Friday, May 4, 2012

Quitting Sugar

Finally I have started the program to quit sugar. I know I've banged on about this all year and finally four months after I purchased Sarah Wilson's book I have begun. Totally by random. 

When ever I put a date on things like this it just doesn't work out. The whole "diet starts on Monday" is crap, I have major difficulty doing battle with my mind and will power when it comes to such major lifestyle changes.

So how did I start? It just happened. April was a pretty good month for my yoga practice. I got my butt whooped a few times. I knew deep down I could do so much better in the hot room if I clean up my act outside the room. i.e SUGAR. It reeks havoc on your muscles and digestive system, let alone makes your mind go doolally! Easter I binged like an out of control food-a-holic. Then suddenly I didn't feel like eating my usual daily chocolate fix. I was actually sick of it. So just like that I stopped eating it. 

Once I was over week one of no cakes, biscuits, chocolate, ice cream and sweets it was plain sailing. I didn't even want or crave any of the above. Don't get me wrong I didn't go totally cold turkey as sugar is lurking in everything. I still have the occasional small orange juice, especially on my 4am start mornings to give me a quick fix.

Kat Eden wrote this great piece on breaking addiction which I took note of. By not having a sweet treat at your usual time, mine is either after lunch or after my evening meal, you get out of the habit. I didn't want chocolate at 10am so I didn't have it & I wasn't allowing myself any after 12pm.

I have no idea what clicked in my head, it just happened. I no longer wanted sweet stuff. A belated birthday present from the UK landed a few weeks ago. A big bar of Galaxy chocolate, om nom nom. My favourite. I tucked it away in the fridge and decided to treat myself to a row to celebrate two weeks without it. It tasted funny. It did nothing for me. Totally shocked. I thought after abstaining it would taste like heaven, especially creamy UK stuff. No. My stomach started swelling, my digestive system gurgled, I had a high then a crash. Very weird. These gut feelings used to be normal for me, I thought it was the usual reaction to food in general. However I always followed a meal with chocolate or something sweet. Ah ha, breakthrough moment.

Ending week three now. The results; less bloating or weird gastric rumblings,  uncomfortable tight stomach feelings gone. My yoga practice is so, so much stronger, bow I no longer get cramps in my calves or toes. My head is clearer, as is my skin. (A yoga colleague commented on this) My clothes are looser, I have lost just over 1kg without changing anything else in my diet/lifestyle. (Another yoga colleague commented on this also = noticeable weight loss) I wasn't aiming for weight loss, it is a bonus as most of the shorts I wore at TT I didn't feel comfortable in & I'd stopped teaching in cropped tops. I felt out of shape & the scales showed it. 


Onwards I go. I have given away a bunch of unopened biscuits and chocolates. There are three unopened Easter eggs in the fridge which will be finding new homes if The Man doesn't hurry up & eat them! Finally, I am no longer climbing the walls at 3pm wanting a sugar fix. Hoorah!!



3 comments:

  1. Good for you!!! Thank you for sharing.

    I also have some food changes to implement in my life and I have a hard time starting off. (I want to go 80% raw.) I KNOW it will be so good for me, because I've done it for a mere 3 days in the past and felt fantastic (and skin issues disappeared)! If that was after 3 days, what would 3 weeks/months/years do? But still I have a hard time starting. I think I feel like I would miss out on something... yeah right, cause my weekly Taco Bell habit is SO SO important o__O

    Anyway, thank you for inspiring me :)

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  2. Thank you! Happy to help. Getting over that first hurdle is the hardest. The way I think it works with all addictions/changes, you need to be ready, if the time is not right it won't happen. I think my time was right so it was smooth sailing.

    Good luck with your life change. There are so any great raw recipe books out there I'm sure you'll find some great foody ideas!

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  3. Yes, I totally agree: if you're not ready for the change, it won't happen.

    Regarding recipes and general raw inspiration, I really like Laura-Jane here: http://www.therawtarian.com/ She sems to be really down to earth and provides easy recipes suitable for beginners, yay :)

    I've had some raw meals over the weekend, so I'll call that a success for now :)

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