Diary of a Mad Latina Woman

igneci · Sat May 31, 2008 6:49 pm

Bienvenidos, everyone! :)

My name is Erika and I am 20 years old and a college student. My family is Colombian but my dad remarried a white woman when I was 6 and she raised me, so I have a lot of both worlds.

I am a biology major and would like to complete my bachelors, then go to grad school to get a masters in neuroscience. After that, I would like to go to medical school. Thankfully, I love school and studying!

I do not consider myself fat, but I do have some weight to lose. I have quite a bit of cellulite (thanks to my mother) that I would like to tone up. I am 5'4 and 149 pounds.

I started the South Beach diet about 10 days ago, but I cheated on my birthday and had a slice of birthday cake, and I have some sugary snacks every now and then. However, I only have this sugar when I am studying really hard or taking a long test, because I know how the brain runs on glucose. I know this eating sugar is contrary to Phase 1, but I don't know what else to do. My metabolism is relatively fast, and I work out every single day. I wonder, because I am young, if I could have the sugar for my brain to work better. I usually eat sugar free items for snacks and meals, but it won't cut it when I am studying. I don't even have a sweet tooth at all, and I never ever crave sugar. (I just crave bread haha) Does anyone have any advice for that? I am still losing weight, but I want to lose it the SBD way.

Anyways, would also like to say hello, and I hope everyone has a great day! :)

RedRox · Sat May 31, 2008 7:56 pm

Hi and welcome!! Loved the journal title and couldn't resist popping in to find out how truly "mad" you actually are! ;)

Your brain doesn't really need "sugars" but it does need "carbs", just healthy ones! ;) (despite what the low carbers say!) And if you do feel you need "sugars" there is fructose in many vegetables and lactose in the allowed dairy (allowed types of milks and yogurts). And for longer term energy don't forget your servings of beans! You don't need to eat "glucose" for your brain to have glucose to work with. Which of course you already know! It's just a quicker pathway for your body to break down different kinds of sugars to glucose than even more complex carbohydrates or proteins and fats, but they all pretty much end up as glucose eventually. (don't they?)

And good luck with your studies and nueroscience as your field! Maybe someday you will get to save some young father's life to still be around to watch his kids grow up (and have a second one!) like the neuroscience/neurosurgery team at my local university health center did for me! :) 8)

kat227 · Sat May 31, 2008 9:12 pm

Thanks for posting on my fledgling journal and welcome!! Glad we are in similar places. I find it hard actually not when studying but in social situations. Bleh. Hope we can help each other out!

muffintop · Sun Jun 01, 2008 3:32 am

I alsways found that studying and eating sweets went together for me. I told myself that I deserved the treat as a reward for studying [a small butt would have been a nicer present]. Good luck with your studies and keep posting.


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