Day 7 was yesterday and it went well. I was able to co-ordinate meals in between a trip into town. I now can go past the bakery in the stores and not do more than a cursory glance. The reason for this is that I am not hungry enough to be tempted to buy something to eat in the car.
Make no mistake! I would love a donut!
But if we go through all of this emotional/physical withdrawal and last more than a couple of days then isn't it worth it to engage that iron will? While there might be pain the gain is there too. So try to focus on the gain!
I do beleive we all have stronger will than we know because I think that its a part of how our species survived. I was thinking this morning as I made my sugarless coffee once again that will power is trumped by cravings not by our own minds. Its withdrawals. Why we get addicted might be more important than why we cave in.
Today, I was going to count the days left on this diet but I decide that it didn't matter. If this is lifechanger and I am to stay off of certain foods then its for the rest of my life to a degree. Instead I am counting up-how many days did I stay on the Whole 30? I am hoping that it will be 30 days.
I can report that my digestion is imporving with the combination of probiotics and Triphala. I can report that I am not entirely pain free but I was at a level 10 and up every waking moment before this diet. I would say that when I am in pain the pain might be closer to a 7 and that I spent half of yesterday with even less pain than that. That is substantial to me!
My jeans are sliding off at the waist but I have not lost weight-my starting weight was 182 btw (with clothes on at the doctors office). I am 180 with less clothes on.
More importantly though, I am less depressed. I am feeling positive in general. There are other aspects to this improvement but I do believe that I am not being bogged down by the sugar demons that tend to control my moods. I also beleive that probiotics are doing a great deal of good.
I am going on a day full of appointments and shopping. I will be going out prepared and will talk about that challenge tomorrow.
I hope you are having a wonderful day!
Funny you should mention donuts, as David and I were discussing some of the junk food we were addicted to as teens. Mine was long, jam and cream donuts and finger buns with pink icing and coconut sprinkled on top! Just thinking about what I used to eat, makes me feel queasy. At the time, I thought I was in heaven, but my youth protected me from my food choices as my body could detox rapidly just by growing! Now the thought of digesting one of those fake foods, makes my stomach churn. While donuts are no longer my thing, I am partial to a good apple pie!
ReplyDeleteShow me a well made apple pie in a bakery window, and I'll stop to take a second lookl. But I wouldn't eat it, because I know the effects wouldn't be worth it in the long run. Its an interesting point you make, about why we become addicted to certain foods. I believe its about comfort. Especially if you're experiencing a stressful time in life, it becomes more important to find sources of comfort. As I've been looking into the pantry lately, I've been asking myself, "what are you really looking for?", rather than, "what is there to eat?" When you ask the right question, you don't necessarily have to answer it with food.
My clothes have been falling off me too, but I put that down to reduced inflammation. We think of allergic reactions to food, as something extreme - something which closes your airways and stops you from breathing. I can tell just by looking at someone however, if they're having a reaction to food from inflammation - mostly because I've had the same features most of my life. The food doesn't stop you from breathing, but it causes swelling, especially in the face and under the chin. Even your fingers can swell, but because you live with it every day you naturally assume its just an overall "weight" problem. They used to say the weight you lost at the beginning of a diet, was water, but I think its inflammation caused by reactions to foods we can't digest properly. Remove those foods and the swelling reduces.
Its also amazing the clarity which is gained, by eating foods we can digest. The fog lifts, and we aren't so consumed by worry any more. It can still be there, given the right situation, but its not a consuming worry which leads to all out hopelessness. When I eat the foods I cannot digest properly, I feel like I'm constantly pacing inside my head every waking moment. Add a normal situation in life, which would cause worry, and the pacing intensified. Give me good food, and it unlocks other parts of my brain which are meant to be working too.
I haven't been using probiotics, so you would be getting additional results which work in your favour. What is Triphala though?
Keep up the good work. :)
My husband loves apple pie too but I don't care for it unless its actually a tarte tatin. I am particular about my donuts though-I like the jelly filled ones and I like one that is a fried croisant. I won't eat another kind but I could eat a box of both. lol.
DeleteWhen I was a teenager my best friend and I used to off campus to lunch (high schools sometimes allow it) and we would go get a bean burrito at Taco Bell along with a soda. I think we would share the soda. We were more of the starvation types really-a bean burrito at taco bell was likely quite fattening but that is all we ate all the school day-no breakfast. We liked being thin. Luckily my parents were healthy cooks so dinner might have been a saving grace.
Brilliant deduction regarding inflammation! That maybe why I am not actually losing weight but my body is changing-the inflammation I carry is in my tissues but not necessarily as edema. Its like its implanted sludge.
Triphala is an Ayurvedic formula that is used to aid in digestion and actually has been found to be an overall health enhancer. This is not on the Whole 30 diet recommendation list and my doctor didn't recommend it but he told me to keep taking it. I have been taking it on and off since stopping chemo but I have gotten more regular with it now that I need laxatives-this one is just very gentle compared to others-even the more natural ones. Its actually just the powder of 3 fruits. Read more about it here:http://www.banyanbotanicals.com/info/ayurvedic-living/living-ayurveda/herbs/triphala/ though there is alot more information all over the place on it.
Thanks for you support my friend. Keep up your good work too.
Do you notice that weight carried in your tissue, is more pronounced around your stomach? That's where I noticed mine collecting, and its also where it fell off the quickest when changing my diet.
ReplyDeleteI don't know anything about Taco Bell (haven't seen one in Australia) but I'm assuming they sell Mexican style foods. Which is another old favourite food of mine too. I could see the appeal in a burrito! Were you partial to a side of guacamole and sour cream also?
Yes! I used to have a perfectly flat belly-even after twins. But the last couple of years have changed that. It must be changing there as how else do pants loosen up but I don't see it when I look for it. Its still early days and I am very overweight. Trying to be patient.
DeleteTaco Bell is Mexican fast food. We didn't eat alot of guacamole or sour cream as kids. Avocado in salad and my mom never used sour cream alot. Taco Bell would not have added those ingredients as a fast food place-strictly cheese and beans. And I don't recall eating a lot of real Mexican foods until later in life. I am now very partial to guacamole though! And I do like sour cream but I am not used to eating it really.