Chocolate is good for you! Fat is good for you! Now, this doesn't just come from anybody, this comes straight from from a renowned professional in her field who is a professor at Bond Uni! OK, I might have to slightly qualify the bit about chocolate and fat: good chocolate is good for you. Good fat is good for you. This means raw chocolate, raw cocao. And good fats mean that which comes from Coconut, fish, olive oil. In her very pleasant Irish brogue (yes, she is from Dublin), Professor Shirley McIlvenny explained some very simple truths: "Diabetes is very common. People get the wrong sort of advice, they eat a lot of carbs" she explained, whilst we happily tucked into a sumptuous RSL Club breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, a couple of small sausages, a hash brown... "Carbs provide you with short term energy" she said, "compare it to running a 100 metre race. (Good) fat, on the other hand, is comparable to marathon runners. If you eat more healthy fat, you get more energy. Moreover, if your body does need more energy, it will take it off your stored fat. The alternative is to get Hypoglycemia , e.g. low blood sugar level. This affects your mood too: you get "Hangry" (combined hunger and anger)."Professor Shirley's advice is to fast longer each day, for example having only two meals a day, such as breakfast and lunch. Start the day with some Eggs, avocado, porridge with coconut cream. The first meal should include some healthy fat. Use Olive Oil, not Sunflower or Canola. When you exercise, give it short 30 seconds high intensity bursts, followed by 3 minutes of low intensity. Give yourself a few days when you don't drink alcohol at all. And most importantly: don't be a perfectionist! Perfectionists can be unhappy if the world isn't perfect.
Naturally, the idea is to have your diet assessed specifically for you. There is a lot more information available on Dr Shirley's website http://drshirleymd.com, where you can also subscribe to her blog.