ISTRAGOL is riyal pa rin in this low-carb journey. I was carbo-loading again on Monday. That’s after the carbo-loading on Saturday.
The next day, it was the usual Tuesday grind at the gym: Zumba and abs workout. With the wish-ko-lang that the two hours of exercise would reduce the carbs’ side effects: muscle pains, knee pain, shoulder pain, lower leg pain, gum pain, headache, and even a pimple on my chin.
The side effects could be blessings in disguise if I remember them each time I’m about to devour high-carb food. But even if I remember them, will they stop me? Hmmm. Not. That’s the power of carbs. So addictive.
I figured if I continue to eat high-carb food, the next day would be Day One again. How many Day Ones do I need until I can finally learn to avoid carbs? Tsk tsk.
If alcoholism is difficult to cure because alcohol is legal and available at the convenience store 24/7, the more difficult it is for the food addict since food is more legal than alcohol.
Only the most rabid low-carb dieter will give unsolicited advice on why it’s essential to avoid carbs. Wait, is that me? But since I’m not a rabid low-carb dieter, do I have the right to give unsolicited advice? Hmmm.
How awkward it was then that on Monday evening, right after the carbo-loading, I met someone who’s also a low-carb dieter who also experiences side effects after each carbo-loading episode, and they’re the same as mine. That’s why she has learned to avoid carbs. That night, she and her friends had dinner at a samgyupsal resto where it would be easier for her to stick to a low-carb diet.
Wish ko lang I’m as committed to the low-carb diet.
I now have a new strategy. Instead of the side effects, I should focus on my deep why instead.
Why have I been following this diet for more than two years now? To lose weight? That’s one reason but it’s merely the bonus, the perks. I lost 25 pounds through the usual no-red-meat diet, and another 25 pounds through low-carb. My no-red-meat phase lasted from January 2021 to the third week of February 2022 when I switched to low-carb.
And the weight loss has its perks: smaller-sized clothes.
But the low-carb diet’s main goal is the banishing of maintenance meds to Siberia. Or at least to China where the meds can be recycled into some made-in-China merch.
Once the maintenance meds are in Siberia, that should be no reason to return to a high-carb diet.
Talk of China, there’s this Chinese resto at SM CDO Downtown Premier. What I always order there are its shrimps with scrambled eggs and sweet and sour pork. I can devour that like a hungry pig. Wait, that will be cannibalism—in case you haven’t noticed, a pig died in order for that sweet and sour pork to become possible.
Still, pork is one of the main ingredients of the low-carb diet. Or even the carnivore diet. So, it’s a constant struggle for all—the dieter and his food sources.
