More Sunday Reflections

©PinUp Toons CDO-2389

I had been making excuses for ages. I’m only a few kilos overweight and besides – I’m sixty years of age. I can’t expect to look like I did in my forties and still pencil thin. And, at my age life is already jam-packed with restrictions. You can’t wear that – you’ll look like mutton dressed up as lamb, or that, because you have to hide the upper arms and disguise the no-longer-flat tummy. You can’t sing along and shake-your-booty to the music, because the young people will make gagging noises. You have to dress and walk and talk in a dignified manner which is appropriate to your age so that you don’t embarrass anyone. So, considering all of that, the last thing I wanted was to have to apply restrictions to my eating as well. Surely I am entitled to some little luxuries in life?

But then I had a check-up before a minor surgical procedure and the specialist pointed out, in the nicest way possible, that I might want to address the issue of the steadily creeping kilos before it became a real issue.

So, after much grizzling and griping, I finally decided to start on a sensible eating plan with moderate exercise. I fired up the Treadmill and got myself some Protein Powder to snack on – after all I know from experience that the High Protein, low carbs approach works. I lost twelve kilos back in early 2009.

Well what’s this then? I was doing everything right and to my horror, I found I was gaining weight instead of losing it. How can that be? What hope is there for me then?

But, if there is one thing I am it’s determined. First thing I had to look at was my medication. I’ve mentioned previously that I have been diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder and I was currently on two different types of tablets. However my life has undergone some pretty big changes lately and most of the real anxiety triggers are no longer on the scene (like my husband’s brush with bowel cancer and having to get up at 3.30 am each week day to drive into the city to work) I figured I could at least give it a try – to stop taking my medications and see if that made a difference. If I found I was unable to cope without the tablets – well I could cross that bridge when I came to it.

To my great delight, it did work. I stopped the tablets and I was noticing a reversal of the weight gain within a day’s time.

Now a very close friend of mine had mentioned something called The Paleo Diet – eating the way our ancestors would have eaten way back in the caveman days. I decided to do some research and as is always the case when you start delving into Health and Nutrition issues, there is a dearth of conflicting information. But I gleaned the basic principles and they made an amazing amount of sense to me. And not only does it make sense, but the food allowed in the Paleo diet is mostly all stuff that I love.

Don’t worry – I’m not about to start preaching at you or trying to convert you. The way I see it, this is something that appeals to me and, even if no one else in the world agrees with me, this is something I am going to put into practise and see what happens. I’ve actually lost nearly three kilograms in two-and-a-half-days. The best part is that this is a lifestyle change and not just a diet. I’m not relying on meal replacement shakes and I’m not restricting myself to eating lettuce leaves or rice crackers.

This style of eating may even address my long-time problems with hypoglycaemia, or perhaps it might be best termed exaggerated insulin response. I suddenly get very hungry – weak and shaking; breaking out in a cold sweat and having great trouble concentrating. I've been tested and they tell me 'Good news. You're not diabetic.' And yes, it is good news, but it doesn't help to fix the problem.

Oh – I am going to be following what they call the Cheaters Diet, which means I have one free day per week during which I can eat whatever I please.

This is for three reasons –
1. To spike my metabolism and to encourage my body to burn fat more efficiently.
2. To avoid the woe-is-me syndrome (the thought of never being able to indulge in all those yummy, no-no treats again) and
3. To keep my husband happy. What fun would it be for him to have to eat his pancakes-for-breakfast and home-made-pizza-for-dinner all alone on a Saturday?(Well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. LOL)

©Lyn Murphy 2011