I'm not sure when I started to read health and nutrition books and articles. Perhaps, despite my protests to the contrary, my mother's interests in food and nutrition rubbed off on me. At one point I told myself that I wasn't going to read any more diet books, but the titles kept intriguing me and couldn't seem to resist picking up just one more.
I was 'chunky' as a kid. In early adulthood my doctor called me 'sturdy.' I didn't want to be a model, far from it, but I wanted to be able to buy clothes off the rack. When I asked once if jeans came in a larger size, the clerk told me if I lost ten pounds I'd be able to fit into the jeans in the sizes they had. Thank you; that is soooo helpful!
In my early 20's my doctor said I had high blood pressure and told me I needed to lose weight. I had moved out on my own and as an employee of the Banff Centre I could get a meal ticket that was cheaper than buying groceries so I ate my lunches and dinners in the cafeteria and put on the pounds. I think now that the blood pressure reading was probably the result of 'white coat syndrome' but I dutifully went home with a diet book and a prescription for what was probably an amphetamine. I don't know because I didn't fill the prescription. Instead I counted calories and sat in restaurants drinking water while my friends scarfed down pizza. I exercised massive amounts of will power and I was always hungry. I lost 20 pounds and was the lightest I ever got as an adult. I could buy clothes off the rack and I was hungry and miserable. It's hard work telling yourself you can't have this and you can't have that and eventually I caved and the weight came back.
In the '80's I did the high carb low fat diet, going so far as to substitute pureed fruit for fat in recipes and, that too, worked for a while. "Just eat less," said my doctor, as if that was the easiest thing in the world to do. For her it probably was. I kept reading and kept trying things. I knew enough to stay away from any diet that relied very heavily on one food, no grapefruit diets for me. I read about many more eating plans than I tried but I kept hoping that I might find something that I could stick with that would stabilize my weight.
Sometime in the 90's I came across
The Carbohydrate Addict's Diet. The book cover had two white-coated doctors, a husband and wife team, on the front. The wife told of having to go without breakfast for a blood test and expecting to feel rotten. Instead she actually felt better. Enter cucumbers, deli meats, cottage cheese and cauliflower to substitute for potatoes. That one worked as well and I didn't feel as deprived as I had when I counted calories. Around that time I took up running and found that the lack of carbs just didn't do it when I was training hard. I ran religiously and racked up 25 half marathons, 2 full marathons and over 40 shorter races. We were also cycling long distances at that time and, for once, I didn't have to pay that much attention to what I ate.
Life happens, things change and I ran less. Up went the weight again. "Just exercise more." Right, another of those easy-to-say-not-so-easy-to-do things. I gave up. All of the approaches I had tried had worked for a while but I found it difficult to stick with them and I was discouraged and without the energy to count calories or points or weigh portions. I promised myself I wouldn't buy any more diet books. In 2013 an article in
Runners' World (I think) caught my eye. There was much more research coming out about how food affects hormones and how hormones affect weight gain. In it the author postulated that when you eat is as important as what you eat. Enter
The Eight Hour Diet.
This didn't seem like some wing nut talking and there were references to reputable studies throughout the book. The book suggests eating within an eight-hour window and then fasting for the other sixteen hours. That led me to read about the benefits of intermittent fasting. For most of my life I've been an enthusiastic breakfast eater and I didn't think I could go without breakfast but it was worth a try. In 2013 I began a pattern that I continue: I have tea in the morning and eat my first meal around noon. For the first four of five days it was difficult and I felt hungry. After that it was no big deal and it makes getting out in the morning much quicker and less stressful. Had I not been eating this way I think I would have put many more pounds on much more quickly.
In January 2016 I was heavier than I had ever been and the pounds just kept creeping on. I was eating things after my stomach was full because I didn't feel satisfied. I know the theory that you eat to soothe something else that's going on in your life and I had tried self-hypnosis and EFT with less than stellar results.
I'm an audio book junky and in my search for something to listen to I came across
Always Hungry and bought the audio book. David Ludwig is an endocrinologist and he has an entirely different take on why we gain weight. "His groundbreaking studies show that overeating doesn't make you fat; the process of getting fat makes you overeat." (front flyleaf of
Always Hungry.) Of course, every diet book ever written touts itself as the miracle cure and I learned early on that there simply isn't one. I began to think about what was in the book and wearily decided to try one more time to get back to a healthier weight. I was now two sizes up from my 'normal' adult size and finding clothes that fit was even more difficult.
A year ago we were in New York City as part of a mass choir singing at Carnegie Hall. New York was no place to try out a new eating plan so I resolved to start when we got home. All the while I was thinking about how to implement this new plan. The one thing that gave me hope was that the first phase was two weeks long. I knew I could stick to anything for two weeks. At the end of two weeks if it wasn't working I would simply return to my default settings. Richard agreed to join me in the experiment.
How would I know if it was working? I wouldn't be constantly craving something to eat and thinking about food. My weight would be heading downward. It would be easy to maintain and my cholesterol and blood pressure would show no adverse effects and might even improve. After two weeks we decided to keep going. At first we were very nervous about going out to eat or in any way deviating from the plan for fear the cravings would rear their ugly heads again. That hasn't been the case. We splurged over Christmas and five pounds came back. Three of them have gone again and I've learned quite a lot in the last year.
I don't believe there is one fix for everyone who struggles with weight. Each and every weight-loss plan will be vilified by somebody. It's been a very interesting journey through the history of obesity research and the alliances between key players such as Ansel Keyes and companies that produce in Michael Palin's words, "food-like substances." Now there is research into the microbiota of the gut and how that may influence insulin resistance. At times it reads like a mystery novel with twists and turns, selective data being used while contrary data is ignored and careers being ruined when researchers speak out against the norm. In hindsight it appears that correlation may have been interpreted as causation. At best, the research and the resulting dietary guidelines are complex and multifaceted. At worst, it's a jumble and it's hard to know what to believe.
I have surprised myself in the last year. I can happily do without bread, white potatoes and white rice. When I do put the allowed amount of honey in my tea I usually conclude that it wasn't really worth the trouble. I don't feel deprived when I choose not to eat ice cream, and the miracle is that I CHOOSE quite happily not to eat it. I have never eaten so much chocolate in my life and I'm enjoying 70% cocoa variety almost daily . Occasionally I have some milk chocolate and it tastes really really sweet and, although I enjoy it, I know I don't particularly want it. We are finding new and interesting ways to cook beans. I've always loved stir fries but have to admit to missing the rice that usually goes with them. Just last week we discovered that spaghetti squash fills that gap nicely and that will be our new go-to choice. We are in the phase of the plan where we can have some whole grains but the portions suggested are small and mostly we don't bother. We make eggplant parmesan rather than lasagne these days and don't miss the noodles. I don't go near the bread and bagels when I do my grocery shopping and I no longer have to resist when I pass the cinnamon bun place in the mall. These used to be my favourite foods and there was a time when I couldn't imagine doing without them.
I don't measure portions and I eat until I'm satisfied. I enjoy nuts and fruit and my favourite dessert is a fruit salad with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. It beats my former favourite, a Dairy Queen cake, by miles. When we eat out or travel we are glad to get back to our own eating plan when we get home. Even travelling is easier than I expected it to be. Subway chopped salads are huge and fairly satisfying. Often restaurants will provide and extra serving of veggies in lieu of potatoes and most of them are happy not to bring the bread basket. Ironically I'm now using more sugar because I making my own kombucha, a fermented tea beverage that is supposed to be good for the gut bacteria. I gave up diet pop and wanted an alternative that tasted good and was a bit of a treat. By the time it's ready to drink kombucha has an alcohol content of less than .5%. I love the taste of it and it is light in sugars: the scoby (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast) takes care of that.
I haven't found the perfect eating plan. I have found one that satisfies me, one that has helped me lose weight and one that has kept my blood numbers where they need to be. After a year, I have a better chance of staying on it than with any other I've tried. I'd like to lose another fifteen pounds but I'm okay if that happens very slowly. I will continue to read and consider as the science evolves but I won't be in a hurry to try anything else. What we're doing now works for me and that is the ultimate test.
I've been watching the tiny house movement in fascination for a while now. The spaces are so clean, so uncluttered, so well thought-out. It's an enticing vision. Just as with the fantasy of living in a wilderness cabin and being entirely self-sufficient there are huge practical drawbacks, particularly for a self-confessed pack rat like me. I like to own cool stuff and I like to own stuff that may be useful someday. I know that's a psychological trap and I'm hoping that knowledge will keep me from stepping over the hoarding line. The videos of tiny houses have got me doing a lot of thinking about what I keep and why I keep it.
A quick tracing around my foot with a pen and my new slippers are now wonderfully comfy and squishy on the bottom. Next I'm investigating ways to make the bottom less slippery. I don't feel like I'm slipping when I wear them but I'm now technically a 'senior' and I'm aware of the warnings about falling. I suppose hardwood floors and slippery socks aren't the smartest combination. I think I'll try cutting an outer sole of the rubber mat used to line shelves. It may not stand up well but I happen to have some left over from lining the shelves in the van so it will cost me nothing to try it.
