16 September 2012

A new approach... for me too

Well, the ongoing trial of low carb living seems to be going well for lovely hubby. His body has happily switched to ketosis (we've checked with Ketostix) so he's now using fats as a primary energy source. His blood glucose levels (without the aid of Metformin) remain admirable, he's now off all his old blood pressure medication and there's just a statin to kick into touch... er, if we can persuade the GP!

Amazingly enough, for a former carb-hound who loved his bread, pasta, white rice and potatoes, he isn't finding it hard to do at all. In fact, he's not really missing the carbs (most of the time), and he's enjoying and feeling satisfied with the foods he's eating.

However, I was beginning to find things a bit of a challenge, as I started to feel rather torn between keeping on with eating the way I've been doing to maintain my weight loss and trying to incorporate some of the requirements of low carb into shared meals.

The problem has come about as I've still been eating some unrefined carbs as normal (e.g. my daily beloved porridge oats) and also trying to stay fairly low fat. Counter to this, we've been trying to increase lovely hubby's fat intake to slow/stop/reverse his continuing weight loss which is getting a tad dramatic. With both dietary approaches on the go, this was becoming less easily sustainable for me.

So, a decision has been made and, as of this weekend, I'm starting down the road of adopting the low carb approach rather more 'fervently' myself. Yep, I am aware that the blood glucose effects are not relevant to me in the same way as they are to my man, but the more reading I do (especially relating to the science of low carb living) the more convinced I'm becoming that it is a healthy way of life for someone without Type 2 diabetes too.

So, I'm now in that initial metabolic changeover period, waiting for my body to figure out that it needs to use fats rather than glucose as it's primary energy source. Once the Ketostix tell me it's got it's act together life 'should' become a wee bit easier (pardon the pun - just couldn't help myself!).

I'm happy where I am so don't really want to lose any more weight, but neither do I want the scales to creep up. So, for now, I'm not adding in the additional fats as we are doing for hubby... well, not just yet anyway... and will rely on the scales to tell me how I'm doing.

So, for breakfast this morning we each tucked into half an avocado, chopped tomatoes and lettuce with black pepper, lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil, a few olives, some feta cheese and a plum, with a Greek yoghurt and pesto dip and ground flax seeds. 




Looks nice, huh? I have to say, it was both filling and delicious!

2 comments:

Mannie said...

I think that it is really great of you to start eating what yourr husband is eating, so he doesn't feel "left out". I've done low carb now and then, it's not a big deal really.

Diane Fit to the Finish said...

Glad that it is working so well for your hubby! I know he appreciates your support!

 
based on a design by suckmylolly.com