What can I eat now!

I was going to wait till 2012 to give up eating sugar however when I moved up here to beautiful Cairns 4 weeks ago I bought a book called: "The Sweet Poison Quit Plan". It is written by David Gillesie who is an Australian man who was 40 kg overweight.  I am SO glad he wrote this book (his second on the subject) as he has saved me lots of time and energy researchng the subject.  Brilliant book as far as I am concerned.  Every home should have one and read it.  As he says; his approach is not about counting calories, measuring ingredients or following complex exercise plans.  He keeps it plain and simple;  eat what you like, when you like but dont eat sugar.  Easy peasy.............or it is?

I have a sugar addiction.  Many people do.  We crave something sweet every day, sometimes all day long.  Let's face it, an addiction is not about enjoyment it is about compulsive behaviour.  My addiction was mainly chocolate.

This year when I gave up gluten products I thought I was real clever when I started eating the most delicious gluten free cakes.  Every time I went to a major shopping centre I sniffed out the cafes that sold them.  I even 'educated' the woman who opened up a new coffee shop near where I work and live.  She then researched gluten, bought a few cook books then started producing the most yummy gluten free cakes.  Every Tuesday she would have another creation waiting for me as that was the night I would have my son over for Mexican (food) and I would get some cake in for dessert, not that my son was gluten intollerant.  That didn't matter to me as it was really for me.

So why was I putting on weight?  Why was I bloated?  I am not eating gluten anymore.  I think I shall go into denial for awhile. I secretly knew the answer.   At this stage I was also eating healthy gluten free breakfast cereal.

Now if you remember I am also lactose intolerent, however still had skinny flat whites when I went to cafes.  I also started eating a lot of chocolate.  Well my husband is living thousands of kilometres away what a wonderful excuse to eat chocolate every day again.  At one stage a good friend of mine in Brisbane who was reading my facebook entries about how I wanted chocolate NOW mentioned she didn't realise how much I love chocolate.  She was trying to be so subtle about it.  I told her I was only joking...yeah right...more denial.

Isn't chocolate delicious to eat.  Unless you are a savoury person you will all be saying "Oh yes".  Haighs chocolates are my favourite.  Haighs are an Adelaide company.  I think they make the best and I have tasted a lot of chocolate.  The next would be the chocolate which is made in New Zealand.  Sadly I cant remember the brand name...theirs are to die for with lots of wonderful taste varieties.

Oh dear I am a worry.

So how do you know if you addicted to sugar...yes we are back to sugar.  Here's 4 questions from David's book;

1.  Do you struggle to walk past a sugary treat without taking 'just one'?
2.  Do you have routines around sugar consumption - for example, always having dessert, or needing a piece of chocolate to relax in front of the TV, or treating yourself to a sweet drink or chocolate after a session at the gym?
3.  Are there times when you feel as if you cannot go on without a sugar hit?  (late afternoons)
4.  If you are forced to go without sugar for 24 hours, do you develop headaches and mood swings?
If you answered 'yes' to even one of these questions you are addicted.

Holey moley.....hey how about the one when you are on a diet and you lose weight so to reward yourself and have a bit of chocolate.  It's only 1 piece of chocolate right?  That's a favourite with me.

You have to laugh at what we do to ourselves and more so what we do to our bodies.  Cause if we didn't laugh we would be crying.   Right?

Well my darling patient husband was pleased that I am happy to eat what 'stuff' we have in the fridge and cupboard containing sugar and then not to restock it.  What we found though was we didn't have a lot of sugary foods.  Thanks goodness.  We dont eat shop bought sauces and we make our own salad dressings and since I am changing my eating habits and not insisting my husband do the same he is happy to have his balsamic vinegar for his dressings.  I have never enjoyed it so no great loss for me. 

OK no sugar in my food so why am I still bloated?  My husband then suggested I check my 'healthy' breakfast cereal and gluten free bread.   Both contained oats.  I stopped eating them and my stomach felt better.  So the lesson for me is check all products as oats are not good for me. I cant eat fruit as I bloat up from the frutose and cant have diary......OMG what can I eat now! 

My breakfast now consists of bacon (sorry all you vegos reading this) and a field mushroom as they are delicious and so big with spinach and sometimes asparagus.  The strange thing for me is realising that this meal takes me all the way through till lunch.  No morning snack.  It is explained in the book that this would happen when we give up sugar.  I didn't beleive it.  What I am also noticing is that I am actually starting to listen to my body.  I went out the other day and as I walked past a cafe the thought did cross my mind to pop in and have a coffee and gluten free cake however I descovered to my shock that I didn't really feel like either.  The same thing happened this morning.  Normally I would consider buying a chocolate to tie me over till I go home and have lunch however when I stopped and thought about it and as much as it was 'morning tea time' I was NOT hungry and certainly did not want any sugar products.  How weird is that?

So I haven't lost any weight.  Well lets face it; it's only been a week or two, however for the past few days my stomach has not been bloated.  I have not had to decide whether I can fit into a size 12 or 14 for the day.  Now that's great for me.

So lets see how I feel tomorrow.  I'm excited.......................