Oh what a year.

Has it been obvious I've been flagging of late.  I see my consultant on Tuesday and I think the thought of this has caused made me to struggle over the last couple of weeks, quietly sabotaging myself.  So instead of writing a load of c**p I read through my previous posts in order to remind myself why I'm observing this way of eating (WOE), and indeed the desperate point I came from.

The last year has been a journey I'd never expected, not only the weight-loss and my attitudes to food but also where I see myself going with life in general.

It has been an evolving process and there have been a few painful steps too.

# One :  Quite simply indignation that a doctor, who I'd never met before, was making assumptions, stereotyping and accusing me of seeking for a magic pill for weight-loss.

# Two : The anger and indignation snapped me out of my apathy, and possibly depression.

I knew, from being a fatigued lifetime dieter, that other dieting models didn't work for me.  When I wasn't overeating from the frustration of repeated failures I was eating a 'normal SUKD. When I saw my consultant I was just eating the reduced diet I'd been advised, so was fuming at his disbelief.  I left the consultant determined to prove him wrong, but what was I to do.  I felt that the only way left to me for weight loss was to completely stop eating! So for the first few days this is what I did.

# Three :  It was perfectly timed that following the week of *that* humiliating hospital appointment I should run into the paleo diet and the concept made simple sense to me.  I/we were getting fat because we were eating in a way that biologically we weren't designed for.  In other words, accepted 'normal' healthy eating was false and I was simply eating way more than my body required.

A lesson I've learnt over the past year is that there is something intrinsically wrong with the food pyramid and the advice provided doesn't necessarily come from health sources.  If you make a worldwide comparison, you can see that that but every country has its own food pyramid. Surely, the fact that there are so many variations highlights the fact that we are confused about what we should be eating.

# Four :  I started to eat paleo and my blood sugar readings normalised within a couple of weeks and the weight loss followed. 

# Five : As far as I could see, with the success so far, it was down the the chemical overload I/we were eating.  I went on a literature rampage, not difficult when you work in a university library - my appetite for periodicals and food related books became bigger than my appetite for food.  I was very, very annoyed - I'd been poisoned, manipulated by the food industry. I felt like a pawn in a mass conspiracy, a £ on legs.  I could have blogged (ranted) more, but for life getting in the way.

# Six :  Next I became a little over zealous and recruited myself into the food police.  I'd got my ship in order, but now everyone around me were, like madmen, munching questionable food, and boy my immediate family were in for a hard time :)

# Seven :  I've entered another phase now - a quite phase. I'm settling into this WOE and I'm still blogging and recording my progress and probably will be ranting some more, but offline I'm not advertising my diet as much and instead just getting quietly on with it.  It's easier to say that I'm gluten/dairy intolerant in social situations, but if I'm asked how I'm losing the weight paleo will get the credit.

This WOE though has opened up some new interests and lifestyle (basically naturapathy Vs allopathy, herbalism, permaculture and raw foodism etc). Last year I would have considered it all a little too alternative, despite being a Brightonian! 

So anyway when this post started it it was only meant to be a few short paragraphs to let you know that I was going to have a blog tidy up.  Refresh my own memory as to why as to why I'm on this journey and the posts that I consider to be the most representative of it in the sidebar. 

I know I have to step it up if I'm to shift my weight any further and for the next year, that of course has to be exercise.  I sometimes have to remind myself that, for me, it's not simply about weight loss, it's the fact that a year ago I did have the threat of insulin looming over me and that's (hopefully) a mere memory.  My journey is one about fighting a common and modern disease by stepping back in time.

Comments

[justoofat]

This kind of reflection is terribly healthy, I feel... especially during those moments when you feel like you're struggling. A good look back at how far you've come is always a good way to kick start what might have become a somewhat stagnant life change. And whoa! Look how far you *have* come! You're like a paleo rock star! Truth is, your progression sounds utterly natural and healthy. As always, I say, bravo you! This is just the beginning!

j

[DoingTheCaveman]

Ug ug, I like that paleo rock star! True to say I've been feeling a little stuck in a rut recently but almost a year in and time to start second phase. Thanks as ever for your support. J