Diet

Changing your eating habits  is probably the most effective treatment in this whole plan. Fortuitously, it's in a way, the easiest: open to all, no fancy treatments or invasive drugs, no real additional outlay in terms of time or money.

I also realise it's the hardest as it requires a change which will become a new kind of lifestyle. It's not a 6 or 12 week wonder, this change is for good.

Nonetheless, you will be surprised how quickly this eating plan makes a change to how you feel, I realise it's radical, but in my case I noticed a marked improvement within a week of starting, and I did so from a position of complete scepticism: I expected nothing, resolved to give it a month and was astonished how much better I felt within a week. At the end of that week there was literally no turning back, why would I when I felt better than I had in years? Furthermore, I've lost weight rather than gained, since I started this diet which was a massive change from the previous 10  or 11 years. I am relaxed about what I eat. Fundamentally, i didn't think it was possible to be relaxed about what i ate. I counted every mouthful, now I think about it less than I did even as a child.

First of all, I should say that by “diet” I don’t mean some parsimonious starvation rations, three radishes and a boiled egg per day, I actually mean an eating plan - which involves actually eating!

Please all don't be put off by the content - if someone had told me 10 years ago that I would give up my lo-cal, low fat diet in favour of a high protein, low carb plan with room for plenty of natural fats, I would think you were bonkers. Suspend your disbelief though Ladies, this is where the real change starts and where the plan gets good!

Here's the basics, I'll explain why in a moment:

1. Throw  the "accepted wisdom" out of the window. You know all this low fat, high carb, especially slow release carb stuff we've all struggled like hell to stick to for years and years, and consequently been permanently hungry for years and years? 'A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips'? Guess what? they were wrong! Not even a tiny bit wrong, just totally and utterly, unavoidably wrong.

2. There is no need to be hungry ever again, in fact you are doing yourself harm by being hungry, eat sensibly, eat enough. Actually, let me make it simple: EAT

3. Eat the good stuff: processed crap is bad for you. Diet options are bad for you (never choose low-calorie, low fat etc ever again).. As Jillian Michaels once said: if it had a mother or came straight out of the ground, that's the good stuff! If it needs processing before you can eat it, steer clear!

4. Do not snack. Given that you'll never be hungry, there's no need. Snacking is a habit, just like smoking, more to do with (subconsciously)  filling a perceived gap (normally an emotional need), and most snacks are rubbish nutritionally anyway. It does you no favours and is self-defeating.

5. Do not feel guilty for eating: you are a human being and need to eat. At the same time, do not justify, do not use food for treats, do not use food for comfort. We attach far too much emotion to our eating habits, and this creates stress which should never exist. Some days you'll eat more, some days less, just go with it.

6. Don't count calories: There's no need, and anyway, it's just a way of stressing and making yourself feel guilty again. Stop it.

7. Trust your body to tell you when you’ve had enough or need to eat more - balance in these feelings will return more quickly than you ever expected. In the days before this diet, I could eat too much, be absolutely stuffed and still, 20 mins later be hungry again. Often I would have a nagging feeling that I was hungry all the time (possibly because I was!). This goes away very quickly. Eat when you need to eat, stop when you are full. Listen and learn from what your body tells you - it will refine itself very quickly.

The basis of this diet came from a piece of advice given to me by my dentist (of all people, still the only person in a white coat who has positive, constructive suggestions for me), who happens to be an ultra-triathlete. His premise was that there was a new theory on nutrition, called the paleo diet. It's pretty revolutionary in that it throws the accepted wisdom of low calorie, high  carb diets out of the window.  I was really sceptical about it, in fact it was the one suggestion that I didn't try until I’d exhausted all others and was so desperate I would have given anything a go  (how I wish I’d tried it those 9 months earlier!).

The Paleo diet was a plan originally set out by university professor Loren Cordain, an expert in the field of nutrition whose studies had taken him beyond the accepted wisdom to a point where the argument was unassailable. There is a lot to be learned from his book on the subject - the original and in some ways the best (the best from a scientific perspective, although not the easiest to read, just because it's technical). 

This theory was then developed and re-presented by Mark Sissons on his blog and his excellent book The Primal Blueprint. If you'd like to do some reading, and want something comprehensive but fun and easy to read, have a look at that. It's awesome. 

I have adapted the (brilliant) original plan to suit our purpose, but the fundamental theory is the same.

The main premise of the paleo plan and as with all the treatments in this book is that you need keep your hormone levels steady in order to help your body achieve a longer term balance. In dietary terms, this is about controlling leptin, ghrelin and most importantly, insulin.

Carbohydrate based foods produce an insulin response - fine in a normal person, bad for us, as our response will be over-stated, disproportionate and will lead to weight gain, sleep disruption, the whole gamut of symptoms which we're trying to avoid.

Protein and fat based food do not stimulate an insulin response. This means that for our purposes it’s the best choice to eat. Ensure that there is some significant protein and fat in every meal. This will help you not to get hungry between meals and will stimulate the body to look to its own stores for carbohydrate e.g. your fat cells - if your body has everything it needs to burn fuel, apart from the fuel itself, it will go get some from storage, very useful if you want to get rid of a bit of extra storage which has built up over the years!

Combine this with a rich variety of vegetables - in every colour and shape. Make this half your food intake by bulk at least.

Carbohydrates are all your sugar or starch based foods - this means sugar, in all its forms, including fructose, lactose, sucrose, carmellose etc. plus anything starchy. High carbohydrate based foods are to be avoided. The best thing you can do for your well-being is to avoid these foods - this also goes for the rest of the population as well, but is even more serious for us.

Protein and fat based food does not stimulate an insulin response, meaning that for our purposes it’s safe to eat. Eat as much as you like! Eating protein and fat without complex carbs also has the effect of making your body go and get its own glucose from stores (i.e. burning the wobbly stuff we know as bingo-wings or the spare tyre around your middle and all want to get rid of!). I say eat as much as you like, but don’t let that frighten you: try it, your body will soon tell you “enough already” even if you are eating the most delicious steak possible.

A quick note on this: there are many cases where ladies will tell me that they couldn't possibly eat red meat - it just bloats them out,makes them feel terrible, ugh, horrible. Yes, I know. It was the same in my case, but take out the carbs and suddenly there’s no problem - try it and see for yourself,.

As far as possible avoid anything which is pre-prepared by anyone but you or a good restaurant. There is nothing of nutritional value in anything which is in a packet - most will be augmented with fillers (normally some carbohydrate based substance you've never heard of, weird sodium preservatives, colours, flavours, words longer than the longest town name in Wales which you can’t pronounce and don’t want to understand). 

Live on steak, chicken, fish of all descriptions, seafood.

If you’re going to have any dairy, make it yogurt due to the relatively higher protein content, and the positive effects on gut flora, but buy the best plain yogurt you can get your hands on and add whatever fruit you want rather than buying the flavoured versions - look at the labels on high end yogurt and the flavoured versions from the same ranges - the moment a flavour goes in so does 1000 extra ingredients for colour, stability, preservation. I keep frozen berries/cherries etc in the freezer for when I fancy something sweet, tip some plain, full fat yogurt into a bowl, add a handful of the berries directly from the freezer (they melt in moments in the yogurt) and I’ve then got a delicious dessert without chemical overload.

Definitely avoid anything labelled “diet”: it’s just junk with even more fillers, more chemicals, than the standard version: more rubbish which your body can’t process or understand. I could write a whole essay on the evil which is Aspartame, but that's for another day.  

If it comes down to butter (good) or I can’t believe it’s not butter, for heavens sake, get the butter! (erm, just don’t spread it on bread). Same goes for low fat/no fat yogurt - tastes horrible, does you no good, get the full fat stuff straight from the cow. Delicious, filling, actually worth bothering to eat.

It goes without saying that vegetables are the best choice for the majority of daily intake. Take all colours, textures and flavours in as much variety as possible, stir into stews, eat raw in salads, and everything else in between. The only caveat is: watch how many white potatoes you’re eating - I tend to include these with complex carbs - you can’t eat them raw (they will make you ill) and so don’t fit into a paleo eating plan anyway, but are the best choice if it’s  between potatoes and pasta or bread, so I include them 2-3 times per week just to add variety.

Foods to be avoided include:

Anything sugary, any grains (wheat, barley, corn, oats etc), so this list includes bread, pasta, noodles, biscuits, cakes etc. Worst amongst them are the “slow-release” carbohydrates - those which are supposed to release their energy over time and keep you from feeling hungry. Research has shown that the reverse is true - they raise your insulin level and then keep topping it up, so that the effect of an insulin hit are magnified: about as bad as it can be in our world. Carbohydrate also includes milk and fruit, especially fruit with a high sugar content. Fructose is the most easily absorbed of all the sugars, so the sugar goes in quickly and creates a sugar rush (read insulin high) which should be avoided. I eat fruit sparingly, augmenting my core diet. All this 5 a day stuff, encouraging us to gorge on smoothies etc, is again, overstated and bad advice for anyone with our condition.

The body does not need a vast amount of carbohydrate - it can get all it needs from its own stores, we just have to incentivise the body to go and use these stores, which is possible by adding protein and fat and restricting the carbohydrate available from food. 

Also look out for more posts from me on this subject, I have loads of recipes and meal suggestions to share, plus strategies for maintaining a paleo diet whilst dining with friends, eating out or getting food on the run.

More notes on Paleo -

• This is not just atkins by another name

• This is not the dukan diet (dukan has been recently struck off by the way, only fair if you tell people to severely restrict their food intake but drink as much diet coke as they like???!!?!!)

• The paleo diet provides a balanced, healthy diet which promotes natural food and avoids processed foods, chemicals, anything which is created in a lab or has its own TV advert. It does not exclude entire food groups unless processed food is a food group. Check out www.paleoforwomen.com, www.marksdailyapple.com for more info.