Super interesting article. Thank you! Can you say more about what kind of snacking/grazing you used to do before you tracked your glucose and how you stopped yourself from doing it after? Also when you said you weren’t getting enough protein, what specific protein did you add into your diet and why? Finally, most people feel they eat TOO many calories. How did you decide you needed to eat more? (One add-on question: Does your husband eat cereal often? Is there such a thing as “healthy” cereal?). Thanks Emma!
Yes of course! (Already breached 2,000 words so had to skip a few details!). I had fallen into the trap of thinking I could eat anything I wanted between 10a and 6p as long as it was healthy. And working long hours from home I wouldn't take the time to eat a full lunch. So I'd snack on nuts, grab some goat's milk yogurt with (grain free) granola, an apple with some almond butter, carrots and humus....sounds good right? But my glucose would spike with each snack plus it was contributing to a struggle with SIBO (will be writing a separate article focused on that soon). So I upped the protein at breakfast (chicken sausage, eggs, nuts, seeds) and then wait 3-4hrs before I eat again, make sure to have proper lunch with enough protein (canned mackerel is common, chicken and salad) wait another 3-4hrs and then proper dinner.
When I food logged I found I was often eating under 1,000 calories a day (the app tracks fat, carb, protein in each meal - normally I tell people to ignore this stuff but its more nuanced). Other than eggs and canned mackerel I was probably 90% plants which are very low in calories but was contributing to my SIBO. I am normal weight (probably could lose 5-10 pounds) but the low calories could be increasing my cortisol which is not good. I will cover all this in a future article - promise!
Cereal - I'm going to point you to one of my old Blog articles on this topic that fully covers your question. My husband was already over 50 when I married him 10 years ago and there was no way I was going to be able to break his morning cereal ritual! (I can't compete with crunch!) I got him on a slightly healthier organic wheat flakes and encouraged adding pecans and blueberries but that was it. Until Signos came along and he saw the crazy spike in his blood sugar after. He has switched to an organic sprouted (GF) granola with nuts and oats. It's working for him!
Thanks - very interesting. I excerpted this: "The problem is your body needs glucose to function properly and if deprived of carbohydrates will synthesize glucose from cortisol which can compromise your cardiovascular health and has also been shown to deplete your muscle mass. Intermittent fasting can achieve the benefits of keto without these downsides. *
I couldn't find what the asterisk (*) referred to.
Super interesting article. Thank you! Can you say more about what kind of snacking/grazing you used to do before you tracked your glucose and how you stopped yourself from doing it after? Also when you said you weren’t getting enough protein, what specific protein did you add into your diet and why? Finally, most people feel they eat TOO many calories. How did you decide you needed to eat more? (One add-on question: Does your husband eat cereal often? Is there such a thing as “healthy” cereal?). Thanks Emma!
Yes of course! (Already breached 2,000 words so had to skip a few details!). I had fallen into the trap of thinking I could eat anything I wanted between 10a and 6p as long as it was healthy. And working long hours from home I wouldn't take the time to eat a full lunch. So I'd snack on nuts, grab some goat's milk yogurt with (grain free) granola, an apple with some almond butter, carrots and humus....sounds good right? But my glucose would spike with each snack plus it was contributing to a struggle with SIBO (will be writing a separate article focused on that soon). So I upped the protein at breakfast (chicken sausage, eggs, nuts, seeds) and then wait 3-4hrs before I eat again, make sure to have proper lunch with enough protein (canned mackerel is common, chicken and salad) wait another 3-4hrs and then proper dinner.
When I food logged I found I was often eating under 1,000 calories a day (the app tracks fat, carb, protein in each meal - normally I tell people to ignore this stuff but its more nuanced). Other than eggs and canned mackerel I was probably 90% plants which are very low in calories but was contributing to my SIBO. I am normal weight (probably could lose 5-10 pounds) but the low calories could be increasing my cortisol which is not good. I will cover all this in a future article - promise!
Cereal - I'm going to point you to one of my old Blog articles on this topic that fully covers your question. My husband was already over 50 when I married him 10 years ago and there was no way I was going to be able to break his morning cereal ritual! (I can't compete with crunch!) I got him on a slightly healthier organic wheat flakes and encouraged adding pecans and blueberries but that was it. Until Signos came along and he saw the crazy spike in his blood sugar after. He has switched to an organic sprouted (GF) granola with nuts and oats. It's working for him!
https://emmatekstra.com/blog/start-your-day-with-a-healthier-breakfast/
(Can't make it a live link so will add to related articles list above)
Thanks - very interesting. I excerpted this: "The problem is your body needs glucose to function properly and if deprived of carbohydrates will synthesize glucose from cortisol which can compromise your cardiovascular health and has also been shown to deplete your muscle mass. Intermittent fasting can achieve the benefits of keto without these downsides. *
I couldn't find what the asterisk (*) referred to.
Oops thanks for this Al! I've added the footnote.