Monday, June 13, 2011

Of diets and allergies

There are nice mirrors and mean mirrors, you know? The mirror in my Mam's old house, for instance, had a knack of making me feel pretty. The reflection in the glass doors that were the entrance to my grad school on the other hand made me feel fat every time I saw them.

Some clothes do that too. Unpacking four years of clutter, the brother found my favourite pair of jeans that had travelled back to Boston with him in March. I've been wearing them as often as possible since I got them back, and I feel good in them. Of course, it helps that I've lost a teeny-weeny bit of weight lately.

If this holiday has taught me anything though, it's that I am wayyyyy more unfit than I thought I was. The brother wanted to climb up to the top of a cliff, and I agreed to accompany him. We took the easiest and shortest trail there was, but I was huffing and puffing for most of it. So since coming back, I've been put straight back on the "diet" I've been following since March, when my doc looked at my test results, and told me to go off sugar, go on a low carb diet, have absolutely no carbs after 7 in the evening, and basically be half my size when I went to see her again in three months (which is about two weeks and I am nowhere close to being half of what I was).

You don't really realise how much carbs your diet has till you start avoiding them. Roti, bread, rice, potatoes - ALL of these are to be avoided now. And since I am made to have dinner by 6.30 these days, I start feeling hungry by 11ish again. And then there's NOTHING I can even have.

What I did realise was that my biggest enemy was sugar. I used to go through 7-8 cups of tea a day in office, y'know? Each with almost 2 spoons of sugar. Once I reduced that, and replaced sugar with Sugar Free, you could literally see the weight falling off me. Which is very depressing, because I am addicted to sugar. There are times when I actually crave the taste of sugar.

To add insult to injury, I went last week to the doc who'd diagnosed me with asthma last year, and got a full allergy test done. Apart from random airborne allergies which can't be helped, we discovered two food families that I am allergic to - lady fingers and lemon. Anyone who says there is no universal conspiracy out to get me is either blind, or lying. I mean, seriously?! The one vegetable I like is bhindi, and now I can't have it. And do you know what a comfort food nimboo-pani is for me? And how is one supposed to have maachher-jhol-bhaat is I can't put nimboo on it?

I have a cold and a dash of fever right now, so yes, I'm a bit cranky, and meandering more than usual. And I have an appointment with the dentist in exactly two hours. Who knows what he's going to ban for me.

Meh.

5 comments:

R said...

Weird, I have super protein diet simply because I know carbs make me lethargic and hungry. Protein, on the other hand, is far more satisfying, yummier and keeps me full for longer. Which is just the way I like it. Protein + a bit of fat = yum. In any case, I don't like carbs.

I like sweet tea too but I'm smart enough to know not to have 8 cups of it in a day for the sugar reason. 0-0.5 sugars in my coffee too. That's been one of my cleverer moves.

Runjoo said...

ohh i LOVE bhindi...cant imagine being allergic to it! surely you can cheat once in a while?

ANC said...

I've been told to cut down on sugar for reasons that I'd rather not put on a public blog, and it sucked when I first heard about it. I'm addicted to desserts and go through at least 3 cups of tea in a day, each with lots of sugar. But here's what: like most things in life, it sucks lesser and lesser as the days go by. In fact, sometimes you even thank yourself for having this problem because you're now healthier than you'd ever have been on your own. It's just that getting to that part can be kind of annoying. But hang in there, friend. And since misery loves company, you know where to find me.

Sumit said...

Haha, first time I've heard someone being allergic to Bhindi :)

Could I suggest you not get used to Sugar Free. All these "sugar-free/zero calories" stuff contain Aspartame. It's an extremely harmful chemical, effects of which only show up later in life.

a traveller said...

@R: Go away. "I'm smart enough" indeed. Boo.

@Runjoo: I s'pose, althugh I have no idea what it is that bhindi is supposed to do to me.

@Puneet: Hmmm, I didn't go into all the details myself. Maybe they're the same ones :) But yes, hopefully it will get easier.

@Sumit: I know, I know. The father's making me have Natura - that's supposed to not have Aspartame. Thanks though :)