I'm on a diet. I know that the word "diet" is loaded with all kinds of meaning & baggage, but for me, it's how I eat - & a specific food group that will become a part of my 'food world.' (My term probably. I like it for its descriptiveness... it speaks a lot of how small the actual pool of potential edibles is in my world.)
Anyway, over time, I have discovered that there are certain foods that don't sit well in my belly. Dairy products. Like ice-cream. Mostly ice-cream. Milk. I end up with all kinds of negative side affects, which are better left undescribed. These only have kicked in over the last 3-5 years, so it's not like I've been lactose intolerant my whole life, only to finally realize it. High sugar foods, like any good dessert - hot fudge, cheesecake, monkey bread, 6 layer double fudge cake, etc..., combined with high carbohydrate refined flours & sugars, cause me to have a near-catastrophic response in my blood sugar. And even if they didn't, they left me feeling blah, sick to my stomach, & generally grumpus-like... all of this I had thought was just normal, par for the course response to food. You eat it, then you get this response. Turns out, not everybody has that kind of a deal with food. So, I modified my approach - if it doesn't make me feel sick, angry, & doesn't taste like dren...
A few years back, the Atkins Diet was all the rage. I was a few pounds heavier than my fighting weight, & my 30th birthday was fast approaching, so I thought I'd at least look into this 'diet' & see what it would entail... cutting out refined sugars & flours... avoiding trans fats... avoiding 'high carbohydrate' food... eating foods high in protein. Like meat. Sausages. Chicken. Pork. Meat. Did I mention meat? And good cheese. And I thought this was a diet. It sounded like my preferred means of nutrition. So I went 'on' the diet, & lost 35 pounds. The only things I missed eating were cookie dough, breakfast cereal (but milk was ok to miss) & the occasional dessert, like cake. Or ice-cream, which made me sick anyway. Some people were "Atkins haters" & some nutritionists said it was bad to eat that way, but my experience & my body told me a different story. And, yes, my cholesterol was measured at 141 - 70 for the ldl, 71 for the Hdl...
The next several years of my life involved eating what I referred to as a "modified Atkins' meaning - I ate what I wanted, mostly high in protein, & low in refined sugars & flours. It was the 'best' time of life - where if I felt like eating something that wasn't on the diet, I ate it, then resumed my regular routine.
Our church family went on 2 40 day fasts - not total fasts, but fasts that involved not eating meats or the 'nice parts' of meals - it was a part of something our denomination was doing at the time... so I participated, & in a short time, eating cereals, bagels, veggies, whole grains, & yogurt, had managed to put back on all the weight I had lost. Sigh.
Fast forward to May 16 of this year. I had been thinking about me & how I great I felt when I had been "Atkins-ing." My pounds were still lurking, the residue of my 3 months (& then some) of special high-carb eating... I wanted them to go away - so I decided that for me, eating what I want in the manner I want was the way to go. So I've been doing the modified Atkins again since then, & the results have been what I expected. About 15 pounds gone. Feeling good in my body, soul, & mind. Enjoying the indulgence of life's little pleasures like Spam, Flaming Hot Pork Skins, Louisiana Hot Links, broccoli, & Sharp Cheddar cheese.
I take vitamins. I work out 4x a week. I eat food that is high-protein/low carb, & I drink water like my life depends on it. (I know, I know. It does. But you get what I mean.) And my 'diet' is the way I want to eat. The way I feel best when I eat. And yes, I will occasionally mix in a dessert... It makes me think that for all the nutritional studies publishing what's good, bad, & ugly for us to consume, there's a lot of generalizations in those studies, & one of the best things we can do is find out what fuel our body likes best & functions best on...
But you can do what you like. I'm going to have a 2-egg Spam omelette with Taco Bell Fire Sauce & some great cheddar...
Badges?
Stuff I like to read; a blog-roll; or, some link-age
Subscribe To
Posts
Comments
Oh, snap...
9 launchings into the blogosphere....:
your post is good timing for me... thank you:)
I was going to tell you today that you are looking like you have lost quite a bit of weight... but I didn't get a chance...so I am telling you now:) lookin' good!
This type of diet sits well (though I prefer South Beach style.. it is similar) with me too, and I have gone far astray for way too long. Thanks for the reminder:)
I am anti diet. Mostly because it brings out the rebel in me that I have a hard time hiding anyway. Instead, I like to replace my not so healthy foods with better things. If I am eating more things that are healthier, there is less room for the junk. Then I don't feel badly when cake is available because I have likely had lots of fruit and veggies in the day.
I'll agree with Laura and give you a lookin' good cheer. :)
As far as the "diet" scene goes-- Ugh... Potato chips will be the death of me. They are the biggest thing that I miss when I try cutting out starches. But like you, the things I do not miss are those horrible dairy products. The worse for me, though is not actually ice cream, but WHIPPED cream... WHIPPED Cream is torture! :)
I'm glad to hear that this is working out so well for you!
i was here. i was not dieting.
I will not be dieting until about 2 1/2 months from now. Until then, I will be enjoying what I like to eat and try not to go over board.
Out of the ways of changing one's eating habits, I find the recipes of south beach work for our family. Cutting out the white pasta and white bread = lower BMI
My wife doesnt like it when I diet. So, I do what I can & stay at an obese (according to the BMI) 205.
Great philosophy for life - eat what you want and my thought is enjoy this simple pleasure when you're hungry. It must be good. Glad to hear you're feeling better and healthier. I think that's the main goal.
I'm on the see-food diet . . . I see food, I eat it . . .
Can you tell? :-)
if i had my way for food i love to eat my daily diet would look like this,
coffee for breakfast
salami, cheese and olives for lunch, maybe with or without a soda or sparkling water
and a salad with all kinds of cheese, olives, and a nice slice of bread and butter with wine. could eat this daily diet every day and maybe add pasta every now and again. for snacks, just add more cheese , did i mention i love cheese.
Post a Comment