Oh, So You're Doing Atkins? - Part 2

As stated in yesterday's post, I started changing my diet a few weeks into my healthy journey.  At the recommendation of my trainer, and after much research on my own, I decided that giving up highly processed foods & focusing my eating on whole foods was the right path for me, for a few different reasons.  First, I had been tracking my eating for a week or so for its caloric content, and I wasn't eating much beyond my BMR...not nearly enough to justify my current weight (and overall weight gain the previous 5 years) if one were to just go on the "calories-in/calories-out" theory.  And I didn't "drink my calories" (as I rarely drank soda & don't like those fancy coffee drinks).  So, obviously something else was going on here.

So I started doing more research into both our body's regulation of fat storage, as well as the history of flour in agriculture.  I've always believed that something in our food HAD to be related to the rise in heart disease, diabetes, obesity, ADHD, autism & Alzheimer's in our society over the past two decades.  My theory was that it had to do something with the chemicals in processed food.  Little did I know that it also had something to do with the processed flour & sugar/corn syrup in those "foods" as well.  Bottom line, our bodies are not meant to digest/process a diet heavy in those items, which the Standard American Diet surely is, and these things are the side effects of such a prolonged, malnourished diet (ie, when you're eating a diet heavy in simple carbs, you are by default not getting the other nutrients that your body needs -- from protein & fat, to the vitamins & minerals in fruits & veggies).  There's a reason why ONE slice of bread is ONE serving, and yet many of us never eat less than two slices in one sitting (whether with an omelet, surrounding turkey, or beside our pot roast dinner), in addition to the whole carbs (fruits & veggies) already on the plate.

"But, Andrea," you protest, "cheese, butter & sausage are processed too."  I look at it this way: if I can make the item in my own kitchen, I'll eat it.  I can't make flour.  I can't make sugar.  I can't make oats (the flat oats you use to make your oatmeal in the morning is NOT what grows on the plant, and you cannot make the plant into what you are eating without some heavy stripping of nutrition).  Ditto on white rice.  I CAN make cheese.  I can make butter.  I can make sausage.  So I seek out local farmers/dairies/charcuteries that would make it like I would at home.  Get my drift?  Yeah, it's more expensive...but it's SO worth it.  You cannot believe the taste difference (not to mention the innate nutritional difference).

So, I started on my path.  I figured, if nothing else, what I was currently doing wasn't working for me (& you know what they say about the definition of insanity).  So, if I wanted to change, I had to do something differently.  And for me, this was the only path that made sense to me -- both scientifically & common sense-wise (afterall, it seemed really close to how my great grandparents would've eaten -- before factory-produced foods & before the onslaught of "lifestyle diseases").  And if nothing else, if I tried it for a week or so & didn't feel good, there was nothing stopping me from reverting to how I've always eaten.  I wasn't on The Biggest Loser, afterall.  I was an adult in control of my own fate.  So, armed with new knowledge, I started acting like it.

One week later, I observed 2 significant things:

1) I was eating less frequently (as the fat & protein kept me fuller longer), so instead of eating every 3-4 hours, I was eating every 5-6 hours (that whole "ramp up your metabolism by eating lots of small meals" is lock stock & barrel with the calories-in/calories-out myth).  So that assumption that you'll eat more calories on a low-carb diet is outright FALSE.  I eat less food than I did on a carb-heavy diet, and about the same if not less calories overall, but I feel satiated LONGER.

2) I was eating less at each meal.  The same omelet, potatoes, toast & juice meal at my favorite breakfast joint (that I used to easily eat the whole thing)...when I subbed the potatoes for fruit & ixnayed the toast & juice...I could now barely get thru the omelet alone before I was full.  The fat & protein were filling me up faster, and the lack of simple carbs was keeping my body from perpetuating the endless cycle of eating/burning/eating/burning.

Even more surprising, after a month of eating this way, I noticed several more interesting (& completely unexpected!) things:

1) I was no longer eating on-the-go.  It's amazing how little on-the-go (ie, "mindless") eating you can do when you don't have the tortilla/bun/taco shell as an option of Meal Transportation anymore.  When you have to use a knife & fork for most of your meals, not only do you slow down & TASTE your meals, but you also become more cognizant of when you're full & when you should stop eating (instead of just eating until the wrapper is empty).

2) I was no longer doing "emotional eating".  All of my comfort foods (potatoes, ice cream, popcorn, chips & many other mindless snacks) were no longer in the house (I got rid of them all to help set myself up for success).  So without them in the house, I couldn't just grab a bowl of ice cream to make myself feel better after a bad day or to celebrate when I was happy or to have something to do when I was bored.  I had to leave the house if I wanted those items & by the time I got around to that, the urge had passed & I was ok again.

3) Everything tasted different...everything tasted BETTER.  I can't convey this difference enough to people who tell me "but I don't like [insert vegetable X or fruit Y here]" when I tell them how I'm eating.   Your. Tastes. Buds. Will. Change.  Your sense of taste is SO dulled down by the processed, refined carbs that it's ridiculous (the same reason macaroni-n-cheese/chicken-nugget/frozen-waffle-laden kids nowadays refuse their fruits & veggies).  Strawberries have never tasted so sweet.  Tomatoes have never tasted so bright.  My trainer calls it the "I can't enjoy my cocaine anymore cause my crack is so good" syndrome.  When you're constantly eating high-sugar foods (or worse, HIGHLY-sweet artificial sweeteners), how can you expect your taste buds to recognize the sweet in fruits & veggies the way they really should taste?

4) No more insomnia.  Did you hear me??  I said NONE.  I have had intermittent insomnia since high school (the old "can't shut my brain off" kind).  I've tried everything from behavorial changes to environmental changes to pharmaceuticals.  Nothing worked.  I assumed it was something I would just live with for the rest of my life (much like my migraines - see below).  Out of all of my research on insomnia, no one ever said that the insulin cycle might be a contributing factor & that cutting back on the processed carbs (& therefore evening-out the Insulin Rollercoaster) might help to quiet my body long enough to settle into real sleep every night (& stay there).  But it has.

5) No more migraines.  DID YOU HEAR ME???  NONE!!!  Ok, almost none -- none as far as I'm concerned.  I've had only TWO in the past **4 months**, both of which were caused by a crick in my neck that was so bad that I couldn't turn my head to the left.  Considering that I used to have 1-3 PER WEEK, that's an unheard-of improvement.  My own doctors don't even believe me.  Like insomnia, I've had migraines for almost 2 decades.  In those 2 decades, I have seen countless doctors & tried countless avenues to eliminate my migraines.  I've been able to curb them, but was never able to practically eliminate them (as it stands now).  And in all that time, and seeing all of those doctors -- out of all the diet tracking & suggested changes, NO ONE ever suggested that processed carbs might be the culprit. Nitrates, MSG, salt, etc maybe...but not processed carbs.  But voila!

[SIDE NOTE --> 5a) I have missed a LOT less work these past few months due to the lack of insomnia & migraines as well.]

6) My mood was significantly elevated.  Did NOT expect this one, for sure.  In fact, it was probably the change that I NEVER would have guessed (wasn't even on my radar as far as diet goes). To give you a little back-story, before this started, I just felt angry all of the time.  I didn't know why, and couldn't pin-point any specific reasons or triggers.  I was just pissed off.  At everything, at everyone -- at nothing & no one.  I was just in a bad mood, and it was affecting both my personal & my work relationships.  I knew I didn't want to feel this way, but I couldn't "will" myself out of it.  I had even started therapy & going to OA meetings again, in the hopes of getting to the bottom of it.  Nothing was helping.  Then a few weeks in to changing my diet, I noticed that I wasn't pissed off any more.  My BOSS even made a comment to me about how I seemed to be in a really good mood "lately" & others were noticing.  A good friend remarked one day that "yeah, well carbs are an addiction & the [Insulin Rollercoaster] can make you an angry junkie."  Holy jeebus, was she right!

Am I saying that YOU have to eat this way?  No, not at all.  But I will recommend it to anyone who (a) asks what I'm doing, or (b) asks what they can do to help relieve the same issues that I described above.  And if nothing else, think of it like I did -- first, is what you're currently doing working for you?  If so, great.  If not, then maybe try something you've never done before to get results you've never had before.  Second, if after a few weeks or a month, it doesn't make you feel better, then stop.  As one of my new favorite bloggers says, only YOU are the boss of YOUR underpants.  (But if you parrot the uninformed Conventional Wisdom Crap at me, you bet your ass that I'm gonna correct you on it.)