So today officially ended the 90 day refined sugar abstinence. It's funny because a co-worker of mine commented on the strength of my willpower. Really, I have none. That is why I had to come up with a plan, a date, a blog and tell everyone I know that I'm not allowed to have refined sugar. Otherwise I'm confident I would have failed.
So how did I do during this trial? Well, if I would grade myself I'd give myself a B. I definitely lifted restrictions, but it was probably less than 5 times in the 90 days. I am after all only human. One of those times was to have some Halo Halo at a Filipino restaurant since I knew it would be a long time before I went back again. I justified it since we were splitting it 4 ways. I regretted that decision about 20 minutes later. Then there was the time that someone came into work with home made chocolate chip cookies. I stayed away from the cookies, however by mid day there was one lonely mini dark chocolate chip on the plate. I snuck it in my mouth. It was glorious and there was no reaction, however I decided not to push it much. The Halo Halo is probably the worst that I did. After a period of time, I really had less cravings. Not only did I start feeling better and preferred better food, but I started to look at sugar and junk food in a new way. I'd look at a cookie or chocolate and I'd think to myself, "Sure, I'd like the way it tastes for a minute, but then I'd get a headache or stomach ache, and I'd realize that it wasn't worth it." I definitely thought those things before, but for some reason it worked this time. Maybe I was ready this time. Every once in a while I would get that evil voice in my head that would say "Why are you doing this? You are fine. Do you have any idea how hard this is? Just give up and eat what you want." I hate that voice. I want to kill that voice. That's the same voice that shows up in my head any time I want to challenge myself with anything. The best moments in my life were when I did not listen to that negative voice in my head. My whole mental attitude had changed this time around. Before, I had absolutely no willpower whatsoever. Before this, if I was unfortunate enough to have received a gift of cookies or whatever I would feel the need to get rid of it right way. Only, since I was raised well and was taught never to throw out food, I would get rid of it the only way I could, without having the ethical dilemma of being ungrateful for such a gift when there are starving children in Ethiopia. The cookies never made it to the garbage can where they probably should have gone. So then I felt the need to hide the food. I would then hide it in my mouth. Chew. Then swallow. I know, I sound like a bulimic, minus the intentional upchucking. And had I not known so many woman who grew up with genuine eating disorders, and just a general poor relationship with food, I don't think I'd be brave enough to be honest here. But I know I'm not alone. I know so many people struggle with food and struggle with the concepts of what they want and what they need and how to derive pleasure from eating without making an emotional attachment to every meal you eat. It is not easy. However, making this plan and this blog has definitely made me more accountable to myself. I think it's that accountability that kept me in line. Also, announcing it to everyone in my family, friends and at work made it way easier. People generally want to be considerate and make meals and desserts without sugar. Nobody is going to knock you for trying to be healthy. The other thing that helped me with this was that I realized right away this is not a "diet" that I am going on. This is a lifestyle change. Way before I got to the 90 days, probably by the end of the 30 days where I started to phase out the gluten I knew I was going to keep this up. I knew I wasn't going to want to turn back and bring my bag of sugar and corn syrup up from the basement and start making pies. I still plan on making pies from time to time but with different ingredients. I feel like I've only just gotten to the tip of the iceberg here. The first 90 days I was so strict with the no refined products I would only allow maple syrup, honey, fruit and the occasional Sugar in the Raw. Now I'm willing to branch out to other natural sweeteners like liquid stevia. So over all, the 90 days have been successful and yes, I'm going to continue to life a life less refined. I'm just so excited that it was successful and I love the changes I've made. Making sure I'm always stocked with an orange or apple to eat after lunch has helped reduce cravings and temptations. Eating from the salad bar a work and loading it up with all the options that they have there has saved me money and kept me full. Also since they rotate the options at the salad bar I always end up with a different salad almost every day. I'm not a big lettuce fan so I use minimal lettuce and I load up on things that have a lot of protein such as the chopped eggs slices and chickpeas, or things that are naturally sweet like the peas. Also, and I could make a whole other blog about this but I use Tahini sauce as my salad dressing. It's just down right amazing, since I also don't like most salad dressings. Yes it's true, I don't like lettuce or salad dressing, and yet I have found a way to eat salad and enjoy it. I've found that all salad really means is a mish mosh of chopped up bits of food that fit on a fork. In the right combinations it's pretty awesome. Happy April Everybody!
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AuthorI believe in challenging yourself and starting something new and that happiness is in your perception of yourself and your life. Archives
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