A Recipe and Some Observations
First, try this:
Ellie Krieger's Tuscan Vegetable Soup
I have to be charmed into eating vegetables and this one is charming. One bowl quickly followed by another. Not sure why it's so good, but It Is Yum.
The observations have to do with insulin resistance and all its frustrating effects. Before I went in for my physical last month I had a bad dream that my fasting blood sugar was 280. It was in fact 90, not so bad, and my A1C was something like 5.8, which is on the low end of prediabetic, not so good.
I've been noticing myself experiencing hunger, or at least a strong desire to eat, which I know I've had enough calories. It's annoying and frustrating, to spend all day locked in a war with your body. My weight is back up, which means I guess that insulin is having a hard time unlocking my cells to let the sugar in (does that explanation still hold, or have they come up with something more snazzy and up to date?) So with the sugar zooming around in my blood stream and not in my cells, my body is complaining that it needs food when it really, really doesn't. I am not excessively hung up on body image stuff or guilt, but even in my fairly relaxed world, that constant cry for food makes me think "you greedy piglet" when greed is maybe not the salient part of the picture, or at least not the whole picture.
So the moral seems to be clear ====> Eat whole foods! (No!)
My difficulties have been compounded by this study, which I think should have been given more attention. (Sorry for the Forbes link, it was the first one that came up.) The study is a good one and borne out by mouse studies. I have been suspicious of this for years-- growth hormone being great for youth and awesome muscles, but maybe not so great for other things. Ah me! My compromise has been to focus more on plant sources of protein but when you cut back protein, you can run into problems with satiety. Substituting grains is perhaps not the best alternative but it's the easiest. Everyone seems to agree that you can't go wrong with vegetables. So here's the plan: study which appealing whole foods contribute most to satiety. This morning I had oatmeal with chopped apple, sliced almonds, raisins and honey, and that worked from 8 am to 12 pm. Lunch was two whole wheat English muffins, one with an egg and cheese (um), and two bowls of fabulous soup. And four small pieces of licorice. Not forgetting a handful of chocolate chips. Hm. Good thing I weigh a metric ton and needs lots and lots of calories to get through the day :)
Ellie Krieger's Tuscan Vegetable Soup
I have to be charmed into eating vegetables and this one is charming. One bowl quickly followed by another. Not sure why it's so good, but It Is Yum.
The observations have to do with insulin resistance and all its frustrating effects. Before I went in for my physical last month I had a bad dream that my fasting blood sugar was 280. It was in fact 90, not so bad, and my A1C was something like 5.8, which is on the low end of prediabetic, not so good.
I've been noticing myself experiencing hunger, or at least a strong desire to eat, which I know I've had enough calories. It's annoying and frustrating, to spend all day locked in a war with your body. My weight is back up, which means I guess that insulin is having a hard time unlocking my cells to let the sugar in (does that explanation still hold, or have they come up with something more snazzy and up to date?) So with the sugar zooming around in my blood stream and not in my cells, my body is complaining that it needs food when it really, really doesn't. I am not excessively hung up on body image stuff or guilt, but even in my fairly relaxed world, that constant cry for food makes me think "you greedy piglet" when greed is maybe not the salient part of the picture, or at least not the whole picture.
So the moral seems to be clear ====> Eat whole foods! (No!)
My difficulties have been compounded by this study, which I think should have been given more attention. (Sorry for the Forbes link, it was the first one that came up.) The study is a good one and borne out by mouse studies. I have been suspicious of this for years-- growth hormone being great for youth and awesome muscles, but maybe not so great for other things. Ah me! My compromise has been to focus more on plant sources of protein but when you cut back protein, you can run into problems with satiety. Substituting grains is perhaps not the best alternative but it's the easiest. Everyone seems to agree that you can't go wrong with vegetables. So here's the plan: study which appealing whole foods contribute most to satiety. This morning I had oatmeal with chopped apple, sliced almonds, raisins and honey, and that worked from 8 am to 12 pm. Lunch was two whole wheat English muffins, one with an egg and cheese (um), and two bowls of fabulous soup. And four small pieces of licorice. Not forgetting a handful of chocolate chips. Hm. Good thing I weigh a metric ton and needs lots and lots of calories to get through the day :)
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