Why am I writing a blog? Several reasons, the main reason being that I have the time. Recently I gave up a full time position at the Human Potential Centre AUT, left a group of great colleagues, friends and family in Auckland and followed my husband to Darwin to allow him to take up his dream job. Not a move I had foreseen or would have chosen for myself, however with the aid of supportive colleagues, I was able to recognise the opportunity I was being offered. The opportunity to experience living in a unique part of the world and to have the time to complete my Masters Thesis. The most significant opportunity and perhaps the biggest challenge being offered was the chance to live in the same house as my husband for longer than four weeks at a time for the first time in 20 years!
I have left behind a group of inspirational colleagues led by Professor Grant Schofield. Many of whom have made the decision to stand up to the public health community and publicly promote the low carbohydrate high fat lifestyle as a means for achieving optimal levels of health, weight loss, and wellbeing. So as I commence my Masters Thesis in Health Science, investigating adherence to and acceptability of a restricted carbohydrate, high fat diet in women between 40 and 55 years, I will be doing so without the stimulation from a workplace in which I was ‘saturated’ on a daily basis with the latest findings and opinions from the academic and nutritional world. I will also be without the support from long suffering friends who have allowed me to voice my low carb opinions and advice, always happy to sample and critique my latest low carb food creations. It is time for me hit the social media networks with my personal take on living the low carbohydrate lifestyle and to get personally more media savvy in an area I believe in passionately.
Plenty of people with more knowledge than I possess, can and do expound the science and research behind the benefits of low carbohydrate, high fat living exceptionally well. My aim is to ensure that those in our community who really can benefit from the low carbohydrate lifestyle (I like to think of them ‘just normal people’) are given the tools they need to ensure that they can embark on and adhere to this lifestyle. Ideally for long enough to fully experience the obvious benefits and to realise that there is no need to go back to previous lifestyle choices.
For many people giving up those staple foods (bread, rice, pasta, cakes, desserts) that have shaped their daily meals and family gatherings, sustained their children, and formed a basis of every social situation and celebration can be a seemingly insurmountable step. For those of us who embarked on the low carbohydrate lifestyle and never turned back, it is easy to forget those first few weeks of craving for our favourite sweet foods, coping with social situations that without fail involved foods laden with carbohydrate. Explaining to friends why you are avoiding foods you have always shared and enjoyed, all the while wondering why others seem to take offence to the decision you have made to improve your lifestyle.
Over the next few months I will be posting simple and effective recipes that don’t require huge changes to most existing pantry ingredients, as well as tips on how to adhere to the low carbohydrate lifestyle. As my social media skills improve, I aim to use knowledge gathered through my own experiences to provide those who are embarking on the low carb lifestyle for the first time, the level of the knowledge and support to ensure they are able to adhere and enjoy the myriad of health benefits that are their’s for the taking.
5 Comments
Awesome Jules, you should be very proud of what you are creating. Your website is looking great.
I’m looking forward to trying some of the recipes.
Mark and I are trying to eat a lot less carbs, (haven’t quite managed the big leap), all due to our frequent discussions.
All the best for your new adventure.
Deb
What a great resource! Would love to see some info for folks who are new to the concept about how and why it all works.
Hi Sue
Thanks for your comments. I have created a new tab ‘How Low Carb Diets Work” , just to give readers a simple explanation of the theory behind Low Carb. I hope this helps and I will soon be linking to several more scientific blogs for readers to view if they want to learn more.
I put my father on this diet (however it is not really a diet, more a matter of making better choices) on the 1st April 2016 after discovering he was on 58 units of insulin in the morning and 38 units of insulin at night plus Diabex day and night, and was recording blood glucose levels of 25.
Totally took control of his diet. In 1 week, his blood glucose levels had reduced to 6… every day after that his insulin dosage needed to be reduced. In less than 4 weeks he was totally off insulin injections with the full blessing of an amazed Endo specialist.
It is now 6 weeks from commencement, and he has never been better. He has lost 12kg, and hopefully will lose another 12kg in the next 2 months. Life changing. He is 78 years old, & when starting LCHF on 1st April he was 124kg.
Too make it simple for him to understand and get right, I made the following simple rules for him:
If it is white you can’t eat it unless it is leafy
If it is red you can have a LITTLE bit
If it comes in a packet you can’t have it
ONE piece of fruit only but eat only a quarter at a time, spread throughout the day
Nothing but sparkling water, coffee or tea for drinks
Eat as much meat as you want as long as when it is on the plate you cover it with so much green veg/salad that you can’t see the meat
It has worked like a treat.
This is great advice Sonia. This way of eating for reversing T2D is so effective and your dad is lucky you have you keeping him in line!!