Adele, thanks so much for starting a journal for me, appreciate it.
Well, let me start at the beginning: I am a carbohydrate addict. Over the years I have learned that I cannot allow myself "just one bite" of carby food or The Dragon (as Adele calls it) takes over. For me, it's all or nothing.
The facts: I am 53, I am post-menopausal (surgical menopause at 41 due to hysterectomy for stage 3a ovarian cancer), I restarted a low carb food plan last Thursday, the first day of October, at which point I weighed 194 1/2 lbs. I have never weighed this much in my entire life, not even when I was pregnant with my daughter. I have what I consider a normal amount of stress in my life; nothing I can't deal with.
I had nothing traumatic happen in my childhood, except maybe not enough love being shown (I'm talking hugs, kisses & being told I was loved by my parents). I've been a snacker as long as I can remember, my favorites being anything made from potatoes or wheat/sugar. Was I substituting snacks for parental love? Hmm.
The first time I went low carb was in May of 2005. I've lost count of how many times I've gone off & on low carb since then. I always feel so much better when I'm eating a low carb plan. I realize and admit that I'm a carb addict but, dang, why can't I simply stop?!? For a while (maybe a long while) I'm going to track my food at FitDay, keep count of everything that goes into my mouth, so I can get a sense of calories and carbs, etc.
I think I need to stay away from dairy for a while, to find out how or if it affects me, along with all nuts. If you knew me, you'd know that cutting out those two items is HUGE for me. Cheese and almonds have always been my go-to low carb snacks. As soon as I told my husband I was going to avoid dairy for a while, my brain had a mini anxiety attach...which tells me I really, really need to get off the stuff.
Adele's response:
Okay Tricia...here goes (wink)
1. I don’t think anybody is a CARB addict, but I do think we’re all sugar, grain and very often dairy and nut addicts. I feel positive that you are not addicted to broccoli, right? That’s a carb. I wouldn’t worry one bit about ever becoming addicted to any carbs that come from paleo-correct vegetables.
2. Why can’t you give them up? Oh, you can—anybody can. So far, though, you won’t probably because you don’t think you should have to.
Generally speaking though, I’m not a big proponent of asking why—especially when you’re just 3 days into giving them up. Those answers might come in time, who knows? But the truth is you will never really need to know why. And even if or when you ever do figure out why, it’s not going to change the bottom-line fact that your body can’t handle these foods. Asking “why” is how a 3-year-old stalls when she doesn’t want to do something, right? (grin)
3. I also don’t think you need to go looking for anything in your past that might have caused you to develop your addictive eating patterns. My essay about that is Working On Our Issues
What I think you DO need to do is sit down and advance-plan every single day’s food plan, staying at least one day ahead of yourself (but no more than 3--because we need to stay in the day and make this a part of every single one). Make all your food decisions (and buying) and have as much as possible already cooked and ready to eat. Nothing more than 1 hour away from ready to eat. Make sure you have good, filling meals with lots of vegetables. That will go a very long way toward eliminating your “need” to snack. If you’re hungry, eat a full meal.
Let everything else about this go for a good long time. Just get your eating right and stop giving yourself permission to veer off plan. (For what it's worth, I already know that I'm having salmon and green beans for lunch tomorrow, and we're having beef and broccoli stir-fry for dinner. I still always have a plan.)
All the other stuff can wait for a very long time—and I’m talking years.
As for nuts and dairy, If you read through my journey, you might note that I gave up diary in order to get to goal and I have *never been able to put it back in. Eating any dairy (even butter) makes me miserable with plugged sinuses and post-nasal drip for about a week. Totally not worth it. Nuts have been something I also had to eliminate to get to goal—and for about 5-6 years after that. I began experimenting with them just a little at the over 5-years-maintaining-at-goal point.
I’ve gone on and off of nuts several times in the past 10 later years of maintenance, even after I was very able to limit the quantities. I am in a no-nut period right now, and my weight is lower than it’s ever been. My body definitely does better without them. I think given your history with them, it’s time to put both dairy and nuts away for a very very long time. At least until you get to goal.
So Tricia, I wish you a firm PLAN, and of course I hope you’ll keep us posted.
Adele
135 this morning
PS: Were you on the old Texas Lowcarb List? I do remember a Trish from then, but I don't think I remember a Tricia.
No comments:
Post a Comment