I am a 35 year old nurse who has struggled my weight for as long as I can remember. I have never had a flat stomach and will never have the washboard abs I have longed for. Most of the women in my family either are, or have been obese. I have never personally fallen into the obese category, but I can only put that down to a little more self control and marginally more exercise than other family members.
I have tried most of the common fads, you know, Weight Watchers, Biggest Loser eating plan, low GI, low fat, low carb. I found that I would do really well for a few months but than have a week or so of just going crazy and eating whatever and whenever. It's then that I would fall off the wagon and GIVE UP, stop exercising and the weight would pile back on.
I have found, particularly being a shift worker, that it's difficult to get into any sort of routine. I would just grab something quick on the way out, something that wasn't always the healthiest of options. I find I need to be prepared and the lack of planning was my biggest downfall.
I have only been sugar free for about a week. I have gone cold turkey and have even cut out all artificial sweeteners. I don't feel as bloated and am surprised because I haven't had any real sweet cravings at all YET! A friend at work had an open packet of salt and vinegar chips on the bench, offered me a chip (they are my all time favourite, I could eat a 200g bag in 1 sitting) and I said "No thanks, I don't really feel like one". She nearly fell over! A rep brought a bag a fantales to an in-service a couple of days later and whilst my colleagues were vigorously chewing them I sat back, quite happy not to partake. This has never happened before! I thought it had to do with my lack of willpower, now I realise it was beyond my control! I had a bit of a dull headache a few days in, but other than that, I haven't found it difficult to stick to.
My general daily food consumption has varied but usually consisted of a cooked breakfast (bacon, egg, mushroom, fresh grilled tomato, hash browns and sliced avocado) or cream cheese and tomato of toast or a muffin. Lunch has been a couple of slices of mountain bread with some garlic infused yoghurt as a spread (Jalna Biodynamic Organic) with cheese (feta or sometimes Havarti) I have snacked on roasted chickpeas, almonds and cashews. Dinner has been roast meat and veges (with gravy of course) or a baked potato with butter, cheese and some of the yoghurt which tastes just like sour cream, or stir fry with meat and veges. I found it difficult to choose some sort of sauce for the stir fry and found the only thing in my cupboard without sugar, was soy. So, soy and a bit of peanut oil it was!
I went shopping at Costco today. I carefully looked at all the items I usually purchased and had to fore go some of them due to their sugar content. I was surprised as some of the items I did not expect to contain as much sugar as they did. I also found I purchased some items I usually wouldn't have due to the fat content, like pasta carbonara for instance. It's early days yet, we shall see what happens in the next few weeks.
I enjoy reading the blogs and hearing about fellow sugar boycotters (I think I just made that word up) pit falls and triumphs.
Thanks David for a really insightful read.
Lisa