I decided - when the plan introduced the carb load days back into the mix - that it felt healthier to add them back EVENly over the course of the whole day - instead of loading at the end of the day. And if you remember, I feel very strongly about eating portions and always eating carbs and protein together. The book (if you look hard) suggests this as an option.
Debby had a link to this (EXCELLENT beyond words) posting - that I think applies to every single one of us in weight loss blog land - here is one paragraph:
"At my meals, I ensure that I have a balance of protein and not too many carbs; at least one serving each per meal or snack. When I had gestational diabetes, I learned from the nutritionist that one can maintain a more even blood sugar by spreading out one's carb servings throughout smaller meals and snacks during the day and by ensuring that you eat a little of your protein when you eat your carbs. (Similar to the recommendations made by the insulin resistance diet authors.) I eat a lot of non-starchy vegetables, sometimes omitting a starch serving in favor of more non-starchy vegetables. I eat as "clean" as possible: fewer processed foods, more "real" foods. Oh, and I kicked the diet soda habit...not sure how much that helped, but I suspect it did."
Vickie again:
And - I have used my mom's husband's monitor to check myself on occasion (fresh needle/poke thing each time - no worries). I do NOT tend to have blood sugar run high. BUT I have to tell you - I totally understand that I would be if I ate like a 'normal person' (remember I mean the people that you see in line and the DMV and grocery store - not the magical people that many bloggers long to be) I would be diabetic. And I (personally) do not believe - at all - in the word PREdiabetic - you either ARE or you AREN'T.
I have to tell you - the nutrition class which I took in the VERY beginning had us take a test to see
do we needed to lower carbs?
or
can we just count everything?
(calorie sensitive)
The rest is under comments (attached to this posting) so that it is less likely to be picked up by an internet scan. I try to stay under the radar at all times. . .
Friday, July 17, 2009
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14 comments:
C [] r \/ es Member Handbook
If you are calorie sensitive:
had a normal body weight when younger but slowly gained weight after age 30
presently overweight but by LESS than 25 pounds
normal appetite and get hungry at meals times
few if any food cravings
maintained same basic eating habits all of your life (I think they might mean good habits. . .)
eat 2 meals per day
gained a certain amount of extra body weight by seem to have tapered off (not continued to gain more and more weight) (remember they are talking about less then 25 pounds TOTAL)
you check off few or NONE of the symptoms on the next test:
Symptoms of Carb intolerance:
nervousness
irritability
fatigue and exhaustion
faintness, dizziness, cold sweats, shakiness, weak spells
depression
drowsiness, especially after meals or in midafternoon
headaches
disestive disturbances with no apparent cause
forgetfulness
insomnia
needless worry
mental consuion
rapid pulse, especially after eating certain foods
muscle pains
antisocial behavior
overly enotional crying spells
lack of sex drive
leg cramps and blurred vision
shortlness of breath, sighing and excess yawning
cravings for starch and sugar rich food
YES I had people in my class that did not answer YES to any items from the second test. There are people out there that are only calorie sensitive and are not carb sensitive. And if your first reaction was that every single person that you know in (weight loss blog land) would answer YES to nearly EVERY question on that second test - I totally agree - I think that we are (99.9%) carb sensitive.
And here is the second part of the carb intolerance test:
you are more than 25 pounds over weight
you have had a tendency to be overweight all your life
you have been overweight since you were a child
you have a poor appetite and tend to skip meals (REALLY think about that - do not say - I am always starving - think about BREAKFAST for example)
you have food cravings that temporarily go away when starchy or sugary foods are eaten
there are foods that you feel you absolutely could NOT do without
your waist is bigger than your hips
you checked most or all of the items on the test just above this one
If all of this comes as a real shock to you - you are not alone. I read that almost 5 years ago and looked at him and said - that means I am going to BE diabetic doesn't it. And he said that no where in the book does it say that - but yes, that is what they mean.
that is THE day that I started eating whole foods and eating portions and eating at meal time and eating evenly from the foods groups and eating protein and carbs TOGETHER.
Do I have an addict on my shoulder that tells me other things at other times - I do - but I am very good at telling him to just shut the hell up and ignoring him.
And over time - his voice has lost meaning - it is just white noise.
Would I feel all of this as strongly as I do if I weren't living with the ramifications of my mom's husband - probably NOT. But I do - and you do too - because I think you really can understand how much his illness impacts all the people in my family. I have to live with all the bad choices he has made - and my children are not going to be saddled with mine. and I am not going to have my children repeat HIS history by my thinking that they are kids and it doesn't matter what they eat. the habits of children stay with us/them.
Very interesting. I think I started out as calorie sensitive. I was skinny from childhood thru my 20's. I had gained 10-15 pounds after age 30. Had few cravings, etc.
I went on various low fat high carb diets (rice cakes anyone? bleqck) to get rid of those few pounds, was always starving and gained 50 more pounds. I truly feel that my early dieting attempts made me overweight. By my mid-30's I could check off almost all of the symptoms on your first carb intolerance list and several from your second.
My point is that repeatedly eating too many carbs may eventually make anyone carb resistant. I think the food pyramid has messed up our eating habits. These days 6-11 grains per day, even whole grain, would make me feel like I was starving to death. Whole grain bread, wonder bread, it all makes me feel like I'm starving. Vegetables and meat don't do that to me. If I choose to cheat, a little protein will keep me from falling into a pit of carbs.
At 39, having lost 30 pounds by going low carb/heavy weights, I feel like I match the calorie list again even though I have about 15-20 left to lose. I am not anxious about it. I feel even. I feel like me again.
Sorry for babbling. Vickie, I like it when you make me think.
Wow, that is UNBELIEVABLE. I answer 0 questions on the calorie-sensitive list as "yes" and almost ALL on the carb-sensitive list as "yes"!! This verifies everything I've been feeling about this new program. This program feels RIGHT for my body. When I did low-fat, it worked, I lost A LOT and I learned A LOT, but boy did I have more to learn. The past 6 weeks have been eye-opening to say the least.
Thanks for sharing all this. :-)
Marlys - don't EVER feel like you say too much - I love comments - and I am very interested in what people think/feel.
Helen - ditto - major eye opener for me too! And you are right - all the steps of the journey build upon each other.
I'm really glad you liked Pubsgal's article. It seems she spent a lot of time doing that, and it seems to me that the advice might be better accepted coming from a real person who was dealing with the problem.
You and I probably feel especially strongly about this because of our personal experiences, but I do agree with you--it (diabetes) is rampant in our society because we refuse to believe the truth about it. We just can't keep eating the way we have learned to eat. Period.
I am starting to think that the term "carbs" is meaningless, since people are not necessarily talking about the same thing when they use it. I score high on the carb sensitive scale when I eat bread, pasta, sugar, alcohol and other refined foods, but not when I'm eating predominantly fruit and vegetables, which are also high in carbs, but not refined in any way. I don't eat much grains and starchy vegetables, although I do have some legumes every day. This could be considered a high carb diet (we rarely eat animal protein and don't take protein powders, etc), but it doesn't give me the symptoms of carb sensitivity.
Marlys mentioned the food pyramid and that it has completely changed the way we eat. Yes, it has and it was based on economic principles, not science. It has definitely caused most of the chronic degenerative disease we see today, as well as the obesity that is so prevalent in our society. The whole idea of food groups is actually ludicrous, especially when you see what is considered groups!
The danger of people thinking that they're carb sensitive is that they rush towards high protein diets, which are extremely harmful to their long term health. We need to separate the good carbs from the bad carbs.
I don't think that most of the people that I know in blogger land that eat low carb, then eat high protein.
I think that we eat low carb and we eat serving protein. And we are careful to always eat our carbs WITH protein.
But mostly what we eat are veggies.
And I think that we really watch the amount of fruit that we eat and the starchy veggies that we eat - and consider both to be carbs (even though they are healthy).
When I was over 200+lbs. I could have eaten LOTS of fruit and more (than now) starchy veggies - and lost weight.
Now I cannot. I can't lose that way and I can't maintain that way.
Now I have to be careful of fruit. when I am maintaining - I can handle two fruit servings per day. and I am very careful about the serving size.
After I wrote this - I asked my mom's husband if he would monitor my blood sugar levels for me - several times a day for a couple days - to see what food does to me. We started tonight and will continue tomorrow.
And ditto what everyone said about the serving amounts on the food pyramid.
And I agree with everything everyone said about processed.
would I eat fruit and slightly starchy veggies as compulsively as I would eat processed? - NO not as compulsively.
But I do have to monitor myself with fruit - I do get stuck on it too.
I realize it won't do as much damage - but I can over eat it easily.
And again - there is a difference for me - in NOW and in the beginning - and I have to remember to say that because for some people it isn't an issue now (but might be later) and for others - it doesn't set off compulsion - they can eat a half a grapefruit and walk away without even thinking about the other half . . . (grapefruit, watermelon, grapes, cherries - get my fingers reaching for more, more, more).
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