Diet Blog: healthy weight and food choices
first of all, don't expect to ever read anything positive about being unhealthily thin here. The goal is HEALTHY at whatever weight that happens to be.
while i won't say vanity has NO role in my ideas of health , fitness, and weight, its really about getting my knees to stop hurting, and my energy levels up to where they should be.
that said, i dont have a very solid view anymore of what IS a reasonably healthy, but thin, person... a lot of naturally thin women look "ill" to me, even if they are not!!!!!
i look at half the girls in my college classes and have to remind myself that they are young people with active metabolisms, many of whom are obviously fit and exercise.. I have seen them eat: they ARE NOT STARVING.
so in trying to get an idea of what a healthy , reasonable weight should look like ON ME (not on anyone else.. on ME) i am looking at old photos, both from when i was unhealthy from out of control hypoglycemia, and when i was healthy but "thin for me" and figure out what that looks like.
is it even a visual distinction?
did i objectively look the same size, but have a difference in health?
or was i visibly thiner when i was ill?
what does a healthy weight, for me, look like????
(since most of you didn't know me as a teen, i was dead white from anemia, and fainting from hypoglycemia all the time: which made diagnosing the seizures rather difficult....)
now owing to wayne's diabetes i dont keep much sugar in the house, i guess i had just let myself think my hypoglycemia was not much of an issue.
upon thinking about it i realized that i was wrong.
ok, i dont drink sugared beverages, and i stay away from candy. in fact i think most candy tastes WAY too sweet now... good, much better.
but i still dont drink enough water
and i still eat way too much "high glycemic index" low fiber foods.
so....
i simply have to make a policy of not buying white rice except for special occasions. brown is fine. yes it takes a bit more water and time to get it the way i like it, but its really fine. also i LIKE barley and lentils, i should have that as a side dish more often.
i am also not going to eat any more "whole wheat" store bought bread.
oh i will use up what i have in house first, but thats IT... even the "whole wheat" bread you can get in stores is mostly not whole wheat. i have a bread machine, and i make DARN good bread with or without it, that really IS whole grain, and nothing but. (and all good fats, too)
also i am , like most people, basically lazy.
i need to prep more healthy snacks so i can just "grab it" because its the not so good snacks that are easy for me to get quickly..
*when my blood sugar crashes*
what do i do? stuff cottage cheese and chips in my face. or eat a pile of crackers and cheese, or get french fries and a cheeseburger if i am out near fast food.
do we see a trend here?
nod
low fiber, high fat, high in simple carbs
because it gets rid of the shakes fast, but the fat keeps me from crashing right away.
my second line choices are also all about "speed" and getting my blood sugar back up fast. and while they may be better than my first line choices, they are not MUCH better, just ... fast.
i need to
1. have more snacks on a SCHEDULE to keep my blood sugar stable
2. have better stuff on hand for fast noshes
3. pre portion the emergency stuff so i dont just sit there and eat a whole container of cottage cheese before i realize it (with its accompanying chips)
i hadnt realized how much of my snack choices, and even my "meal" choices, were driven by "oh sht my hands are shaking and i feel nauseous i better eat fast"
ah well... knowing the problem is the first step to fixing it.
speaking of which, i found a neat cookbook. well uncook book. its a raw vegan snack book. it has all sorts of little noshes that look very tempting, and easy, and portable, and pre portion able, and higher in fiber and nutrients than other options.
having good nosh options i can pack with me when traveling should help a lot.
while i won't say vanity has NO role in my ideas of health , fitness, and weight, its really about getting my knees to stop hurting, and my energy levels up to where they should be.
that said, i dont have a very solid view anymore of what IS a reasonably healthy, but thin, person... a lot of naturally thin women look "ill" to me, even if they are not!!!!!
i look at half the girls in my college classes and have to remind myself that they are young people with active metabolisms, many of whom are obviously fit and exercise.. I have seen them eat: they ARE NOT STARVING.
so in trying to get an idea of what a healthy , reasonable weight should look like ON ME (not on anyone else.. on ME) i am looking at old photos, both from when i was unhealthy from out of control hypoglycemia, and when i was healthy but "thin for me" and figure out what that looks like.
is it even a visual distinction?
did i objectively look the same size, but have a difference in health?
or was i visibly thiner when i was ill?
what does a healthy weight, for me, look like????
(since most of you didn't know me as a teen, i was dead white from anemia, and fainting from hypoglycemia all the time: which made diagnosing the seizures rather difficult....)
now owing to wayne's diabetes i dont keep much sugar in the house, i guess i had just let myself think my hypoglycemia was not much of an issue.
upon thinking about it i realized that i was wrong.
ok, i dont drink sugared beverages, and i stay away from candy. in fact i think most candy tastes WAY too sweet now... good, much better.
but i still dont drink enough water
and i still eat way too much "high glycemic index" low fiber foods.
so....
i simply have to make a policy of not buying white rice except for special occasions. brown is fine. yes it takes a bit more water and time to get it the way i like it, but its really fine. also i LIKE barley and lentils, i should have that as a side dish more often.
i am also not going to eat any more "whole wheat" store bought bread.
oh i will use up what i have in house first, but thats IT... even the "whole wheat" bread you can get in stores is mostly not whole wheat. i have a bread machine, and i make DARN good bread with or without it, that really IS whole grain, and nothing but. (and all good fats, too)
also i am , like most people, basically lazy.
i need to prep more healthy snacks so i can just "grab it" because its the not so good snacks that are easy for me to get quickly..
*when my blood sugar crashes*
what do i do? stuff cottage cheese and chips in my face. or eat a pile of crackers and cheese, or get french fries and a cheeseburger if i am out near fast food.
do we see a trend here?
nod
low fiber, high fat, high in simple carbs
because it gets rid of the shakes fast, but the fat keeps me from crashing right away.
my second line choices are also all about "speed" and getting my blood sugar back up fast. and while they may be better than my first line choices, they are not MUCH better, just ... fast.
i need to
1. have more snacks on a SCHEDULE to keep my blood sugar stable
2. have better stuff on hand for fast noshes
3. pre portion the emergency stuff so i dont just sit there and eat a whole container of cottage cheese before i realize it (with its accompanying chips)
i hadnt realized how much of my snack choices, and even my "meal" choices, were driven by "oh sht my hands are shaking and i feel nauseous i better eat fast"
ah well... knowing the problem is the first step to fixing it.
speaking of which, i found a neat cookbook. well uncook book. its a raw vegan snack book. it has all sorts of little noshes that look very tempting, and easy, and portable, and pre portion able, and higher in fiber and nutrients than other options.
having good nosh options i can pack with me when traveling should help a lot.