Low GL Diets

One final diet that I have tried should be acknowledged. I have tried the low glycemic load approach a couple of times - first in 2008 and then Summer 2009 when I was trying to find something other than Atkins that worked. GL is like more sophisticated glycemic index and it takes into account the impact of food on blood sugar but also factors of portion size.

I tried Patrick Holford's Low GL Diet and also Nigel Denby's Diet Freedom approach, one at a time or kind of together. Holford's book is well researched and well written. If I could chose a way to eat this would be it. Good carbs are eaten, proteins, some fats. It is like the most healthy diet you could sterotypically think of - oats, nuts, seeds, brown rice, berries, lean meats and fish, the whole bit. But after Atkins it seemed to make sense (as carbs were generally limited and good quality) and it seemed very relaxed in comparison.

So I planned and shopped and cooked and ate. For about a maximum of two weeks each time. It just made me feel ill. I am still not sure why, but I quickly became hungry, tired and always thinking of when I could next eat and trying to make bigger portions on the sly. I got dry skin - my skin is always quick to dry out and itch after a shower when I am not eating how my body likes. And I got, um, sorry for TMI, but bowel issues each morning. Like something was troubling my digestive system. I suspected the oats or the extra fruit, but I never could tell for sure.

The Diet Freedom Low GL plan is just 'sensible' no weighing, measuring, very relaxed and appealling. This seemed like the holy grail - if I could make it work. I imagined a normal relationship with food, healthy choices, normal portions, and being able to eat out or at friend's without being anxious or resenting my diet. In my imagination I imagined laughing, in slow mo as I chose cake cafe as an occasional treat, and not then going home and eating everything sweet in sight. But, like Holford's approach, but more so, the more relxaed approach was dangerous for me. Give me an inch of and I'll eat a mile - of chocolate. 25g grams of dark chocolate were allowed as snacks. So I bought some. The first night, I had it with my cup of tea. The next day I was thinking about it, there in the cupboard. That night I ate the rest of the bar. It wasn't even that nice - 70% chocolate is not meant to be eaten in that quantity. I felt hyper and wired all night. And Mr Primal Ninja, who had helped me work out the portion size, gently asked what I was doing. And it was all over.

For people who have failed at 10 million diets this could be a frustratingly familiar feeling. You don't want to be crazy, you don't want to have food issues, but for some reason you just can't control yourself with certain foods, no matter how sternly you talk to yourself or stick hideous fat photos of yourself on the fridge.

That night, of the chocolate binge, my sister mentioned the caveman diet. And I felt cautiously optimistic.