So, if you have been keeping close tabs, you know that I am fairly obsessed with weight. I am one of those people that could get on a commercial for whatever and give the classic story that you've heard a million times: "I've tried every diet in the book, but after yo-yo-ing my entire life I finally found bla-blaty-blah, and now I'm in better shape then I was when I was twenty."
Okay, the last part's not true YET, but the first part is. I have tried everything. The one diet that worked miracle's for me was Weight Watchers, I think WW is wonderful and I'm convinced that without it I never would have had the confidence to meet my husband the way I did (Lava Hot Springs). But, I'm an old lady now, and my body isn't quite responding to WW the way it did when I was young and my body was resilient. I think the biggest problem is that unless you really do your research, WW is strictly calorie counting. As long as you don't go over your points, you're fine. So you could have twenty points in brownies and donuts for a day and call yourself successful, as long as you don't go over your limit.
At this point in my life, I'm much more concerned with eating a good blend of foods in good portions at the right time. But OH MY GOSH, there are a thousand different books, doctors, nutritionists telling me a thousand different things!
You have the traditional food pyramid with it's entire base consisting of grains, breads, cereals, translated into CARBS! You have the huge low carb craze, including the South Beach diet telling you to completely refrain from anything that has even the slightest wiff of carbohydrate and just eat meat and cheese for a period of time, then you go through the phases and yada yada... You have diets like Body for Life which stresses a proper balance of carbs and proteins, but make sure you fit that Myoplex shake in there three times a day! You have diets that tell you to eat six times a day, including right before bedtime. You have people telling you to stop eating before seven so it doesn't translate to fat while you sleep. They give you Splenda, nutrasweet, and aspartame to artificially sweeten your food, but then find out that they will paralyze you and make you even fatter. You have raw foodism, vegetarianism, veganism. The stores are selling shakes, waters, pills, bars, patches, sprays. My brain is melting from all the confusion and I am starting to smell colors.
The reason I bring this up is because I really want to eat according to what my body needs, but I honestly don't know the right way because there has not been a single "diet" that has come to stay. Diabetes runs rampant in my family, and I fit the profile for the disease like a glove, I had gestational diabetes when I was preggo, and I'm fairly certain that I'm hypoglycemic. After all the years of doctors telling their patients that they need to limit their carbs and increase their protein intake, there is now a book written by a highly researched doctor, telling diabetics that they can reverse their condition and potentially get off medication by cutting out all animal products out of their diet. All meats, dairies, cheeses, eggs, everything, veganism. I have not read the whole book yet, I plan to, but apparently these fats coming from animals, and even from veggies, somehow inhibit the part of the body that deals with insulin.
CRAZY! So now my entire thought process is messed up because since I had Jayda I've been living with the idea that fruit, bread, pasta etc, needed to be avoided, and meat, cheese, eggs, veggies, should be gobbled. I'm skeptical, and my jury is still out on this one. I have my own personal research subjects that are trying it out right now, so we will see how it works for them. I don't know, does anyone know any diabetic vegans? Every person that I know who has practiced the eating style has sworn by it, so I guess we'll see.
Right now, since I'm paralyzed with doubt and fear, I'm trying to keep everything in moderation. Lots of veggies, whole grains, some meat, lots of water. I know that there are some things that I could definitely change, but until I find out what that is, I'm keeping things the way they are. What works for you guys?
7 comments:
i seriously feel the same way -- how can EVERY doctor have scientific evidence of their "healthy way to eat" when they all contradict each other? it's a load a bs and I hate it. I just wish we knew which one was best.
Until then I'll stick with cutting out sugars and refined/processed products. As well as trying to balance carbs and proteins evenly if I can. Sigh. Who knows?
p.s. I love that you uploaded a picture of a question mark. classic! lol
Have you ever met with a licensed dietician? I don't know any personally- but I've worked with a few (for Clinton) and they all seem to know their stuff. That would be good for you too if you're borderline diabetic. Let me know what you think about that book! ;)
Here's what worked for me. I talked to Mom and we used the food pyramid and her knowledge of doctor-prescribed diets for diabetics. For breakfast I eat one bread, one dairy, one fruit and one protein, the same for lunch and dinner except that I add two vegetables to each meal. I look at packaging and downloaded a serving guide from the internet to know how much of everything is in a serving. I try to eat about 500 calories per meal (any desserts have to be included in those 500 calories so I generally consider the fruit to be dessert). I lost about 40 pounds and 3.5-4 sizes and am in the best shape of my life. The way I see it is this, the Lord gave us the word of wisdom that says to eat some of everything so the best thing for the body must be to use His diet plan. After all, who knows our bodies better than the being who created them. Also, I don't read diet books. As you've figured out, they contradict each other and leave the reader confused. Hope that helps!
The dieting world is such a mess. I agree with the last comment on the Word of Wisdom...nothing too extreme, just a good balance of it all...like the new food guide pyramid. And something I found with me is that the more i think about food/calories/dieting the more I think about the food I can't have therefore the more I want the food I can't have. So I try to think in terms of "what will make my body feel the best after I eat it"
I don't even buy the food that I know I will want to eat all day long (potato chips :) and I spend way too much money on fruits and veggies. I have really low blood sugar too, and have found that adding a tiny bit of good fat and protein to all my meals keeps me sustained so much longer so I'm not ALWAYS feeling hungry. Let us know what you decide works best for you!
I know where you are coming from as I used to be just like that. "How can I lose this weight? What do I need to do?" And all the diet gurus--MD's and all--just tell you what they think will get you hooked on their method. Keisha is right. The Lord created our bodies. Surely He knows how to feed them. The Word of Wisdom is the guide. Because our bodies are not perfect, some need to tweek a few things her and there. Jor is right about the little bit of fat to sustain her blood sugar. Protein works just as well. The reason--fat and protein take longer for the body to digest than carbs and sugars. So you have a slower using of these foods and so the blood sugar is maintain at a healty level instead of way up or way down. Get on mypyramid.gov and check it out. It has great ideas although I think there recommendation of daily calories is too high for most of us.
Great comments all around! I kind of practicing a mixture of what all of you suggested, especially cutting out sugars and refined stuff and keeping food to the natural basics. I've heard a lot about mypyramid, and even my doctor today suggested it, thanks so much for your input everyone!
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