Could this be what's holding you back from being healthy & well?

INTRODUCTION

Have you been trying to drop weight for a while, using strategies suggested by your health professional, but you don’t seem to be making any further progress? Have your efforts stalled?

I’m not a diet nazi and I’m certainly not a fan of restriction, but a surprising (not really) prediabetes diagnosis last year forced me into action to find out what was going on and how I could resolve the problem. I was well aware of the complications of Type II diabetes and had a mother with a diagnosis, so I knew the odds were stacked against me. I could eventually go blind and lose a limb or I could start making changes immediately to rectify the issue.

What was perplexing to me was that the 16:8 intermittent fasting I had been dedicated to for the last 18 months clearly hadn’t done the job. IF was only one piece of the solution puzzle.

After I was diagnosed, a naturopath suggested I go keto. I eased myself into it for 3 weeks by going low carb, and then attempted proper keto or very low carb (which I found very difficult to achieve). In that whole time, I couldn’t believe how amazing I felt. I was dropping weight, felt energetic, eliminated the mental fog and my digestive issues disappeared. My knees and back no longer hurt and I felt lighter. My confidence was at an all-time high.

THE WORST OFFENDERS & WHY THEY NEED TO BE THROWN

Sugars and refined flours have a lot to answer for. We all know that consuming these products causes our insulin levels to spike. Increasingly greater amounts of insulin over the long-term leads to insulin resistance and continually elevated blood glucose levels, eventually culminating in prediabetes and Type II diabetes. Excessive glucose hanging around causes inflammation and physical damage to the body. Insulin also blocks leptin which tells the brain to stop eating when you’ve had enough and so this leads to insatiable hunger, even after eating. No wonder we can’t drop more weight!

So, how do you better control your insulin, and subsequently, your blood glucose levels? A huge first step is to go low carb and cut sugars and refined flours from your diet. Even better would be to do that on an IF schedule (we’ll discuss this in a later episode).

Take note: low carb does not equal no carb. So don’t go sooking that you’ll never be able to eat bread or pasta again. Life doesn’t need to be that black and white but you must take the actions you believe are going to make you feel better in the long-term. We’ll explore some ideas after this short break…

HOW TO CUT DOWN ON CARBS SUSTAINABLY

What are some easy ways that you can cut and replace carbohydrates, these weight loss saboteurs?

• Go through your pantry, fridge and freezer and cull anything you can find that contains sugar or is just plain sugar (except for what you put in your coffee). Do the same for refined flours. Be honest with yourself about what needs to go, and employ the support of a good friend if need be.

• Cut down on sugar in your coffee (do not replace with artificial sweeteners!) and choose foods and meals that contain less sugar.

• Buy a SodaStream and replace your soft drinks with lime and soda. There are also some amazing sugar-free and gut-healthy kombucha and apple cider vinegar brands on supermarket shelves (try Caroline’s). Drink water rather than juice.

• Look for low-carb bread (try Burgen’s), pasta substitutes (try spaghetti squash or zoodles) and rice alternatives (try cauliflower and broccoli rice).

• Choose carbs in their most natural form – wholegrains (pasta & sourdough bread), brown rice, seeds, vegetables and small amounts of fruit for fibre

• Personally, I’ve found it relatively easy to limit my carb intake to 50g per meal, or no more than 150g per day by choosing the low carb options in my weekly meal deliveries.

When you start to cut carbs, it’s important to slowly and moderately increase your consumption of protein and healthy fats. You may also find a fibre supplement necessary.

Be kind to yourself and ease into it. Sustainability and deprivation are not synonymous; however, if you choose sustainable, you choose slow and steady but also easy and enjoyable. And as you know, as you experiment with any strategy, the key is to have fun and feel good.

FUTURE PACE

Sugar and refined flour are as bad as those other fine, white, addictive powders some choose to put in their bodies. Not reducing sugar and refined carbs will see you eating more than you realise and not losing the weight you want to. What’s more, they could lead you down the garden path of prediabetes or even diabetes.

You know the key to optimal health is feeling good, and this can be the result of small changes to your diet. Reducing sugar and refined flour will make your weight loss efforts easier, help you ward off diabetes, allow you to experience a whole range of other health benefits to make you feel even better, and you’ll still feel free to enjoy your favourite carbs every so often.

Imagine going from feeling heavy, exhausted and frustrated to a life of lightness, energy, joy and freedom – this is waiting for you on the other side!