I Like Food*

Well my lovelies, it’s been five days. Let’s have a chat.

When I started this new diet I had hoped to be able to write every day, and just post a wee update at the bottom of each post to let you know that I’m still alive and haven’t wasted away (yet). Unfortunately, life happened and things have been a bit, well, exciting, stressful, nerve-wracking and hopeful these past few days and my time was filled elsewhere. I can’t explain exactly why just yet, but hang in there. I hope I won’t keep you waiting long.

So I started the new regime off with a BANG on Friday. The morning was sooo easy. I thought, “Gee, I could live forever without sugar! Who ever said this was hard?” I was at work, keeping busy and life was grand.

Then lunchtime hit. Suddenly I was all kinds of hungry and my body ached for sugar. I was scheduled to work until 2pm so there wasn’t a lot I could do. I had eaten a large, healthy breakfast, but by 1pm I felt like I was going to be sick and my hands started shaking a bit. (Crazy, right?) I know it’s cheating, but I quickly drank a sugar-free pop (which I know isn’t reeeeeally sugar-free) and I felt a bit better. I made it through my shift, ate lunch and got back on track.

The weekend was actually pretty easy… we spent it with my family where I am less likely to raid cupboards as, well, they aren’t my own. haha! I packed lots of diet-friendly snacks with me and was able to stay fairly close to the guidelines I had set for myself and avoided sugar and yeast (which included a b-e-a-uuuuu-ti-ful chocolate cheesecake Peeah had bought for the beautiful feast she prepared for Mommy’s Day. *sigh*).

Yesterday was immensely stressful, so not eating crap was a bit harder. My body craves sugar (okay, let’s be honest–chocolate) whenever I am stressed, but I curbed those cravings with a low-fat blueberry organic yogurt shake. I would have normally thrown half a bag of sugar into one of those, but I was pleasantly surprised at how sweet the blueberry flavor was. One might even say that I hearted it.

And that brings us to today–the hardest day yet. My cravings were out of control today, but I managed to persevere. Only a few more hours and I’m through day five.

I’ll be honest–I miss treats. I reeeeally do. I’ve realized that the hardest part of this diet is not really cutting out the sweets, but rather changing my eating habits so drastically. Every time I finish a meal I crave something sweet because I’ve conditioned my body to want dessert after 20-some years of enjoying that happy routine. I’m used to grabbing a chocolatey granola bar every time I walk through the kitchen. I’m used to eating something sweet while I cook dinner to tide me over until it’s ready.

More than anything, this has made me realize that my eating habits are terrible.

Sure, it’s been hard, but I feel good. Like, really good. I feel like I have more energy and I don’t feel as lethargic as I’ve felt lately.

Want to know the best part? When I weighed myself on Monday I had already lost four pounds. I know it’s probably just water weight, but that’s still good riddance to four pounds! I like that.

So, on I go. My biggest fear is that I’ll get bored of the food I’m eating… I know I’m going to need to get creative, especially with my snacks. My next one to try is peppers with hummus. It’s no chocolate bar, but it sounds interesting enough. haha!

Have any healthy snack ideas for me?