I had a patient yesterday who desperately wanted to lose
weight. As I gave her dietary and lifestyle advice along with the medicine that
I had prescribed for her, I had to take stock of my own food intake and daily
routine.
Would I be able to
follow the advice I had just given her?
It’s so easy to tell other people what they should be doing
[especially if it’s your job]. But as I said last week, I am at least 2 stones
over weight and what am I doing about it?
I will tell you…
1.
I changed my breakfast routine. This has been
hard but I am sticking to it. I don’t have toast and marmalade any more. I love
toast and marmalade. Instead I now fry chopped onions, sliced courgettes and
mushrooms in coconut oil or olive oil with sea salt and cracked black pepper,
then shove in an egg. Sometimes I slice up kale or chard from the garden and
add that.
OK, so I know what you are thinking. That sounds gross, is what you are
thinking, and if you are slim you have the luxury of choice. But at some point,
those of us who are overweight have to change what we eat and what we do or we
will stay overweight. And one of the things I chose to change was the amount of
bread that I used to eat – especially bread made with modern wheat [it contains
amylopectin A, which raises blood sugar very high]. I am going to experiment
with sourdough made with spelt flour [which doesn’t contain the amylopectin A]
and introduce a slice of that every now and then. One of my sons-in-law makes
excellent sourdough so it can’t be that hard to do at home…
And, by the way, don’t worry about the odd
bit of coconut oil. Fat isn’t the problem with weight gain, but I am not going
to argue about it now with the low-fat diet zealots – I just can’t be bothered...
2.
I have [mostly] replaced potatoes with pumpkin,
squash or swede. This again is hard, but ditto to what I said above. A swede
cooked well with plenty of black pepper, sea salt and some butter is OK. I
allow myself roast potatoes when I visit other people if they have made them as
I am not going to ruin the effort other people have gone to just because I want
to lose weight. I just make sure I am more careful the next day. And if someone
buys me chocolate, I don’t throw my hands up in horror and refuse it. I
graciously accept and have some, then share the rest out, instead of pigging
out on it all by myself as I would probably prefer to do.
3.
I walk more. I aim to walk every day. I try to
walk before I eat so I use up fat stores and not just the calories I have just
taken in. I have a brisk 20-30 minute walk around the docks, then back home for
breakfast [or lunch]. If the weather is foul I will exercise indoors instead of
walking. This takes the shape of short bursts of interval training. 30 seconds
of running up and down the stairs, 60 seconds rest, then 30 seconds more exercise
– I do that for 6 cycles at that’s it – exercise done for the day.
4.
I avoid red meat usually, and go for chicken or
fish. I also use a lot more pulses and legumes. In fact, I soak black-eye beans
or aduki beans, then cook them up and store them [rinsed] in the fridge to keep
hunger attacks at bay. You know - the hunger pangs when you come in from town
ravenous and just want a piece of toast and marmalade with a cup of tea. Instead
[if I can hold my nerve] I put the kettle on and heat up some coconut oil,
shove in some mushrooms and the cooked pulses I have in the fridge. I season
them well, as they can be bland, but they stop me being hungry…
5.
Lunch is usually warmed up dinner left over from
the night before, or I sometimes have fruit and organic full fat yogurt [but I
avoid bananas], or I open a tin of mackerel or spread an avocado on Finn crisp
crackers. I do not advise cream crackers and cheese from the point of view of;
when do you stop? I could eat a whole packet…
6.
I have managed to train myself to not eat
biscuits when I have a cup of tea. This has been one of the hardest habits to
break, and is easier when the children aren’t at home. My kids buy stuff like
ginger nuts, which is just plain cruel.
7.
Supper used to be a couple of slices of toast
and marmalade. Now it isn’t. I try not to eat at all after dinner. And
sometimes I succeed. If I am really hungry I try to manage on a handful of
almonds or walnuts.
So – I will spare you a ‘before’ photo. But I may take an
‘after’ photo in 6 months’ time. But, yes, it’s going well. Thanks for asking….
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