LCHF Take 2

Boxing Day is the new New Year for me.  I've fallen off the LCHF wagon in quite a spectacular way over the last couple of months, to the extent that my weight is back up to my starting level.  Interestingly my waist measurement is not quite back to where it was, so I'm hopeful that at least some of the excess weight is water.

There are several reasons why I started eating too many carbohydrates again, but it has taught me four very important things:

1) I am clearly very insulin resistant.  My body's response to eating carbohydrates again was almost frightening in the way I craved bread, pasta and potatoes almost instantly after eating that first bowl of pasta.

2) I am addicted to sugar, and in particular poor quality chocolate.  Once I start eating milk chocolate I find it genuinely difficult to stop.  Back when I was firmly following a LCHF diet earlier in the year, the occasional bit of 85% chocolate was fine, but it turns out that with milk chocolate I really can't stop at just one piece.

3) I am probably not someone who can have a 'cheat day'.  I comprehensively fell off the wagon after I allowed myself to eat some sweets at Halloween - not even 2 months later and I have regained all the weight I had lost.

4) While I don't have coeliac disease, my gut's reaction to going back to gluten and sugar was 'interesting'.  I'm really looking forward to not feeling bloated anymore in a few day's time...

So, back to LCHF it is.  Starting today, rather than 1st January, so that it is very firmly not a New Year's Resolution.  In addition to looking at all the websites I used before (such as Diet Doctor) I have also signed up to the Banting online course.  I already have the Real Meal Revolution cook book, but I feel that the course will give me the kick start I need.

As the website does everything in kilos, my new starting weight is 89.2kg.  This is a lot more than I should weigh, given that I am only 160cm tall.  I do feel more confident than I ever did when re-starting WeightWatchers though, as I know already that I won't become irrationally hungry, and that I will enjoy all the food I eat.  It does mean I have to be very organised with pack lunches for work, but I'm up for the challenge.

Starting on Boxing Day is a surprisingly good idea as it turns out - the fridge is full of leftover turkey, bacon, sausages and cheese, so the first few days should be easy.

Can a book make you happy?

I can't remember now what made me choose to read The Happiness Project but I'm glad I did, as it was indirectly responsible for prompting me to start this reading challenge.  I found the writing style a little irritating to start with, and I wasn't sure I would stick with it at all, but once I was used to the way Gretchen writes I really enjoyed the rest of the book.

In particular several of the observations really struck a chord with me.  One of them was the idea that people are happier once they stop trying to like things that they think they should like and embrace the activities that they do enjoy.  I used to feel guilty about reading 'chick lit' or YA fiction as I felt that I should enjoy reading classical literature and 'worthy' books.   I always felt the need to justify my choices of reading material, and felt a nagging sense of unease that I haven't ever managed to finish Lord of the Rings, or Catch 22.   However I've read both the Hunger Games trilogy and the Twilight Saga twice, and enjoyed all the books enormously.  Reading blogs like this one by Matt Haig went a long way to convincing me that I should feel free to read what I want and not feel ashamed of any of my choices, but the final nudge I needed was to reframe my reading habit as my way of relaxing.  I would never criticise anyone else's choice of book, so why was I criticising my own?

Another of the ideas in the book I really liked was that of keeping a journal which was only 1 sentence a day.  I'll admit that this mainly appealed because I had already started that very thing.  One of my Christmas presents this year was a One Line a Day Diary which I thought was a genius idea.  I have never managed to sustain a proper diary for longer than a few months, but I think I really can commit to the idea of writing one line a day. It's only been 18 days so far, but I haven't missed one yet, so I have a good feeling about it this time.

I have also started decluttering, but that process really began when I turned 40 a few months ago.  It's going very slowly so far, but I have managed to take several bags of stuff to charity and recycle a whole load of paper.  Following the impetus of this book I now also have 3 'clear areas' in the house (they are very small, just my bedside table, a dresser and a small cabinet) and my aim is to keep them clear for at least 2 weeks and then gradually start on the rest of the clutter.

I would like to try and write this blog more regularly, as I have been thinking about it more and more over the last few months, but it is difficult to find the time.  In particular, I'm not going to set myself any goals (such as 1 post a week, or 3 posts a month) - I am just going to write my ideas down as I go along and see how it goes.

If you're intrigued and want to read more about the Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin maintains a blog, which is here.

As to whether the book made me happy - actually, so far it has.  After starting to read it I stumbled upon Tara Anderson's blog about her challenge to read 52 books in a year and for the last 10 days I have been very happily reading at every available opportunity.

A book a week

I have a late entry to my resolutions for this year. Today I happened upon this blog by Tara Anderson   about her experience of reading a book a week for a year and that is what I am now planning to do for 2015. Although it's already the 8th of January I have read two and half books since Christmas, so I reason that I can count them towards my total.

Realistically I may not be able to read 1 book every single week, but I'm confident I can read 52 books during the year, especially as I have a couple of long plane journeys and a few train journeys to take at various points during the next year.

I'd like to use it as an opportunity to read different books to those I would normally read so I plan to ask my friends on Facebook and my followers on Twitter for suggestions. By happy coincidence one of my neighbours had suggested that we start a local book club this year, so that may well provide a few unusual choices too. And, like all other book lovers, I already have a pile of books at home in my "as yet unread" pile, which will set me up nicely for the first few weeks.

I'm happy to say that my family know how much I love reading and no birthday or Christmas passes by without me receiving at least 3 new books.  This year was no exception and so the first two books I read were from among my Christmas presents.  My first choice was Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie.  I have always loved Science Fiction and for many years as a teenager would read nothing else, so I was delighted to be introduced to a new Sci Fi author.  I have to say that this one did not disappoint.  I was immediately transported to the world of the Radchaai and literally could not put this book down.  I particularly loved the way the book deals with the gender of characters, and enjoyed reading about the burgeoning relationship between Breq and Seivarden. Having finished it I immediately started on the sequel (Ancillary Sword).  As often happens, I did not find the second book quite as good, but it was still completely unputdownable, and I'm delighted to learn that there will be a third book in the series published in due course.

The book I'm reading this week is The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.

I am genuinely excited about this new resolution, and hopeful that it will expand my horizons. I also suspect it will help me to kickstart this blog again as well, as I will no doubt want to share my thoughts on each new book.

Resolutions

Last year I pretty much had one New Year's Resolution - to learn to crochet, and to my surprise I did. I'm a long way off being good at it, but I have managed to complete several mini projects, and am a long way towards finishing a scarf for myself and a blanket for the 5yo.

This year I plan to continue on the same theme. I want to finish the scarf and the blanket but I have been spurred on by a most welcome Christmas present of an Attic24 Yarn Pack. The pack in question is the one which will make a Raindrops Cushion, and I am very excited about it.

Now all I need to do is find the time to sit down and start the project.

Happy New Year to you all.