Health Kick: Conclusion

So, that’s my story.

I cut my sugar to under the AHA recommended level. I increased my fat intake and aimed for the upper end of the recommended daily intake, so the food I ate would cause less glycemic load and keep me satisfied for longer. I switched to whole grain for pretty much everything, and started eating quinoa, flaxseed and nuts. I ate as much raw or lightly-cooked food as possible, even if it meant turning it into a smoothie. I didn’t worry about limiting non-sugar carbs, and I stopped worrying about cholesterol in eggs.

I focused my attention on what I was eating and ate slowly. I pre-portioned everything and tracked how much I ate. But I didn’t go hungry, and I didn’t bother with a gym membership. I tracked my activity level 24/7, which drove me to become much more active in normal life. I logged my weight precisely every morning, so I could be reassured that my plans were working.

And my plans did work. Weight loss settled down to a steady rate of around 0.45kg/week, or about a pound a week in old measurements — a healthy sustainable rate.

My blood pressure dropped, and my stamina went up. My heart rate during steady exercise went down.

I broke my sugar addiction, and eventually lost my appetite for sweet cereals, soda and candy. Sugared bread and peanut butter now actively taste bad to me. I still enjoy a little chocolate on occasion, and I get my sweetness in the form of fresh fruit. I still enjoy the occasional short stack of pancakes for breakfast, but now I make them with whole grains. I still eat pizza, curry, and other feel-good foods, and I still get to snack on tortilla chips. So I don’t feel like I’m actually missing anything, which gives me confidence that I can sustain my new diet permanently, and simply adjust the total calories from time to time to keep my weight at the right level.

My long term goal now is to see if I can get my lean muscle mass higher and percentage body fat lower, while maintaining the same weight. I expect this to be more of a challenge; it’s taking longer.

Is what I did generally applicable? Well, it seems to be working for my wife so far. It seems likely to me that a lot of the obesity people suffer is the result of intake of too much toxic fructose, because almost every manufactured food has at least low levels of added sugar in. It’s as if our entire food supply is adulterated with low levels of poison. Add in the detrimental effects of ultra low fat diets — such as being hungrier and needing more additives to make food taste good — and you have a recipe for health problems.

I’m hoping that as the word spreads about the unhealthiness of a low fat diet and the toxicity of fructose, it’ll get easier to follow the low sugar path.