For over a week, I have made significant progress in my
eating habits resulting in significant weight loss (over 6 pounds). I have taken the multitude of information I
have learned from podcasts, blogs, and videos, and decided to do something
about it, and apply it to my own life. I
have increased my carb intake and applied intuitive eating habits - both with
great results. All it took was one meal
(yesterday’s lunch) to go back to my old habits, and I noticed an immediate
negative effect. I will first explain
the habits I have changed, and then what I did wrong to obtain negative
results.
I have heard many podcast interviews and read multiple blog
posts indicating the potential requirement for some people to consume more carbohydrates
than others. The idea that some people could eat more than
20 to 50 grams per day, and still lose weight, seemed far-fetched to me. Wouldn’t they have sugar cravings? Wouldn’t they spike their insulin? I knew that I would typically eat 20g/day up
to 50g/day, without any negative side effects.
But I could never go beyond those limits. I just KNEW I would gain weight
immediately.
The research seemed to point in the other direction – that not
everyone experiences insulin spikes and weight gain when they increase their
carbs to 100 to 125g/day. The articles
explained that some people eat very low carb (<25g/day) and experience
moodiness, lack of energy/drive, and even sometimes weight gain. Hey wait, that’s me! Except
for the weight gain and since going very low carb, I had experienced extreme
moodiness and my energy levels were not much better than when eating
sugar. Don’t get me wrong, I still felt better
than when I ate sugar, but not as much as I should -at least not as much as the
people around me eating a normal Standard American Diet. Here I am eating healthy and feeling like crap
all the time, while everyone around me either eats like crap or eats the same
diet as me and feels much better. Every
now and then I would experience a surge in energy, but it wouldn’t last more
than a few hours, and it was weeks in between these experiences.
So with all the information from professionals and my own
experiences, I finally seen the big picture and decided that I never tried
eating higher carbs, so I couldn’t very well rule it out. So I took the plunge and decided I would allow
myself lower glycemic fruit and starch, no more than 2x a day (3x on rare
occasions). For a snack I would allow
strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, wineberries and for dinner I would have
a sweet potato, potato, beets, plantains, etc.
I have even had post workout fruit and veggie smoothies (with fat!) and post
dinner fruits to include dried figs, mango or dates. Moderation was now the key to my success. And you know what? I have continually stayed in ketosis, without
missing a beat, while increasing my carb allowance for the day, and losing
weight. Boo ya!
In addition to increasing my carb intake, I have also been
practicing intuitive eating. Intuitive
eating has been one of those things that most people have heard about, maybe
even understand, but really never take the time to apply to their own
life. I was one of them – guilty as
charged! According to www.intuitiveeating.com, the
definition is “Intuitive eating is an approach that teaches you how to create a
healthy relationship with your food, mind, and body--where you ultimately
become the expert of your own body. You learn how to distinguish between
physical and emotional feelings, and gain a sense of body wisdom.” I have come up with my own rules to try and establish
better eating patterns, and they are as follows:
-
Only eat when hungry
-
Eat Slowly
-
Take smaller bites
-
Chew until there is nothing left to chew
-
Think about how the food tastes, feels and smells
-
Stop eating when full
Applying these thoughts while eating has allowed me to
successfully stop eating when full, enjoy my food even more than I thought
possible, avoid overeating, and even notice a difference in bowel
movements.
I have applied these two mentalities for over a week now,
with amazing success, until yesterday’s lunch.
This is when I screwed up big time; but not without consequence. I didn’t apply any of my intuitive eating
patterns at all and in fact rushed through my lunch like a sprinter. I ate rapidly; not paying attention to how
the food tasted, smelled, felt on my tongue; nor did I eat slow, or even chew
properly. All in all, I had completely
reverted back to my old habits.
And the consequence? Good
and Bad!
Within an hour I was sluggish, mentally fogged, and felt
completely drained. I wanted to go home
and go to bed. I had no energy to get
through the day, which is not good considering I ate at 11:30am and don’t leave
work until 4:00pm. And even then, I
still had a workout session to attend. Feeling
completely exhausted, I instantly started in on the cravings. I wanted sugars and sweets galore. It’s all I could think about. Not once for over a week and through eating
lunch did I have one craving. NOT ONE
CRAVING! But I overeat and WHAM! They are back with a full vengeance.
The worst part – I woke up this morning with a 1.4 pound
gain. I suppose this is what I
deserve. Part of me is very upset that I
let myself slip and revert back to my old habits. But the other part of me is ever so grateful
for the experience. How would I really
have known that my new regiment of consuming higher carbs and intuitive eating
is actually working?
So yeah, it’s official.
I can eat higher carbs (no more than 100g/day), but I cannot go a meal
without my intuitive eating patterns. No
way, no how!
Thank you for listening.
If this information helps you in anyway, please feel free to share.
