Traditionally Built Women

I just finished reading Tea Time for the Traditonally Built,by Alexander McCall Smith -- the latest in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. I loved it!

These books aren't page turners, instead they are slow, mellow reads full of warm and truthful observations about human nature. The plot is simple, leaving plenty of time to focus on the cast of characters. Mma Ramotswe is my idol. She's a traditionally built woman who is comfortable in her own skin.

At one point in the book Mma Makutsi, an assistant detective in the agency, left a note for her employer in which she signed her name followed by three initials having to do with her secretarial degree. It made Mma Ramotswe wonder what initials she'd put behind her name. She settled on TBW as being the most likely. It stands for Traditionally Built Woman.

Maybe I'll start writing my name with TBW after it. I am what I am, afterall. Maybe it will help me embrace the reality of myself, instead of constantly being dissatisfied.

It's worth a try.

Sincerely,

Christie Hansen, TBW

Book Review -- "Potatoes Not Prozac"

Potatoes Not Prozac by Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D. is an interesting book with a stupid name. First, you must know that the title does not fit this book. This book isn't about finding alternatives to taking anti-depressants, it's about stabilizing blood sugar as a means to overcoming compulsive eating patterns and sugar addiction.

DesMaisons does talk about how eating lots of carbs stimulates the production of serotonin and beta-endorphin. She also illustrates how those who are sugar sensitive (which includes alcoholics) often find themselves trying to balance the mixed up levels of serotonin and beta-endorphin within their bodies using sugar or refined carbohydrates.

DesMaisons uses the following example to determine general sugar sensitivity:
Imagine you come home and go into the kitchen. A plate of warm chocolate-chip cookies sits on the counter just out of the oven. Their smell hits you as you walk in. You do not feel hundry. No one else is around. What would you do?

A person who is not sensitive to sugar would not eat a cookie. But someone sensitive (or addicted) to sugar would definitely eat a cookie. And probably more than one.

I'm a sugar sensitive person who is in recovery. Unlike alcoholics who take recovery one day at a time, a recovering sugar addict must take life one choice at a time. A body can live without alcohol, but it can't live without food, and food choices are all around us.

Here are the seven steps that DesMaisons advocates in her book:
1. Keeping a food journal
2. Eating three meals a day at regular intervals
3. Taking vitamins as recommended
4. Eating the recommended amount of protein at each meal
5. Adjusting your carbohydrate intake to include more complex foods
6. Reducing or eliminating sugars (including alcohol)
7. Creating a plan for maintenance

I have been doing all but one of these steps as I've begun a lower-carb lifestyle. Prior to reading this book I hadn't been eating three meals a day. I'd been eating smaller meals and then having balanced snacks (meaning eating carbs in tandem with protein). DesMaison's reasoning behind only three balanced meals seems logical. If someone is already sensitive to sugar, eating three meals that include plenty of protein allows them to keep their blood sugar nice and level and minimizes the frequency of facing food temptations.

I've been trying it for the past five days and have found it helpful. The first couple of days were challenging as I figured out how much to eat at a meal in order to tide me over to the next one. But for the past three days I've really enjoyed this new way of eating. I'm finding it a lot easier to keep my net carbs low (under 100 grams) when I'm only eating three meals and not snacking. Plus, I'm not getting overly hungry and the afternoon slump I used to experience around 2 PM seems to be a thing of the past.

I also think that DesMaison's approach to limiting sugars is reasonable. She doesn't advocate eating no fruit or not eating starchy vegetables. Instead, she's all for eating whole-grain foods and fruits and vegetables with skins full of fiber. All in conjunction with adequate protein at each meal, which leads to slower digestion and steady blood sugar levels. This means that I can have a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast along with a couple eggs. Yum!

If you're a sugar sensitive person who it trying to lose weight and regain health, I'd highly suggest you read Potatoes Not Prozac.

Book Review: Life Without Bread

This is the book that changed my thinking about low-fat vs. low-carb.

The author, Christian B. Allan, Ph.D., draws heavily from the medical practice and original "Life Without Bread" book of Wolfgang Lutz, M.D. From what I can tell, that's the reason that Dr. Lutz's name is listed as an author.

I've only been a low-carb dieter for a month, but I've noticed many interesting results. I can lose weight while increasing my fat consumption. When I eat low-carb, I don't get food cravings. I stay full much longer. The water retention that has plagued me for over 10 years has virtually disappeared. Same with the hormone headaches that used to put a crimp in my style. In fact, my hormones seem to run on a much more even keel.

Reading Life Without Bread explained the fantasic results that I've experienced. Sometimes the author goes into scientific detail that goes over my head, but then he summarizes in lay-man terms that I understand.

Here's a sentence from the book that hit home for me: "The hormone serotonin is responsible for hot flashes and headaches after a meal." There in black and white is the reason that I've been experiencing hot flashes. Not because I'm perimenopausal, but because consuming carbohydrates upsets my body's finely tuned hormone balance. Now that I've reduced my carbohydrate intake, the hot flashes are gone, as are the headaches.

Both my doctor and I were perflexed when I lost 35 pounds on Weight Watchers and yet my cholesterol went UP. This book explains why that is -- because a low-fat diet doesn't drop cholesterol. Eating more fats acutally drops cholesterol, something I experienced only after my doctor had me take 3 fish oil tablets every day. (I'm very curious to see where my cholesterol levels end up on a low-carb diet!)

Chapter Six, Heart Disease: From Fat to Fiction, challenged my long-held beliefs in low-fat wisdom. I found the author's reasoning and use of studies/research overwhelming.

After reading chapter six I found myself feeling profound guilt about all the carbs (especially refined carbs) that my family eats. After reading the chapter, I bought half and half for the first time in years! And yesterday at the grocery store I also picked up whole milk. My thinking is, because the rest of my family doesn't seem to have all the carbohydrate issues that I have, if I start increasing the fat in the foods they eat, it will satisfy their hunger and result in them eating fewer carbohydrates.

I didn't love everything about this book. The author spent chapter eleven making assertions for a low-carb diet from the evidence of evolution. Basically Allan believes that "human physiology has not yet been able to adapt to this radical change in food" -- meaning that man's system is still geared for hunting/gathering instead of the agricultural society we find ourselves in today.

Here's the thing -- I'm deeply religious. While I can see the scientific evidence of evolution, I believe that God has a grand plan and design for this world and its inhabitants. If we now find ourselves in an agricultural society, that is reality, and part of God's plan. You can't fight reality. But you can live in it.

From what I can see, our American society has spent the past 30+ years trying to discount the value of fats in our diet. Maybe God looked down at us and thought, "Here they go again. Thinking they know better than I do. Don't they know that I give them EVERYTHING for their enjoyment, to be used wisely? I guess they'll have to learn the hard way."

And that's what's happened. The calories that we no longer got from fat were substituted with more carbohydrates. And eating more carbohydrates for the past 30 plus years has lead to the plumping up of America -- something that Life Without Bread demonstrates vividly.

Back to reality. I'm overweight. I'm sensitive to carbohydrates as are millions of other Americans. What can we do? Educate ourselves and cut back on carbohydrates. Eat more fat. And give thanks for ALL that the Lord provides for us to eat. Savor it. Enjoy it. Relish life and good health!