I'm sorry, I have been missing in action for a whole month. Much has been going on during this time. And hopefully I will soon get to tell you all about it.
One thing that has been interesting me during the last month is how my definition of myself has been changing.
Some of our definitions we use for ourselves are given to us by others or our society, some at birth. The first question of the new parent..is it a girl/boy? The first definition. Male/female. This is so important that friends and relatives send us cards proclaiming "It's A Girl!" Do they think we hadn't noticed?
Then more definitions arrive, daughter/son, tall/short, clever/what do we put here...well never mind, at least she's pretty. Or maybe she isn't. The labels arrive thick and fast, the fastest runner in the class, the one who can draw, the one who is last in everything. And our definitions of ourself are made up from these labels. They accumulate as life goes on, mother, fat woman, reliable friend....
So who are you? Who am I? And what happens when we choose to change the definition of ourselves? Before that day in March 2012 when I decided to run for 1 minute on the beach, my definition of myself went something like this.
Fat woman, always on a diet, dutiful daughter, wife, mother.
Apart from the fat bit, my definition of myself was framed in my relationship to others. I am a fat woman whose identity is as an adjunct to others. There is no place for who I am...other than fat of course.
Well, I have decided to redefine myself.
I am an athlete.
I was about to justify this statement, so say I have completed 3 races, a 5k road race, a 10k road race and a 10k trail race. I was going to tell you how many hours, or days I train, the distances I run...but this is not necessary. I am an athlete. This statement is enough. It stands alone. This is who I am and I do not have to justify it to anyone!
I am an athlete, who runs a successful home based business. Who is also a daughter, wife and mother. Who has successfully lost weight, that most difficult of challenges, and who will undoubtedly lose more. Who is happy. This is me.
Friday, 13 July 2012
Monday, 11 June 2012
Thoughts about Ketosis
I was thinking about sugar and ketosis, zero carb, grains and all things connected this morning. It was actually very early this morning. We were woken at 2.30am with a 4.2 earthquake that felt more like a 5. The dog barked and barked, and a text came in from daughter no. 2. They were fine but shaken. I was surprised they texted because the quakes normally come from our direction, so we feel them much more than the girls do. However this morning I discovered the epicenter was right under their house, no wonder they were rattled! And thank goodness it was only a 4.2.
Anyway, after all that I found it hard to get back to sleep, and began to think about sugar, ketosis, grains and weight loss.
I wondered if the great feeling you get in ketosis is, in fact, the ketones, or is it just that in order to be in ketosis you must give up all fruits, starchy vegetables, sugars and grains. Is it the ketosis that makes you feel great, or is it the lack of sugars and grains. Last time I tried coming out of ketosis I ate fruit...I made a loaf that included a lot of stewed apple as well as mashed bananas. By day 4 I felt lousy, but that was a lot of sugar for someone who has not had any for a very long time.
Would you feel as good if you ate lots of nuts, non starchy vegetables and fruits like coconut, tomatoes, peppers etc in addition to your meat, fish and fats?
Who knows? Has anyone tried comparing it?
In my ultra running book they talk about aerobic training (no, not the bright lycra stuff we did back in the 80's) its about running within your aerobic capacity so that you turn into a 'fat burner'. It is, of course, necessary not to eat any sugar if you are going to do this (including fruit, grains potatoes etc) your body will burn sugar if it can. Then later after developing yourself as a fat burning athlete, you do the anaerobic training, and burn up your glycogen supplies thus training yourself to go both faster and further.
If one trains ones body to be a fat burner, by eating fat and protein but minimal sugar (carbs) could you get the same benefits as being in ketosis? This is the question I am going to attempt to answer this week or so.
I know I am a fully adapted fat burner. I know this because of my runs. I can run for 2 hours fasted, no problem and no 'bonking' or hitting the wall either during the run or after. Glycogen stores last for 45-90 minutes depending on the amount of training you have done. As I am out for longer than that and am fine I must be burning fat, from my (ample) stores.
This week then, I shall eat Paleo again. I shall not attempt to remain in ketosis. I shall not eat fruit as it has too much sugar, but I will eat nuts and seeds, as well as above ground veg, plus the usual zero carb fare.
Lets see how it goes.
Anyway, after all that I found it hard to get back to sleep, and began to think about sugar, ketosis, grains and weight loss.
I wondered if the great feeling you get in ketosis is, in fact, the ketones, or is it just that in order to be in ketosis you must give up all fruits, starchy vegetables, sugars and grains. Is it the ketosis that makes you feel great, or is it the lack of sugars and grains. Last time I tried coming out of ketosis I ate fruit...I made a loaf that included a lot of stewed apple as well as mashed bananas. By day 4 I felt lousy, but that was a lot of sugar for someone who has not had any for a very long time.
Would you feel as good if you ate lots of nuts, non starchy vegetables and fruits like coconut, tomatoes, peppers etc in addition to your meat, fish and fats?
Who knows? Has anyone tried comparing it?
In my ultra running book they talk about aerobic training (no, not the bright lycra stuff we did back in the 80's) its about running within your aerobic capacity so that you turn into a 'fat burner'. It is, of course, necessary not to eat any sugar if you are going to do this (including fruit, grains potatoes etc) your body will burn sugar if it can. Then later after developing yourself as a fat burning athlete, you do the anaerobic training, and burn up your glycogen supplies thus training yourself to go both faster and further.
If one trains ones body to be a fat burner, by eating fat and protein but minimal sugar (carbs) could you get the same benefits as being in ketosis? This is the question I am going to attempt to answer this week or so.
I know I am a fully adapted fat burner. I know this because of my runs. I can run for 2 hours fasted, no problem and no 'bonking' or hitting the wall either during the run or after. Glycogen stores last for 45-90 minutes depending on the amount of training you have done. As I am out for longer than that and am fine I must be burning fat, from my (ample) stores.
This week then, I shall eat Paleo again. I shall not attempt to remain in ketosis. I shall not eat fruit as it has too much sugar, but I will eat nuts and seeds, as well as above ground veg, plus the usual zero carb fare.
Lets see how it goes.
Saturday, 9 June 2012
Popping in to say Hi
Hello people, just popping in to say I am still here! I will do a proper post soon.
We have had snow this week and 2 snow days from school. One day was just too slippy to run, but the other day I ran on the beach.
I have been spending every spare minute reading a book about endurance athletes and how to train for endurance events. This is a BIG book...and I shall do a review as soon as I have finished it, but I just have to say it is so inspiring. The author is low carb and his athletes win major events! Cool!
Here is the link if you are interested Here and now I am off to read some more!
We have had snow this week and 2 snow days from school. One day was just too slippy to run, but the other day I ran on the beach.
I have been spending every spare minute reading a book about endurance athletes and how to train for endurance events. This is a BIG book...and I shall do a review as soon as I have finished it, but I just have to say it is so inspiring. The author is low carb and his athletes win major events! Cool!
Here is the link if you are interested Here and now I am off to read some more!
Sunday, 3 June 2012
10K Race!
I did it! Yesterday, 3rd June was the Christchurch Marathon. There were a number of events, a marathon, a half marathon a 10K and some kids races.
I ran the 10K.
Here is the story.
The night before, it is traditional to have a high carb meal, so I did...my style! We had beef burgers. These were homemade of course and consisted of ground beef, 2 eggs, grated carrot, half a chopped onion, a few peas and a tablespoon of LSA (Linseed, sesame and almond) flour. So Paleo, but not low carb.
The morning of the race I just had 2 cups of tea with cream, I didn't eat breakfast, as I normally run fasted. When we reached the race it was amazing, like a small village with marques, tents, food vendors, running gear shops, PA systems and so on. There were 4 and a half thousand runners, not counting the kids.
I was aiming to get in under 2 hours, a walkers time I know, but I run slower than many people can walk! I had done the 5K in 43 minutes so one should say aim for an hour and a half, but of course with the longer distance I thought aiming for that was unrealistic. I had only run 10k once in training, and had taken over 2 hours, including stopping twice to empty sand out of my shoes!
So I was aiming for around 2 hours. I stationed myself at the back of the pack amongst the walkers. This mean it took me almost 5 minutes to shuffle off towards the start! But as we all had individual timing chips on our shoes that didn't matter.
Eventually we got running and after the adrenaline stopped making me breathless, I settled into my usual slow, can-run-for-ever, pace. I had decided to alternate walking and running, and took my first walk break after about 20 minutes. The idea was to walk for a minute or two and then jog again.
This worked fine, and I began to enjoy myself. At the 5k mark there was a pipe band playing Scotland the Brave and people handing out water and Powerade. I went for the water of course, and trotted on. People were very cheerful and friendly and I chatted to many of them. After an hour people began passing us in the opposite direction, coming in from the half marathon, and us slower people had to be careful to keep out of their way.
The run was really good fun most of the way, but towards the end I began to feel very tired. A body check showed up the bad news my left foot was now flapping, and this had resulted in a pain in my right hip as my right leg tried to compensate. This was not unexpected, and as the pain was hardly acute, I decided to carry on.
For new readers...I had an accident 7 years ago that resulted in a back operation. At one point they thought I would lose most of the use of my left leg, and for a while afterwards I needed to walk with sticks. Things got better slowly and now I only limp if I am tired, but when I do get tired my left foot starts to flap and slap the ground. Running has been very good for strengthening my weak leg.
Back to the story. I was now on a short section of main road and had only to turn up by Raewards (a fruit and veg shop) and then about half a kilometer along the airport road and I was done. However I was very tired and thought I would walk a bit and then run down the finish shoot. However as soon as I slowed walk, a passing runner, a young man running the half marathon, called out encouragement as he passed. So I gritted my teeth and jogged on. As I came around the corner I could see the finish ahead and dug deep. I ran as fast as I could along the final stretch of road. It was weird I felt as if I was putting enormous effort into it, yet I seemed to be going slower and slower!
Finally I crossed the finish, stopped running and promptly had the shakes! An official sat me down and brought water, which I drank, and then brought Powerade, and insisted I had some before I could go. So I drank 2 swallows of the disgusting stuff. I said I felt better, and managed to escape to where hubby was waiting. Then I had boiled eggs dipped in salt and raw nuts. I soon felt much better.
And my time? 1 hour 29 minutes!!
I ran the 10K.
Here is the story.
The night before, it is traditional to have a high carb meal, so I did...my style! We had beef burgers. These were homemade of course and consisted of ground beef, 2 eggs, grated carrot, half a chopped onion, a few peas and a tablespoon of LSA (Linseed, sesame and almond) flour. So Paleo, but not low carb.
The morning of the race I just had 2 cups of tea with cream, I didn't eat breakfast, as I normally run fasted. When we reached the race it was amazing, like a small village with marques, tents, food vendors, running gear shops, PA systems and so on. There were 4 and a half thousand runners, not counting the kids.
I was aiming to get in under 2 hours, a walkers time I know, but I run slower than many people can walk! I had done the 5K in 43 minutes so one should say aim for an hour and a half, but of course with the longer distance I thought aiming for that was unrealistic. I had only run 10k once in training, and had taken over 2 hours, including stopping twice to empty sand out of my shoes!
So I was aiming for around 2 hours. I stationed myself at the back of the pack amongst the walkers. This mean it took me almost 5 minutes to shuffle off towards the start! But as we all had individual timing chips on our shoes that didn't matter.
Eventually we got running and after the adrenaline stopped making me breathless, I settled into my usual slow, can-run-for-ever, pace. I had decided to alternate walking and running, and took my first walk break after about 20 minutes. The idea was to walk for a minute or two and then jog again.
This worked fine, and I began to enjoy myself. At the 5k mark there was a pipe band playing Scotland the Brave and people handing out water and Powerade. I went for the water of course, and trotted on. People were very cheerful and friendly and I chatted to many of them. After an hour people began passing us in the opposite direction, coming in from the half marathon, and us slower people had to be careful to keep out of their way.
The run was really good fun most of the way, but towards the end I began to feel very tired. A body check showed up the bad news my left foot was now flapping, and this had resulted in a pain in my right hip as my right leg tried to compensate. This was not unexpected, and as the pain was hardly acute, I decided to carry on.
For new readers...I had an accident 7 years ago that resulted in a back operation. At one point they thought I would lose most of the use of my left leg, and for a while afterwards I needed to walk with sticks. Things got better slowly and now I only limp if I am tired, but when I do get tired my left foot starts to flap and slap the ground. Running has been very good for strengthening my weak leg.
Back to the story. I was now on a short section of main road and had only to turn up by Raewards (a fruit and veg shop) and then about half a kilometer along the airport road and I was done. However I was very tired and thought I would walk a bit and then run down the finish shoot. However as soon as I slowed walk, a passing runner, a young man running the half marathon, called out encouragement as he passed. So I gritted my teeth and jogged on. As I came around the corner I could see the finish ahead and dug deep. I ran as fast as I could along the final stretch of road. It was weird I felt as if I was putting enormous effort into it, yet I seemed to be going slower and slower!
Finally I crossed the finish, stopped running and promptly had the shakes! An official sat me down and brought water, which I drank, and then brought Powerade, and insisted I had some before I could go. So I drank 2 swallows of the disgusting stuff. I said I felt better, and managed to escape to where hubby was waiting. Then I had boiled eggs dipped in salt and raw nuts. I soon felt much better.
And my time? 1 hour 29 minutes!!
Tuesday, 29 May 2012
Back into Ketosis
Ok, It's official. I feel much better when I am in ketosis.
I have just completed a 24 hour fast, and have broken it with some scrambled eggs. Yum!
So lets fill you in on what has happened over the last few days.
As you know, I felt an overwhelming urge for a few vegetables, so I gave in and ate some. Very nice they were too. I also ate a small handful of raw almonds with no ill effects. So on Sunday I made a loaf of 'bread'. It was made of 4 eggs, 1 cup of almond flour, one cup of LSA (linseed, sesame and almond) a bit of butter and cream, a few spices, and 2 stewed apples and one banana. The apples were, of course, stewed without sugar!
The loaf was WONDERFUL! I can post the recipe if you like, but you can take my word for it, it was absolutely delicious! I had 2 slices on Sunday, 1 on Monday and 1 on Tuesday at 11am. I also had a few vegetables with my evening meals. By 2pm on Tuesday I was asleep on the sofa. That has not happened in months. By 6pm I did not feel at all my usual perky self, I spent the evening on the sofa with a book, unable to concentrate on much for long. I also had tummy ache. I decided not to eat any supper, so I had not eaten since 11am.
This morning I broke my fast at 11.30am with scrambled eggs. I am quickly back in ketosis after the fast, and I feel fine again. I did not run today but I walked 5k with the dog.
So what have I learnt?
First of all, just how quickly one can progress from a few vegetables with ones evening meal if one wants, to making a fruit loaf. Carb creep anyone?
Secondly, I can easily tolerate a small amount of sugar and grain free carbs with no problem. But 4 slices of high carb food over 3 days is too much.
Thirdly, I think it is the fruit. There was a lot of fruit in that bread, and I have not had fructose in a very long time.
So, where to from here?
I think I will go basically zero carb again for my day to day living, however I will not be afraid of using a few vegetables as condiments or for variety.
If I go out to eat (I am going, to of all things, a vegetarian restaurant on 8th June!) I will eat gluten free and enjoy myself. I shall fast afterwards and then go back to my zero carb life. I do not think a very occasional foray out of ketosis will harm me, although I might feel sluggish and sleepy.
And I will look out for carb creep. If I am OK after one slice of almond bread it does not mean that 2 slices would be a good idea!
I have just completed a 24 hour fast, and have broken it with some scrambled eggs. Yum!
So lets fill you in on what has happened over the last few days.
As you know, I felt an overwhelming urge for a few vegetables, so I gave in and ate some. Very nice they were too. I also ate a small handful of raw almonds with no ill effects. So on Sunday I made a loaf of 'bread'. It was made of 4 eggs, 1 cup of almond flour, one cup of LSA (linseed, sesame and almond) a bit of butter and cream, a few spices, and 2 stewed apples and one banana. The apples were, of course, stewed without sugar!
The loaf was WONDERFUL! I can post the recipe if you like, but you can take my word for it, it was absolutely delicious! I had 2 slices on Sunday, 1 on Monday and 1 on Tuesday at 11am. I also had a few vegetables with my evening meals. By 2pm on Tuesday I was asleep on the sofa. That has not happened in months. By 6pm I did not feel at all my usual perky self, I spent the evening on the sofa with a book, unable to concentrate on much for long. I also had tummy ache. I decided not to eat any supper, so I had not eaten since 11am.
This morning I broke my fast at 11.30am with scrambled eggs. I am quickly back in ketosis after the fast, and I feel fine again. I did not run today but I walked 5k with the dog.
So what have I learnt?
First of all, just how quickly one can progress from a few vegetables with ones evening meal if one wants, to making a fruit loaf. Carb creep anyone?
Secondly, I can easily tolerate a small amount of sugar and grain free carbs with no problem. But 4 slices of high carb food over 3 days is too much.
Thirdly, I think it is the fruit. There was a lot of fruit in that bread, and I have not had fructose in a very long time.
So, where to from here?
I think I will go basically zero carb again for my day to day living, however I will not be afraid of using a few vegetables as condiments or for variety.
If I go out to eat (I am going, to of all things, a vegetarian restaurant on 8th June!) I will eat gluten free and enjoy myself. I shall fast afterwards and then go back to my zero carb life. I do not think a very occasional foray out of ketosis will harm me, although I might feel sluggish and sleepy.
And I will look out for carb creep. If I am OK after one slice of almond bread it does not mean that 2 slices would be a good idea!
Sunday, 27 May 2012
Hiding From My Blog!
I have been hiding from my blog because I am not sure what to write. I understand from my readers that many people who follow me are interested in living zero carb, and right now I am not!
I shall stick to the truth, however, and you can either follow me through the wilderness and confusion of life, or go and find other zero carbers.
So first....if you are looking for people who are currently zero carbing, you need to visit Charles Washington's site. Charles' site This is a mine of information for people who are considering giving zero carb a shot. The forums are great and full of information from people who are living zero carb every day. Their diaries document the ups and downs of this way of life.
If, however, you are interested in what happens when you STOP zero carb as a way of eating you are in the right place!
Again the disclaimer. I am not a nutritionalist, or a doctor, or a nurse, and I have no authority to give anyone dietry advice or information. All I am is a woman who wanted to lose weight, and decided to blog about my adventures. Please take my story as intended. An online diary of what I am doing and how much weight I am losing, and how I feel about it.
OK, on with the story.
I am as surprised as anyone to not be zero carb right now. I had thought I would carry on like this until I had lost a lot more weight. I was also interested in exercise whilst in ketosis, and I was excited about seeing just how far and how fast it was possible to run whilst in ketosis.
So what AM I eating? I am basically Paleo, plus dairy. For newbies to the wonderful, wacky world of diets, this means the hunter gather diet. If you can hunt it or gather it you can have it. It is grain free, and sugar free. It is also processed food free. (No McDonalds in Paleolithic times!). Because of my low carb background, I am not eating fruit either. This is easy as I prefer cabbage to apples any day of the week. Weird I know, but there we are. However, Paleo is not intrinsically low carb, although it can be.
So basically all I have done is added above ground vegetables, plus the odd nut, to my existing zero carb diet. It feels like a huge, radical departure though. I had eaten myself into a corner, and I was almost afraid of eating a bean sprout. Once I had started though, all was fine. I had steak and stir fried vegetables last night, and very nice it was too.
How do I feel in myself?
Fine. I am still alert, I still have energy. I am more interested in meals, and I have a bit of a backlash against meat at the moment. Just now, I have more vegetables than meat on my plate. I don't seem to have put on weight, in fact I am down another pound this morning, but I am also running quite a lot as the 10k race is on Sunday.
I have not cut off zero carb, as in never going back again. If I put the weight back on, I may have to zero carb again to shift the weight, but right now I am enjoying my vegetables.
One problem I have seen in other dieters and in myself in the past, is devotion to a particular diet against all the odds. Sometimes a particular diet does not work for a particular person, or no longer works where it did before. Yet one has put energy and money into this diet. The special foods have been brought, friends have been talked at for hours about the benefits of this particular way of eating and so on, and to turn around and say, "Changed my mind!" is hard. I am trying hard not to fall into this trap. Over night I decided to stop zero carbing. It's fine, all is well. I can go back to it any time I want, or change to a low fat diet, or a high grain one, if I want. It's all OK.
So back to Paleo I come. I'll let you know how it goes.
I shall stick to the truth, however, and you can either follow me through the wilderness and confusion of life, or go and find other zero carbers.
So first....if you are looking for people who are currently zero carbing, you need to visit Charles Washington's site. Charles' site This is a mine of information for people who are considering giving zero carb a shot. The forums are great and full of information from people who are living zero carb every day. Their diaries document the ups and downs of this way of life.
If, however, you are interested in what happens when you STOP zero carb as a way of eating you are in the right place!
Again the disclaimer. I am not a nutritionalist, or a doctor, or a nurse, and I have no authority to give anyone dietry advice or information. All I am is a woman who wanted to lose weight, and decided to blog about my adventures. Please take my story as intended. An online diary of what I am doing and how much weight I am losing, and how I feel about it.
OK, on with the story.
I am as surprised as anyone to not be zero carb right now. I had thought I would carry on like this until I had lost a lot more weight. I was also interested in exercise whilst in ketosis, and I was excited about seeing just how far and how fast it was possible to run whilst in ketosis.
So what AM I eating? I am basically Paleo, plus dairy. For newbies to the wonderful, wacky world of diets, this means the hunter gather diet. If you can hunt it or gather it you can have it. It is grain free, and sugar free. It is also processed food free. (No McDonalds in Paleolithic times!). Because of my low carb background, I am not eating fruit either. This is easy as I prefer cabbage to apples any day of the week. Weird I know, but there we are. However, Paleo is not intrinsically low carb, although it can be.
So basically all I have done is added above ground vegetables, plus the odd nut, to my existing zero carb diet. It feels like a huge, radical departure though. I had eaten myself into a corner, and I was almost afraid of eating a bean sprout. Once I had started though, all was fine. I had steak and stir fried vegetables last night, and very nice it was too.
How do I feel in myself?
Fine. I am still alert, I still have energy. I am more interested in meals, and I have a bit of a backlash against meat at the moment. Just now, I have more vegetables than meat on my plate. I don't seem to have put on weight, in fact I am down another pound this morning, but I am also running quite a lot as the 10k race is on Sunday.
I have not cut off zero carb, as in never going back again. If I put the weight back on, I may have to zero carb again to shift the weight, but right now I am enjoying my vegetables.
One problem I have seen in other dieters and in myself in the past, is devotion to a particular diet against all the odds. Sometimes a particular diet does not work for a particular person, or no longer works where it did before. Yet one has put energy and money into this diet. The special foods have been brought, friends have been talked at for hours about the benefits of this particular way of eating and so on, and to turn around and say, "Changed my mind!" is hard. I am trying hard not to fall into this trap. Over night I decided to stop zero carbing. It's fine, all is well. I can go back to it any time I want, or change to a low fat diet, or a high grain one, if I want. It's all OK.
So back to Paleo I come. I'll let you know how it goes.
Thursday, 24 May 2012
No Longer The Poster Girl for Zero Carb!
So, last night I ate some almonds, and some avocado and tuna. I am no longer the poster girl for zero carb.
What happened?
Well a number of things actually, and together they spell the end of zero carb, at least for the moment.
Yesterday was not a good day. Amongst other things my purse was stolen at the post office. They got my credit card, my business debit card, my EFPOS card (NZ cash card) my driving license, my library card...the list goes on. There were other reasons it was a stressful day as well, but that was the pinnacle.
By 6pm, I was home alone and ready to binge on sons chocolate stash! But I didn't. However later when hubby and I got home again at 8pm we had avocado and tuna. Yum!
So how did I get to this point? It wasn't just the stressful day, although that was the straw that broke the poor proverbial camel. Over the last week or so I have been having fantasies about becoming a vegan! I find myself drooling at the thought of cabbage...or leeks! Have you ever considered just how wonderful a leek is? Tall and white and smelling gloriously of mild onions!
I do know that for dieters "listening to what your body wants" is the kiss of death for a diet. I don't know about yours, but my body wants homemade ice-cream, and special handmade dark chocolate from the SHE community at Governors Bay. Yet when one starts craving cabbage, of all things, one begins to wonder...
And I have been wondering over this last week. The trouble is we want two things. We want to be slim and we want to be healthy. We know that being slim is no guarantee of being healthy, but we want both! And we want them both now!
It is rather like the self-improvement problem. Do we want to read the the Secret (The Secret) and other law of attraction books like this one? Then we can show gratitude and attract all the money we want into our lives. Or do we prefer enlightenment and a life of eternal bliss? Of course we do, so we read Eckhart Tolle (here) or Thich Nhat Hanh (here here and here). And then we find we cannot have both. As Jesus pointed out in the sermon on the mount, one cannot serve both God and money.
And does this apply to weight loss? Actually, the quickest way to lose weight, as any anorexic will tell you, is to simply stop eating. Works every time. Not exactly healthy though, is it?
The trouble with regular diets is that somewhere out there, there is an expert who will tell you that their particular diet is the only way to both weight loss and health. And of course, happiness, success, lots of friends and the ability to eat an occasional piece of chocolate without putting on 5kg overnight.
You want to eat low carb? Sure, try Atkins and co. Want lots of fruit and veg? Try vegetarian, vegan or Paleo. Like baked goodies, but don't want gluten? Then try the Wheat belly diet, or the specific carbohydrate diet. Zero carb? Charles Washington's your man. He'll prove zero carb is the way to live forever!
Maybe it is possible to both diet for weight loss and be healthy and maybe it is possible to be rich and enlightened.
But maybe in order to achieve this we need to start at a different point. If the goal of wealth is to be a philanthropist would you start at a different point than if the goal is to be simply wealthy? Well, maybe. You want want your business to be ethical, for a start, and you would consider ethical investments as well. Maybe environmental considerations would come into it, rather than abiding by the minimum required by law. You would certainly want good working conditions for your employees, even if that means spending a little more upfront. So, maybe it would take a little longer to achieve your goals than it otherwise would.
Can we apply this to dieting?
We want both health and weight loss. Are we prepared to take things a little more slowly in order to achieve both? And if we do, then we simply HAVE to enjoy the journey. If it is going to take 3-5 years to lose the weight, then we cannot sick to an unmanageable diet for that time. It has to be flexible.
And obviously we have to pick the right way of eating. Just like, if we want to be philanthropists we have to look after our own employees, if we want to be healthy we have to look after our own bodies. If we want to be healthy what do we eat? And there I am stuck. The only thing the experts actually seem to agree on is that sugar is bad.
So maybe we start right there. Sugar is bad.
I shall look at sugar in more detail in another post.
What happened?
Well a number of things actually, and together they spell the end of zero carb, at least for the moment.
Yesterday was not a good day. Amongst other things my purse was stolen at the post office. They got my credit card, my business debit card, my EFPOS card (NZ cash card) my driving license, my library card...the list goes on. There were other reasons it was a stressful day as well, but that was the pinnacle.
By 6pm, I was home alone and ready to binge on sons chocolate stash! But I didn't. However later when hubby and I got home again at 8pm we had avocado and tuna. Yum!
So how did I get to this point? It wasn't just the stressful day, although that was the straw that broke the poor proverbial camel. Over the last week or so I have been having fantasies about becoming a vegan! I find myself drooling at the thought of cabbage...or leeks! Have you ever considered just how wonderful a leek is? Tall and white and smelling gloriously of mild onions!
I do know that for dieters "listening to what your body wants" is the kiss of death for a diet. I don't know about yours, but my body wants homemade ice-cream, and special handmade dark chocolate from the SHE community at Governors Bay. Yet when one starts craving cabbage, of all things, one begins to wonder...
And I have been wondering over this last week. The trouble is we want two things. We want to be slim and we want to be healthy. We know that being slim is no guarantee of being healthy, but we want both! And we want them both now!
It is rather like the self-improvement problem. Do we want to read the the Secret (The Secret) and other law of attraction books like this one? Then we can show gratitude and attract all the money we want into our lives. Or do we prefer enlightenment and a life of eternal bliss? Of course we do, so we read Eckhart Tolle (here) or Thich Nhat Hanh (here here and here). And then we find we cannot have both. As Jesus pointed out in the sermon on the mount, one cannot serve both God and money.
And does this apply to weight loss? Actually, the quickest way to lose weight, as any anorexic will tell you, is to simply stop eating. Works every time. Not exactly healthy though, is it?
The trouble with regular diets is that somewhere out there, there is an expert who will tell you that their particular diet is the only way to both weight loss and health. And of course, happiness, success, lots of friends and the ability to eat an occasional piece of chocolate without putting on 5kg overnight.
You want to eat low carb? Sure, try Atkins and co. Want lots of fruit and veg? Try vegetarian, vegan or Paleo. Like baked goodies, but don't want gluten? Then try the Wheat belly diet, or the specific carbohydrate diet. Zero carb? Charles Washington's your man. He'll prove zero carb is the way to live forever!
Maybe it is possible to both diet for weight loss and be healthy and maybe it is possible to be rich and enlightened.
But maybe in order to achieve this we need to start at a different point. If the goal of wealth is to be a philanthropist would you start at a different point than if the goal is to be simply wealthy? Well, maybe. You want want your business to be ethical, for a start, and you would consider ethical investments as well. Maybe environmental considerations would come into it, rather than abiding by the minimum required by law. You would certainly want good working conditions for your employees, even if that means spending a little more upfront. So, maybe it would take a little longer to achieve your goals than it otherwise would.
Can we apply this to dieting?
We want both health and weight loss. Are we prepared to take things a little more slowly in order to achieve both? And if we do, then we simply HAVE to enjoy the journey. If it is going to take 3-5 years to lose the weight, then we cannot sick to an unmanageable diet for that time. It has to be flexible.
And obviously we have to pick the right way of eating. Just like, if we want to be philanthropists we have to look after our own employees, if we want to be healthy we have to look after our own bodies. If we want to be healthy what do we eat? And there I am stuck. The only thing the experts actually seem to agree on is that sugar is bad.
So maybe we start right there. Sugar is bad.
I shall look at sugar in more detail in another post.
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