Sunday, September 16, 2007

No Carbs




Many years ago I did a year of "no carbs". At that time I went completely without carbs of any kind for 3 days. That was supposed to get them out of my system so that when I finally started them again in moderation, my body would use them instead of storing them as there would be no supplies stored. Well I did lose a lot of weight. A whole person worth. But in reality, you can't go without them.
I was helped along by a co worker who was a vegetarian. She was constantly saying she wouldn't eat anything with a face. Well It got so bad that I had trouble eating at all. I think I was pretty much living on cheese and apples. I am weird like that. The powers of suggestion can turn me completely off food. So I have to watch what I watch on tv about discoveries of bad food handling etc. I stopped eating rice for several years because I found bugs in mine as I was eating it. I had a very hard time keeping it down much less putting it in my mouth again. I didn't think I would ever eat it again.
There were rumors about a couple fast food places many many years ago. Even tho those probably weren't true, I still can't eat there. Like I said, I am weird that way. I can tell by looking at something whether I can eat it or not. I don't like mushy but can eat mashed potatoes and pudding. Go figure. I am just now getting where I can eat a pancake (I always chose waffles because they were more crispy and done). I don't eat well cooked oatmeal or small grained oatmeal. I only eat the old fashioned whole grain.
I don't particularly like the taste of meat and don't like the texture at all. And if I think about where it came from, I have trouble swallowing it. I do eat ground beef but have to have it cooked very done and chopped up very fine.
As you may expect, I don't eat many things out. Too many hamburgers I have had to toss because they weren't done. No way am I eating uncooked meat. Not even moist looking meat with a tinge of pink. The thought of steak tartar or sushi is horrible to me.
A few years after the first "no carb" adventure, I decided to try it again. That lasted a day or two. I got to feeling very sick. I had no energy. At work my boss told me I looked like I was about to die. It was a very scary, weird feeling. I kept having trouble until I added carbs back in. Everything was fine. It was like my body knew I was cutting the carbs again and it was trying to shut down. It may seem like an excuse, or untrue, but for me it happened. I swore I would not try that again.
The surgeon wants me to lose weight before he does surgery on my knee. I decided to try the "no carbs" again. Well that was two days ago. Today I slept all day long after sleeping the night before. Every time I sat down and tried to do anything, I would nod off. I totally was not functioning. I am trying to make myself stay up but I could go to bed and sleep another 8 hours. That is totally not me. I am used to 6 hrs at the most.
Hubby was wondering why I was asleep so much today. I told him I was afraid it was the "no carb" thing. He kind of laughed. I also have to be off Premarin a month before surgery so he may just have laughed his last laugh. I have never been without Premarin since I had my hysterectomy. We are about to travel to feelings and emotions unknown. And from what I hear about hot flashes, we may have some trouble ahead. I know from previous years that I don't even like the Jeanne without sugar. It changes my whole personality. Now I will see what other horrors lie ahead for me. Instead of feeling bad for me, feel bad for hubby. He is the one who will be dealing with the wrath of Jeanne. LOL
Here is the ATC I did from a photo I took at our last week's outing. The hostess has a pond next to her front door with fish. As I snapped the picture, the fish just seemed to lift its head up and pose.

4 comments:

Robyn Sinclair said...

Jeanne - This post did make me smile. It is so easy to become food obsessed. I recently cut out carbs to give myself a kick start on a new healthy lifestyle in an attempt to get rid of some of the extra pounds my Italian lifestyle has caused. I found myself eating huge salads while watching the Food Channel! The first thing I did when I'd finished the toughest part of the diet was cook the Paradise cake I had been thinking about for three weeks. I don't normally even cook cakes! I was also craving fruit - our fig tree was groaning with goodies and I couldn't have one. I don't believe 'no carbs' is a heathy long term solution.

Robyn Sinclair said...

I actually meant 'healthy' long term solution. Keep writing, I do enjoy it.

Joan said...

Great job on the fish!! He does look like he was posing for you. I guess he must have sensed that you would just take his photo and not eat him.
There are very few things I won't eat - celery, lima beans, and liver. I don't think I could do without carbs. It would definitely make me cranky. Hope the withdrawal from your medication won't be too bad. Take it a day at a time, and I hope your husband can handle it too.

Making A Mark said...

I too smiled at your husband dealing with THE RETURN OF THE JEANNE!!!

I used to go through all the diet sheets to find the low carb stuff and only ever cut out the high carbs and that seemed to work well for a while

The bit I really liked was that all the berry fruit is low carb!

We also now eat sweet potato because they are lower carbs than ordinary potatoes.