I think I'm coming out of a two or three week period where virtually every night I have had a dream involving the consumption of an oversized pastry. It started with a gigantic twinkie. I can't really remember what else I was doing in the dream, but I woke up and spent most of the next day craving a twinkie something fierce.
As this went on I experienced dream danishes, coconutty snowballs, donuts, all manner of highly un-low carb deliciousness. "What is this?" I began to rationalize, "Is my subconscious mind asking for me to break my long-term low carb lifestyle in order that we might together share in the spoils of the world's carbiness?"
I don't think it really was, but that didn't make it any harder to resist the parade of pastry-eating I was suddenly witnessing in front of me every day. Somehow everyone, everywhere I went, was eating a damn donut. It was sheer madness. Still, on my worst and most carby day, I think I only got up to about 75grams of carbohydrate. So, I don't think I took any major damage.
Now it seems I'm back to dreaming of electric sheep and of getting my toes sucked on by Madonna (true story.)
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Does Too Much Fiber Make Everyone Feel Shitty?
Last night the wife and I had delicious beef tacos in low-carb tortillas. Each tortilla has only 7 grams of net carbohydrate, but a whopping 11 grams of fiber. Something I've noticed over time is that too much fiber not only makes my back end go all runny and gross, but it also makes me feel kind of oppressed overall.
Nietzsche speculated that the gut was the bedrock of emotional health, and I have always tended to agree. I notice that when my stomach is feeling upset, I feel upset emotionally. I become irritable and easily distraught, and I also experience mood swings. I've been reading some new research about how there's basically a whole other brain down there, twisted all around the guts, and how it's just about as large and active as the brain you have in your head.
Anyway, I ramble about this because here it is the next day after eating all that fiber, and now I'm feeling a little emotional. I'm not all falling to pieces on the city bus or anything, but I just don't feel like I'm 100% on my game. One minute I'll feel happy and the next I'll feel unhappy. It's like I'm on my period.
I've noticed this in the past when I eat the low carb protein bars that are so high in fiber as well. Since this blog is basically anonymous and since we're all friends here and deserve to be able to speak candidly with each other, I'll tell you a little bit more about what I experience with the fiber. I call the phenomenon "shitass." It's when you shit and just can't seem to wipe it all away. And then later you'll be walking around and a little poop juice will leak out.
Not a lot, mind you, just enough so that you feel a little extra slippery. And then all day as you go about your business you can stop into bathrooms and wipe the thin layer of shit-liquid off of your bum bum. It ain't no good, you see, but I think I understand now how it happens.
You see, when you eat a bunch of fiber the bacteria in your intenstines go crazy on it, converting it into fats. Since your lower intestine isn't equipped to hand as much fat as you'll end up with down there when eating an unnatural amount of fiber (such as in low-carb baked goods), you end up in a similar situation as someone who has taken some of those fat-blocking alli diet pills. The extra fat ends up in your lower intestine with no way to contain it, so it just leaks right out. And its gross. So, whenever I can now I avoid all the "low carb diet food" crap and just eat fresh healthy natural food. But I do love tacos...
Nietzsche speculated that the gut was the bedrock of emotional health, and I have always tended to agree. I notice that when my stomach is feeling upset, I feel upset emotionally. I become irritable and easily distraught, and I also experience mood swings. I've been reading some new research about how there's basically a whole other brain down there, twisted all around the guts, and how it's just about as large and active as the brain you have in your head.
Anyway, I ramble about this because here it is the next day after eating all that fiber, and now I'm feeling a little emotional. I'm not all falling to pieces on the city bus or anything, but I just don't feel like I'm 100% on my game. One minute I'll feel happy and the next I'll feel unhappy. It's like I'm on my period.
I've noticed this in the past when I eat the low carb protein bars that are so high in fiber as well. Since this blog is basically anonymous and since we're all friends here and deserve to be able to speak candidly with each other, I'll tell you a little bit more about what I experience with the fiber. I call the phenomenon "shitass." It's when you shit and just can't seem to wipe it all away. And then later you'll be walking around and a little poop juice will leak out.
Not a lot, mind you, just enough so that you feel a little extra slippery. And then all day as you go about your business you can stop into bathrooms and wipe the thin layer of shit-liquid off of your bum bum. It ain't no good, you see, but I think I understand now how it happens.
You see, when you eat a bunch of fiber the bacteria in your intenstines go crazy on it, converting it into fats. Since your lower intestine isn't equipped to hand as much fat as you'll end up with down there when eating an unnatural amount of fiber (such as in low-carb baked goods), you end up in a similar situation as someone who has taken some of those fat-blocking alli diet pills. The extra fat ends up in your lower intestine with no way to contain it, so it just leaks right out. And its gross. So, whenever I can now I avoid all the "low carb diet food" crap and just eat fresh healthy natural food. But I do love tacos...
Thursday, July 17, 2008
"Free" Continental Breakfast? Thanks but no thanks
I had to endure a long office orientation the other day that started at 8am and went until almost two o'clock in the afternoon with no breaks. "Breakfast" was provided, but what do you think was offered? Not bacon and eggs, I'll tell you that. Nothing but donuts and danishes, with some orange juice on the side.
The best I could manage was to scavenge a banana from the table there, which is not a low carb item but I figured it was my best bet to keep myself steady for hours of struggling to stay awake. It's amazing how strange the site of people sucking down jelly donuts and boston cremes has become to me; it doesn't even look good anymore.
I will admit that at one point later in the afternoon I snatched a plastic knife and cut myself maybe a twentieth of a jelly donut just to remind myself what it tasted like. I think this is important for anyone mainting a low carb diet to keep in mind: if you're going to break your diet, you don't have to go on a binge. You can take the extra 4 or 5 grams of sugar from a little mouthful as opposed to taking the hit on maybe 100 grams of pure sugar that you would get from eating the whole jelly donut.
Most of the time you will find, like I did in this situation, that the desire for the donut is pure conditioning: it doesn't actually taste very good at all! At least not to my highly sensitized low carb tongue! So I had my cake and my low daily carb count too. Needless to say, by lunchtime I was famished and enjoyed a big plate of meat and steamed veggies!
I find that I feel better with an empty, angry stomach than if I break down and satisfy my hunger with a bunch of carby breakfast foods. As low carbers we have the luxury of enjoying a steady and reliable blood sugar level, so don't be afraid of going a little bit hungry from time to time in order to keep that going.
The best I could manage was to scavenge a banana from the table there, which is not a low carb item but I figured it was my best bet to keep myself steady for hours of struggling to stay awake. It's amazing how strange the site of people sucking down jelly donuts and boston cremes has become to me; it doesn't even look good anymore.
I will admit that at one point later in the afternoon I snatched a plastic knife and cut myself maybe a twentieth of a jelly donut just to remind myself what it tasted like. I think this is important for anyone mainting a low carb diet to keep in mind: if you're going to break your diet, you don't have to go on a binge. You can take the extra 4 or 5 grams of sugar from a little mouthful as opposed to taking the hit on maybe 100 grams of pure sugar that you would get from eating the whole jelly donut.
Most of the time you will find, like I did in this situation, that the desire for the donut is pure conditioning: it doesn't actually taste very good at all! At least not to my highly sensitized low carb tongue! So I had my cake and my low daily carb count too. Needless to say, by lunchtime I was famished and enjoyed a big plate of meat and steamed veggies!
I find that I feel better with an empty, angry stomach than if I break down and satisfy my hunger with a bunch of carby breakfast foods. As low carbers we have the luxury of enjoying a steady and reliable blood sugar level, so don't be afraid of going a little bit hungry from time to time in order to keep that going.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
This Blog Is About Staying Low Carb
My wife and I have been on a low carb diet for over two years now. I suppose it's not even really a low carb diet at this point, more like a low carb lifestyle.
We have no intention of stopping this pattern of eating any time soon, because I am absolutely convinced from the information that I've read and from my own personal experiences that it is the healthiest way to eat bar none. And I have tried a number of different eating patterns and dietary regimens over the years, so I am fairly well-informed at least about the way that my own body reacts to different ways of eating.
After a while it can be tough to stay low carb even though you know it is the healthiest way to live. Sometimes though, it can be just plain rewarding for all sorts of reasons. I feel better and healthier now than I ever did before. I sleep better, I don't get exhausted as easily, I even experience a lot less anxiety than I used to. A lot less, in fact.
So this blog is here to talk about both of those types of experiences, the reasons why it is hard and the reasons why it is rewarding. I am writing it to help my own motivation while maintaining a low carbohydrate intake and also to show others why I do this and what benefits I receive. It should be a fun little ride so please subscribe to my blog and follow me and my wife on our low carb journey.
We have no intention of stopping this pattern of eating any time soon, because I am absolutely convinced from the information that I've read and from my own personal experiences that it is the healthiest way to eat bar none. And I have tried a number of different eating patterns and dietary regimens over the years, so I am fairly well-informed at least about the way that my own body reacts to different ways of eating.
After a while it can be tough to stay low carb even though you know it is the healthiest way to live. Sometimes though, it can be just plain rewarding for all sorts of reasons. I feel better and healthier now than I ever did before. I sleep better, I don't get exhausted as easily, I even experience a lot less anxiety than I used to. A lot less, in fact.
So this blog is here to talk about both of those types of experiences, the reasons why it is hard and the reasons why it is rewarding. I am writing it to help my own motivation while maintaining a low carbohydrate intake and also to show others why I do this and what benefits I receive. It should be a fun little ride so please subscribe to my blog and follow me and my wife on our low carb journey.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
