Thursday, February 28, 2019

Reactive Hypoglycemia

I have now realized I have suffered with this for over 60 yrs and nobody told me it was not normal to be so out of control hungry in the afternoons.

It seemed that no matter what I ate for breakfast and lunch I would be on the hunt for food from about 2pm onwards.

Time seemed to be elastic, no way could I wait until dinner to eat again. My brain felt that it had to have food now, not in 15mins or a in a few hours.

It was relentless, every single day. Even when I was dieting my will power had to be super strong to try and resist the desire to afternoon eat.

Trying to have a low cal snack would make it worse as once I had started I was unable to stop.

What I believe was happening is as follows.

I would wake and have coffee with milk and breakfast.

My insulin was still high from the night and my glucose around normal.

The milk and even protein from breakfast would send the insulin into a peak.

I would manage till lunch, maybe more coffee with milk mid morning.

Lunch would push my insulin even higher and then the glucose would be sent off into the fat cells.

Now the glucose in the blood has gone too low. The excess insulin was blocking access to any other source of energy. The fat cells were like a bank deposit box that was never emptied. Fat went in there but never came out.

Hence the energy crash in the afternoons followed by binging and disappointment that I had failed on yet another diet.

Even the low carb diets did not solve the problem as they allowed me breakfast.

Since giving up breakfast and only eating twice a day my afternoons are crash free.

I can decide when to eat and what to eat and how much to eat.

It's the answer to 60 yrs of struggle and misery.

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

4 kg and counting

Scale this morning showed that I have lost 4kg. Which is nearly 9lbs so well passed the first half stone loss.

Just got to repeat that 10 more times!

I keep waiting for the afternoon cravings to hit leading into a binge. But it just does not happen.

Yesterday dinner was half an hour late and I had no difficulty in waiting for the rest of the family to arrive so we could dish up.

My 8 hr diet book arrived yesterday. This is talking about the science behind the 8 hr eating window and a 16 hr fast.

I am operating on a 6 hr eating window and an 18 hr fast.

I only eat at 12 and again at 6. But I do have coffee with cream in the mornings.

Looking forward to getting the 1st stone off. 6.5kg.

I feel this is the WOE I have been looking for all my life. Diets that recommend 3 meals and 2 snacks daily just do not suit my metabolism. I am hungry all the time on the diet like that.

When I do eat I have basically what I want and eat till I feel sated. I have a low carb lunch, salad and protein. Then a higher carb dinner also with protein and veg. We dont have to cook special dishes for me. I have the same meat or chicken as the rest of the family.


Sunday, February 24, 2019

No Afternoon Binging

My previous 60 yrs have been blighted by binging.

Whether I was dieting or not I would find that after lunch, usually between 2 and 3 I would have a need to eat that was almost irresistible, and maybe again in the evening after supper.

If I gave in to it I would not have an off button. The eating would just continue until I was stuffed and uncomfortable.

Whether it was toast, cereal, bananas, chocolate. It was always carbs and even though I tried to make healthy choices it was always the sugar hit my body wanted.

I would start each day with good intentions and felt the binging need was building up and eventually I would give it to it.

Even when I managed to lose weight. Getting out of the house in the afternoon to remove myself from temptation the destructive behaviour always came back, at the end of the diet and I would find the weight increasing again until I got to the point where I would give up and eat everything I wanted. It was a real physical need, very difficult to control.

All the diets in the past never solved the problem. Weighing this, just eating that never seemed to fix the underlying issue.

Three weeks ago I decided to give up breakfast. I am not that hungry in the mornings and find morning hunger easier to deal with.

I started by just having coffee with milk, which did lead me to needing an afternoon snack which did not lead into a binge.

However when I changed to having cream in my coffee in the morning the need for the snack fell away and I can now comfortably go from a low carb salady lunch to my dinner at 6.

The need for a snack or a binge has gone completely. Its as if I never had this problem, but I know I did and it was very distressing and went on for years.

Two hours after eating and I would be on the hunt for food, preferably carbs.

I believe it is something to do with the insulin levels staying low in the morning and then not causing a glucose drop in the afternoons.

Whatever it is I am going to continue. Probably I will never eat breakfast again. Even when I just had protein for breakfast as in 2 eggs I still got the afternoon attacks of craving and binging.

See Breakfast is a Dangerous Meal. Written for diabetics but relevant here too.

Weight is continuing to drop nicely and so happy to be in control of what I am eating. 

Saturday, February 23, 2019

Easier to get up out of my chair

Had to turn up a pair of trousers yesterday. Not just once but twice as the backs were trailing on the ground.

Finding get up from a chair much less of an effort. Feeling I can move more freely.

Also found my one ring will now come off my finger. Not been able to move that for over 18mths. The others are smaller so those will take some time to become loose.

I have to leave my rings on when I have a mani as they cant be removed.

Got a mani and pedi and facial booked for Tues so that is something to look forward to.

My blood glucose is more stable now. Fasting was 5.9 this morning. Would like to get that down into the lower 5's.

I am going to miss having my breakfasts on holiday next month. But if I have to choose between eating breakfast, which is usually the same, 2 eggs, and feeling this way, I will choose feeling this way.

Having the coffee and cream in the morning keeps the hunger pangs controllable and I know that it will soon be lunch.

Friday, February 22, 2019

Travelling OK

Been away a night on business. Did not take scale so keen to see weight this morning.

Another 600gms gone.

We skipped the breakfast spot going and coming back.

Lunch I had breaded prawn tails but peeled breading off before eating, Bit messy but tasty.

Followed by salmon and a greek salad.

Dinner was one piece of fillet with creamy pepper sauce on the side. I had some salad beforehand and I think coleslaw had added sugar. With a small baked potato and cream.

I took my own coffee with cream for the morning and bought cream so I could travel with coffee and cream on the way back.

So thats about 8lbs gone in 3 weeks. 3.6kg

I just have to repeat that 10 more times.

Enjoying the twice cooked omlette from Tom Kerridges book. I keep that in the fridge. Cut it into cubes and fry with extra cheese and had that on salad for lunch yesterday.

Evening was the end of a T bone with veg.

Found myself quite itchy last night. Hope it stops. Seems to be a reaction to losing weight.

Monday, February 18, 2019

The Cherry pickers Diet

Lots of dieting books say dont mix your diets. Use one and stick to it.

But I have ignored that rule.

I am fasting from Breakfast is a dangerous meal.

I have coffee and cream in the morning.

I eat a protein and salad lunch from Atkins.

I have the reward meal from Carbohydrate Addicts. Which might include fat and carbs. Last night I had steak, noodles ( half a minute noodle packet), cream sauce and vegetables.

The scale has gone down again this morning, after I changed the battery.

I work with both metric and imperial. So just dropped below 16stone for the very last time.

Now I understand my system better and how insulin is constantly derailing my previous diets I have finally got my insulin under control by going without carbs for 23 hrs in the day. That allows my system to access my fat stores and finally use them as they should have been used years ago.

Eating 5 times a day as so many diets recommend is setting me up for failure.

Eating twice a day controls my afternoon craving and I feel far more satisfied with what I am eating.

Lost an inch off the hips. So hope to continue the good progress.


Friday, February 15, 2019

Eating makes me Hungry

For all my life I have lived with hunger and cravings.

Awful afternoon hungry attacks when once I started eating I could not stop.

Because they had always been there I thought they were normal and that I had to use will power to control my behaviour.

Since skipping breakfast I have found those attacks things of the past.

If I have cream rather than milk in my coffee I do not even need a mid afternoon snack.

I have lunch at 12 and dinner at 6 without anything inbetween and find I have no hunger either before bed.

I did not think my system could feel like this. In 60 yrs I have never felt so in control of what goes in my mouth.

Long my it continue. 

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Fasting controls cravings?

I started this WOE about 2 weeks ago. When I got back from my holiday.

Basically I have given up eating breakfast at breakfast time.

I have my 2 eggs for lunch with a nice salad and some mayo and yogurt salad dressing.

Mid pm I have a cup of tea and a small snack. Yesterdays was cauli mash with grated cheese zapped in microwave.

Then at 6 I have my main meal. I have been having half a packet of instant noodles, without the flavour packet. Yesterday my protein was lamb spare ribs cut off bone, then any veg I fancy. I complete my meal in about 20mins.

Then I dont eat again till the following lunch time. So about an 18hr fast.

So far I am 1.7kg down in 2 weeks.

My afternoon craving hunger has stopped.

I feel satisfied after my evening meal.

I can walk into the kitchen in the evening without needing to eat a little something.

I am guestimating my calories at about 1000 for the day.

300 for lunch/breakfast.
100 for the snack.
600 for the dinner.

I have been having coffee in the mornings with milk but today have switched to thin cream.

Trying to only have 3 servings of coffee and plenty of water.

Food seems to no longer be an obsession.

I dont spend all my time planning my next feeding as I usually do on diets.

I hope it continues.


Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Trying Fasting now.

Amazed I can still find this blog after all this time.

Am going to try intermittent fasting. Mainly skipping breakfast.

Will see how I get on, looking good so far.

1.6kg down in 10 days.

Afternoon cravings gone also no nibble need in the evenings.

Watch this space.