Porridge with mashed strawberries and salted cashew nuts may sound a bit weird, but it’s a surprisingly acceptable low-GI alternative to my previous preferred option – porridge with banana, dried apricots and demarara sugar. Maybe this new eating regime isn’t going to be as tough as I imagined. Quite fancy a coffee though, and that’s definitely off-limits.
The principle underlying my new diet is to moderate the fluctuations in my blood sugar levels. By avoiding caffeine and refined sugar, and moderating alcohol intake, the objective is to maintain more consistent energy levels. In the long term this should also lead to leaner body mass, as the body isn’t confused by sugar crashes into thinking it’s starving and has to lay down reserves of fat. I’ve just hit half a stone over my ideal weight, and no, it isn’t muscle – unless the muscle is extremely relaxed and centred around my midriff.
I don’t believe in diets in the sense of a short-term bikini-motivated fad, followed by a return to the eating habits that created fat in the first place. But if by eating differently I can enhance my energy levels and improve my longevity, I’m all in favour.
So let’s see how the GI goes. If it’s good enough for Kylie, it’s good enough for me. But the proof of the pudding, so to speak, is in the eating.