Get the Sugar OUT!

I can tell that I truly was addicted to sugar. Much in the way an alcoholic needs a drink, or a heroin addict needs to shoot up. I'm wondering if the nausea and vomiting I had been experiencing were truly related to some viral illness, or was it simply withdrawal from sugar? The withdrawal symptoms from cutting sugar out of your diet are not fun to deal with...fatigue, headaches, irritability, depression, moodiness. Seriously! If you do a two week elimination diet, you're doing some serious body chemistry changes! A book that I've been reading that explains a lot of the details on sugar, what it does to your body, changes you can make, etc. is called Get the Sugar Out: 501 Simple Ways to Cut the Sugar out of Any Diet. http://www.annlouise.com/23/diet-detox/22/

This book was written by Ann Louise Gittleman, a renowned nutritionist, and was published in 1996. The book itself may be a little dated, but the information in it is not. Some of it is common sense stuff that I think most of us know, but it's laid out in a wonderfully simple format. It's a quick read and very informative. I'm not saying that I agree 100% with everything in the book, but a lot of it just makes sense.  A couple of the tips that I think I need to look further into are number 471: Make sure you're getting enough Chromium, Manganese, and Zinc. Most Americans do not get enough of these nutrients, and if you are hypoglycemic or diabetic the supplements can be particularly helpful. Also tips 474 and 475: Sugar is an antinutrient that interferes with your body's capability to digest and efficiently use minerals, and 474 is particularly true for Calcium and Magnesium. Tip 475 tells us that if you take any of these supplements with sugar, you will not be able to absorb them. This may be one of the reasons that osteoporosis is so high in America.

I especially worry about my calcium since I've cut out dairy. Lactose is a big sugar that can really mess with your hormones! I can tell that my body is really struggling to do it's own hormone regulation lately since I've stopped taken an oral contraceptive.  I wanted to take charge of my body chemistry, and I felt like the pill was running the show so I stopped taking it. Sure enough, my face and neck has erupted with wonderful adult acne :-/ . Since I've shut down milk and cheese, it's progressively gotten better, but where should I get my calcium from? I think supplements are okay, but it's better to get your nutrition from food. Apparently, I'm supposed to be getting 1200mg a day. I eat a lot of broccoli and spinach, but I don't think it's enough! I better look into some more calcium rich foods and see what's out there in supplement form (besides Tums).

I have been eating  A TON of spinach, pretty much three times a day. I love it! Way better than lettuce and full of nutrients. I'm still enjoying my mini-quiches for breakfast, I had that delicious steak and broccoli for dinner the other night, and this is what most of my lunches have been looking like:

Just a good portion of grilled or panned seared chicken, generously seasoned with oregano, black pepper, garlic, and a little sea salt. I toss some organic spinach with balsamic vinegar and olive oil and mix in the warm chicken and it is so delicious! Sometimes I use red wine vinegar, but the balsamic has been tasting a little better lately.

I did enjoy dinner out last night, but I didn't cheat! I had a burger with no bun and pile of veggies with greek dressing. No cheese and I was full! I was tempted to enjoy a vodka beverage but I didn't do it. Yay, me!

This morning I had scrambled eggs and turkey sausage. I had a snack before we hit the dog park of almonds and macadamia nuts, and I'm still feeling pretty satisfied. However, I'm still dealing with cravings so I'm going to look more into the supplements. If I can find a good, whole food supplement then I'll jump on that wagon for sure.

Off to enjoy the sunshine....it's gorgeous out there!