Those of you who know me, know that I am not a diet
person. There are quite a few reasons
for this. First and foremost, I like food. I like food, and I especially like dessert. My husband always jokes that when we go out
to eat, I choose the dessert first, and then decide what my main meal is going to
be (and, truth be told, sometimes it isn’t really a joke). I like all the stuff that is bad for me. Chocolate.
Candy. Chips. Bread.
Meat. Cheese. Ice cream.
Pizza. Fries. Milk.
The occasional ginger ale. You
get the picture.
As I have gotten older, I have become slightly more
discriminating in my tastes, particularly when I am eating out. For example, I rarely order dessert now
because, and I say this without a trace of arrogance, the desserts I make are
better. I am sometimes more
conscientious about considering healthier menu options like salads, because I
have discovered that there can actually be more to a salad then just a heap of
lettuce with a bit of something else thrown in.
As people demand healthier options, maybe restaurants have been forced
to be more creative in their salad making, and lately, I have been known to
pass up my go-to fish and chips for an interesting looking salad. I never eat red meat in a restaurant (except
for the occasional burger) because it is never done the way I like it. I love salmon, and could eat it every night
for dinner without getting bored.
I have never been a dieter, and have never in my life gone on
a fad diet. No Atkins, no Paleo, no
Keto, no gluten-free, no dairy free, no
vegan or vegetarian (although for several years during Lent, we ate mainly
vegetarian dishes in solidarity with those who have little food).
So you might be surprised to hear that this spring, I
decided to try a low sugar diet which was posted on Facebook. (See it here.)
The meal plan for the 7 day diet was designed
by a dietician using recipes from Chatelaine
magazine. The description of the menu
plan said “This week-long low sugar diet aims to keep
your energy levels high and your mood regulated by balancing blood sugar with
the right combination of foods at each meal and naturally sweet foods that let
you indulge in a healthy way.” Sugar, as you know, has been on
the dieting hit list for a while now, and I was feeling guilty about my
consumption of sugar. I decided to jump
on the bandwagon and see if, in fact, a week on a low sugar diet would make a difference
to how I felt, both physically and mentally.
The overall result was that after a week on this diet, which
I followed almost to the letter, including cutting out all candy and chocolate
(I know, right?), I did not feel significantly different (healthier, more
energetic, more alert) than I did before.
I did, however, lose 8 pounds. That
could be because I was almost always hungry.
I felt that the meals were not substantial enough. I was always hungry at bedtime, and since
there were no after supper snacks in the menu plan, I did not eat any. I would start each day feeling very hungry,
and frankly, a smoothie for breakfast did nothing to quell that gnawing
hunger. As to my mood, well, my dear
husband would have to answer that question, but since I was hungry a lot of the
time, I’m betting he didn’t see much of an improvement.
I realized about halfway through the week that I do not
actually use a lot of sugar in my meal preparation. And now that it is just two of us eating at
home, I do not make desserts as often as I used to. Most of my sugar intake comes from my 2 cups
of tea a day, and snacks and candy.
I learned that a diet like this one, with lots of fresh
vegetables and snacks, is labour intensive.
There were not many “quick” meals, and even some of the breakfasts
involved chopping, peeling, cooking, etc.
I missed my quick cereal out of a box breakfasts, and I found that I
spent a lot of time every day doing meal prep for almost every meal.
Diets in magazines like Chatelaine
often seem to be quite urban-centric in the sense that many of the ingredients are
either difficult (sometimes impossible) to find, or expensive -- or both. I never did find any sprouted grain bread in
my local grocery store. I had to drive
to Moncton to find some of the ingredients (cacao nibs, unsweetened dried
cherries) at Bulk Barn, which is neither convenient nor cheap. I could not get halibut, as it was out of
season and when it is in season, it is very expensive, so I substituted salmon.
I missed potatoes. And
cheesy garlic fingers. And milk. And my morning cup of Earl Grey tea with one
teaspoon of sugar. The diet plan did not
specify acceptable drinks, so I assumed that water and herbal tea were all that
were allowed.
Diets like this also seem to be missing components of what I
consider a healthy diet (but I am not a nutritionist). For instance, the medication that I take has
a side effect of calcium depletion. I am
not an expert, but it seemed like overall, the amount of calcium-rich food was
low.
Some of the recipes were not very good. The lentil soup was tasteless and if you have
an issue with texture, like I do, not pleasant.
And it made an entire soup pot full.
I gave a large container to a football player, and even he did not like
it.
Tofu will never again happen in my house. This point is not open for discussion.
This diet pushed me out of my comfort zone. I tried some things I had never tried before,
like peanut butter on apples, which I actually liked (yes, really, I had never
had peanut butter on apple). A few
months later, I have made a few of the recipes again. In particular, I really liked the Smoky White
Bean Chili, the Beef Barley Soup, and the Apple and Walnut salad. I would never have mixed nuts with yogurt
before, but now I eat some form of the yogurt/blueberry/cherry/walnut mix
almost every day, usually for lunch, and I love it. I find that I am snacking (most days) with
more healthy food, although life would not be worth living without the
occasional bag of chips.
It is highly unlikely that I will be jumping on another diet
bandwagon, unless research suddenly shows that chips, chocolate and cookies are
miracle foods, or unless I have to because of a medical condition. But I have to admit that I am glad I tried
this one. It taught me a few things
about my body and my attitude towards food.
And now, I think I hear a chocolate mint Girl Guide cookie calling my name.
