Skip to main content

What a Difference a Year Made

Merry Christmas! In a little while, I'll be with my family, celebrating with a low-carb Christmas dinner. We'll be snacking on the low-carb goodies I made for them yesterday: low-carb chocolate peanut butter cookies, pate, roasted almonds, and some goat cheese I bought. Why low-carb? Because in the past year, cutting down on carbs has solved so many problems for me and my mother.

A year ago today when I started this blog, I was eating a high-carb (~180 grams per day), low-fat, adequate protein diet. I was scheduled for a root canal. I needed acid blockers, four-hour naps every weekend, frequent meals, and visits to the chiropractor. I was also anemic and putting on weight. This, even though I ate so-called "good carbs" and worked out six days a week.

In January, I cut out wheat and began slowly losing weight and feeling less bloated. In February, I cut way, way down on all carbs (to around 50 grams per day) and the fat fell off fast. My need for the naps, frequent meals and back cracking evaporated. My chronic congestion and acid reflux went away and my shoulder stopped hurting. (One of my dance teachers made the same comment about her knee: sugar makes it hurt.) My teeth are whiter and healthier, too. Those so-called "good carbs" or "complex carbohydrates" are, except for fiber, just starch. They're sugar molecules holding hands. When you eat starch, it turns into sugar.

My mother is diabetic, so it's extremely important for her to limit carbs. She, too, eliminated wheat--even though she once said she never would. She understands what raises her blood sugar, and has gotten it into a range that shouldn't cause organ and tissue damage. (It was 99 this morning.)

But the biggest change I've seen in both of us is that our spirits and energy have risen. My hairstylist remarked that I'd gotten in touch with my inner 12-year-old; my mom has never been so happy. Was that the hole in our souls--too much sugar and a lack of dietary fat?
Labels:

Comments

Unknown said…
I too had a wonderful holiday. I did what you described 7 months ago, lost 110+ pounds, and feel wonderful and full of energy. It's a great feeling not being the tired one at such a busy time. It sure is greener on this side of the fence.
Merry Christmas!
December 25, 2010
Lori Miller said…
Congratulations and Merry Christmas! I noticed you changed your photo awhile back, and you looked like you'd lost weight.

Here's to another happy year!
December 25, 2010
Anonymous said…
I'm inclined to give the credit, or at least a lot of credit, to reducing/eliminating gluten. less sugar is never a bad thing; but I don't think it improves people's moods the way gluten free can. Congratulations on the improvements in your health and sense of well being.

Your readers may be interested in this website which is a free support group for people trying gluten free for one month in January
http://www.glutenfreejan.com/

I am not affiliated with this site in anyway, etc.
December 26, 2010
Lori Miller said…
Anon, I had reduced gluten about ten years before and had some modest improvements in my skin. Basically, I just substituted wheat for other carbs. I don't remember my mood or outlook improving.

Gluten-free is good--and to my mind, not all that hard to do--but I attribute my results more to reducing carbs in general and taking a lot of minerals.
December 26, 2010
Lori Miller said…
Oops--I meant "substituted other carbs for wheat."
December 26, 2010
Anonymous said…
The labeling situation for gluten keeps improving, for sure. There's still room for improvement though. This study discusses gluten cross contamination in grains that are considered to be naturally gluten free
http://new.diet.com/blogs/read/contamination-of-naturally-gluten-free-grains/19524
December 31, 2010
Lori Miller said…
Thanks for the link. That's scary stuff for people who have zero tolerance for gluten. It's another good reason to eat what I call real foods (meat, veg, eggs, etc.) instead.
December 31, 2010
Lori Miller said…
Anon from December 26--having looked back at my blog entries on wheat from back in January, I see that I got more benefit from ditching the wheat than I remembered.
January 01, 2011
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blog Lineup Change

Bye-bye, Fathead. I've enjoyed the blog, but can't endorse the high-fat, high-carb Perfect Health Diet that somehow makes so much sense to some otherwise bright people. An astrophysicist makes some rookie mistakes on a LC diet, misdiagnoses them, makes up "glucose deficiency," and creates a diet that's been shown in intervention studies to increase small LDL, which can lead to heart disease. A computer programmer believes in the diet and doesn't seem eager to refute it because, perhaps, scientists are freakin' liars and while he's good at spotting logical inconsistencies, lacks some intermediate knowledge of human biology. To Tom's credit, he says it's not the right diet for everyone, but given the truckload of food that has to be prepared and eaten, impracticality of following it while traveling (or even not traveling), and unsuitability for FODMAPs sufferers, diabetics and anyone prone to heart disease (i.e., much of the population), I'm...
24 comments
Read more

Collagen-filled Low Carb Burritos

Low-carb, grain-free Mexican food is hard to find, but it's easy to make your own at home. This recipe has an authentic ingredient: carne de lengua, or beef tongue. Don't be put off: beef tongue is tender, delicious, and full of collagen. Look for it directly from farmers in your area. To cook it, cut it in 1" to 1-1/2" slices and pressure cook for one hour. Enjoy the delicious broth as a bonus. Ingredients 1 slice cooked beef tongue, peeled and cut into small cubes 1 egg wrap (I use these  from Egglife) 1/4 cup cooked black or pinto beans Chili pepper Oregano Garlic (powdered or minced) Cumin Guacamole (with no emulsifiers) Salsa Shredded cheddar cheese Sour cream or homemade cream cheese  with no emulsifiers  Put the egg wrap on a plate and put the beef and beans down the middle of it. Sprinkle with the herbs and spices. Wrap, turn over and microwave for 1-2 minutes. Spoon salsa over the burrito and sprinkle with cheese. Add guacamole and sour cream or homemade crea...
Post a Comment
Read more

Not Only Cheaper, But Easier

A while back, I wrote about saving money on break time coffee and snacks. I haven't done very well putting it into practice. But a post by James Clear today got me thinking about it again: Warren Buffett uses a two-list system to prioritize things. Check it out --and follow the instructions. Using Buffett's two-list system, two of the goals I ended up with were taking care of myself and saving $400 more per month than I already am. As I said, I've been wanting to save money, and the system made me really focus on this. I came up with 11 money-saving ideas, six of which had to do with food. Buying hamburger in bulk. Ranch Foods Direct sells one-pound packages of 80% lean pastured ground beef in bundles of 20 for a lot less than Whole Foods. Sprouts only carries super-lean beef that's grass-fed, and it's more expensive, too.  Not driving to Whole Foods. Whole Foods is out of my way, and saving a weekly trip saves gas. Coffee at home, tea at work. Tea is fr...
24 comments
Read more

Palpitations Gone with Iron

Thanks to my internet friend Larcana, who alerted me to the connection between iron deficiency and palpitations, I doubled down on my iron supplements and, for good measure, washed them down with Emergen-C. It's a cold medicine with a mega-dose of vitamin C, plus B vitamins and minerals. I don't think vitamin C does anything for a cold (a friend bought the stuff and left it at my house the last time she visited), but vitamin C does help iron absorption. After doubling up on iron in the last three days, I feel back to normal. (I'd already been taking quite a bit of magnesium and potassium, so I probably had sufficient levels of those.) How did I get so low on iron? Maybe it was too many Quest bars instead of red meat when I had odd cravings during my dental infection recently. Maybe because it's too hard to find liver at the grocery store and I haven't eaten much of it lately. Maybe the antibiotics damaged my intestines . And apparently, I'm a heavy bleeder . ...
18 comments
Read more

In Defense of Fast Food

Another modern trend - healthy food should be expensive, not nutrients-dense and preferably exotic, or you would be eating like plebs who live on a dollar McD menu. --Galina L. I don't try to jump over seven-foot hurdles, I look for one-foot hurdles I can step over. --Warren Buffett, pleb who eats at McDonald's Despite all the talk about wild-caught v. farmed, grass-fed v. CAFO and the vilification of fast food, a lot of us plebs benefit simply from carbohydrate restriction. But even though diabetes and obesity are rampant, and carb restriction alone would help millions of people, the impression is out there that you need to eat in a very specific way, far beyond just watching the carbs. Following a low-carb diet is already a high hurdle for many people. If some people want or need to raise the bar for themselves, that's fine with me, but there's no need to turn low-carb into a hurdle that a lot of people can't jump over. Organic produce and grass-fed or p...
17 comments
Read more