It’s been an interesting eating week. I took milk out of my diet on Monday and replaced it with full 37% or more cream in very small quantities in my coffee. As I was taking milk out, I stopped drinking Ceylon tea, replacing it with black Rooibos with lemon. I woke the early hours of Thursday morning with a fat headache and spent the most of the rest of the day feeling very below par. Headachy with lethargy and a complete lack of energy, I puzzled over from what I could be detoxing. By yesterday I felt better. Last night I went out for dinner and had more carbs than I’ve had the whole week. I had a vegetarian salad which was loaded with the right vegetables, but also included carrots and croutons. I also had a decaf cappuccino after.
I remember having Tim Noakes on air and him saying if you feel weak and energyless, you need to add more carbs. This is where eating low carb gets more complex because you have to count the carbs. Apart from reading labels, you need to measure quantities. This week I didn’t do that. What I did was I changed my diet to eliminate all carbs, expecting that within what I ate there would be a few.
I didn’t count them, but I don’t think there were many.
Monday to Thursday, I had great lashings of salad with a variety of greens, to which I added olives, feta cheese and cucumber. I salad dressed it with olive oil. That was breakfast!
For lunch I had a cup of coffee with cream.
For dinner I would have either meat or chicken along with the above salad or broccoli and cauliflower.
My body was not sure about this. I have to admit to feeling a bit woozy.
I think I had just encountered true ‘low carb’ and needed either to adjust or to add a little more carb to get into a better mode of function. I can’t function efficiently like I felt on Thursday.
Yesterday, I had eggs, bacon, tomato and onion for breakfast. Medium fat cream cheese was a mid morning snack. Then I had a small portion of strawberries and cream with a piece of chicken before my long unpleasant rainy windy walk towards the restaurant for dinner.
Oh, I also had a small bran rusk last night that was not very sweet.
This morning I added a little froth to my coffee.
Today I feel great!
For a Ketogenic way of eating, you need to get your carbs down to 5% which I think I had a taste of this week. I need more. Notchbynotch.com has this pie chart for low carb.
I think getting carbs up to 25% is more realistic for me. There is another pie chart I have in my head…
So even after all these years, I only have a tiny sliver of knowledge as to how this really works. Each of us is different and have to find our own level in following this lifestyle. The one thing I have experienced this week is that without milk my gut feels better, but I need more carbs to function well.
Isn’t it interesting we are all made up of these different components? All of us have a different make up in personality type, in metabolism and within our heart and soul. Spiritually, we are all on a journey. On that journey I’m not where I want to be, but I’m also not where I once was.
If we can just keep going, seeking God, trusting Him for all our ways, doing what is wise, we will be ok.
I’ve been reading the ancient words of Solomon.
Ecclesiastes 7:18
The man who fears God will avoid all extremes
Something to think about.
These are the days!
Keep the smile going.
God bless you!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂