Challenge Two: Day Fifty-Five

(Click on image to enlarge.)


Breakfast: 7am
1 Double Peach-Complexion-Care Visalus Shake

Mid-Morning: Nothing.

Lunch: 11am
1 Large Bowl of Chopped, Grilled Chicken Breast, Steamed Broccoli, Barley, Cheese & Black Pepper)
32oz. Water (w/Lemon)

Mid-Afternoon: 2pm
2 Stalks of Celery
32oz. Water (w/“Raspberry Boost” Neuro Smart-Energy Mix-In)

Evening: 5pm
1 Banana & Butterscotch Visalus Shake

Walk-Count:

Squats:

Calf-Raises:


State of Being:
Day 3 of my 30-Day Leg-Blitz and my legs are killing me! I’m so sore that I’m wishing I hadn’t ditched that cane. lol

But, it’s ok… I get to rest tomorrow. No workouts, every fourth day.

I had some barley today, as you may have noticed. This is part of a change I’ve made to my diet, to start incorporating whole grains. Barley is a real, honest-to-God whole grain. (Yes, there are a lot of refined-grain products that merely *say* “Whole Grain” on the packaging.)

I also went with Pearl Barley, as it has the lowest glycemic index of all the different varieties and forms in which barley’s available. (Actually, I didn't know that, or that there even WERE different types of barley, until I'd already bought it, but I'll go ahead and take credit for a happy coincidence. ;)

To explain for those who might be new to my blog; I suffer from severe Insulin Resistance, so it’s important for me to keep my insulin levels as low as possible, by not consuming anything that might raise my blood-sugar. Glycemic Index is a measure of how quickly a given food item releases carbohydrates into the blood-stream. The lower the GI-rating, the more slowly the carbs are disseminated. Low is good. When carbs enter the bloodstream too quickly, your blood-sugar spikes. In the case of a diabetic, this means that insulin must be injected (since a diabetic doesn’t produce enough Insulin). In the case of an Insulin Resistant, like myself, on the other hand, it means that you will begin storing everything you eat as fat, become ravenously hungry, tired and depressed and that you will begin to develop nerve damage (since an Insulin Resistant produces way too much Insulin.)

Pearl Barley has a Glycemic Index of 22. Pot Barley has a GI of 35 and Cracked Barley has a score of 50.

Just as an aside, here… Rolled Barley is classed as a “Medium GI” food with a score of 66. Food items with a GI of 55 or less are classified as “Low GI.” Those with values between 56 and 69 are classed as having a “Medium GI,” and those with values of 70 or above are “High GI” foods.

So, yeah… the Glycemic Index diet is what I go by for the foods I’m eating. Visalus fits this perfectly, for my two daily *replaced* meals with a Glycemic Index score of nearly zero.

Even if you’re not Insulin Resistant or Diabetic, a Glycemic Index diet is a good idea. You may not have been born with a predisposition toward Insulin Resistance, like I was, but you can still develop the condition if you eat a diet rich in refined carbs (like the standard American-diet) for too long.

That’s about it for now. Looking forward to a full day of avoiding the use of my legs as much as possible. lol

See you tomorrow!



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