Thursday, September 17, 2009

Low Carb Diet, Low-tech Stair Master

I am down another 1.5 pounds, for a total of 8.5 since I started blogging here.

It's been a scary week. My whole plan was turned on its ear and I didn't know whether I would gain or lose. I went with my husband to see the diabetes specialist. George isn't on insulin yet, but he is on two different medications to control his blood sugar levels. We wanted to know if there was anything else he could be doing to reverse or stop the damage that has already been done. The doctor handed us one page of instructions for a special diet to keep the blood sugar levels steady. It's 30 carbs each at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and 15 carbs each for three snacks a day.

It didn't sound too bad until we got home and tried putting it into practice. One slice of whole grain bread is 20 carbs. A medium banana is 27. One cup of milk is 13 carbs. Here we have been trying to incorporate more fruits and vegetables and whole grains into our diet, and the doctor tells us to severely restrict them. This means, to get enough calories to sustain life, we need to increase our protein and fat intake. It seems a lot like the Atkins diet without the drastic first stage.

(Notice I am saying "we" and "us" here? To be supportive, I am eating the same foods, in nearly the same amounts, as George is. If we do it together, I can be sure he measures everything and checks the carb count.)

In other news, I had quite a good workout yesterday on my low-tech Stair Master (regular stairs). We elevated our bed enough to fit the #10 size cans underneath and transferred what had been stacked in a corner of my office upstairs. This meant grabbing a couple of cans (and dang that wheat is heavy), power walking from the office, through the living room and kitchen, hiking up the stairs, and piling the cans in the bedroom and hallway. I lost count how many trips up and down I took, but I lapped George twice. Then in the cool-down phase I did a lot of kneeling and stretching and pushing to get the cans under the bed. I haven't done a workout that hard for a long time (gauging by the amount of sweat that was pouring off my body). It felt pretty good, actually.

6 comments:

Tristi Pinkston said...

Wow. Wheat is heavy. :)

Josi said...

Low carb is what I do, and I've come to really love it. I feel good, I'm down 6 months, I sleep better and while I miss some things, there are other guilt foods I can eat that I've avoided for years--I love that. The first few weeks were hard because your body craves carbs when it's become so good at burning them instead of the fat, but once I got over that I've been okay (though I have my moments) If you want some of our favorite low carb mean ideas, let me know, I'd be happy to share. Way to go. Also, Barry Groves book Eat Fat Get Thin or Natural Weight Loss and Healthy Living are GREAT low carb books.

Josi said...

I meant to say I'm down 6 pounds. Granted, it's taken me 5 months but I didn't have much to lose and I refuse to be hungry. I should proof read.

Marta O. Smith said...

I would love any low carb menu ideas. 30 carbs per meal and 15 carbs per snack tends to limit creativity.

jimpurdy1943@yahoo.com said...

Carbs are a big problem for anybody trying to lose weight. Read "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes. Best wishes to you.

jimpurdy1943@yahoo.com said...

Marta, thanks for commenting on my silly little blog.

I've decided to not limit myself to one placebo per day. Instead, I think I'll take one placebo before each meal, to get the maximum benefits.

The placebos are not only good for burning calories, but they are great appetite suppressants.

Of course, like any placebos, they work only if you believe. Shucks, if people can believe in vegetarian diets, zero-carb diets, bariatric surgery, expensive HCG doctors, diet pills, hours of daily exercise, and faith-based programs like Overeaters Anonymous, then surely I can believe in placebos that cost less than 4 cents each.

Since they're colored placebos, I may have to randomly choose each placebo with my eyes closed. Both eyes -- you know, double-blind studies and all that serious scientific stuff.

Now I have to go back to the Placebo Institute Laboratories to do more research.