Dukan, cabbage soup, scarsdale medical? Just let the girl eat!

I cannot remember a time when I didn’t diet. The saying, “you can never be too rich or too thin” had meaning for many years. And looking at old photos, it was obvious I came from a family of big genes. As long as I can recall, my weight has always been on my mind.

There was only one time I didn’t worry about my food intake. This was in my early twenties and during my baby making days.  I went the other way slipping down to under my healthy weight range. I was trying to put on weight, I could eat whatever I wanted and stay the same. It wasn’t until I looked back did I realise just how good I had it.

It was a different story in my thirties and forties. It was a continuous battle. I was always on the lookout for a new diet. There was the Atkins Diet; the Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet; the Beverley Hills Diet and the Cabbage Soup diet. And they all took turns of becoming my next best friend. I counted calories and I counted carbs.

Not only did I watch everything I put in my mouth, exercise became a daily ritual.  Most days you would find me hanging out at the gym or riding my bike.

The problem wasn’t about always about losing the fat; it was about keeping up the hard work.

And if I thought that was hard work, along came the fifties and sixties. This is the time when life is supposed to be a little more relaxed, socialising and eating out with friends; enjoying dinner and a movie; holidays and weekends away was the way to go. But unfortunately this type of lifestyle did come without a weighty downside.

Little rims of fat would pop up almost overnight. The battle was on- going. No matter how determined or self-restrained I was, those little rims of fat became bigger rims of fat.  And along with my doctor constantly reminding me of the consequences, health issues started to emerge. My blood pressure began to rise and my energy fell. My joints became stiff and I seemed to catch every airborne disease known to man. I was quickly losing the will to continue my battle of my bulge.

Then along came the Dukan Diet. All my friends were having huge success. So with great gusto, I buried myself in mountains of protein.  Adding a twenty kilometre bike ride most days, the weight fell like manna from Heaven.

I’ve always been known for biting off more than I can chew and as I age, nothing has changed.  And after twelve months of protein only for five days a week and pigging out the rest, I thought I it made.

Unfortunately, my nutritional levels began to take a turn for the worst. My energy levels began to slip and sometimes I was so dizzy I couldn’t even stand up.  It was obvious I needed a healthier eating pattern.

So I’m back to where I began many years ago with counting calories and carbs. I’ve decided there is no easy way out. But wait! I have just watched a program on SBS about intermittent fasting. It really does look like my kind of diet!

Have you struggled with your weight as you’ve aged? How have you tried to keep healthy?