coaches say: "Keep your goals in front of you. Sometimes to reach goals you have to do very difficult things."
I have those words on a sticky note stuck to the edge of my monitor and sometimes my eyes wander to it. It always encourages me.
The goals: 1. Normalize blood sugar levels, 2. Lose body fat, 3 Reduce body pain
Practical application to reach the goals: eat only fresh raw vegetables and some kind of animal protein for every meal and snack for six days. On day seven for one meal, eat a high carb "no holds barred" cheat meal that can last up to one hour at some time during the day. On day eight begin again with the fresh raw veggies and protein. Exercise three times a week.
I think I may begin referring to these two phases as "Six day" eating and "Cheat meal" eating for simplicity. (For complete information on lowering your blood sugar levels with this eating plan see: http://cureprediabetes.blogspot.com/2012/01/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html )
Is this diet for everyone? No. There are people out there who do not have Diabetes hanging over their heads. They can eat some other way and be healthy and happy. This diet is for that person who has pre-diabetes, or type II diabetes, and who is also grossly obese, too. This diet is for the one who has "tried everything" and nothing works. This one works even for the woman who is post-menopausal. Yippee!! It took quite a while for me to figure this one out. I think it took a long time because it was difficult for me to accept that I had to do something that seems so drastic to the American eye.
I wanted to be able to eat anything I wanted. I still do. But if I am going to normalize my blood sugars, reduce my A1c to below 6.0 and keep it there, and also lose weight and reduce the body pain, I have to cleanly follow this program. Whenever I add in something that is not on the shopping list (see link above) I will see the effects by the end of the day -- or in the morning.
For one thing, it will actually affect my emotions. It will be a very subtle change, but my body will feel "differently." I will put on water weight so my weight will go up the next morning instead of going down. My ankles will swell up a little larger than normal by the end of the day. I will feel a bit "foggy." And the feeling of "full" will have a different sensation to it. I am not sure I can describe it so another person can understand but in giving it a go I would say: when I eat the fresh raw veggies and protein, I feel full, clean, and satisfied. When I eat in some other way, including things that are not on this program, for a couple of days, I feel full and hungry at the same time. This means the addiction has kicked in and if I don't get myself back in line, I will be out of line for quite a while. This means my weight will steadily go up, day by day. My morning blood sugar numbers will start to creep up. And my aches and pains will become persistent, again.
This diet is supremely simple, but it is not easy if you have never done it before. Sometimes we need to be reminded why we are eating this way and not eating from the middle of the grocery store. I know I need to be reminded. I consider myself to be a relatively intelligent person with an addiction to processed foods and starchy carbohydrates. The addiction sometimes shows its ugly head in the form of "forgetfulness" or in "justifications" and most often it is both. I call it "magical thinking." Somehow my mind will just magically begin to think it is OK for me to eat a forbidden food and it will seem perfectly justified at the time. Don't laugh. It can sneak in at any moment.
The one thing that really keeps it real for me is to keep personal records and to blog -- so this blog is as much (and more so) for me as it is for you, the reader. The one thing that allows me to re-apply the practical habits I need is to make the decision to do so. The one decision that has the most positive effect and keeps me in line the most, is to decide not to eat "that forbidden food."
Keeping the goal in front of me, helps me to make the right decisions.
I hope you are doing well. Here is to the next meal being clean and good for us. Hear! Hear!
Be back soon,
Marcia
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Dropping the Diet Perfectionism
Isobel Del Los Rios, a low-carb weight control expert says: "Did you know that less than 50% of people who make eating healthier and
losing weight their New Year's resolution actually stick to it?"
The one thing that would make me go off of a diet in the past was always "expectations of perfection." I would work really hard at following the rules of whatever diet I was on but at some point I would go nuts and eat cake, or some other such item. Not a little bit of cake, I would eat half a cake. Then I would look at what I had done and feel like a pervert. I would feel so ashamed that I would simply quit trying while I finished off the rest of the cake.
I would be telling myself, "What's the use? I can't do it." My going bonkers over some food that was not on the diet-du-jour would completely wipe out any shreds of self esteem that I ever had. Notice the word "ever." When we get like that everything looks like it is eternal.
I am so glad glad glad that the Lord showed me, one wrong meal does not a pervert make!! That "diet perfection" mantra was insanity at it's most insidious. The problem was not in making the wrong choices for that one meal or even that day... the problem was not fulfilling the expectation that I was never going to make a mistake again. Going on a diet, does not instantaneously transform anything about you. Going on a diet is a set of choices. And yes, I am using the "dreaded word:" diet. Diet, in its simplest terms simply means "what you eat." Everybody is always on a diet!! The first day of your life your diet was your mama's milk and at some point we started picking out other things. We probably wanted a little more variety.
If you were incredibly blessed you had either someone in your life who guided you to eat only fresh raw healthy vegetables, fruit, fish, meat and foods -- or you were just "naturally thin." Then there is the rest of us!! LOL My mom did try to feed us healthy. She very carefully made sure we had a meat, a cooked vegetable, and a potatoe -- or some other similar combination -- and only rarely we had a dessert. I never saw the inside of a restaurant until I was twelve years old.
Unfortunately, my body structure gained weight on the healthy food my mother made. I had the addiction young. By the time I was eight years old, I was "chubby" and my mother told her friends that I had "baby fat." Can you imagine being a robust eight-, nine-, or ten-year old and hearing your mom continue to tell everyone you had "baby fat." She fully expected me to "grow out of it" but I didn't. Every single one of my siblings, and I had quite a few of them, was as thin as a zipper when we were kids. I was sure there was something wrong with me, but had no idea what it was, or what to do about it. Unfortunately for them, they are all over weight now, too -- although not as extremely as I am. I don't hold it against them. It just happens while you are living your life, chasing your dreams, and not paying attention.
So. That is why I share my foolish eating and then move on. I am so glad, not to be stuck in the "diet perfection" trap. Of course I lose weight a little more slowly. It almost does not matter, I lose weight slowly. But I am losing weight. I used to hover around 352 -- now I hover around 328. Nice!! I am hoping with this new round of fresh focus and better choices I will start hovering around 318. The closest I have been is 321, so I know I can get there. When I was in "quit" mode, I never thought I could do anything but hover around 352. I've now got enough experience to know that old thinking was a lie.
What lies are you living with? Anything that stems from "diet perfectionism" will very likely be a lie. We seem to have linear thinking. Someone once drew a line and said "this is life." Well it was probably a very nice illustration of a particular point, but we've taken it too far. Look around your living room. Do you see that line? LOL Our lives are not straight lines. At this point the usual thing would be to replace that line with some other shape or form or idea. But if you look, you won't find that in your house either. The thing of importance in your house is you and whoever else is there with you. Our lives are moment by moment experiences. When it gets down to the real nitty gritty, the thing that is important to us is relationships. The one ancient saying about "life" that does seem to fit is that life is a journey. Step by step we are going somewhere but it very rarely could actually be depicted with a straight line.
So loosen up a little. When you eat a wrong item, don't have a cow, just do what you need to do to not repeat that one. Make a decision not to do that again. Make a decision to get that out of the house. Take the clean up action and let go. There is no real purpose in beating yourself up about a fouled up meal. Just do the next one right. Then do the next one right and chalk up "two for you." Then do the next one right. Pretty soon you will have a pattern of eating right and the numbers on your glucose monitor will get smaller -- and the numbers on your scale will get smaller too. You will have formed a habit. Then you will screw up another one. Just give yourself a "do over" and move on.
I'm not a coffee drinker and usually don't drink much tea either. I bought a coffee maker because I have some friends who love coffee and I wanted to be able to serve them some when they come to my house. They taught me how to make it to suit them and that is the way I make coffee. So the rest of the time it just sits on my counter doing nothing. Sometimes I would make a pot of tea by putting tea bags in the coffee filter and let it drip. I would drink one cup and then let the rest of it sit on the hot plate and change color and flavors until I threw it out. I finally figured out a better way for me. Duh! I simply use it to heat the water and keep it hot on the plate until I want a cup of tea. Then I just get out a cup and a tea bag and make a fresh one. If I am doing dishes and need to heat up the water ( I don't have a dish washer -- dark ages, I know) I pour some of the hot water in the dish pan and keep going. I always liked the "two birds with one stone" idea.
Today I was 96% on target (not a scientific number) and I lost a pound. My blood sugar this morning was 107. Not bad. The salads are tasty. I found a new sugar free dressing from "Cindy's Kitchen" called "Rosemary and Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette" which I purchased at Whole Foods in the produce section cooler. I am really loving it. I read the ingredients and there really is no sugar in it -- and no ugly sugar substitutes either. It really is a good and tasty natural one and I recommend it. Can't wait to share it with Julianna this Saturday.
Wearing the knee brace. Looking forward. Feeling good.
Be back soon,
Marcia
The one thing that would make me go off of a diet in the past was always "expectations of perfection." I would work really hard at following the rules of whatever diet I was on but at some point I would go nuts and eat cake, or some other such item. Not a little bit of cake, I would eat half a cake. Then I would look at what I had done and feel like a pervert. I would feel so ashamed that I would simply quit trying while I finished off the rest of the cake.
I would be telling myself, "What's the use? I can't do it." My going bonkers over some food that was not on the diet-du-jour would completely wipe out any shreds of self esteem that I ever had. Notice the word "ever." When we get like that everything looks like it is eternal.
I am so glad glad glad that the Lord showed me, one wrong meal does not a pervert make!! That "diet perfection" mantra was insanity at it's most insidious. The problem was not in making the wrong choices for that one meal or even that day... the problem was not fulfilling the expectation that I was never going to make a mistake again. Going on a diet, does not instantaneously transform anything about you. Going on a diet is a set of choices. And yes, I am using the "dreaded word:" diet. Diet, in its simplest terms simply means "what you eat." Everybody is always on a diet!! The first day of your life your diet was your mama's milk and at some point we started picking out other things. We probably wanted a little more variety.
If you were incredibly blessed you had either someone in your life who guided you to eat only fresh raw healthy vegetables, fruit, fish, meat and foods -- or you were just "naturally thin." Then there is the rest of us!! LOL My mom did try to feed us healthy. She very carefully made sure we had a meat, a cooked vegetable, and a potatoe -- or some other similar combination -- and only rarely we had a dessert. I never saw the inside of a restaurant until I was twelve years old.
Unfortunately, my body structure gained weight on the healthy food my mother made. I had the addiction young. By the time I was eight years old, I was "chubby" and my mother told her friends that I had "baby fat." Can you imagine being a robust eight-, nine-, or ten-year old and hearing your mom continue to tell everyone you had "baby fat." She fully expected me to "grow out of it" but I didn't. Every single one of my siblings, and I had quite a few of them, was as thin as a zipper when we were kids. I was sure there was something wrong with me, but had no idea what it was, or what to do about it. Unfortunately for them, they are all over weight now, too -- although not as extremely as I am. I don't hold it against them. It just happens while you are living your life, chasing your dreams, and not paying attention.
So. That is why I share my foolish eating and then move on. I am so glad, not to be stuck in the "diet perfection" trap. Of course I lose weight a little more slowly. It almost does not matter, I lose weight slowly. But I am losing weight. I used to hover around 352 -- now I hover around 328. Nice!! I am hoping with this new round of fresh focus and better choices I will start hovering around 318. The closest I have been is 321, so I know I can get there. When I was in "quit" mode, I never thought I could do anything but hover around 352. I've now got enough experience to know that old thinking was a lie.
What lies are you living with? Anything that stems from "diet perfectionism" will very likely be a lie. We seem to have linear thinking. Someone once drew a line and said "this is life." Well it was probably a very nice illustration of a particular point, but we've taken it too far. Look around your living room. Do you see that line? LOL Our lives are not straight lines. At this point the usual thing would be to replace that line with some other shape or form or idea. But if you look, you won't find that in your house either. The thing of importance in your house is you and whoever else is there with you. Our lives are moment by moment experiences. When it gets down to the real nitty gritty, the thing that is important to us is relationships. The one ancient saying about "life" that does seem to fit is that life is a journey. Step by step we are going somewhere but it very rarely could actually be depicted with a straight line.
So loosen up a little. When you eat a wrong item, don't have a cow, just do what you need to do to not repeat that one. Make a decision not to do that again. Make a decision to get that out of the house. Take the clean up action and let go. There is no real purpose in beating yourself up about a fouled up meal. Just do the next one right. Then do the next one right and chalk up "two for you." Then do the next one right. Pretty soon you will have a pattern of eating right and the numbers on your glucose monitor will get smaller -- and the numbers on your scale will get smaller too. You will have formed a habit. Then you will screw up another one. Just give yourself a "do over" and move on.
I'm not a coffee drinker and usually don't drink much tea either. I bought a coffee maker because I have some friends who love coffee and I wanted to be able to serve them some when they come to my house. They taught me how to make it to suit them and that is the way I make coffee. So the rest of the time it just sits on my counter doing nothing. Sometimes I would make a pot of tea by putting tea bags in the coffee filter and let it drip. I would drink one cup and then let the rest of it sit on the hot plate and change color and flavors until I threw it out. I finally figured out a better way for me. Duh! I simply use it to heat the water and keep it hot on the plate until I want a cup of tea. Then I just get out a cup and a tea bag and make a fresh one. If I am doing dishes and need to heat up the water ( I don't have a dish washer -- dark ages, I know) I pour some of the hot water in the dish pan and keep going. I always liked the "two birds with one stone" idea.
Today I was 96% on target (not a scientific number) and I lost a pound. My blood sugar this morning was 107. Not bad. The salads are tasty. I found a new sugar free dressing from "Cindy's Kitchen" called "Rosemary and Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette" which I purchased at Whole Foods in the produce section cooler. I am really loving it. I read the ingredients and there really is no sugar in it -- and no ugly sugar substitutes either. It really is a good and tasty natural one and I recommend it. Can't wait to share it with Julianna this Saturday.
Wearing the knee brace. Looking forward. Feeling good.
Be back soon,
Marcia
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Day by Day and Other Side Affects
Hi,
Day 3 -- and I am not holding my mis-steps against me, I am simply moving on. I have had no sugar today -- which means I did on both days 1 and 2. It only stalls my own progress to do such things, but I've gotten that out of my house, now. I think where I made the mistake was in not setting my start date a little farther in the future by a day or two and doing the prep steps a little more thoroughly.
I got almost everything out of the house that I should not eat, and I got good raw veggies and protein in the house to provide what I need. It is that "almost everything" that is the problem. I did not even follow my own advice during the preparatory steps -- but the Christmas candy is now gone. I'm actually wondering if I should simply call this Day 1.... No, I'll just accept the responsibility and move on. Today was a mostly clean program day. I hope yours was too. Today my only faulty meal was three breaded chicken strips with honey mustard dip. Everything else was on target.
I've been thinking about the overall positive and negative "side affects" that can be expected when following a narrow program like this one (see previous day's post). I don't actually think that eating fresh raw veggies and animal protein is narrow, but I can see where other people might. It is rather a large jump to go from eating the Standard American Diet (SAD) directly to the blood sugar reducing program I am advocating here. I truly believe it is the best program an over weight, hypertensive, post-menopausal woman with pre-diabetes and gout can do. It is the only one that actually allows me to lose any weight at all so I'm glad to be back on it.
If you are coming directly off of SAD it will be easier on you if you start with the 50/50 portions. Do that for a week and then begin adding more veggies and removing a little protein until you gradually work your way up to 80/20. Do not remove the protein entirely because you need it to help stabilize your blood sugars. Remember: eat when you are hungry -- and always have both raw veggies and animal protein.
Side affects: The first side affect I've been thinking about is the way we react emotionally to this kind of a food program. There is a reason that high carb dishes are called "comfort food." They actually do affect our moods so when you first go off of them you may at some point run into a feeling of either anxiety or depression -- the opposite of "comfort." The high carb meal on day seven should alleviate most of that. In fact that is part of the purpose of the weekly cheat meal: to restore the brain carbs that we need. Carbs seem to have what I call a "cumulative" effect which is why the withdrawals take three days and the reduction in pain takes six days, so restocking the carb stores every seven days should side-step the mood swings.
If you happen to run into it sooner there are also two supplements that my doctor advised me to take that really seem to keep bad feelings completely out of my picture. One is called L-Theanine and the other is Taurine. These are both amino acids that can be purchased at any health food store or on the internet. I take one of each in the morning to prevent anxiety and black moods and am rarely troubled by them. If before I go to bed I feel the need of more peaceful feelings I am likely to take one more of each before going to bed. I only do that on rare occasions. You will have to try it out to see if it helps you. That emotional response is part of the addictive behavior that I've been mentioning and I am all for anything that helps me to conquer the addiction.
The other thing I want to address is not really a "side effect" but a symptom of our own "SAD food syndrome." We seem to be a nation of people that mentally files particular foods into certain meal slots and heaven forbid that they might be eaten at a different time or in a different way. Like eggs are relegated to breakfast only. Steak or salad is only for dinner. Who decided that and why do we feel the need to force ourselves to follow it? What purpose does it serve? None that I can see.
Try having a new thought about when and where you can eat different food items. It really is not far fetched to eat salad for breakfast. I've been enjoying salad for breakfast for quite some time and find it really pleasureable. I like eggs for breakfast (and also eat them any time during the day) so I fry up a couple of over-easy eggs and place them on my salad. The liquid yellow actually makes a very tasty salad dressing. If you have ever had a Cobb Salad or a Chef Salad you have had hard boiled eggs on your salad before. Why not some over-easy or scrambled eggs? Try it. You might like it.
I also put salt and pepper and spices on my salad before I put either the eggs or the salad dressing on them. Try sprinkling a few Italian herbs on your salad with a little salt and pepper to really move a salad into the "actually tasty" realm. Experiment with your own favorite seasonings and create some new combinations for yourself. Salad does not have to be a boring bowl of ice berg lettuce and grape tomatoes that needs to be drowned in salad dressing to be appetizing.
Try wandering the produce aisle at your favorite grocery store and imagining how you might choose to use the different ingredients in your own creative salad! See if they have some items that you have never noticed before and try some out. I like to print out a copy of the "Craving Reducing Shopping List" (see yesterday's post) and highlight the things I'm planning on purchasing. That keeps me in the "safe" zone and also reminds me of what I need. Try some endive in your salad. Try some broccoli sprouts!! What about some red leaf lettuce? It is very tender and tasty. I like to use Romain as my basis but I add various other lettuces and rotate the greens to get all the goodness from the variety that is available.
Once you have been eating this way for a while your stomach will likely no longer be bothered by cucumbers or radishes, too. Begin to experiment and add new vegetables to your basket and your salads as you go along.
I find that the best way to store lettuces is to stand them up in about a half inch of water which I accomplish by putting them diagonally into a 1-gallon size plastic zipper bag and standing it up against the wall of the refrigerator. Sometimes I place them in a colander for support in staying upright. The water (which should be changed every other day) will keep your lettuces fresh and lively longer. Think about it: they are still alive when you purchase them -- they need a drink. You do that to cut flowers and it keeps them attractive longer -- the same is true for lettuces -- they need a drink to stay fresh, crisp, and lively.
Here is the last piece of advice for today: Eat when you are hungry. You do not have to deprive yourself. It will be a new experience (it was for me) to actually trust the messages you are getting from your body. Listen to you body and eat when you are hungry and stop eating when you are full.
OK one more: Don't forget to decide not to eat the things you should not eat. I need that one the most!!
Be back soon,
Marcia
Day 3 -- and I am not holding my mis-steps against me, I am simply moving on. I have had no sugar today -- which means I did on both days 1 and 2. It only stalls my own progress to do such things, but I've gotten that out of my house, now. I think where I made the mistake was in not setting my start date a little farther in the future by a day or two and doing the prep steps a little more thoroughly.
I got almost everything out of the house that I should not eat, and I got good raw veggies and protein in the house to provide what I need. It is that "almost everything" that is the problem. I did not even follow my own advice during the preparatory steps -- but the Christmas candy is now gone. I'm actually wondering if I should simply call this Day 1.... No, I'll just accept the responsibility and move on. Today was a mostly clean program day. I hope yours was too. Today my only faulty meal was three breaded chicken strips with honey mustard dip. Everything else was on target.
I've been thinking about the overall positive and negative "side affects" that can be expected when following a narrow program like this one (see previous day's post). I don't actually think that eating fresh raw veggies and animal protein is narrow, but I can see where other people might. It is rather a large jump to go from eating the Standard American Diet (SAD) directly to the blood sugar reducing program I am advocating here. I truly believe it is the best program an over weight, hypertensive, post-menopausal woman with pre-diabetes and gout can do. It is the only one that actually allows me to lose any weight at all so I'm glad to be back on it.
If you are coming directly off of SAD it will be easier on you if you start with the 50/50 portions. Do that for a week and then begin adding more veggies and removing a little protein until you gradually work your way up to 80/20. Do not remove the protein entirely because you need it to help stabilize your blood sugars. Remember: eat when you are hungry -- and always have both raw veggies and animal protein.
Side affects: The first side affect I've been thinking about is the way we react emotionally to this kind of a food program. There is a reason that high carb dishes are called "comfort food." They actually do affect our moods so when you first go off of them you may at some point run into a feeling of either anxiety or depression -- the opposite of "comfort." The high carb meal on day seven should alleviate most of that. In fact that is part of the purpose of the weekly cheat meal: to restore the brain carbs that we need. Carbs seem to have what I call a "cumulative" effect which is why the withdrawals take three days and the reduction in pain takes six days, so restocking the carb stores every seven days should side-step the mood swings.
If you happen to run into it sooner there are also two supplements that my doctor advised me to take that really seem to keep bad feelings completely out of my picture. One is called L-Theanine and the other is Taurine. These are both amino acids that can be purchased at any health food store or on the internet. I take one of each in the morning to prevent anxiety and black moods and am rarely troubled by them. If before I go to bed I feel the need of more peaceful feelings I am likely to take one more of each before going to bed. I only do that on rare occasions. You will have to try it out to see if it helps you. That emotional response is part of the addictive behavior that I've been mentioning and I am all for anything that helps me to conquer the addiction.
The other thing I want to address is not really a "side effect" but a symptom of our own "SAD food syndrome." We seem to be a nation of people that mentally files particular foods into certain meal slots and heaven forbid that they might be eaten at a different time or in a different way. Like eggs are relegated to breakfast only. Steak or salad is only for dinner. Who decided that and why do we feel the need to force ourselves to follow it? What purpose does it serve? None that I can see.
Try having a new thought about when and where you can eat different food items. It really is not far fetched to eat salad for breakfast. I've been enjoying salad for breakfast for quite some time and find it really pleasureable. I like eggs for breakfast (and also eat them any time during the day) so I fry up a couple of over-easy eggs and place them on my salad. The liquid yellow actually makes a very tasty salad dressing. If you have ever had a Cobb Salad or a Chef Salad you have had hard boiled eggs on your salad before. Why not some over-easy or scrambled eggs? Try it. You might like it.
I also put salt and pepper and spices on my salad before I put either the eggs or the salad dressing on them. Try sprinkling a few Italian herbs on your salad with a little salt and pepper to really move a salad into the "actually tasty" realm. Experiment with your own favorite seasonings and create some new combinations for yourself. Salad does not have to be a boring bowl of ice berg lettuce and grape tomatoes that needs to be drowned in salad dressing to be appetizing.
Try wandering the produce aisle at your favorite grocery store and imagining how you might choose to use the different ingredients in your own creative salad! See if they have some items that you have never noticed before and try some out. I like to print out a copy of the "Craving Reducing Shopping List" (see yesterday's post) and highlight the things I'm planning on purchasing. That keeps me in the "safe" zone and also reminds me of what I need. Try some endive in your salad. Try some broccoli sprouts!! What about some red leaf lettuce? It is very tender and tasty. I like to use Romain as my basis but I add various other lettuces and rotate the greens to get all the goodness from the variety that is available.
Once you have been eating this way for a while your stomach will likely no longer be bothered by cucumbers or radishes, too. Begin to experiment and add new vegetables to your basket and your salads as you go along.
I find that the best way to store lettuces is to stand them up in about a half inch of water which I accomplish by putting them diagonally into a 1-gallon size plastic zipper bag and standing it up against the wall of the refrigerator. Sometimes I place them in a colander for support in staying upright. The water (which should be changed every other day) will keep your lettuces fresh and lively longer. Think about it: they are still alive when you purchase them -- they need a drink. You do that to cut flowers and it keeps them attractive longer -- the same is true for lettuces -- they need a drink to stay fresh, crisp, and lively.
Here is the last piece of advice for today: Eat when you are hungry. You do not have to deprive yourself. It will be a new experience (it was for me) to actually trust the messages you are getting from your body. Listen to you body and eat when you are hungry and stop eating when you are full.
OK one more: Don't forget to decide not to eat the things you should not eat. I need that one the most!!
Be back soon,
Marcia
Monday, January 9, 2012
Lowering Your Blood Sugar Levels with Food
Note: These are the guidelines I am following right now. I am on Day Two. I wrote this up myself, based on about two years of personal experimentation with quite a few different programs (many of them listed at various places in this blog). Please feel free to try it out with me, but remember, you are responsible for the decisions in your life. I am neither a dietician nor a doctor, so be sure to consult with your health care professional and get his or her advice and permission to do this plan. You will need his/her help to properly reduce any diabetes medications you are taking because this way of eating will positively affect your blood sugars for the better and you won't need as much medication. It is actually dangerous to eat this way AND continue taking blood sugar reducing medications. You have been warned to talk to your doctor -- please do it...... Love and hugs, Marcia
YOU CAN MANAGE YOUR PRE-DIABETES AND TYPE II DIABETES by
following the standard doctor and nutritionist outlined eating/food lists, but,
their program will gradually make your diabetes worse and worse because
they encourage you to eat small amounts of the foods (at every meal) that are causing
the problem until you are taking more and stronger diabetes drugs for the
rest of your life.
Does it make any sense to you to pay for prescription drugs to lower your blood sugar, but follow an eating plan that raises your blood sugar? It makes no sense to me. If you follow that advice, eventually you will end up with
one or more major diabetic complications, such as: blindness, limb amputations,
or kidney failure and dialysis or even a heart attack. It is the complications
that not only end up killing us, but also robbing us of any quality of life
that we might have hoped to achieve.
Think about this: Have you ever heard of anyone who is
following their doctor’s advice and eating plan, and taking the prescription
drugs ever getting off of the drugs because they were healed and no longer
needed to take them?
Have you ever heard
of anyone having to increase their dosage because their condition has gotten
worse and they now need to take more or stronger drugs to keep their blood
sugar under control? The doctors and standard nutritionists are well
intentioned but they are killing us with their little bits of sugar and
carbohydrates at every meal. Why would we want to do that?
YOU CAN AVOID ALL THAT BY
GOING DOWN A BETTER ROAD.
“What does the word diabetes
mean?” Diarrhea and diabetes are similar. Diarrhea means, abnormally
frequent intestinal evacuations with more or less fluid stools. The word
diabetes is exactly the same idea but it is about urine rather than feces. The name and description of the disease is
the symptom of excessive urination which comes about when the body is trying to
rid itself of excessive amounts of sugar in the blood.
So where does all this sugar come from? How does a body get
so full of sugar that it has to go into urination overdrive to try to get rid
of it? The answer is so obvious..... but we don’t often think of it: From the food
we eat and drink. What else could it possibly be? That
old saying, “You are what you eat” is true. Excess sugar in the blood does not
just mysteriously show up out of thin air – the excess sugar comes from what
you are eating. There is a direct connection between what goes into the mouth
and what comes out the other end. In
between, the body has to “deal” with whatever we feed it. Diabetes is the body “dealing
with” the excessive amounts of sugars and starches that we have been feeding it
over a long period of time with the standard American diet which consists of
meals made with the following:
- 1. Pancakes and syrup, sugary cereal, plain cereal, toast, oatmeal and orange juice for breakfast.
- 2. Sandwiches and a soft drink for lunch.
- 3. Casseroles of noodles, or potatoes, or bread for dinner.
- 4. Bread with every meal.
- 5. Potatoes, pasta, or rice at every meal.
- 6. Sugary drinks at every meal.
- 7. Meat and fish coated with breading, or sandwiched between two bread slices.
- 8. Desserts at every party, and every special occasion -- or even after every meal.
If you (like everyone else) have been eating these kinds of
foods for all, or most, of your meals since you were a child, you have been
overloading your body with excess sugar for a very long time. Did you know that
we now have children as young as eight with type two diabetes? That used to be
called “adult onset diabetes” but since the introduction of the low fat, high
carb diet, even the children are getting it. That is why they changed the names
to “Type I” or “Type II.”
The solution to “diabetes” is to give the body a rest -- by
no longer eating the foods that cause the problem in the first place. The body
will correct itself if it is given half a chance. Just like it will heal a
wound on the knee, it will recover from excess sugar, too -- if we eliminate
the sugar -- but only if we make the change soon enough. There is a point of no
return. Wherever you are on the time
line of diabetes, whether it is at the beginning stages or ending stages your
body will improve if you eliminate the sugars that harm it, and give it what it
really needs. The closer you are to the beginning of diabetes the better your
chances of full recovery, but even “partial” recovery will ward off or greatly
delay the horrific complications of diabetes -- like blindness or limb amputations.
What are the foods that are causing the problem? The first,
and most obvious, answer that comes to mind is “sugar” and that is a major part
of the problem, but the more subtle answer is “processed foods” and “starchy
carbohydrates.”
What are the foods that
will reverse the disease and its complications: A combination of fresh raw
vegetables and animal protein. (Organic
vegetables are the best.)
Let us examine the idea of processed foods. “Processed foods” (for our purposes) means any food that no
longer resembles the form, texture, shape, and condition it had when God grew
it on the tree or bush or in the soil. It also contains "foreign" ingredients that help to hold and mold it into a different shape and texture. Manufacturers do not add ingredients they do not need to add. They are not money wasters. The problem is that they have a goal of processing food that either holds it shape, looks appealing to an addict, or has a long shelf life. I once found a Twinkie hidden on a shelf that had been there for about five years. It looked as fresh as the day it came out of the oven. God's food does not "act" that way.
Processed foods also have many ingredients that we do not have in our personal kitchens. We don't add EDTA to food we make. We don't need high fructose corn syrup in our vegetables or fruit. Modified food starch has an effect on blood sugar.
God gave us fresh raw apples. We process
them to make apple pie, apple dumplings, baked apples and apple sauce,
etc. God gave us fresh green tender
spinach. We process it into spinach lasagna, spinach omelet, and spinach
frittata. God’s fresh raw food is
perfect for human consumption in the state he made it. Cooked and processed
food is no longer as good for us.
Cooking God’s fresh raw food changes the molecular structure
of it and destroys the digestive enzymes it may contain. You can observe this
change yourself by comparing fresh spinach, to a spinach pie. The fresh raw life-giving spinach is more
likely to be tender, juicy, and healthful all on its own with nothing added.
The cooked spinach is much smaller in volume because it is wilted, mushy,
lifeless, lacking its enzymes, and probably also contains added starches, sugars and
fats, which it (and we) do not need. If you blow on a fresh spinach leaf it will shake in the wind. Spinach pie is like a brick and it will not respond to a delicate wind across it. The only thing of value in the spinach pie
is… well… nothing. You get the idea: eat your veggies raw and unprocessed.
By the way, eating your veggies raw will save on having to find recipes. Raw food is simply washed, cut up and eaten. You may sprinkle some herbs or spices or even salt or pepper on it, but that is about all the preparation it takes. So for those of you who don't know how, or don't like to, or don't have time to cook, this is the ideal plan!!
The best explanation I’ve recently heard of the difference between raw and cooked food was when I
was reminded that all the earth’s plant energy comes from the sunshine God
provides. Sunshine makes plants grow, along with water and healthy soil. If you
look at kirlian photographs which reveal the glow of light coming from raw plants
and foods, and then compare kirlian photographs of the same items of food after
they have been cooked, there is no longer as much light emanating from them. The longer they are cooked the darker and deader the item becomes.
The idea of “starchy carbohydrates” refers to all those
foods that raise our blood sugar sky high in about 30 minutes. They are high on
the glycemic index, and glycemic load lists. The high carb craving inducing list
includes things made with grain (like bread, rolls, pasta, pizza, cookies, gravy,
and breading, etc.) The high carb craving inducing list also includes potatoes,
sweet potatoes, peas, corn, beets, all fruits, and winter squash. Avoid
these foods for six days.
Here is the simple explanation of how this blood-sugar-reducing plan is set up:
Eat a combination (50/50, or 60/40, or 80/20) of raw vegetables and cooked animal protein for every meal and every snack for six days. On the seventh day include one meal (either lunch or dinner, not breakfast) that contains anything you want to put into your body from fruit, to ice cream, to pizza or macaroni and cheese. But only for ONE meal and only ONCE every seven days. The cheat meal should not last longer than one hour. That is all the information you really need to lower your blood sugars and lose weight.
( Dr. Steven Sisskind, M.D. of Real Dose Nutrition says
that there is good scientific evidence to back up the "cheat meat" as
being good for the metabolism -- meaning it will actually help us lose weight -- so don't skip it.)
Now for the long explanation and in depth directions for those who need it:
Here is the Pre-plan:
Before you change your eating pattern, prepare yourself by eliminating
table sugar and sugar substitutes from your food and drink for from seven to
ten days. Do not eat or drink anything with real sugar, honey, molasses, agave
syrup, corn syrup, or any sugar or sugar substitute like Splenda or Equal. Wean
yourself off of all sweeteners of any kind for 7 days as you continue to eat as
you currently do. It should only take 3 days of “will power” – after that, it
will be easy to simply say no to sugar because the cravings will disappear.
By doing this, you will discover that you CAN live without
sweeteners. You will also begin to feel better in unexpected ways. Sugar
affects not only our blood, but our moods, our joints, and our muscles, too.
Check your pain levels every day and see if they do not suddenly diminish on
about day six.
The 7-Day craving reducing plan:
Each day for 6 days you may eat at any time you want, in
any amount you want: any item listed on the “Craving Reducing Foods
Shopping List” (see below) as long as you always
eat a raw vegetable and a protein (without breading) in 50/50, 60/40, or 80/20 combinations
for every meal and every snack.
Try to eat “normal” sized portions. If you
want more, eat another portion of both the veggies and the protein. Eat
until you are satisfied and then stop eating.
NOTE:
·
If a food is not on the “Craving Reducing Foods Shopping List,” you
should not eat it during the 6-day period.
·
No breading or gravy on anything. (You are
avoiding grains, and both breading and gravy are usually made with white
flour.)
·
Check your blood sugars daily and record your
numbers in a notebook.
·
There is no fruit on the 6-day craving reducing
plan because it contains too much sugar.
·
The dairy cheeses may be substituted for a
protein only once a day.
·
Eggs may be your protein as often as you like.
You may cook your eggs (or any protein) in any manner you like, including
frying – but no breading.
·
Make sure to cook only with coconut oil, peanut
oil, sesame oil, or real butter.
·
Do not cook with extra virgin olive oil – but
use it as part of your own homemade vinegar and oil salad dressing.
·
Do not use any “fake oils” or polyunsaturated
oils such as soy or safflower or canola oil for any purpose at all – they are
not on the list. Avoid them.
·
Drink lots of water -- at least 64 ounces per day. It is better if you
simply drink water and nothing else, but there is no need to buck up
against more than one addiction at a time. If you are a coffee drinker I
recommend only two cups per day with 1 oz of real cream per cup with no
sugar or sugar substitutes. That is no sugar of any kind.
If you are a tea drinker you may have up to three cups per day with
nothing added. I suppose you could drink both the coffee and the tea if
you so chose, but I don't recommend that. (There is a two-ounce maximum of real dairy cream allowed
per day -- a craving reducing extra -- see the list below) which you can use in any way you choose. I choose not to consume
it.)
Concerning the 50/50, 60/40, or 80/20 portions: Each set of proportions will affect your weight loss differently. The 50/50 portions should produce good blood glucose levels and a slow weight loss. To speed up the weight loss move up to 60/40 in favor of the raw vegetables. For the fastest weight loss move up to the 80/20 in favor of the raw veggies. Simply "eye-ball" the portions and if they are equal to each other then you have a 50/50. If the veggies occupy somewhat more space than the protein consider that a 60/40. If slightly less than 1/4 of the plate is your protein and the rest are raw veggies consider that an 80/20. This means that the more fresh raw vegetables you eat, the faster you will lose weight -- but do not eliminate the blood stabilizing animal protein. They must be eaten together to maintain your overall health.
You do not even have to stick with a particular proportion all the time (but you can slow down your weight loss by eating lots of 50/50 meals in a row). If you feel really really hungry -- like you could eat a horse -- then go for a meal of 50 % raw veggies and 50 % protein. If you are only a little hungry, then go for an 80/20 with just a little protein and a lot of raw veggies. Pay attention to your hunger. You need to satisfy it, but not gorge it to death. Gorging on large meals will, all by itself, raise your blood sugars, so eat normal portions -- and if you are still hungry have another portion of both veggies and protein.
You should have
fresh raw salad with every meal. Salad greens (romaine lettuce, spinach,
endive, kale, etc.) are important because it is the leafy greens that contain
the nutrients that most closely match human vitamin and mineral needs. You
don’t have to make a salad for absolutely every meal, but you do need to eat
fresh raw vegetables (no fruit) for every meal.
You could eat a whole red or green pepper and a chicken breast at one meal. You could
eat a bowl of broccoli with Ranch dressing and a can of tuna for another. You could eat a
cucumber with a hamburger patti or baked fish. Experiment with eating a variety
of raw veggies combined with a variety of your favorite protein until you get used to eating this way – and don’t forget to
eat salad at least two times a day – more if it is convenient and possible.
Play with salt, pepper, herbs, and spices on your food. Just make sure any pre-packaged combinations do not contain sugar of any kind. You will be safer to simply purchase your own pure herbs and spices and combine them yourself. (I like to use granulated garlic, cinnamon, tumeric, cloves, nutmeg, parsley flakes, etc.) Use any herbs and spices you are familiar with and enjoy using them on both your raw veggies and your cooked proteins. Experiment until you find flavors that satisfy your taste buds. I also like to use spicy brown mustard (prepared).
REMEMBER: If you are hungry, eat. You are not on a time table of eating. If you are hungry, eat. Breakfast is important to eat, so try not to skip it, but you do not have to eat breakfast. You do not have to count portions. If you are hungry, eat a normal portion of veggies and a protein. If you are still hungry have another portion of both items. Eat until you are satisfied. Then stop eating.
In the beginning of the program, especially for the first three days, you may be surprised at how often you will desire to eat. It is OK to eat every time you are hungry, so eat your raw veggies and your protein.
After a few days, you will begin to simply eat fewer meals because you will be less hungry. By day four you will most likely be eating only two or three times per day. Always eat if you are hungry. If you are not hungry... don't eat. Some days you will eat more and some days you will eat less.
You are retraining your body with this way of eating and the reduction in your blood sugars will happen rather quickly -- within a day or two (which is why you need to be closely monitored by your doctor to gradually reduce your glucose lowering medications). No need to worry about eating too much or too little -- just eat when you are hungry and don't eat when you are not hungry. Your body is trust worthy when it gets the nutrition it actually needs which is what this program is all about.
The “Craving Reducing” list contains: Raw vegetables, Meats,
Poultry, Fish, Shellfish, Oils, and Fats, Unsweet Beverages, Small amounts of
Dairy, and a list of “Craving Reducing Extras”
It is called “Craving Reducing” because eating this way for 6
days should eliminate the cravings for sweets and carbohydrates that force you
to the refrigerator or cupboard all day long. The effect will not “kick in”
until the third day, so be patient the first three days, and then notice how it
feels to be craving free after that. You will like it.
In those first three
days you will be going through “withdrawals” but if you can get past those
three days, you will be on easy street after that. The cravings will be gone
and you will be in charge of what you eat, instead of your cravings pushing you.
You can do it for three days, can’t you? After that it becomes very much easier
to eat this way.
On
the seventh day for one meal only, you must eat any and all high carb items and cooked vegetables you like.
This means that once a week, for one meal, (preferably noon or evening and not
breakfast), for one hour, you can have any amount of fruit, pizza, ice cream,
spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, potatoes – whatever. This will replenish your
carbohydrate stores, and actually boost your metabolism, your mood, and your
weight loss, but only if done only
once every seventh day which turns out to be the same day every week.
The “one-hour” restriction keeps your insulin in check.
The purpose of the once-a-week, hour-long, cheat
meal is to rev up your metabolism again, so that you don't hit plateaus, but
continue to lose pounds each week. The cheat meal actually fools your
metabolism and takes you out of "starvation mode" so you can continue
to lose weight.
On day 8 begin the 6 day program of eating only meat and
vegetables again. You simply repeat this
two-step 7-day cycle until you have reached your goal weight.
Examples of meals:
BREAKFAST COULD BE:
Two or three scrambled eggs or a hamburger or sausage patty and
1.5-2 C of salad (made with lettuce, broccoli, cucumbers, scallions and
low-sugar dressing {really any combination of raw salad veggies on the list that you like
– this is just an example})
OR: One egg over easy
with two strips of nitrate-free bacon, and 2 C of salad (similar to above)
If you want more –
eat more of both the protein and the raw veggies – 50/50, 60/40, or 80/20 in
favor of the veggies.
LUNCH COULD BE: anything listed as breakfast above -- or:
2 C of green salad and 1 can of tuna salad made with mayo
and scallions
A couple of pieces of baked or fried fish, and a salad.
A steak and a salad (no croutons)
Dinner is exactly the same.
You get the picture.
You are eating raw veggies and a protein for every meal and every snack for 6
days – 50/50, 60/40, or 80/20 in favor of the veggies. Any of the above
examples could be eaten as any meal or snack at any time you want, and in any
amount you want.
Also: DRINK LOTS OF WATER – AT LEAST 64 OZ EVERY DAY – MORE
IF YOU ARE ABLE
HOW TO MAKE THIS
(OR ANY DIET PROGRAM) WORK FOR YOU:
KEEP TRACK. MAKE A MORNING RECORD. EVERY DAY.
It cannot be stated too emphatically that keeping track of
what you eat, your blood sugar levels, and how much you presently weigh is the one single strongest
support system you can use on your own.
Here is what keeping a daily record does for you:
- 1. You create a habit that focuses your mind directly on your own goal every single day. You eliminate the opportunity to slide…. Or to procrastinate
- 2. As you write down everything you eat (with no judgments) you have reality staring you in the face and you can no longer “forget” what you ate or what you are supposed to eat. It keeps you honest and real
- 3. You can see your progress – and nothing motivates like progress.
- 4. If, for some reason, you gain a pound or two, you can look back at your record and analyze what the problem may be and make a correction – immediately – without beating yourself up – because you know you are still headed in the right direction.
- 5. You always know precisely where you stand and you don’t have to “guess” about anything because you have a record.
- 6. You can show your record to your doctor and consult with them. They may offer helpful corrective suggestions or advice. Our health is in our own hands – and mouths. Use your doctor as a “coach” – but you are the one out on the field, playing the game. It is your life.
- 7. You begin to realize you don’t have to be “perfect” to accomplish your goal – you just have to be refocused every day which is what keeping a record does for you. When you are focused on your goal you automatically do the things you need to do to reach your goal.
- 8. Your keeping track, keeps you on track – it helps you to continue going in the right direction.
Taken from Wikipedia.com:
“The Diabetes Prevention Program showed that exercise and diet were
nearly twice as effective as metformin at reducing
the risk of progressing to type 2 diabetes.[70]”
Did you notice that lifestyle changes are twice as effective
as the most popular prescription drug at reducing the risk of progressing to
type 2 diabetes? It is cheaper too. So save your health, and your pocketbook by
changing your eating and exercising habits.
Taken from Wikipedia.com:
“Naturopathic approaches to insulin
resistance have been advocated including supplementation of vanadium…, bitter
melon (Momordica…), and Gymnema sylvestre.[76]”
After consulting with your doctor, you may want to try the
same supplements mentioned here.
Exercise: get moving. Go for a walk. Park farther from the
entrance. Use your in-home exercise equipment. Dance. Take the dog for a walk.
Find a pool and go for a swim or exercise class. Move it! Move it! The goal is
to get tired. If you experience pain, back off on the extension, or the
pressure to the point where the pain ceases, but keep moving. Don’t let your
body get irritated or aggravated with pain, but keep moving. Afterwards if you
experience some pain, ice will likely help the irritated muscles. Remember the
goal is not to aggravate the body to pain – the goal is simply to get tired.
Tired is a good thing – and it will help you sleep better.
WARNING: If you are taking ANY blood sugar lowering
prescriptions you will need to work closely with your doctor to monitor your
dosage. As you begin eating this way, you will need less and less of your
medicine until you don’t need the medicine at all because eating this way will
normalize your blood sugar, depending on what stage of diabetes you are at. But
stopping prescriptions on your own is not wise and can even be dangerous. Talk
to your doctor and work with him or her to better your life.
WARNING: These guidelines are not meant to be medical advice
in any way, shape, or form. Talk to your health care provider before making
changes to your diet and exercise regimen.
WARNING: If you have diabetes type II, you are likely to be
addicted to sugar and carbohydrates. That is why you will go through the 3-day
withdrawals when you first stop eating sugar, and then change your entire
diet. They will not last very long.
Rarely, it takes some one 4 days, but it really is a very short time. If you
have Diabetes Type I – you will benefit from the diet changes mentioned here
but it will not cure your disease. Consult your doctor when making changes to
your diet that may affect your insulin dosage. When you change your diet, your
dosage will likely go down. Talk to your doctor before making changes in either
area.
After you have reached your goal weight you may then (and
only then) experiment by eating one carb laden meal once every three days. You
will have to be the judge if this maintains your weight loss and your blood
sugars for you or not. Make adjustments to make your maintenance program work
for you. If you begin to put weight on, go back on the 6-day veggies and
protein plan. It may be that you can
have a carb-laden meal once every two days or maybe once every four days but
you certainly cannot go back to your old eating habits or you will simply gain
all your weight back and turn back in the direction of diabetes complications –
and very quickly. Only do what works for your body to maintain your ideal
weight and blood sugar numbers.
Well that is it for today....
I'm feeling full after having eaten a nice salad and a couple of very thin breakfast pork chops. The belly is full and very satisfied. My body really likes it when I eat this way. It actually begins to feel "healthy." Hope you are feeling good about your program, too.
Be back soon,
Marcia
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