Last year, I got a rude wakeup call. A routine 6 monthly checkup, blood pressure , blood test etc turned up the fact that my blood sugar was way too high. Assuming it was just an out of normal reading I thought no more about it but on retesting, guess what, I was pre-diabetic! Time to act NOW. I immediately dived into the subject, Googling furiously, talking to specialist nurses and doctors.
I had slid effortlessly into apathy with my activities and work. I realised that it was simply a matter of losing those pounds that had somehow crept on. To try to do it fast was a non starter, I’m not athletic, I do love my cooking, but somehow I was going to have to get rid of at least 20 to 30 pounds , the authorities in this area assured me that the other problems would go, as soon as the weight went. So, this is the summary of what I have found:
It is accepted now that simply trying to eat less, or not eating for longer periods is a recipe for failure. The body has some mechanisms which change fat-storage in the body , according to diet.
We produce insulin, the amount will depend on the food type and amount, if you can reduce the insulin, you will reduce the ‘message’ carried by the insulin in the blood to the cells, telling them to store fat. Going for longer periods without eating will simply tell the body to store fat, so after losing water for the first period of your diet, you will eventually gain weight!
The biggest contributor to insulin is carbohydrates, not fat. By reducing your intake of carbs, you will achieve the results you are looking for BUT…..
Introduce the dietary changes gradually
The majority of people who succeed in losing weight, change their diets slowly, effecting changes over a long time. Simply cutting out ONE biscuit a day , over a year will result in about 10 pounds lost ! When you look at your desired final body weight, see what you have to lose, then seek the very small change you need to do each day, it will look quite easy. There is nothing worse than trying to lose it all in a month, feeling very hungry every day , which inevitably leads to giving up!
Obesity
If you have a lot to lose, plan what you will lose over a year, aim at no more than 42 pounds. Then , when you look at the calories in each meal of the day, if you aim to reduce by about 300 to 500 calories daily, which is achievable, it is much better than trying to reduce your intake right down to the ‘ ideal’ daily calorie input of say 2000 , all in one go. That is just a recipe for disaster. Also I had recently bought a set of new plates, when I compared them to our previous ones they were much bigger! This simple realisation, showed just how easy it is to fool the brain. Not to look mean I think I must have increased portion size by a third! They have now found their way to the free give away site on the internet, and I have new plates, same pattern but the old smaller size. None of the family noticed. Now they are all happy to eat smaller portions, so calories lowered a little every day – winner!
Increase your daily activity
Any doctor or dietitian will talk about Diet AND exercise . The two go together and are much more effective when used together. Again the advice is gradual and this is particularly aimed at those of us over 40, don’t go straight into very strenuous exercise, having done nothing since your schooldays! Try walking to work or parking somewhere a little further from work. Take the dog out twice a day instead of once, the dog benefits too! When doing the weekly shop, park at the far end of the car park. Even taking the stairs , instead of the lift will have a big effect when you consider it over a long period of say a year. Make sure you aren’t taking on something that you hate, don’t start jogging if you hate running and have never done any, like the crash diet plans that leave you hungry all the time, you will just give up, so take up something that you can keep up.
If you would like to know more about Calories, Diets, Blood sugar, Blood pressure, linked diseases, there are some great articles on my friend John Sayles site QuickDietPlan.net
Planning your Foods
There are no bad foods!
If you like burgers, fish and chips, ice cream and other snack foods, normally though of as ‘bad’ foods from a diet point of view, make them your occasional treat, rather than cutting them out altogether. Of course if you had a burger every day, or if you had a very active job like a builder or fitness instructor, then suddenly changed to a sedentary occupation, but didn’t change your diet to match it….. you are going to gain weight. See also Cholesterol article
How the Halogen Oven Fits the Plan Perfectly
Preparation is everything
Because cooking in a Halogen type cooker takes so little ( sometimes zero ) oils or fats to cook with, yet produces the very best moist and fully cooked through and browned chicken, beef etc. You get the benefits of low fat cooking and speed, your tasty and fully balanced meal can be ready in a fraction of the time taken in a conventional oven. Because cooking a full and healthy meal is so easy , you will be less inclined to buy the ‘ready meal’ or ‘diet version’ meals, which adds yet more benefits .
You will be eating FRESH food that is not PROCESSED and that costs you much less every week. Once you have experienced a Halogen cooking chicken or other meats, you will not go back to a conventional method easily where the results are not as easy to see and can quickly turn meat dishes very dry. Also you can see just how the fat content drains out during cooking.
Processed Food
There have been many documentaries and magazine articles on the subject of processed food and packaged meals. Suffice to say fresh food is cheaper, has no ‘taste good’ additives, is much cheaper, has no preservatives which do us long term damage and
JUST TASTES BETTER !
Results – Success
My research seems to have paid off, after just 1 month cutting out biscuits and cakes, taking the dog out each day and a bit more walking and moving around, another blood test has confirmed i’m now below the diabetic threshold and have lost 7 pounds, wah hoo!
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