I had my yearly physical a few weeks ago. It was depressing. It's the same story really, lose weight, eat right, exercise. But this time the blood work showed a slight increase in my cholesterol. The good was good and the bad was just slightly bad. My blood pressure was up more than normal, although it was still good. Then I visited my ob/gyn. She too said the same song and dance...lose weight, eat right, exercise, blood pressure slightly higher than last time. When I mentioned my depression issues, she proceeded to tell me that glucose intolerance can make a woman feel their hormone fluctuations more than a woman who doesn't have problems with her sugar. She said eating low carb lifestyle will improve my weight and help my sugar. Apparently, higher protein will help your glucose levels. I have tried to understand insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, pre-diabetes...but I truly cannot wrap my head about the whole business. There's so much information out there. Maybe that's the problem. Too much info. Overwhelming. Anyway, low carb does not mean NO CARB. Which I absolutely refuse to do. I refuse to not eat any one particular thing, accept white sugar. And it's the devil. I love it and it hates me. So I'm good with it. I hate artificial sugar, but have finally, after all these years, decided to eat a few treats that have fake sugar. I prefer natural sweeteners like honey, dates, prunes... But sometimes I just don't feel like being in the kitchen for a couple of hours making something. (I mean, I bake and decorate cakes in the kitchen and I'm pooped for anything else. And for those times, I decided for the sake of my sugar...and I better not get some wierd cancer from these foreign sugars, for which I still hate...I will indulge in sugar free jello and sugar free greek yogurt now and then. I will continue to make naturally sweetened baked goods, because I really really do not like the flavor of fake sugar in cake, brownies or cookies. This might change over time though, so never say never.
So here's the plan...trying to eat less than 150 carbs a day. Which seems very reasonable to me. My sparkpeople app had advised a 180-230 carb daily, so it's really not that much different. Increase protein, but at the same time eat my fruits and veggies. I love my apples and applesauce. Protein tends to have a constipation affect on me...maybe a little TMI, but oh well. So an apple a day keeps things running along as normal.
From what I've read, it's very important to drink lots of water. So I'm trying to stick with my 100 ounces of water daily. It's harder when I'm in service, so I'm going to have to work extra hard to keep up with it. And it's also important to take a multivitamin because for some reason, calcium seems to be depleted when eating high protein, lower carb which leads to osteoporosis.
I've pinned several ideas for meal plans, and will be incorporating them here so I can make a better grocery list. At least for now. I like to plan my meals so I'm prepared, we spend less money eating out and I spend less time standing in front of the fridge wondering what we're going to eat that night. It also helps to plan meals when you're trying to lose weight. It helps me feel like I can do this. Even when I'm feeling "no way"...the meal plan says "here's the way". I don't need a lot of variety for breakfast and lunch. I can eat the same things rotated, so that's what I'm going to do. Dinners are a totally different story since my whole family isn't eating low carb, I will need to get creative. Thankfully my husband doesn't read my blog and if any of my friends are reading this, you better not say anything to him about what I'm planning to do to them. LOL!!
Breakfasts:
3 egg white omelet with mushrooms, spinach and peppers topped with Swiss cheese
apple
Smoothie - frozen berries, sugar free Greek yogurt, protein powder, almond milk
Lunches:
Green salad (includes tomato, cucumber, carrots, purple cabbage) 4 oz boneless skinless baked chicken, shredded with my homemade vinaigrette dressing
Tuna & Avocado salad
Snacks:
24 almonds
Turkey wrapped mozzarella stick
broccoli spears and ranch dressing
celery with peanut butter
apple with peanut butter
celery with ranch dressing
Supper:
Monday: Low Carb Chicken Pot Pie - the family thought it was yucky. It was a little strange, but I liked it.
Tuesday: Cheeseburger Pie with salad and baked potato wedges
Wednesday: Grilled Cheesy Buffalo Chicken, Garlic Parmesan Green Beans, mashed potatoes
Thursday: Spicy Asian Meatballs rice, carrots gone wild and steamed broccoli with lemon pepper (I'm using turkey instead of chicken and making my own almond flour/meal with raw almonds in the magic bullet)
Friday: Trying a cauliflower pizza with salad
Saturday: Dinner Out
Sunday: baked turkey with fixings.
Hope this works and it's not hard. I'll let you know.
2 comments:
Candi have you ever had your vitamin D levels and your thyroid levels checked?
The reason I ask is because both of those things can affect cholesterol.
If your thyroid is a little low your cholesterol can be high. Low thyroid also causes weight gain and depression.
Also it is so easy to get vitamin D deficient especially in the winter time. I have discovered in the last several years that my mood is very closely linked to my vitamin D status. I can go from very blue and panicky feeling and stressed to wonderfully happy and serene just by spending a couple of hours outside in the bright sunshine. If I slack on my cod liver oil supplement I feel it.
I don't know anything about low carb diets really but I do know they've helped a lot of people. We really love using coconut flour for baking treats and things like pancakes and muffins around here. It's gluten free which is he has to eat it has tons of fiber which is good for me cuz I have issues with slow motility and it's just generally good for you.
Candi have you had your thyroid level levels checked? Low thyroid can cause high cholesterol and it can also cause depression and weight gain and depression.
Also have you had your vitamin D levels checked? I have really discovered in last several years that my mood is extremely connected to my vitamin D status. I can go from totally stressed and anxious and moody to joyful and serene just by spending a couple of hours outside in the bright sunshine. I also take cod liver oil and it helps. There's actual research studies about cod liver oil helping depression if you google it I'm sure you'll find them.
Since Zeke is gluten free we have discovered that we can use coconut flour for a lot of things ... baking and pancakes and the like and has a lot of fiber which helps with motility (I have that same issue!) its low carb and very yummy.
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