Apologies for the sporadic posts at the moment, it’s been a busy week. On Monday evening my mum persuaded me to come to a lecture with her, given by Patrick Holford. Holford is quite a well-known ‘nutritionist’ in the UK – I suppose he’s the closest thing we’ve got to a male Gillian McKeith. Holford cuts quite a controversial figure in the world of nutrition, mainly because, not unlike Mckeith, he tends to make bold claims about supplements and has a habit of awarding himself qualifications. Hmmmm.
Anyway the lecture proved to be quite interesting, as a very suave and compelling Patrick spoke about the importance of controlling our blood sugar if we want to lose weight. I had no arguments with what he came up with – in fact I think a lot of scientists are coming to the same conclusion, or have done for a while now. The Holford Diet is based on low GL, rather than simply low GI food/eating. The man spoke for about three hours, would you believe, and managed to hold the audience’s attention until the final minutes, so you have to give him some points for that.
Anway, the reason I was interested in the talk, was not because I think low GL is the only way to lose weight, but because I know I have a susceptibility for high blood sugar. When I was pregnant with my first child I developed Gestational Diabetes. It was a shock, I tell you. I had maintained a good weight-loss for a while at that time – I was around 9 st 7 pounds when I became pregnant – and I ate what I thought was a healthy diet. Jacket potatoes, low fat yogurts, couscous salads, Fruit n’ Fibre – those were the sort of things I ate regularly. Once I was pregnant I did scoff down the odd Mars bar, with the old ‘eating for two’ excuse. But still, I knew my diet was far healthier than the average Brit’s – I only had to have a nose in the trolleys of fellow shoppers at my local supermarket to see that (something I’m afraid I still love to do!).
It just seemed really unfair. Why me? And then needle-phobic little old me had to stab my finger three times a day to check my blood sugars. (Oh boo-hoo!, I hear you cry. I’ve since met a friend of my son’s who developed type 1 diabetes in his reception year at school. Watching him test himself without a fuss was a very humbling experience indeed.)
In the end, I was able to control the diabetes through my diet. The nutritionist at the hospital’s gestational diabetes clinic wasn’t particularly helpful though – “Use artificial sweeteners. Don’t eat loads of sweets. Don’t have white bread, eat wholemeal.” I didn’t want to do the first thing, and I wasn’t doing the second and third things anyway…
So I did some research of my own to come up with an eating plan that would definitely keep my blood sugars under control. If I remember correctly I used recommendations from The Food Doctor book, although I don’t know where that book is at the moment! Basically here’s an example of the sorts of changes I made;
Breakfast before: Weetabix or Fruit n Fibre
Breakfast after: Porridge or scrambled egg on toast.
Lunch before : Lots of pasta or couscous
Lunch after : Quorn fillets with a few potatoes and lots of broccoli
Desserts before: Low fat fruit yogurt with added sugar
Desserts after: Plain yogurt with chopped strawberries
Anyway, you get the idea. They were minor changes I suppose, but they made a big difference – my blood sugar remained normal for the rest of the pregnancy.
My consultant at the time was quite laid back but he did warn me not to have too many children and to stay at a healthy weight. Well I’ve succeeded in only having two children (and didn’t get diabetes with boy no 2!), but I’ve steadily been increasing my weight over the last couple of years in between bouts of weight loss. And I’ve gone from being a distinct pear shape, to a very rounded apple.
All in all, I think I really need to pay attention to the sugar in my diet once more, and that includes all forms of carbs really. I’m going to make a real effort to keep my eating as low GL as I can, and see if it makes a difference. Will give you an update on how I get on in a week or two.
Now I’m fully recovered from my stinky cold, I’ve been doing pretty well with my diet this week. Most days I’ve managed between 8 and 10 portions of fruit & veg – but today I surpassed myself – my online food diary says I’ve munched no less than 15.8 portions!! And that figure includes 10 different types of fruit or veg. So I’m chuffed. Nice to feel back on track after the Easter holidays – I’m hoping for a good loss by this time next week – fingers crossed.
NoYoYo 