FessUp: Hey! What's the Solution?

If you have not been reading the saga of posts prior to this one, no biggy. The gist of it is that I successfully broke myself of a sugar addiction and stayed clean for over a year. I guess I then decided that I missed the extra weight, the foggy brain, the bloating, irregularity and mood swings that accompany insulin resistance, because I went back to eating carbs.

Now, just to be clear. I do not advocate low carb or no carb diets. I think that carbohydrates are an important part of our diet. The problem (for me at least) is the amount of carbs that I have at any one time. Blah blah blah spike in blood sugar, blah blah blah crash an hour later. If you want details about how insulin resistance or hypoglycemia work, it is easy info to find on the internet.

But let's talk about real solutions. It really is easy. The solution is food. And like I said in a previous post, frequent small meals that include protein, fat and a small amount of carbs. Both protein and fat help slow the absorption of sugars into the bloodstream, keeping our insulin levels steady, and helping us to feel and stay satisfied until our next meal. But to immediately address those 5 things that we talked about last time, I have some helpful hints. Obviously each of us need to identify our own 5 triggers and address those. These are mine...

• {Sweet Cravings} When I get too hungry or my blood sugar drops too low, I tend to binge on whatever I can get my hands on. Because of the low blood sugar the craving will be for carbs which are a quick pick me up. This becomes a vicious roller coaster of highs and lows. When I eat right I do not crave sweets or empty carbs. This means I have to make sure that I always have a healthy snack with me. Usually nuts. I love several brands of cocoa covered almonds for an extra special snack!

• {Snacking between scheduled meals and snacks} With 5-6 doctor ordered meals, you think I could refrain from extra snacking, but sometimes emotional triggers kick in. My solution has been to find drinks that I love that can be sipped slowly but do not undo my good eating. For me this is club soda with sliced lime (my favorite drink in the world). Super yummy and keeps my mouth busy without any calories or carbs. When it is cold I go for a warm cup of Pero instead. This is a hot barley drink with almost no carbs and very low calories. 

• {Weekends} Going of my eating schedule on the weekends is a killer. It can undo a whole week in one day! The key to this is really just being mindful of sticking to a schedule even when the weekend schedule is a little more "relaxed" and "varied". 

• {Sunday treats} I am trying to be more diligent about making this evening treat something a little more healthy. The kids ask for cookies or brownies, but I am trying to steer that in another direction. We love homemade popcorn or whole wheat muffins with blueberries or bananas. We also love protein smoothies or cut apples with peanut butter. We need an evening tummy filler because of our Sunday schedule, but it can be a quick healthy snack.

• {Family Night Treats} This is simple. If I am doing the right things all the rest of the week I can totally have any kind of junkie, sugary indulgent treat I want one night a week and not suffer any real side affects. I can try to keep the portion under control, but honestly, I don't want to. I just eat it and enjoy it and then go back on schedule the next morning.

There you have it. These are the things that I have found work for me. How about you guys? Any specific issues that you have found specific solutions for? So, as of yesterday I am back on schedule. I am going to blog about it a bit over the next two weeks, probably until everyone is sick of it, but accountability is a big part of it, so help keep me on track if you wouldn't mind...

Quote of the Day: "I generally avoid temptation, unless I can't resist it." --Mae West