Getting back to a Healthy Life?

After 2 years of staying sheltered in place, people are getting out once again, getting into their doctor’s offices and what is happening, in light how we have been living for the past few years, is not surprising. 

Doctors are noticing that some of us have gained a little weight, and are a little less fit than we used to be.  Some silent diseases are coming to light high blood pressure, cancer and diabetes to name a few. Blood tests are revealing that quite a few of us are now pre-diabetic or have diabetes 2, me included. I am literally amazed by the number of people in my small circle who have heard this diagnosis in the past few months, and I fear there are many more to come.

Now, I AM a Certified Culinary Nutritionist and the learning to achieve that designation changed my eating habits significantly. My normal day to day diet is pretty good, but even I over the last 24 months enjoyed too many desserts, glasses of wine and Chai Tea Lattes!

The biggest change in my lifestyle in the past 2 years is that I have sat far more than ever before. During the summer months last year, I was able to golf and do some bike riding, but was unable to do my normal swimming (all the pools were closed) and dragon boat paddling was limited…..Yes I am a member of a dragon boat team. Dragon boat paddling is a whole body workout and is an extreme sport, needless to say I now feel very out of shape.

I am not going to say that before the pandemic I was super fit, but over the last 2 years especially in the winter months my activity was severely limited. Add to that a knee replacement last fall and I sat around a LOT!

I think today, I understand better where this diagnosis came from, and where I need to go from here. So I am going to share some of what I have learned since receiving my pre-diabetic diagnosis.

1. It is not just about sugar! When we digest carbs of any kind it creates glucose which circulates in our blood stream to provide energy. At this point your body signals to your pancreas that insulin is needed to open cells to absorb the circulating glucose to use it for energy or store it for future energy needs. 

2. When we consume too many carbs good or bad, we are inactive, or both, we will most likely have more glucose circulating than is actually needed.  When glucose is not needed to provide immediate energy, it gets stored as fat to be ready for future energy. Hmmm, that is how it happens. When we consume more carbs than we need to provide immediate energy ....... that is why I am fluffier than I used to be. 

3. As this happens repeatedly cells become resistant to opening with insulin, so the pancreas has to work harder to produce more insulin, which leads to excess insulin in the blood. Excess insulin in the bloodstream causes cells to absorb too much glucose and when that energy is not required immediately it gets stored as fat for future energy. This is called insulin resistance. Excess insulin can also cause cells to absorb too much glucose from the blood causing hyperglycaemia  or blood sugar lows. 

The solutions vary from lowering/changing your food intake, to getting more exercise. One thing for certain we want to stabilize the amount of glucose in our blood so that we don't experience spikes or lows, either by using that immediate energy or having less immediate energy available in the form of glucose. It is definitely a complex problem with many different solutions depending on the individual. 

For me, I needed to drop those things I was having too regularly, speaking of desserts, wine and Chi Tea Lattes and have them only occasionally as well as watching my intake of those white carbs like potatoes, white rice etc. Healthy balanced eating is the key!

Then, I know I need to get moving more to create more muscle mass. Muscles use glucose be it from what is circulating from today’s foods or what has been stored. Healthy moving!

The long and the short of it all is I need to get back to Healthy Living!

What about you?

If you are interested in doing that with me? Let me know!

I will be soon offering a Healthy Living Program to help my clients focus on healthy eating and healthy moving that will include individual and group support.

Join me in taking back a Healthy Life!

Read my blog post What Do You Crave? from August 2020 for more information about Sugar and How we got addicted to it. Did you know that sugar is more addictive than cocaine!

Being food sensitive does not just apply to gluten, dairy and other things. Your body can be sensitive to sugar and the food stuffs that make sugars in your body!
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​Exploring the World of Food with you to get back to a Healthy Life!

Certified Culinary Nutritionist and Food Sensitivity Coach

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