11.17.2011

Paleo and Sugar Free check-in

Wow, too much time has passed! I have moved to a new state, got a new job and in the blink of an eye neglected my favorite blog. I am fully cemented in eating Paleo and Raw now. I am becoming more and more sensitive to what happens to my body if I get any grains at all, and any sugar. Sometimes I just give in and eat a piece of pizza... after all, it sucks to be that girl who has to be all food sensitive when we all go out to eat! Bah! And sometimes I just want to have a damn piece of toast. Well, then I pay. What's interesting is that over the last year (and some) I have tried to balance out my sweet tooth. What can I eat? What won't shake me up and give me cramps? It's been tough! I remember leaning a lot on Stevia for my sweet tooth cravings. I also remember when I discovered I couldn't eat it anymore. I started reacting to it exactly as I did to sugar alcohols (maltitol, xylitol) which is intense bloating, cramps, gas. Fun fun! That was a sad, sad time. I love Stevia, what it was for me. So I try to be in moderation but a sweet tooth is for life. As I stated in the past, it is an addiction like any other; I look at my familial patterns and see that my entire family is addicted to either sugar or booze. What is a girl to do? Of course I want to be more "natural" and so I stick to honey and maple syrup. These things are more or less acceptable among the Paleo and even Raw theories. In moderation, of course. However... I am still having problems with carrying bloat, mood issues, and energy issues when I get too much. Or even a little bit. It's frustrating! I just want to be "normal" sometimes. I did a juice fast for three days last month. I used mostly vegetable broth that I made, pineapple juice smoothies (with kale/ spinach), water and tea. I tried to avoid most other fruit juices in general. Well, after the three days was up I felt amazing- no bloat, no gas, no mood issues. Wow. But one cannot live on broth alone! If I had the will power to simply eat only vegetables and lean meat, I would probably be fine. The will to do such things is not within me. I love my chocolate and sweets too much for that. Hrumph. Everything in moderation, right? Likely waiting until having a full belly with plenty of protein before taking anything sweet would indeed solve a lot of the problem. As I said many blog entries ago, kicking sugar is a life-long process. It is not the type of thing that you walk away from and you are "cured".

1 comment:

dave said...

Wondering if there are any fruit sweetened cookies or treats you have tried/bought that you would recommend. I am trying to kick a bad sugar habit and need some good substitutes.