Sugar, Sugar
Get behind me, Satan…………………….but this is to die for !
I will admit to having addiction to certain foods and having a healthy appetite - sometimes too healthy. In the past I might have justified that by saying that for more than 20 years running luxury hotels and restaurants, it was my job to eat. What feeble reasoning! I will admit to having a sweet tooth and to liking bread. A personal trainer told me once that it was alright to have the occasional piece of chocolate. No, I disagree because I don’t know how to eat one chocolate, but I do know how to eat a box of chocolates. It is the same story with bread. As for alcohol consumption which is a lot of carbohydrate, this is not a great concern. I enjoy the occasional drink or glass of wine but I can take it or leave it.
And then I was put temporarily on Prednisone as part of my treatment for what was categorised as high risk prostate cancer. Other medications that can elevate blood sugar are statins for high cholesterol, blood thinners and beta blockers. That gave me the excuse to say that these pharmaceuticals caused a spike in my sugars. I chose to look away from the problem of eating too many carbohydrates and not doing enough exercise.
At yearly medicals, my sugars were always in the category of pre diabetes but then a year ago, it looked as if I was now in the category of diabetic. Fortunately I was still with no prescribed medication. This was my wake-up call to take corrective action. I looked at intermittent fasting and, in particular, the research of Dr. Jason Fung. His premise was that it was possible to put the diagnosis of diabetes into remission.
One of his proposed programs was with diet: basically to alternate one day of eating followed by one day off. So, if for example my eating day was Monday, I would try to have my last bit of food at 7.30 p.m. and then would not eat again until Wednesday at breakfast. I was allowed water and black coffee or tea but no other foods.
My big fears were that if I didn’t eat on schedule, would I develop the worst headaches? Another concern was that on the days that I was not eating, would I lose the concentration needed to effectively work with my massage therapy clients? Less of a minor concern was whether I would spend countless hours thinking about the delicious foods that I was missing. Really all these concerns were focused around whether my experience with intermittent fasting could be sustained.
I have been following intermittent fasting now for three months and so can report back my results to date. I did not get the massive headaches that I had expected. I did not find myself endlessly thinking about food and what I was missing. If anything, I found my concentration was improved. I had suspected that on the day I was allowed to eat that I would wake up and almost race down to the kitchen. That has not been the case and quite often I will spend my early morning hours focused on non-food related activities.
My one modification to my diet has been that I do not keep chocolates or bread in the house because I know that my resolve would weaken if they were readily available. There have been times when returning home from work, I have opened the refrigerator and helped myself to a handful of almonds. There can’t be any harm in that, can there? I realise now that I didn’t even need the nuts for sustenance but rather for emotional support - that is what I would call addictive behaviour. One of the benefits of intermittent fasting is that when I do eat, the tendency is for me to eat smaller portions. I feel that I have successfully reprogrammed my attitude and thinking around food.
All of my hard work for the past three months might be dismissed as anecdotal rather than factual. The definitive moment of truth has been getting my blood work done and a meeting with my doctor. My weight is down by close to 15 lbs and my sugars are also down. I am no longer diabetic and back to pre diabetic. That is a step in the right directions and I will let you know how I progress in future blogs.
The photos of sugary temptations I took this morning at a local market here in Puerto Vallarta. I subscribe to the thinking that one can be on a diet but it’s not too harmful to look at the menu, unless…………………..
