The new
Ben & Jerry's more love-less handle ice creams are pretty good. Had some New York Super Fudge Chunk last night.
As to the health effects of low-carb diets, one thing they never say when criticizing Atkins-type diets is that you don't have to eat a lot of fat. You can go low carb and stay relatively low fat quite easily. Trim your meat. Done. Yawn. You also don't cut out all veggies; just certain ones like potatoes and beets that have a lot of starch/sugar. Every time I see a report criticizing the diet methodology it is always based on the most superficial glance at the diet itself, like assuming you never leave the induction phase. If I have one legit issue with the diet, it's the lack of fruit. But then, besides a glass of OJ I've never been a big fruit eater anyway.
My blood pressure is borderline high; has been for ages. Well, my doc and I are now trying to combat this so I can avoid getting on BP meds. So I tried reducing my sodium input. It worked to a degree but I was not happy as a low sodium diet (<2000mg/day) is very hard to achieve w/o many many sacrifices and changes in eating habits (that I knew wouldn't work long term). Also, the slightest variation and my BP would jump back to the borderline. So we're changing tactics and trying to lose some weight. If I can shed enough weight, my BP should come down on its own. 12 pounds in the past few weeks and holding so far; this is the first plateau. I hope to crack it soon and start dropping more.
And I'm trying to add more exercise to my routine. Even light things like a long walk are better than nothing so we're trying to exhaust our dog in the local
forest preserve. She could also stand to shed a pound or two. I'm debating a piece of home exercise equipment and am open to suggestions. I'd prefer a weight system to a treadmill.
Other simple steps to better health:
- Don't eat unless you're hungry. You don't have to always have meals at regimented times.
- Drink lots of water.
- Take a multivitamin every day.
- Don't eat within 3 hours of bedtime. If you must, eat something light like some raw veggies - celery seems to be the best.
- Don't keep many, or any, snack foods around the house. You can't do the "mindless munch" if the stuff isn't available. I've found that if I have the will power to resist it for that hour/week in the store, I don't have to worry about having the will power to resist it at home. Besides, snack foods are among the most expensive items at the grocery; reduce them and you'll save $.
- Eat the occasional salad for lunch. Not every day; you'll burn out pretty fast. Just once or twice a week. Use a lite dressing or use less. BTW, for low-carbing, ignore the reduced carb salad dressings except for Thousand Island; normal dressings have very few carbs to begin with. RTFLabel.
- If you drink soda, switch to something without caffeine. Switch to something without sugar if you can, but my doc advised the caffeine is actually worse (for me) than the sugar. I've settled on Caffeine-free Diet Coke or Diet Sprite. At home I mostly drink water or Crystal Light lemonade.
