Day 50: Weight loss lunch

I promised I would tell you about the lunch I eat to help keep my weight stable. Here is what I used to eat: toasted white bread and cheese sandwich which is really not good. Why? well here’s the science – white flour is easy for the body to turn into blood glucose (sugar) and this gives you a spike of insulin. If you keep having these insulin spikes your body becomes insulin resistant and you can eventually end up with type 2 diabetes or the growth of cancerous cells as cancer cells have more insulin receptors (docking stations) on them. White flour also causes inflammation as the gluten proteins in it trigger inflammatory molecules and some poor folks (supportive husband is one – can even develop life-threatening allergies to proteins in white flour).

Here’s my healthy and filling lunch secret:

1. 2 rye crispbreads (Ryvita are one of the best and tastiest)
2. butter 1 teaspoon on each crispbread
3. Grated cheese (medium fat cheddar or red Leicester) 20 grams
4. 1 apple cut into slices

Why is this a good lunch? Here’s the science: rye crispbreads contain whole grains. This means they don’t give you the insulin spike so you get slow release glucose and they are higher in fibre than white bread and are more filling. If you add cheese, this contains calcium and protein (ghrelin the hunger hormone is suppressed by protein) which again keeps you feeling full for longer. Butter is also better for you than margarine as most margarine contains trans fats which your body doesn’t recognise as food so finds it hard to digest and ends up floating around clogging up your arteries yuk! Why the apple? These are rich in antioxidants, flavonoids, and dietary fiber (again keeps you full for longer). This really is so much better for you than a sandwich at lunch time.

It has been another good week for fitness and I have swum another 3 miles. Since the Apprentice is on, I added another swim on Wednesday to avoid watching the TV through my fingers and thinking where do they get these nutters from. I am now at  16 miles on the Aspire Channel Swim Challenge – only another 6 miles to go and I will have swum the distance of the channel. Wednesday is a great night to swim as it is ladies only from 8pm at Hitchin Pool so I can swim up and down without having the power males steaming up and down doing 2 lengths of the crawl as fast as they can and then stopping at the end to get in the way!

The fundraising is going well with £200 donated to the Aspire charity which helps support people with spinal cord injuries. This will help to buy pillows and kitchen equipment.  There is still time if you want to donate then please go to my just giving page Fundraising Page for Aspire Charity and donate whatever you can.

Time to go and do the final edits to my Dutch biotech article, while Sybil keeps me company in my office.