Tag weight loss

The Chicken or the Egg?

Paul - The Wry Eye Guy 1 Comment

SunriseWhen it come to what to eat, the short answer is both. But leave the skin on the chicken! That, however, isn’t the topic. Stress eating is. Do we eat because we’re stressed or depressed? Or does bad eating cause the stress & depression? That may be as difficult to answer as to whether the chicken or the egg came first.

One thing my wife knows for sure is that I’m a far nicer guy when I’m eating well. Now my own opinion is that I’m a nice guy regardless of my diet! But I have to admit … I do feel better when I’m eating well. I don’t mean that when I’m eating less, just when I’m eating real, whole, good food. The association between depression & diet is one that has long been made. Very often, studies are done on the basis of who’s funding what. Or which dietary program is trying to prove it’s the best. But long before diets were a marketable commodity, people realised that there was a dietary influence on mood.

I’ve been eating better for a month & a half now. Is it just coincidence that I’m getting up early, and far more often, to catch more sunrises? The therapeutic benefits of those early mornings by the water give me a shot of calm that endures for the greater part of most of those days. Feeling less stressed can help with weight loss too. Which of those came first? Did I have to be less stressed & depressed in order to jump out of bed early? Or did I overcome the “stuff” to get down to the water a time or two before the stress reduction cut in?

It’s all a bit circular, isn’t it? But it probably doesn’t really matter. Because the two things I am sure of are these …

I am better for eating better.

And I am better for the water & sunrise therapy.

I can highly recommend both. And if you didn’t make it up early today, here’s a pic of my morning sunrise for you. Don’t fret if you missed it, there’s always tomorrow.

And please … take a little time to enjoy your day.

Secret Weight-loss Tip!

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Clean the FridgeBet you won’t find this tip in your favourite diet book …

Clean your fridge on Saturday morning & don’t plug it back in ’til Monday!

It’s amazing. I feel like I ate anything I wanted to, & any time I wanted to, over the weekend. And it worked!

I’m just too lazy to go all the way to the back-up fridge for snacks. Okay, I admit it, it’s a beer fridge. But, I swear, there isn’t any beer in it at the moment! Anyway, that was a pretty big deal for me, especially since I spent half the weekend watching the return of the Premier League season. I watched three or four games … and all without snacks.

Boredom & opportunity are diet killers. Mindless eating in front of the TV is one of my biggest challenges. Until I lose enough weight that I feel motivated & light enough to move, I like my time on the couch. I’ll never lose enough weight for that to happen if I’m snacking non-stop while I sojourn. Not that I’m ever expecting to move enough to lose weight with exercise, I’d just like to get back to walks by the water & other little therapeutic mind-chargers like that.

Now that the fridge is back up & running, I’ll have to see if I can avoid restocking it with all those tempting goodies! 🙂

 

What to Eat in a Diner!

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What to Eat in a Diner!Healthy Diner Food

The other day I was passing through a small town that I know has one of the best diners & I couldn’t resist stopping by for lunch. Sure they serve salads. But they probably use really unhealthy ingredients in the dressing. It’ll mostly be that cheap Omega 6 laden inflammatory oil, won’t it? And maybe it’s loaded with croutons. Who knows what kind of scary stuff could be in it! They do an awesome burger here too but it’s such a work of art that it just doesn’t look right without the bun. And I was on a low-carb day so no burger buns allowed. The all-day breakfast seemed like the only option.

Eggs are natures vitamin pill. And they come with protein to boot. Bacon, probably not pasture raised, but still a pretty good choice for a low carb day. And plenty of fat so no fear of overdoing the lean protein & triggering a big insulin release. I skipped the toast but stuck with the home fries. They’re precooked & cooled before they toss ’em on the grill so all that bad starch is the wonderful probiotic resistant type, right? The slice of tomato is pretty harmless so I decided to go with that. 🙂

And that’s how you do the diet at the diner!

THINK Yourself Thin … Maybe?

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THINK Yourself Thin … Maybe?

Winery

Couple of guys thinking themselves thin at Mission Hill Winery, in BC. Looks like it’s working! 🙂

Yesterday’s post on the Glycemic Index, the Glycemic Load Index, and the Insulin & Satiety Indices triggered a few questions. I wasn’t suggesting that any particular index was the right way to build a weight-loss diet. Nor was I saying that the indices were worthless for doing that. I was trying to explain the confusion went through, leading up to my decision to eat potatoes as part of my diet. The potato was a good example of that decision making process when measured against the four indices we talked about.

Despite the amount of science behind many of the diets out there, there still isn’t enough information to create one, clear, simple, diverse & satisfying diet that will work for everyone. No matter the diet we choose to follow, we will all tinker with it. We’ll add a little of this & a touch more of that, to suit our own taste. I think that’s okay. The greater the variety, the better the chances that we’ll stick with it.

To simplify yesterday’s thought process. The Glycemic Index, the Glycemic Load Index and the Insulin Index ALL suggest that I shouldn’t eat potatoes. The Satiety Index suggested otherwise so I tried it periodically, sometimes for 2 or 3 days at a time, over several weeks. It worked on most attempts, I ate potatoes, felt very satisfied, & I lost weight. That’s a good result but it’s not the end of the confusion.

Imagine being on a very low-carb keto diet. With this, I’m trying to stay in ketosis by reducing the carbs. Some keto regimens recommend carb days periodically but still require longer periods of very low-carb eating. While I totally believe in the weight loss potential of the keto regimens, I just don’t want to eat that way all the time. I think it works. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it. And it’s okay to experiment with alternatives. It probably won’t be a ketogenic diet any more but if we lose the weight, do we really care?

Sometimes, I think Grandma maybe had it right … everything in moderation.

EXCEPT those things that we know do us damage. And we should probably eat more of the stuff that doesn’t. Even if it isn’t keto-friendly!

PS … Wine is an essential component of a healthy diet too, isn’t it!?!

Madama Butterfly & Weight-loss

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Madama Butterfly & Weight-loss
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I have no idea why, but I’m suddenly overcome with the desire to see an opera. It’s not like I’m an opera buff, not even close. I’m more an occasional top twenty opera fan guy. Nor do I really know anything about opera, I’ve only ever been to one performance in my life, Madama Butterfly. My eyes are filling up just remembering it! I didn’t even understand the words but it was so moving that I couldn’t help it. Naturally, at the time, I totally denied suffering such an emotional response … but I did.

I’m constantly amazed by the emotions that come with listening to opera. Un Bel Di Vedremo makes me tear up. Carmina Burana makes the hair on the back of my neck rise, every time. Nessun Dorma does both. I love Vesti La Giubba & Habanera, & so many more. This stuff has the power to move. It doesn’t matter if the music & words are of today, or yesterday. It doesn’t matter the language. It’s just wonderful to be moved.

Now that I’ve mentioned Habanera, it reminds me of the hot habañeros that are growing on my back deck. And that this is a diet & weight loss blog!

Yesterday was a one of those over-the-top all-you-can-eat days. I’m not sure I meant it to be at the start of the day but I know that I’d switched gears by lunchtime. Today should probably be a fast day. Or at least a partial fast day? Oh, I just can’t make up my mind, I’m off to blubber in the corner for a bit, while I decide!

Maybe I’ll listen to some opera today. It has the power to generate a different body chemistry. And it might be one that can overcome other temptations!