My new way of eating
It is six months since I discovered that losing weight is not about eating less and exercising more.
Since then, I have come to realise that all the years of focusing on calories and filling myself with low calorie white carbs has caused me to become so fixated on sugar, that I have become addicted, tired and more overweight than I was when I started trying to lose just half a stone when I was a teenager.
My life has been dominated by weight and food issues since I was 15, and my weight has consequently increased over this time. I used to weigh 9 stone, then it was 10, down to 9 and then up to 10 and a half, then it leapt to12, back down to 11 and there it stayed (ignoring a 13 stone smiling pregnant woman in the middle). No matter what I have done, who I have talked to or what I have been tested for (in my more desperate moments) - it's always followed the same pattern.
There is no evidence behind the 'cut your calorie intake by 3,500 per week to lose a 1lb in weight' theory. I was sold a kipper. All that happened was I became starving hungry and my body was filled up with more bowls of plain pasta, dry toast and indigestible beans.
So, in November I was introduced to Zoe Harcombe and her thoughts on food, sugar addiction, candida and food intolerances. Around this time I was also introduced to The Diet Delusion by Gary Taubes (a big tome of a book but worthwhile reading if you like science).
In February Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride and her thoughts on gut dysbiosis captivated me but then I fell off the sugar wagon with a large bump and had to shelve her ideas until I was ready to start again.
So, 5 weeks ago I dumped the sugar and processed food once more and started to look at Dr Natasha's theories again. Far too much information to cover in this little update but essentially becoming vegetarian at 14, going onto the pill at 17, consuming large quantities of low calorie carbohydrates for nearly 25 years as well as the odd course of antibiotics and periods of being vegan could well explain my low stomach acid, tummy troubles (which started when I was 16), reduced fertility, tendency towards feeling down on and off throughout the year and many many more things I could bore you with.
My epiphany goes as follows - by going vegetarian through my sheer love and emotional attachment to animals and a fear of their death, I have essentially made myself low in magnesium and zinc as well as protein deficient. My weight has increased due to the high levels of carbohydrates and my gut flora has become abnormal so I have been suffering with a bloated tummy for as long as I can remember.
Animals have still been killed and eaten regardless. I couldn't save them. I should have prioritised myself.
As many of us know, how we feel about ourselves throughout the day often depends on how flat our tummy is when we get up in the morning. My lifestyle choice increased my weight and bloated my stomach. I started doing more and more dieting but just ate more carbs and less fats (and as we were all told this was the way to eat I thought I was doing the right thing).
So, where am I now? Well, after 25 years I am happily carnivorous. Really carnivorous. My weight has fallen, gradually, but much much more noticeable is the change in my sense of balance, inner peace, hormones and self-perception. I can safely say that I am free of any worries at mealtimes and I haven't woken up cross with myself for a while. On holiday I was quite relaxed and free of the Weight Worries - as it turns out I didn't put any weight on anyway.
Perhaps most importantly I have plenty of time, and knowledge, to ensure Scarlett eats well and stays happy.
So, if you know any young teenage girls thinking about turning vegetarian - see if they would consider eating fish and make sure they eat lots of eggs and stay away from the processed food.
Since then, I have come to realise that all the years of focusing on calories and filling myself with low calorie white carbs has caused me to become so fixated on sugar, that I have become addicted, tired and more overweight than I was when I started trying to lose just half a stone when I was a teenager.
My life has been dominated by weight and food issues since I was 15, and my weight has consequently increased over this time. I used to weigh 9 stone, then it was 10, down to 9 and then up to 10 and a half, then it leapt to12, back down to 11 and there it stayed (ignoring a 13 stone smiling pregnant woman in the middle). No matter what I have done, who I have talked to or what I have been tested for (in my more desperate moments) - it's always followed the same pattern.
There is no evidence behind the 'cut your calorie intake by 3,500 per week to lose a 1lb in weight' theory. I was sold a kipper. All that happened was I became starving hungry and my body was filled up with more bowls of plain pasta, dry toast and indigestible beans.
So, in November I was introduced to Zoe Harcombe and her thoughts on food, sugar addiction, candida and food intolerances. Around this time I was also introduced to The Diet Delusion by Gary Taubes (a big tome of a book but worthwhile reading if you like science).
In February Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride and her thoughts on gut dysbiosis captivated me but then I fell off the sugar wagon with a large bump and had to shelve her ideas until I was ready to start again.
So, 5 weeks ago I dumped the sugar and processed food once more and started to look at Dr Natasha's theories again. Far too much information to cover in this little update but essentially becoming vegetarian at 14, going onto the pill at 17, consuming large quantities of low calorie carbohydrates for nearly 25 years as well as the odd course of antibiotics and periods of being vegan could well explain my low stomach acid, tummy troubles (which started when I was 16), reduced fertility, tendency towards feeling down on and off throughout the year and many many more things I could bore you with.
My epiphany goes as follows - by going vegetarian through my sheer love and emotional attachment to animals and a fear of their death, I have essentially made myself low in magnesium and zinc as well as protein deficient. My weight has increased due to the high levels of carbohydrates and my gut flora has become abnormal so I have been suffering with a bloated tummy for as long as I can remember.
Animals have still been killed and eaten regardless. I couldn't save them. I should have prioritised myself.
As many of us know, how we feel about ourselves throughout the day often depends on how flat our tummy is when we get up in the morning. My lifestyle choice increased my weight and bloated my stomach. I started doing more and more dieting but just ate more carbs and less fats (and as we were all told this was the way to eat I thought I was doing the right thing).
So, where am I now? Well, after 25 years I am happily carnivorous. Really carnivorous. My weight has fallen, gradually, but much much more noticeable is the change in my sense of balance, inner peace, hormones and self-perception. I can safely say that I am free of any worries at mealtimes and I haven't woken up cross with myself for a while. On holiday I was quite relaxed and free of the Weight Worries - as it turns out I didn't put any weight on anyway.
Perhaps most importantly I have plenty of time, and knowledge, to ensure Scarlett eats well and stays happy.
So, if you know any young teenage girls thinking about turning vegetarian - see if they would consider eating fish and make sure they eat lots of eggs and stay away from the processed food.
Comments