As the old rhyme goes ‘Jack Sprat could eat no fat, his wife could eat no lean’ and in the Chalk household this more or less is the case. Mr Chalk is a carb fiend, he loves bread, fruit and sweet things and doesn’t really like too much butter, oil or cheese whereas I’m more of the hunter-gatherer type and could eat meat, cream, cheese and butter till the cows come home (no pun intended). I am not really bothered about bread or starchy foods and would quite happily live without carbs.

I do think that we are all made differently, so there really is no one size fits all diet. This is what makes it so difficult when advising people about diet and weight loss. However, I have found through intermittent fasting that my body tends to thrive when it is fed healthy fats, proteins and the minimum of carbs. It’s odd but when you fast it seems that your body is then drawn to what YOU need most, when you break that fast. So, what I was finding was that I felt most like eating salmon, avocado and nuts and was totally turned off any processed, sugary stuff. I had long been aware that I seemed to feel better on a very low carb diet, and it appeared to be confirmation of this.

I am now following what is known as a ketogenic diet. This is made up of a good proportion of healthy fats and some protein, but limited carbohydrates and I must admit that I feel really well on it, and able to keep to a reasonably healthy weight. I am also keen to continue with this as there is evidence to suggest that it can stave off Alzheimer’s disease. As I have the ApO 4 gene that pre-disposes people to this horrible disease, I am keen to do whatever I can to avoid it.

I do really believe that it is important to listen to your body, and notice how you are feeling when you eat certain foods. Mr Chalk still feels good eating less fat and more carbs, and that’s right for him.

So between the two of us we really do ‘lick the platter clean’.

Best wishes,
Wendy x