I have been reading, watching Ted videos and attended seminars about Food, Diet, Nutrition and Healthy Living. My wife has officially confirmed that I have become obsessive, crazy and extreme about food that she is rolling her eyes everyday what other crazy thing that I am going to do. To be honest, I am totally confused. I am really not sure what diet I should follow, how should I eat? what should I eat? in what portions? Should I eat meat? After weeks of looking into all this material, I can say without a doubt in my mind, it is hopeless.
One of the mountain of books that I am currently reading is The Blood Sugar Solution 10-Day Detox Diet: Activate Your Body’s Natural Ability to Burn Fat and Lose Weight Fast
the author of the book Presence Is Power: Seven Steps for Living a Life of Prosperity
Why are we failing?
Why are nearly 70 percent of Americans and almost 1.5 billion people worldwide-projected to be 2.3 billion by 2015-overweight?
Why do so many of us eat the foods that we know aren’t good for us, that cause us to gain weight, that aggravate chronic symptoms, or make us feel sick, bloated, and guilty?
Why would anyone choose to use a substance they know destroys their life?
The answer is simple. Addiction. We are a country-no, make that a world-of food addicts. The industrial food complex has hooked us with a steady stream of hyperprocessed, highly palatable, intensely addictive foods that are sabotaging our brain chemistry, our waistlines, and our health.
The Proof is in the Milk Shakes
The science of food addiction is clearer now than ever before. A powerful study recently published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition proves that higher-sugar, higher-glycemic foods are addictive in the same way as cocaine and heroine.
Dr. David Ludwig and his colleagues at Harvard proved that foods with more sugar- those that raise blood sugar quickly or have what is called a high glycemic index- trigger a special region in the brain called the nucleus accumbens that is known to be ground zero for conventional addictions such as gambling and drug abuse. This is the pleasure center of the brain, which, when activated, makes us feel good and drives us to seek out more of that feeling.
Previous studies have shown how this region of the brain lights up in response to images or when the subject eats sugary, processed, or junk food. But many of these studies used very different food for comparison. If you compare cheesecake to boiled vegetables, there are many reasons the pleasure center will light up in response to the cheesecake and not to the vegetables. The cheesecake tastes better or it looks better. This is interesting data, but it’s not hard proof of addiction.
This new study took on the hard job of proving the biology of sugar addiction. To be certain of their results and to ward off any potential criticism (which the $1 trillion food industry inevitably churns out in response to studies that don’t reflect well on its products), the researchers did a randomized, blind crossover study using the most rigorous research design.
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So, we have an addiction problem and it is not because you and I are not trying to do our best. I cannot speak for others but I actually workout quite a bit. I run, take the stairs where possible and walk if I have a choice. The only bad thing physically that I need to fix is sitting. I plan to fix that soon as well. The physical activity is not the problem or I don’t think it is the problem with me so it has to be the diet, nutrition and food. My wife observes that I snack a lot, yes I eat nuts from what I understand that is not such a bad thing. Never the less, the nuts are gone too. I have been watching what I eat and I have been eating a lot more greens and fruits but my weight has not changed. There is something wrong. I cannot put my finger on it. I am taking diabetic pills and a cholesterol statin drug. I have been monitoring my blood sugar every morning before breakfast and it is quite interesting. It is on the borderline.
Coming to my depression, I shared openly that I feel that I am depressed. The number of people who have reached out to me and offered their empathy has been overwhelming. I feel blessed. Thank you all for doing that. It has given me a lot of strength to openly take on the challenge of dealing with my condition. I am getting professional help there but the recommendation, Facebook comments and likes to the original posts have been extremely helpful. As part of the therapy, I have been given a book to read The Feeling Good Handbook
Coming back to my body and watching some of the KPI. Since I started watching the blood sugar and what I eat etc I have been watching my weight as well… are you ready? I have gained weight! this is just ridiculous. I am so confused that it is not even funny any more. Next stop, full fledge detoxification! Starting today.
Interesting – you say you’re gaining weight, but you don’t mention WHAT weight.
As an example:
1. You might have an edema
2. Your body might be retaining excess water
3. You might be gaining muscles (Yes, muscles weigh more than fat and water)
4. Any combination of the above .. or even something I haven’t thought of
You have a choice to make guesses based on your weight and the appearance in the mirror (that one is useless for me, all I see is the HULK when I look in the mirror) .. OR you can do this scientifically.
The way to do this scientifically is to make a hypothesis (such as full fledged detoxification) then test that hypothesis by accurately measuring before and after and analyze the results.
The best scientific measurement for analyzing your body tissue is a full body MRI, but that’s really expensive.
The second best scientific measurement is a cheap scan and it only takes 10-15 minutes and it gives you a printable read-out analysis of your whole body with lean body mass, fat per body part, etc .. here’s an example of a printout.
It’s called a bone density scan using a DEXA machine.
If you do a scan before and after you’ll see what effects the purge had on your body in this short term period.
I would add to this full blood analysis (remember – you have to specifically ask for every single test, including vitamin D)
Price chart for a bone density scan
You can order a scan at LSH here
I would call beforehand and make sure it is done using a DEXA machine .. then make sure to ask for the printout containing the body mass and fat percentages per body part. Their device should give that printout.
Alternatively, you can call Hjartavernd and ask them to do it, I know for a fact that their device can do this.
(In fact, that’s where I would start)
TL;DR; Add a bit of science and measure your progress so you know what works for you and what doesn’t.
An interesting read Bala, but as mentioned above the gaining of weight isn’t always a bad thing, especially when you are “starting” this changes, it’s a marathon, takes time. So what are you eating? Is your protein intake perhaps to large for your weight? Is it possible that your body is saving water for some reason. I’m guessing you don’t drink any alcohol, as that for example can have that affect. Also mentioned above is the possibility of the training, are you doing any weight lifting?
I’ve also done some research in this area and made some tests on my self and i’ve seen these same symptoms as you mention. So don’t let this break your spirit and aknowledge that only 5% of humans can make this change permanent. The human body types are so different and that make some of all these books fail at the beginning, something works for human A but not really for Human B and so forth. I try to “trick” my body in my diet by not eating always the same things and different amount of carbs every time. That way our body can’t assume to get 150 grams of carbs in every meal. Also, mix different types of food and go for the medium in everything.
Hi Bala,
let me tell you, the situation is very familiar to me. I only realised it a few years ago, when it was already too late to save my relationship…
Anyways, regarding your apparent food obsession, in my experience, if you want to go obsessive with something, go with exercise not food. I did only small changes in my diet, but started exercising a lot more. It worked for me… I believe you are doing enough exercise, but the body needs to be surprised and challenged regularly otherwise it gets lazy. You will not lose weight if you don’t change your exercise patterns and add some heavy weight lifting. The latter is often dismissed, but actually very important! It will help increase lean body mass (more muscles, less fat). Throw in some HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) along with your endurance training. You will see step increase in fitness and the fat just melt off! For my diet, the only things I changed is stop eating as much carbs and skip them in the evenings, increase high quality protein intake such as fish and chicken (important for recovery of exercising), more veggies and virgin olive oil. I never did take sugary candy or sodas, but they are off limits. Hey, and enjoy a glass of red wine every now and then! It may help reduce or avoid depression and has a positive effect on cardo vascular health!
Hope you find what works for you and to see you soon!
Thanks Marcel. I think this is really good advice
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