Biohacking and Bulletproof Coffee

So part of this journey I am on has been about really looking into the right food for my body.

One of my colleagues at a client site posted a link on her facebook about Bulletproof Coffee. Clicking on the link led me to probably a couple of hours of reading posts at the time.


Initally, I was restricting my intake in a pretty extreme way, and I think I really needed to do that. So much of eating for me has always been about emotions and irrational thinking, and one of the main benefits of doing that was that I was actually able to take a break from my own brain, my own thinking.

What a relief! I even got really good at explaining what I was doing in a way that made sense to my own irrational thinking.

So now I thinking more about the difference between restricting intake to loose weight and retraining my body and resetting my metabolism.

The guy posting calls himself the Bulletproof Executive and has taken the concept of Biohacking to the extreme! I'll leave you to click on the link - his coffee, and concepts, are not for the faint of heart.

I can see that by doing a solely restrictive diet, there is a very real chance that my body will simply get completely confused, thinking it is starving and therefore slowing down my metabolism.

And this explains why so many people that do something like the Cohen diet lose heaps of weight - may 40kg - then put all that weight, and more, back on once they reach their goal weight.

I am trying to start replacing bad choices in my diet with really nutritious choices. Even though I have no idea how to prepare Jerusalem Artichokes!

Already I have noticed that I am more prepared to buy small quantities of really good products rather that stock standard grub from the supermarket. I am beginning to understand that price isn't the only factor when it may as well be toxic to me.

 

So today I am posting some of my recent purchases for your reading pleasure. And I am interested in how you think I could consider incorporating these into my diet

Real mozzarella balls - the fresh stuff is apparently really good as cheeses go and this tub has plenty of cherry tomato size balls.
Real wasabi - anything with intense flavourings is gonna be a winner and I've always had the cheap green horseradish variety.
Barrys Bay cheese - this is intended to be the opposite of the mozzarella, really tasty and designed for using just a small amount at a time.
LSA (linseed, sunflower and almond crush) - a friend sent a link saying this stuff is good for you. Only way I've used it so far is mixed through yoghurt.
Coconut Oil - apparently this is good for you. The Bulletproof Executive gets half his calories from fats, but always the good one. How is the next question ...
Steel-cut oats - a friend posted a link on facebook about making yoghurt crunch cups and the same site had a posting abut making steel-cut oats. Very soon after, there they were, tempting to be bought. Will let you know how they turn out.
Baby food - not sure if I already mentioned, but fruit purees are great for putting through low fat unsweetened yoghurt.
Clearwater Topless Yoghurt - I get this tub at a local market and it lasts for months as long as you carefully remove portions with sterile spoons.
Jerusalem Artichokes - apparently similar to potato but better for you and good at stablising blood sugars.
Free range, corn fed chicken - I try and buy a packet that is the right weight to easily split into meals. This packet is two meals for me.

This week I have been out with the girls for a Thai banquet and had pizza delivered last night. Which makes it even more remarkable that my weight this week is 85.2kg.

Lemon Pepper Beef

It's been a week since my last post and a busy week at that!

I have been really busy attending courses and seminars at the moment, as well as the rest, and this has meant a lot of meals on the run or provided as part of events.

I'll try and explain something that has changed for me since starting this journey.

The crux is: I am entitled to be slim and healthy and I am responsible for making choices that make me slim and healthy.

This sounds really simple, but I think that for a really long time I have made excuses for why things are the way they are. And at the heart of those excuses was an underlying belief that I did not deserve better.

If I am headed in the right direction, every step will get me closer to my goal.

I have been spending a lot of time lately educating myself around this personal development stuff and some of it is definitely sinking in. In fact, I am attending a ten-week seminar on Living Life More Powerfully: Being at the Cause of Life, not the Effect.

In the olden days, I was literally thinking about lunch as soon as I finished breakfast and continuously during the day I was justifying why I should just eat anything I chose.

Since making a decision to use food to manage my diabetes with a strict food plan, I have experienced the most incredible freedom from that thinking!

Going to get some fruit from a platter at an event on Friday, I discovered that a Creamed Pavlova had been added to the table as well. The first thing I did was turn my back on it. Literally. Then I had a conversation with my inner voice about whether or not I should have some. Once my inner voice was finished justifying why a little bit wouldn't hurt, it really was as simple as I'm not allowed it.

So I turned back to the table, selected a small portion of fruit and went away to enjoy it. AMAZING!

I haven't been as obsessed with following the food plan posted about earlier, but I have been making choices that support my body better. No sugar or flour. No potatoes, pasta or rice. Limited fruits and fat. Limiting the portions.


And it is working. My weight this week is 86.0kg.

Dinner in the picture is beef coated in lemon pepper served with mushrooms, bok choy and tomato pasta sauce. And it was delicious.

Coming full circle with the Carbs

I am choosing to change the day I 'un-officially' weigh myself to a Saturday since I know that weekends are not good for me. I am looking at this as a forever thing and don't need to beat myself up if I had a slice of Divine Dessert Chocolate Mudcake last night after eating really well all week.

I feel like I have come full circle with the whole 'carbs' thing ... I spent a bit of time online this week looking for information about some of the popular low carbs diets out there at the moment - Cohens, Dukkan etc.

Many people on forums has discussed their anecdotal stories of using these popular diets. Everyone agrees that they have (or they know people who) followed these diets to the letter and lost huge amounts of weight - 40kg here, 25kg there.

But, equally, there are stories of people ending the diet with a sluggish metabolism, the same previous habits and putting all of the lost weight - and some - back on.

People talk about this being their own fault for not doing 're-feeding' training - learning how to eat enough to maintain the new weight.

Trying to find a balance where I am eating healthy food that is best for my Diabetes, while trying to make sure my choices don't inadvertently screw with my already-sluggish metabolism ... and somewhere along that line, I am hoping to safely lose weight to help minimise my Diabetes in the long-term.

The speed of that weight loss is becoming unimportant as long as I continue to trend downwards.

I am going to allow a small amount of quality carbs back in ... Divine Dessert Chocolate Mudcake is not quality at all in terms of my health - it did meet an emotional need after a rather stressful week but I had the sugar hangover to prove it.

I have bought a loaf of low GI Cape Seed bread and will allow myself the occasional slice.

See how human and imperfect I am? Emotional eating and indecisiveness, but I just need to keep getting on that horse and making this thinking a habit. By the way, my weigh-in yesterday morning - 87.5kg. Good.

Image: divine.co.nz
Image: diaryofaladybird.blogspot.com

McDonald's Chicken Salad

I know that going to Maccas for a salad is like an addict going to the Pub for a drink of water.

But dammit, Maccas marketing is so good that my kids think is it just an expected part of life. The children are quite used to having a burger and fries or froke. As I have been.

I would guesstimate that the kids go to Maccas at least once a week on average.

This horrifies my Mum, since "we had Fish and Chips once a year growing up".

I am happy to say that my eldest son is becoming more discerning and will happily choose sushi over a burger if we are in a food court. Though that has it's own cost: financial. Especially since he wants the ten dollar pack with the prawns and shrimps. Frankly, Maccas would be cheaper. But only financially.

My friend Charlotte was saying that her eldest was quite alot older than alot of other kids the first time she offered Tim a chip. At first he didn't know what to do with the chip kind of looked at her as if asking "What do I do with this?". Her next boy, Ben, was very early with the "Give me more".

I think the thing in that is that its easier to avoid contact with the first but the third in the family will be chuggin down fries at 6 months and 2 days!

So just after I was starting this journey, my youngest (age 2 and a half and very familiar with Maccas) was attending a party and I was challenged to find something suitable on the menu.

I bought a side salad for $3 and a seared chicken breast fillet for $2. And a low fat Garlic and Black Pepper Balsamic Vinegar dressing. I think they have a Chicken Salad choice for around $8 as well. Mehh.

As work is directly across from a mall and food court, this has become one of my lunch choices. And since Gio and Michelle are eating healthy as well, we have, between us, ordered enough Chicken Salads over the month to run the mall franchise out of that yummy low fat dressing. Is that an achievement?

Franchises charge differently for a fillet, but they are quite happy to do this. I am still on my journey to health, and I am able to attend a birthday party with my children, if need be.

When to throw out fat clothes?

On the phone to Mum the other night, I was saying that I fit back into a pair of pants that were too tight for me before I started this journey.

Her (helpful mum) response was "That's great. You need to throw out the clothes you don't fit anymore. Just throw into a clothing bin on your way past. Start doing it now and it will be one less thing to sort out".

My immediate reaction was "NOOOOOOOO ......."

I'm just not ready to let go of my biggest fat clothes, so what is that about?

Infact, I'd go so far as to say that my fat clothes make me feel better at the moment.

I like that they are too big on me now. I don't want to go down to clothes that might feel fitted <read tight here>.

But what if I need them again?

So part of me is still not convinced this is a forever journey, and ready to slide right back to my old size. I talked to my girlfriend on a similar journey and she feels the same way. No clothes are leaving her wardrobe yet either.

I am learning that my internal voice is anything from an echo of my past to a comment on my fears or even worse: my shame, so I know that the internal voice telling me to keep the clothes is not helpful or wanting the best for me.

"Thanks for sharing inner voice, Now I will take time to decide what I actually want".

I really want to recover from Diabetes. I really want to be a healthy size and live a healthy life.

I have dropped a dress-size already but I still haven't thrown any clothes out, but I am well aware of the conversation going on inside my head. And now that I have awareness around it, I can change it.

I'll let you know when I get my head in the right space around this. Wish me luck.

Image: luigi diamanti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Compliance through Difficult times

My city has been living in the most extraordinary of times. We have experienced over 8000 aftershocks and several very large and devastating earthquakes over the last year. Of those, I'd estimate that I have stopped and noticed over five hundred.

Image: Quake Drum, McQueens Valley - 4 September 2010

With the first earthquake, we considered ourselves very lucky on the whole. Even badly-affected friends whose houses were severely damaged, were able to carry on with the support of family and friends. We all got on with our lives and became familiar with the aftershocks.

For me, the February quake was worse. No power or toilet at home for weeks, school and daycare closed for weeks. Water supply compromised. And the tragic loss of a dear friend.

I was very fortunate that family took care of my two oldest boys in a town two hours away, where they were able to attend school as well. My youngest boy stayed with me where I was hosted by my business partner and his wife.

Eventually my husband and I were re-united at home as a family and begin living life as 'new normal'.

During the upheaval, one of the first things to go was routine. People still talk about the how they simply forgot to cut hair, cut toe nails or go to the dentist.

For me, any semblance of routine around food and medication was immediately ruined. I think it may have been a month later I was visiting the doctor, tearful that I had forgotten to take my prescribed medication, and the doctor assured me that my circumstances were the same as dozens of other people he'd seen from Christchurch. And he was in Temuka, that little town two hours away!

Two things stand out for me about this:

“It's never too late to be who you might have been.”

George Eliot (English novelist 1819 - 1880)

And if I google long enough, I'll find the perfect quote to justify my insane timing. So I did:

“You win battles by knowing the enemy's timing, and using a timing which the enemy does not expect.”

Miyamoto Musashi
(Japanese Martial Arts master, one of the world's greatest swordsmen, 1584-1645)

At the time of the doctor's appointment, I resumed some medications, but not my injected insulin. More recently I went through the rigmarole of testing and adjusting my insulin, getting back into a routine, but whatever ongoing and other stress has happened, soon knock that out.

So this is all part of my story that has lead me to this place, this plan. What I can't do with medicine, I am doing with food.

My final motivational quote for today:

“Be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. Talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet. Make all your friends feel there is something in them. Look at the sunny side of everything. Think only of the best, work only for the best, and expect only the best. Be as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own. Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. Give everyone a smile. Spend so much time improving yourself that you have no time left to criticize others. Be too big for worry and too noble for anger.”

Christian D. Larsen
(American author of Applied Metaphysics for Beginners, 1874 – 1962) 

Image: quake.crowe.co.nz 

Omega-3 Oils and Walnuts

I have been wanting to add some supplements into my food plan since I am aware how restrictive my diet is at the moment.

And since I believe everything anyone posts online, when I was looking for advice on appropriate supplements for Diabetes, I was happy to believe the following:

You can increase insulin sensitivity by taking omega-3 oils. Essential fatty acids help to increase the level of nutrients getting into cells by increasing the fluidity of the cell membrane. When our cells are insulin resistant the cell membranes do not allow nutrients into the cells since the cell receptors are not able to function. The omega-3 fatty acids improve the circulation of nutrients into and energy out of the cells. Your primary energy source should be from fat. But do not eat a lot of saturated fat since most of the excess fat we store is saturated fat. When insulin levels go down the triglycerides will start releasing some of the stored saturated fat. Your cell membranes require a balance of saturated and poly-unsaturated fat, and keeping that balance is what helps improve the fluidity of the cell membrane. Good sources of fats are nuts like almonds and walnuts. Nuts are a great source of protein mixed with mostly mono-unsaturated fatty acids. Supplementing with EPA-DHA fish oils is very beneficial in improving insulin sensitivity. EPA helps reduce inflammation in tissues, especially the arteries, and DHA is extremely helpful for circulation and brain function.

I visited the local health food shop looking for 'EPA please' and mentioned the Diabetes as well.

The lovely lady there sent me on my way with high-dose EPA and Gymnema, also called Gymnema sylvestre, is in the Glucose Manager product. Apparently this plant is from India and has been used for centuries as a natural medicine to treat Diabetes. Also helps with treating constipation, liver disease, water retention, blood pressure problems, arrhythmia and tachycardia. But the coolest bit is that it can be an weight loss supplement because it interferes with tasting sweet stuff and therefore reduces cravings.

And yet again, there are good reasons to add nuts into my food plan. Must get on to that.

Quote: naturalchoicesforyou.com

Hungarian Scrambled Eggs

I love the way I was shown to make scrambled egg by my Hungarian step-father, since I detest overcooked egg. This method uses the heat of the vegetables to cook the egg, not the stove top. The result is tasty but light.

Ingredients

Selection of veggies: courgette, capsicum, onion, mushroom

One egg

Seasoning

Directions

Prepare the vegetables and cook until tender. Remove the pan from the stove. Add the egg. Move the egg through the vegetable mixture until you see that the temperature has dropped enough to stop the egg cooking. Put back on the heat only enough to warm through again and continue moving mixture. Continue removing and heating sequence until egg is just cooked. Season and serve.

Serves 1

Yum.

Abdominal fat is Bad

It's amazing how excess weight goes on different people. We even have names for the basic shapes: hour glass, apple, pear, straight etc.

No wonder we need such large wardrobes, extensive (and expensive!) shopping expeditions and still can't find anything to wear!

Unfortunately for me, I put most of my weight around my waist as a tyre. This kind of fat is the worst and it's the stuff that shows on the outside the state of my organs on the inside.

Estrogen first affects females during puberty when it is part of the process for developing breasts and a wider pelvis, but it also plays a part in where fat distributes on your body. When estrogen is reduced after menopause, the absence causes fat to shift from buttock, hips and thigh to the abdomen. Excessive amounts of the masculizing hormones has the same effect, hence Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome causes weight to redistribute to the bad areas as well. Bummer.

And as Diabetes is a known co-morbidity for Polycystic Ovaries, I am even more gutted to learn that it's a double whammy.

While researching, I found the following explanation:

Your fat cells take longer to get insulin resistant. That is why we gain weight in the abdominal area when we have partial insulin resistance. Insulin takes sugar and stores it as fat in your cells. So until your fat cells become totally insulin resistant you continue to gain weight. Then your weight will plateau as the fat cells protect themselves. Your linings of your arteries do not become insulin resistant, and as insulin increases, more plague will build-up in the lining. This is why coronary artery disease is much higher in people with insulin resistance.

So basically my fat cells want to hang out on my abdomen and when they get there, they park up like good-for-nothings.

I've been having a bad weekend, food-wise, and picked at party food yesterday as well as Twisties last night, Fruit popcorn and too many grapes today and a couple of chocolate chippie cookies this afternoon.

All those carbs and sugar are poison to me! I even have the headache to prove it.

Fortunately I find the week easier to manage food-wise than the weekend, so I will be glad to get back into it tomorrow, and I know that I can always start again right now. So dinner will be stir fry kale and other veggies and lean steak. And I will make a particular effort to drink plenty of water.

So my weekly weigh in is 88.3kg. I am happy with that, but aware that it's just as easy to put back on and I have a long way to go.

Image: Michelle Meiklejohn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Quote: naturalchoicesforyou.com

Maybe if they haven't already chewed it!

One of my favourite meals as a kid was called Cod Creole.

This was a mixture of tinned smoked fish, onion and dried tomato soup cooked together with water to make a fishy sauce and served over boiled rice.

I have made it recently and it is as delicious as I remember, though my boys weren't so keen on it ...

As children, my siblings and I were expected to eat everything put in front of us, and every last mouthful served up to us. I think the only things I was ever allowed to say no to was oysters and toheroas.

Toheroas are an endemic Kiwi clam that are said to be delicious - bleurk - and Oreti Beach in Southland is one of only a few places toheras are found in New Zealand and my home turf. Restrictions were put in place in the 1950s and by 1990s any harvesting was banned.

The last season down there was 1993, where with a limit of 5 each of at least 10cm still saw more than 15k harvested over a nine-hour one-day season.

Since this kai moana was already restricted during my childhood, I think there was a special exemption since they would be wasted on me.

These days I think you need a customary permit approved by your iwi, if you are a Maori decendant. Not sure what you can do if you are Pakeha ... I digress.

I remember sitting at the kitchen table in Margaret Street, Invercargill with my plate of Cod Creole and my siblings. For whatever reason, we had decided that we were NOT going to finish that meal. I don't remember how long we were forced to sit there, but I do remember the day going dark. Eventually my sister comes up with a plan and we all empty our plates out of the kitchen window onto the lawn down the back side of the house. Such was the expectation to not waste food and eat everything put in front of you.

So a major internal battle to this day is not wasting food.

Thou shall not waste food on thine own plate, nor the plates of thine offspring.

I was reminded by Tania today that one of the big causes of excess food intake for mothers is finishing the food on their kids plates. So it's true: kids make you fat.

Sitting at Charlotte's house today, we talked about the extent of this problem. Only one mum easily avoids this and told us it was as simple as it grosses her out. She's the slim one.

Really wish it grossed me out! The other mothers all agreed that it's worse than that: we are willing to eat pretty much anything off the plates of our children as long as they haven't already chewed it!

My children are growing up in a world of excess and I really want them to learn to eat what they enjoy and eat it in moderation. Which means that I try not to force them to finish their plates while encouraging them not to be fussy and to make the time for eating. Ughh.

So the point is that I am creating new rules on how food should be approached through parenting.

Thou shall endeavour to create/select only enough food, but never feel guilty for not finishing a dish.

Thou shall never eat off the plate of thine offspring, if the only purpose is to prevent waste.

Done.

Image: Foodstyle.co.nz

What did I eat today?

This isn't necessarily an average day, but is typical of what I am trying to achieve. Plenty of protein and low GI veggies, low fat dairy, limited fruit and gluten and minimal fat. This is deliberately restrictive as my goal is recover from Diabetes, which requires weightloss. And to have a food plan that stabilises my blood sugars at the same time.

Breakfast

Instant Apple Cinnamon porridge sachet made up with 1/2 cup trim milk and then mixed with a couple of spoonfuls of low fat unsweetened yoghurt.

Lunch
Half a serve of chilli beef and veggies, no noddles or rice from the Chinese at the food court.  I paid an extra 20c to have it served on a plate and have a takeaways container as well and I split the meal before I ate it. The remainder is still sitting in the fridge at work for the weekend. Whoops!

Afternoon Tea

A good few Peckish crackers - Salt and Vinegar. I love these ones though probably the Chilli are better and I love that they are gluten free.

Dinner
Veggies (sliced mushrooms, capsicum and onion) laid over the base of a square baking tin and topped with an egg then baked in the oven and served with a little oyster sauce and sprouts.

1/4 tin of drained Fruit Salad in Natural Juice.

Fluids

One glass of diet lift in the morning.

One small bottle of coke zero with lunch.

A couple of glasses of water and a couple of cups of instant coffee with trim milk no sugar - I never had sugar in coffee so this is just a personal choice

Snacks/Other

Two Shrewsbury biscuits before dinner - hey they did have magic in the middle!

A fish oil capsule and a glucose stabilising tablet from the health shop.

As I posted another time, this time is working for me because I am seeing food as helpful or not helpful now. So even though someone else may be eating something "delicious", I don't feel deprived.

This is a new feeling as I have always wanted to eat everything and probably been thinking about lunch the moment I finished breakfast. Now I don't even really think about food until I am ready for it.

Choosing to severely restrict my options is helping I think. It means that when I get home, I am thinking which of 100g steak, 100g chicken or an egg I will have tonight, and not the thousands of other choices I could be having.

I do find evenings difficult still though. I prowl for food while reminding myself why I am doing this. When this works, I go to bed happy.

Yummy Egg Fritters

A long time ago, before Sanitarium told us all to have Weetbix for breakfast, an egg was a really normal breakfast food.

I remember in Intermediate the Home Economics teacher spending the first week solely extolling the virtues of the humble egg. I took away from it that eggs are about the most complete food on earth and lack only vitamin C. Feel free to correct this 12 year old's information.

Eventually we were allowed to scramble the egg and finally whipped those eggs into a sponge cake. The baking never took, but I still love cooking eggs. I create a mean omelette or scramble. The trick to delicious eggs is not over-cooking them.

Ingredients
1 Egg
4 Button Mushrooms
1/2 a Courgette
1/4 a Capsicum
Finely sliced cabbage
Cracked Pepper
Lemon Juice

Directions
Prepare the veggies and place in eggs rings in a pan lightly sprayed with oil. Beat one egg with a little water and divide between the egg rings. Squeeze over lemon juice and season with cracked pepper. Cook until bottom is set, then remove rings and turn fritters over to lightly cook other side.

I served this with a side of lettuce, vinegar and lemon juice with a little cracker broken over as croutons.

Serves 1

I reckon this meal was on the table in less than 10 minutes. I could spend longer than that deciding on what to order while waiting in the queue at McDonalds!

Beef Salad in 12 minutes or less

I've been fascinated for a while now about how different fruits and veggies are processed by the body.

Especially how the pancreas deals with them, since many are low in carbohydrate and high in fibre.

And some even have no discernible effect on blood sugars: courgette, cucumber, green beens. Mushroom, capsicum, brocolli. Tomatoes, celery, onions.

A typical meal for me at the moment is a plate of veggies with some protein.

Ingredients
100g Steak or Chicken Breast
4 Button mushrooms
1/2 a Courgette
1/4 of a Capsicum
1/2 a stalk of Celery
Coriander
Garlic, Ginger, Cracked Pepper, Chilli Flakes
Lemon Juice, Vinegar

Directions
Usually I prepare (maybe a shake of lemon pepper and a spray of oil) and start cooking the steak or chicken.While that sizzles on the hob, I chop up my veggies: sliced mushrooms and celery. Maybe a handful of cabbage. Or small amount of chopped onion or spring onion. When the meat is cooked, I put it out to rest and put the veggies into the same pan. Stir over a high heat for a few moments then put in 1/4 cup of water. I often add a splash of lemon juice and/or vinegar and/or a twist of cracked pepper too ... top with coriander. Slice the rested meat and serve warm over the stirfry.

Serves 1

But some play foul of that rule, for example pumpkin and parsnip are both high GI.

And sweet corn is a really good example. On a cob, boiled and eaten from the cob, corn is really good for you and low GI, but taken off the cob makes them higher GI.

Varieties and preparation change this too. Old floury potatoes can be high GI and new potatoes low GI. Boiled kumara has a lower GI then baked kumara.

In the meantime, I am enjoying a food plan of all the veggies that will benefit my blood sugars. Which is the goal. And who doesn't have 12 minutes or less to create a delicious healthy meal?

Another conscious decision I have made is to limit my intake of veggies as part of my plan. And it's working ... this morning's weight was 89.0kg. Yay.

Kiwifruit and Yoghurt for Breakfast

On most mornings since I have been following my food plan, I have been have been having low fat unsweetened yoghurt and fruit for breakfast. The quantity of yoghurt I have been eating is about four good spoonfuls over one serve of fruit.

I am happy with a chopped-up kiwifruit or some mango or paw paw. My friends prefer the yoghurt sweetened with sugar substitute.

Clearwater's Organic Dairy Yoghurt

Comes as several choices including the fabulous Cream Top Yoghurt, but they also have a low fat unsweetened version that they claim is milk and culture and nothing else. This yoghurt is mildly acidic and quite loosely textured. The Clearwater's website has some fantastic recipes using their products as well.

Cyclops Organic Low Fat Greek Yoghurt

This one is a lot thicker and and a lot more acidic. I really like the texture of greek yoghurt, but I know that my friends prefer it whisked a bit to smooth and loosen the texture.

Biofarm Low Fat Yoghurt

I haven't tried this one yet so I am not sure about the sugar content as low fat does not necessary mean low sugar, so I'll update this post when I know. Their website looks like it has a nice selection of recipes too.

EasiYo Low Fat Yoghurt

Has a range of low fat and low sugar choices. The Berry version has 7g of sugar per 100g, and you could sweeten to task with a substitute. I don't have an EasiYo maker at home, but think I need to borrow one and try these out.

DeWinkyl Natural Unsweetened Yoghurt

This is a mild yoghurt with a firmer texture than the Clearwater's but not as firm as the Greek.

Recently I bought a six-pack of a new dairy dessert range and discovered that these pots had a ridiculous amount of sugar and fat. Maybe okay occasionally for the kids, but I am finally beginning to realise that some foods may as well be poison to me.

Jenny recommends a smoothie with banana, low fat milk and protein powder. Yoghurt, berries and low fat milk would make a great smoothie too.

Other ways you could have this breakfast could be flavoured with cinnamon, grated apple and sugar substitute to taste or with mango microwaved with a bit of water and mashed, then stirred through the yoghurt.

Remember that low fat dairy has been shown to help reduce the risk of all sorts of bad stuff and may help carry fat away from the body. And a protein-rich breakfast will reduce your hunger. Low fat yoghurt is also low GI, which means you won't be spiking your blood sugars, which will help stabilise your blood sugars for the day. And did I mention the calcium in the yoghurt and the fibre in the kiwi?

So get some today.

Detoxing from Sugar ... what a headache ...

Sugar, sugar everywhere!

It's in chocolate and lollies obviously. And cakes, ice cream and fizzy. But it's also in flour, fruits and veggies.

Did you know that two halves of tinned Peaches and one tablespoon of the syrup has three and a half teaspoons of sugar? And a hamburger bun has the same amount.

As for fizzy, fruit juice and other energy drinks, one glass can easily have as much as eight to ten teaspoons of sugar. Considering that these drinks are never limited to one glass just makes it worse.

And this stuff is addictive! Some people literally crave sugar. And mostly, sugar is sugar. A diet high in sucrose (white sugar crystals) or a diet high in fructose (fruit sugar) are equally to blame for all those bad things: diabetes, hypertension etc.

So put down that spoon! A bowl of fruit salad created from four pieces of fruit is still too much fructose.

I think there is only one way to detox from sugar: stop.

Whether you are going cold turkey, or doing a careful reduction to manage other medications, that means excluding anything made with white flour or white sugar. That means excluding fruit and veggies high in natural sugars. And that means headaches.

I don't really know what to say here except obviously if you are injecting insulin, you need to discuss something like this with your doctor and monitor and adjust closely. Fortunately since I was currently not compliant with my meds, I got to ignore this bit. Naughty, naughty.

Detoxing causes headaches and tiredness, so be prepared for this. Drink plenty of water to keep your brain hydrated and wash the toxins away and take paracetamol if you need it. Someone mentioned to me to avoid codeine phos, since it'll bung you up. And I read online that detoxing can also cause itching or rashes, just so you know.

My headache lasted a couple of days and I took paracetamol a couple of times. I read online that if the headache lasts longer than three, you need to see your doctor.

Stick with it and the headaches go away and you will feel new energy. And for me, this is part of my long-term health plan and I am on my way!

Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Protein Reduces Hunger

Researchers don't really know why yet, but it makes sense to me that Protein reduces Hunger given our original diet as humans. We were designed to work most effectively on the foods that would have been most available back then.

Online reading suggests there are no dangers with a high protein diet unless you have kidney disease. And that based on existing research, we should be aiming for around 120gms a day total, so you need to decide if my plan fits your circumstances for yourself. Please they always say you should see your doctor to be on the safe side ...

So what is an appropriate serving size for protein? Well it changes depending on the item, for example Peanut Butter would be 2 Tablespoons vs a piece of Chicken Breast the size of a deck of cards.

I am eating protein with every meal and making sure that I eat three meals a day.

I have started with just a few options:

100g Lean Chicken

100g Lean Beef

100g Lean Fish

60g Low fat Cheese (Ricotta, Cottage)

60g Low fat Yoghurt

1 egg

maybe a few walnuts at some stage ... VNess has reminded me how fantastic nuts are ...

I am not particularly fond of shellfish - blurk - but Mussels, Oysters, Prawn etc all seem a fantastic choice for someone who is.

Image: vitasamb2001 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The Incredible Shrinking Stomach!

OK. I admit I can be as gullible as the next person and I truly believed that if you eat smaller portions over a period of time, your stomach actually shrinks!

This was the theory I was working to when I deliberately reduced my portion sizes recently as part of this new food plan.

Apparently this fabulous myth is bollocks. Your stomach is like a balloon and can inflate or deflate as needed.

That's disappointing.

But there is good news! Reduced portion size may not shrink your stomach but it will shrink your appetite.

So I have found that with only a couple of weeks of controlled portions, I have already reset my 'appetite thermometer'. Which I am very happy about. This means that as long as I continue to saviour the food I am eating and choice smaller portions, I am feeling full and satisfied with less.

I definitely recommend that if you have begun to control your portion size, and you are struggling with hunger pangs: stick at it and you will notice a difference before too long.

Image: Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Too fat, too thin ...

I know that for all the overweight people in the world, there is another group equally battling to keep weight on.

Since I am such an expert, I thought I'd share my recipe for weight gain.

Step One

Make sure all choices relating to food are based on emotions: the more stress, the greater the quantities.

Step Two

Don't eat breakfast.

Step Three

I know it seems like not having breakfast might not help with weight gain, but trust me, by 10am, that pie or leftover pavlova is going to look really good. So go ahead and eat something that tastes really good and is either high fat, high sugar or both.

Step Four

Because everyone else is heading off for lunch at twelve, feel free to join them. Go to the local food court and pick anything you feel like. Make sure to add a drink to that, but avoid diet or water.

Step Five

Don't bother eating again if you get caught up in work, we can make up for that later. But feel free to drink as much coffee as you choose. At least enough that you have headaches on the weekend when your intake falls.

Step Six

When you get home, snack on anything. After all, it's been hours since lunch. But don't count it as dinner, more of a "late afternoon snack".

Step Seven

When dinner is ready, make sure to serve yourself a big plateful. You want your stomach to stretch and not feel full unless you jam plenty in.

Step Eight

Feel free to have dessert, if you wish. Same rules as dinner apply.

Step Nine

As long as we are still eating, feel free to pull out a packet of dip and chips and chow down.

Step Ten

Repeat daily.

Additionally, enjoy unlimited chocolate, lollies, birthday cakes or other food opportunities that present themselves. Make sure to also eat plenty of healthy fruit and vegetables.

Your body will be so confused, it will simultaneously think it is starving and malnourished. Because your stomach is so stretched, you will still feel hungry all the time.

Just keep feeding the hunger and the weight will pile on.

Image: zirconicusso / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Them scales, they lie!

I have been on a mission to Dick Smith and picked up a packet of 40 x AAA batteries and 40 x AA Batteries. Take that assorted toys and remotes!

Meanwhile back at the homestead, hubby has also been acquiring AAA batteries, so my scales are the proud owner of Energiser Plus batteries and the home-brand batteries are relegated to use in remotes etc.

Having worked out how to enter my height (160.2cm) and my age (37 years), gender and body type of a choice of athletic or normal ... I am ready to face my new 'starting weight'.

My starting weight is 90.1kg.

Kinda a shock since my crappy scales at least had the decency to weigh me light at about 86kg.

The scales send an electrical current through you and how much difficulty it takes travel through you provide other details.

Stats helpfully provided by my new scales? 42.2% Body fat (optimal for my age according to the accompanying booklet in several languages is 21-29%).

And apparently there is more water in lean tissue than fat, so the skinner you are, the more water there should be. For my optimal weight, this would be between 52% and 58%. Mine is currently about 40.9%.

So that's it. I am officially on the journey now.

Spicy Chicken Soup

I am finding soup better at night because it fills me up more and makes me feel full for longer. This soup has protein, tons of vegies and garlic, chilli, a tiny splash of fish sauce, lemon and vinegar. I love loads of coriander.

Ingredients

100g Chicken Mince or finely chopped Chicken Breast

1Tsp Vinegar

1Tsp Lemon Juice

1/2 tsp Fish Sauce

Chilli flakes to taste

Coriander

Any combination of vegies including:

Courgette

Mushroom

Celery

Onion

Cabbage

Mushroom

350ml water

Directions

Brown the mince with a spray of oil. Slice, dice or grate the vegies and add to the pot. Cook for a few minutes then add water and remainder of flavours including coriander. Allow to brew and cool a few minutes.

Enjoy with a couple of crackers.

Serves 1

I've also tried adding the mushrooms and courgette finely julienned and the coriander at the end and leaving them to heat through with the leftover heat works really well.

The next time I made two nights worth. I had some that night and more waiting for me the next night. I am finding chilli, garlic, lemon and coriander make the food tasty.

My Achilles Heel is Kids Party Food

Here in New Zealand, almost every kids party held in someone's home will include some or all of the following:

Cheerios

Fairy Bread

Savouries (or party pies over the ditch)

Kiwi Onion Soup and Reduced Cream Dip

Salsa

Potato Chips

Corn Chips

Lollies

Cupcakes, slices and biscuit

Popcorn

Fizzy

Juice

I love party food!

For all of my currently displayed motivation, I faced my biggest challenge so far today going to a kids party with my bevy of boys.

I start innocuously enough thinking that a couple of corn chips and salsa might be okay.

Really this opened the floodgates for the rest of the afternoon and by the end, I had enjoyed two savories, several cheerios dipped in salsa, a ham sandwich, a small slice of chocolate peppermint slice, a few swigs of grape fizzy and of course, the cornchips and salsa and chips and dip. Oh and chocolate Birthday Cake ...

Soooooo good at the time, but more sugar than I have had for weeks and so now I am suffering a combination of headache and thick throat. I can't tell if my throat is trying to swallow down the food or my disappointment at myself.

I am choosing to pick myself up and keep going. Tonight I will have an egg and some salad for tea.

Image: Master isolated images / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

My $75 Fitness Coach

I went to Briscoes today and bought a new set of scales.

As much I don't want to make this journey about weightloss, the reality is that seeing the pounds peel off will form part of the motivation.

And long-term, I need to understand the relationship between food and weight, better.

The old set of scales that were at home have been around for years, probably bought at The Warehouse for $20 and really difficult to use.

The way I place my feet on the scales or the way I balance myself on the scales or the scales being moved an inch to the left or the scales being bumped all cause different readings.

I can effectively cause a change in the result up to about 3kg. Don't get me wrong, this has suited me fine when I really didn't want to know. But now I am getting real, real readings will be part of it.

I had no idea scales had gotten so flash since my last purchase with "Body Composition Plus" and "I Speak" screaming to me from the packages.

Kinda like deciding to buy a DVD player instead of a Video player, I decided that scales that also calculate composition of water or fat or muscle is the way to go.

The set I picked had an original price of $149 but only a fool pays full price at Briscoes and in this instance, my scales came home for half price and include a free pedometer, electronic skipping rope and a sports bag and include the words "Fitness Coach".

Of course it takes 4 AAA batteries, so I can't use it yet, and a quick squizz of the various remote controls in the house suggests a dozen or more AAA batteries are looking for a home with us at the moment.

I'll let you know how it goes when it's turned on.

Food as Medicine

Since I have Diabetes, I am going to try starting with a food plan that addresses the main concerns of my Diabetes: sugar and anything that my body converts to sugar.

As you probably have too, I have seen many diets. Enough that I could probably create one myself. But I will start with something simple based on minimal carbohydrates with protein for every meal.

My plan is to mix low GI foods with proteins. Since vegies are carbohyrates too, that means staying away from root vegies etc. If I can eat low GI vegies, then it should cause a more gradual rise in my blood glucose levels.

So a serve of lean protein (including low fat cheese or yoghurt) with each meal and a combination of at least five vegies a day, plus two serves of low GI fruit a day.

Additionally I intend to have a few low fat crackers during the day as well.

So that's going to be my meal plan.

Image: Grant Cochrane / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

What's good for the soul ...

Very soon I'll tell you about what I am actually doing on a day-to-day basis.

The food will be so fantastic, you too will be inspired to join me on this journey!

I promise to provide photos and recipes and quantities!

I promise to share the highs and lows and whatever I can that might help.

I promise to record as much information as I can.

But there is a little more to cover off first.

Like the fact that I never recovered from the gestational diabetes. So this is about long-term quality of life, not losing a few kilos or fitting back into a pair of jeans.

And the fact that I was never going to do this until I got my head in the right place. This has to be for me. I have to choose to do it. I have to understand where the responsibilities lay.

I really needed to begin to see food as good or bad/helpful or unhelpful, not yummy or boring.

And with that nagging voice in my head constantly growling at me, it had to happen eventually.

I work with some really lovely lasses, and two have recently started a healthy-eating campaign at work. I am jumping on that bandwagon!

Image: Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The Phantom Pregnancy

I remember standing at a good friend's desk at work complaining that my boobs ached. Like really sore. If I didn't know better, I'd think I was pregnant.

I had been having naps after getting home from work, nausea and sore boobs for weeks. But I couldn't be pregnant. I can't get pregnant.

Remember? There's a 1 in 10 chance and we were really just waiting for assistance when we do want to conceive.

Because of my Polycystic Ovaries, I was used to an irregular cycle. Anyway, it had already been more three months since my last one.

But eventually I did buy a test. On the morning of a matinee showing of "Mum's the Word!" about the perils of parenthood! I even told the Pharmacy Assistant a completely logical reason for needing the test that was nothing to do with confirming pregnancy.

And I really was shocked (and thrilled!) when the test came back with two lines! Those lines didn't take 3 mins to appear or appear as pale blue. As the liquid moved across the window, it was like a marker line appearing.

To this day I consider it a miracle that the only time I had ovulated that year we managed to conceive my gorgeous boy.

And how long did it take me to do a test? Nine weeks.

Image: Louisa Stokes / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

What motivates you?

So I have learned that what motivates makes an enormous difference.

When I was pregnant with my first son, I became obsessed with managing my condition like a medical emergency. In fact, I lost 7kg with that pregnancy before I began gaining weight as my belly swelled.

I think one of the reasons I loved pregnancy is that it seemed that 'having a ruined figure' was kinda an accepted part of pregnancy. The fact my overeating had ruined it in the first place would become irrelevant in the histories.

Apart from my pregnancies, I can't really recall any other effective motivation. And by the third pregnancy, I admit that I was less motivated than my first (hey! I already had my heir and spare ...) to manage my complication.

As a result my last wee monkey has a birth defect, probably caused during some of the first cell splits. He has one fully-functioning healthy kidney, but not the second for redundancy.

I've come to terms with this: missing kidneys may occur in up to 1:7 people and most older-types have only found out when going for unrelated tests later in life and I expect my monkey to live a long life too.

Had I really understood the risks though, like really understood, surely my motivation would have been greater.

So what will motivate me on this journey?

Dumb and Dumber

You may wonder how much I know about the practical stuff. Like what happens when you eat what.

I actually know far too much. Maybe even an overdose of knowledge. This journey has never been about ignorance. It's been something quite different.

In my life, everything fascinates me. I have YouTube'd videos of key-cutting machines and how to prepare a fresh squid. I get excited by seeing behind the scenes of anything ... a supermarket, a McDonalds, an Emergency Service Communications centre ...

Anything involving my health is the same. I can tell you all about Myopia and Astigmatism.

I can tell you all about eating as well.

But there has been a disconnect between my knowledge and my actions. I eat too much and I eat the wrong stuff.

I have never questioned whether you can have your cake and eat it too ...

I have been doing this for a really long time too. Twice I have undertaken 'dieting', once with Jenny Craig - great food but really expensive, and once with Weight Watchers. Both times I lost maybe 10kg and eventually put even more back on.

And three times I have undertaken healthy eating for the sake of another to varying degrees of success.

Unless I can get to the point where I am choosing to eat for health and choosing to do it forever (not just losing the same 10kg over and over ...) - I will be destined to the same fate.

Image: Dino De Luca / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Diabetes

So sometime when I was about 28, my very thorough doctor sent me for a Glucose Tolerance Test since I have Polycystic Ovaries. Impaired Glucose Tolerance (or Insulin Resistance) and Polycystic Ovaries are often linked as something called Metabolic Syndrome.

I remember lying in bed once and understanding the links between the chemical imbalances caused by my ovaries and pancreas and the resulting excess weight, but it glimmered and disappeared.

Suffice it to say that there is a sliding scale between "Normal" (under 7) and "Diabetic" (over 14) and at 28, I was impaired (it may have been about 9 at the time or as high as 11, I just don't remember ...)

My doctor told me that this would mean that I may have problems conceiving and if I did, I would need to be monitored for Gestational Diabetes and ultimately, I was a candidate for Type II.

Hard to say what went through my head, but I do remember crying about my failure to be risk free and not really doing anything else about it. Except stopping birth control. And starting Metformin with a warning not to get pregnant on it. Not a great start.

I knew the odds of 1 in 10 the old-fashioned way, so I "couldn't really get pregnant" and actually stopped birth control so that when I did want to start a family at the planned age of 30, and we needed assistance, we could say we had already been trying for two years.

It really was a fine plan.

The Beginning

Much as I would love to start in the middle, its not very useful if I am going to share this journey with you.

In the beginning, I was a gorgeous healthy happy wee girl. Somewhere between birth and age 37, I made up a story for really good reasons that if I was fatter, I would stay happy or get happy again or something like that.

I am not going to change that story. I am going to create a new story.

And this is your invitation to take part. You may simply want to follow progress from a distance. And thats OK

But I really want to invite you to listen. To share. To talk.

And inspire me too.