Figuring Out What Works for Me

So Jimnotmike left me a comment a few days ago when I was discussing the carb thing and I want to make a few comments on his comment because I am starting to figure out a few things, thank goodness!



Anyway, he said:



Ok, you talked about carbs, so you know I have to comment. Maybe it's me, and obviously it is...but the low carb thing is the easiest thing on the planet! Regardless of whether you do the first 2 weeks of it or not...that's just a kick start and totally unneeded. It's as simple as changing your mind. I know...I say that a lot. But it's less bread, less sugar, less pasta, less potatoes. Heck it isn't even less pasta and potatoes if what you keep in mind is that it isn't really about what you eat, BUT how fast what you eats takes to digest. Ok, so thought 1 - Fats are not metabolized as fat in the body. Fat pretty much glides through you system and out your poop hole. This is why the South Beach and Atkins plans are so effective. This is mainly because your body doesn't digest fats very easily. Your body takes the carbs you eat and first uses them for energy and THEN stores them as fat to use later while all that fat just passes right on by because it's complicated. So here is how I think about it. That sandwich I'm going to eat? I'm going to have it open-face, or one of those great new "Bread Rounds" AND I'm going to put Mayo on it (Full power Real Mayo---Fat) because that is going to slow down the digestion. AND THEN, I'm going to put some lettuce or spinach on it for roughage, cause your stomach can chew on that for hours. That pasta I'm going to eat..it's going to be whole wheat(much harder to digest) and it's probably going have an Alfredo sauce or if tomato it's going to be smothered in parmesan cheese, also harder to digest. That chocolate sauce that I am going to drizzle on my ice cream is going to be sugar free and the ice cream is going to have no sugar added. And I might even put a big ol dab of REAL peanut butter on that ice cream. Everything I can possibly do to make that food harder to digest. Because all the energy my body expends digesting that food is burning calories. I haven't exercised in months...not since the beach trip, cause well, ya gotta be hot for the beach! And even without a bit of exercise I am still UNDER 200 lbs, the same weight I was when I went to the beach. Low Carb is not rocket science and it isn't eggs everyday for breakfast...it's as simple as changing your mind. Choose, choose wisely and you will be rewarded.



Much of this makes sense, but as a whole, I don't think South Beach is for me.� Some of the choices he mentioned, I already do; Such as,�I exclusively use whole wheat pasta and bread and have been for a long time, though I don't eat much bread.� I don't often eat white potatoes as I prefer sweet potatoes.� But here was the thing....when I was totally low carbing it, my energy tanked.� I am much more than a mile long walk a day girl.� I put all I have into my gym workouts and I am still pretty convinced that a lot of my plateau problems existed due to needing to do free weight work and not having a freaking clue where to start with that, combined with being too lazy to try to figure it out myself.�



Along with my energy tanking, my other problem is at night the last few weeks, I have been ravenous!� Keep in mind that my surgery usually (there are times when I can eat way more than I think I should be able to, but those times are rare) prohibits me from eating much volume in one sitting.� I think this is why so many RNYers fall into that routine of "grazing" because we nibble over the course of a few hours.� Watch me at fire pit; I have never fixed a big ole plate of anything.� When I get up to do something, I will usually nibble a bit at what is on the table and then sit back down.� I graze.� But most nights are not fire pit so grazing those other nights is a huge problem.� Yet I have been constantly hungry.� I am burning all sorts of calories at the gym, coming home, not eating till dinner where I don't consume much food and try not to consume much at all in the way of carbs, and wonder why the hell I am starving two hours later?�



Part of it clicked for me when Jim said "And even without a bit of exercise I am still UNDER 200 lbs, the same weight I was when I went to the beach."� My energy would tank when I tried to exercise; I had nothing in me to sustain the activities I was trying to do.� The Genius runs cross country and guess what the team does the night before a meet?� They have a big ole spaghetti dinner because they need the carbs to run the next day.� If I am going to exercise, I need to have fuel to do it.



The other problem for me is that full fat items make me sick.� Literally.� My stomach and intestinal rerouting does not allow for me to feel good off this kind of stuff.� I also have to be careful with sugar free items because many of them are insanely high in sugar alcohols.� Sickest I ever got since my surgery was off sugar free ice cream.� I barfed my head off.� My system can no longer handle it.� Ice cream in general is a struggle for me, which is a good thing.� I have been sick off the full sugar version to, especially when I paired with..was it a brownie...at fire pit one night....maybe it was cobbler.� I forget, but the point is, I was sick.



So I have some limitations that "normal" people don't have.� Things I have to be careful of.� Yes, I also sometimes eat other things that I know are going to make me feel bad.� It's my struggle and I am dealing with that.



I had a conversation with Ashley (formerly known on this blog as Amanda.� I figured out her real name.� At least I had the A right) at the Y today. As she has lost a lot of weight and has gained some serious muscle and she is close to my age, I asked her for advice on snacks, explaining how hungry I had been at night and we got in a big conversation about carbs and exercise.�



So yes, I have to be careful with my amount of carbs and what kind of carbs I eat, but I am going to have a carb, a good carb with my dinner.� I can not always pair a carb with a full power mayo unless I would want the possibility of inviting puking or severe discomfort into my immediate future.� I am no longer watching the carbs in my yogurt, but the sugars.� I am going to be drinking an 8 ounce glass of lowfat chocolate milk within 45 minutes of my weight training workouts.� I am going to strive for 4 servings a day of fruits and veggies to help sustain my body to keep me from feeling hungry in the evenings.� I am going to let Sonia kick my ass at the Y and we are going to see how it goes.



Maybe in a few months, I will find out I was wrong.� Only time will tell.



Have a great weekend, peeps!

Peace out!