Finding the chase and cutting to it

You can control what you eat and exercise levels is the statement often touted on facebook and linkedIn.

Unless you have an immune condition that means you are manually providing the means to control your sugar and potassium levels – things are a bit more complicated when you do that.

I have resisted a high fibre diet for many years – fibre is a major headache for me, indeed for high fibre foods (anything more than 5% fibre), I subtract the weight of fibre from the carbohydrate value to prevent hypos. It’s work I just don’t need and to be honest, thanks to being very active, I have got away with that approach.

Being over 50, I am aiming for about 0.35 grams per kilogram of my mass a day. That works out at just under 25g of fibre a day but if I lose weight, I need to reduce that.

I eat vegetables, bread, potatoes, use wholegrain rice, wholegrain wheat for my bread.

So, easy, right?

I am using a tracker, Samsung Health’s meal recorder, and it shows just how difficult this work is. Thursday I managed it (259g), but yesterday only managed 20.3g, and today with my planned meals it only looks like I am managing 16g. Physically, it is really hard work.

And that’s while keeping my diet balance – 55g carbohydrates, 25g fat, and 20g of protein. Many high fibre foods, like nuts, are very high in fat.

This is my third day and I feel quite nauseas and stuffed. I also cannot drink enough liquid.

Wholemeal rolls are a bit of a saviour. A ham roll does the fibre and protein hit for 65% of the daily totals.

Balancing my insulin is hard work – the food is absorbed much more slowly, so a bread roll without butter has a 45 minute bolus split with a 25% up front bolus. The rice is over 20 minutes and I have to remember to remove the fibre amount from the carb count.

Hard work doesn’t come into it. It doesn’t feel like control, at all.

The funniest thing of all is looking at our Sunday food. Roast dinner gives me 49g of protein, 13g of fibre and a perfect balance of fat, protein and carbs, 650kCal. In one meal. A good range of vitamins, low in saturated fat. Tastes great too,

Is the humble UK roast dinner the new super food?