A Dietitian’s Journey – the road to better health

A Dietitian’s Journey – the road to better health

In the previous article titled “A Dietitian’s Journey – the beginning”, I shared about why I am (1) following a low carb high healthy fat diet and (2) extending the time between meals in my pursuit of improved health. In this post, I talk about the smaller third of the picture, (3) exercise. Why I am doing this is because quite literally, my life and quality of my life depends on it.

This “journey” is my road to better health – to optimal health.

As a Registered Dietitian in private practice, I’ve spent the last decade helping people in the Lower Mainland of Vancouver learn how to eat healthier, lose weight, lower their blood sugar and blood pressure and have cholesterol that is in the healthy range.  While I had lost 50 pounds myself a few years ago, little by little over the last 2 years, I’d put 1/2 of it back and along with the higher weight, came higher blood sugar levels, followed by high blood pressure.

I had two choices; (1) go on medication or (2) change my lifestyle. I chose the latter. March 5 2017 was the beginning of the journey, on the road to better health.

But what was the “road”?

Over the last 2 years, I’ve done a lot of reading with regards to the physiology of why and how diets high in carbs underlie the “obesity epidemic”.  I understood how excess carbs that were not needed for energy were converted to fat and stored in the liver. I also understood how this excess fat in the liver negatively impacted cholesterol levels – that it wasn’t eating fat that gave people high cholesterol (except for a very small minority with genetic conditions) but eating too many carbs.

Day in, day out in my private practice I’d explain to people how eating “plenty of fruit and vegetables” was making things worse for them because of the carb content in these foods – foods that were eaten with- and between meals. I knew that following the standard recommendations of the last 40 years – to eat low fat and high carbohydrate and restricting portions was not going to accomplish my goal.

I decided to “practice what I preach” by eating a low carb, high fat diet (LCHF), and by extending the time between meals.  In time, I also hope to incorporate short periods of high intensity interval training (HIIT), but for now I just need to get moving!

Since I am not yet “fat adapted” – that is, my body hasn’t yet switched over to using my own fat stores as a fuel source, I knew that I needed to start with walking. Baby steps!

Yesterday, I set an appointment with myself to do just that, and while I was 3 hours later than I planned to be today, my ipod wasn’t charged and it was 5° C and pouring rain, I went to the track and did what I said I would do.

you can follow me at:

 https://twitter.com/lchfRD

  https://www.facebook.com/lchfRD/

Here’s a clip from my first workout:

Note: I am a "sample-set of 1" - meaning that my results may or may not be like any others who follow a similar lifestyle. If you are considering eating "low carb" and are taking medication to control your blood sugar or blood pressure, please discuss it with your doctor, first.