How can you brain without eating?

[monster]

I work with my brain all day (and two fingers...) My job involves basically spending all day concentrating on really hard and abstract problems, sometimes under heavy pressure as well.

One of the things that annoys me about that is the following: if I don't eat enough carbohydrates, I can't concentrate anymore, make a sloppy job, and risk getting my boss upset (one of my colleague erased the "client database" by accident once. He can pretty much forget about getting a raise for the rest of his life...; that is the kind of thing I might do if I can't concentrate)

That in itself isn't a big problem, as I'm usually good at it. What annoys me is that as I'm getting older, it gets hard to keep my weight. If I eat less, which is really what one should do to loose weight, I get more "stupid", and I want to bite everyone (because I'm in a bad mood, not because I'm so hungry that I would eat humans...).

Is there any other way I can lose weight, without reducing my blood sugar? I know about exercising; I'm just wondering if there is anything else, as I don't like exercising TBH.

[Camilus]

Eat meals with complex carbs and snacks with simple carbs. You don't have to eat foods with high fat content to raise your sugar level...high fat foods make you feel tired anyways. If you start to feel hypoglycemic and need to elevate your blood glucose (BG) quickly then either keep some small, high sugar/no fat candies or a carton of orange juice where you work, or you can buy glucagon shots for if it gets bad (which is a natural enzyme in your body that decomposes glycogen to raise your BG: link ).

I don't know if you drink a lot of alcohol, but excess alcohol can throw off your BG also because glycogen is stored mostly in your liver and glucagon is made by your pancreas, and both are affected by too much alcohol. This is what the American Diabetes Association says about it ( link ).

[monster]

Thanks! Luckily for me I don't drink much.

[Emilymarie77]

U don't have to necessarily eat a lot less to lose weight - just eat in moderation. Even if its a protein bar @ 3 and an apple @ 4:30. This keeps up your energy and metabolism. Now, I understand that you may not like exercise but it not helps the body function better but also helps the mind think clearer.

[monster]

I don't really like to exercise, but I have enough will power to force myself anyway. What bothers me most is that it feels like such a waste of time. I have piles of books to read, things to write, things to program, ... And when I exercise, I'm not doing any of those things. I want to start my own small business, and I already spend all my free time on that. There isn't any left. I have to work out some way of doing some of that stuff while exercising.

[Emilymarie77]

I understand that but as I have come to realize if you don't take time to be healthy you may not be able to enjoy life in the future. It would not hurt anything to take at least a 1/2 hr out for exercise a day. When you get home from wk - do you take time to relax and watch a cpl of hrs of tv?

[monster]

No. I bought a 6 feet diagonal satellite antenna last summer, but never bothered installing it because we basically stopped watching tv between the ordering and the delivering. The only non work/study/self-improvement time I have I use to play with my kid, which I can't cut as well. I think I'll start shopping for audio-books. I wouldn't feel guilty about not "working" when I exercise if I was learning something while doing it. It wouldn't hurt my kid to do sport as well, but he is like me. :(