Chewing the Fat

Going to the doctor at my age is like popping into the supermarket for just a pint of milk and coming out with a selection of things you previously hadn’t planned on having. So it was this week when I visited my GP for a quick checkup on my toe prior to an ingrown toenail procedure at the hospital. Everything was fine with the toe, but we didn’t idle long in the podiatry aisle of my imaginary supermarket of ailments, oh no. The doc decided we ought to do some browsing and so together we wandered down the cardiology aisle before visiting the endocrinology aisle then moving on to the neurology aisle. Fortunately nothing on the shelves caught her eye, until we reached the dietetics aisle where she pulled an item from one of the shelves. She had clearly noticed that i am one or two, or more, pounds over my fighting weight, and the item she handed me to take with me from the store was a diet. A low Carb, High Fat Diet (LCHF) with online information and support to go along with it. 

It’s an incredible diet. It goes against everything we were told about what a healthy diet should look like. No starchy carbs, no bread (wholemeal or otherwise) no potatoes, no rice or any other carbs that could increase your blood glucose levels. Instead, and this is the incredible bit, on this regime, I am required to gain the vast majority of my calories from fats. Lots of fats; butter, heavy cream, oils, fat on meat, cheese and oily fish. Meat and fish are fine, lots of eggs and any vegetables that grow above ground. But no more than twenty grams of carbs. So we’ll see how it goes.

The toe’s fine. I was so impressed with the nurses who carried out the procedure. Absolutely brilliant! I am also impressed with my GP. Fair play, she was straight up about the surplus weight I’m carrying but was also prepared to suggest a solution. Hopefully, if i stick to the plan, the next time we visit the Supermarket of Ailments we won’t be browsing around the aisles as long. I’ll let you know how I’m getting on.

And the cycling? Well, it’s not going that well due to the toe thing. But I hope to be back in the saddle in about a week or so.