28 Days Later...

I mean without sugar: 28 days since I cut fructose out of my life.
(oh yeah, and because I'm mildly obsessed with zombies)(and it's sunday so FEAR THE WALKING DEAD will be back on tonight - even if I won't be able to watch it until Friday...anyways!)

So it's been 28 days since I decided to follow the instructions in a book called I Quit Sugar and stop eating anything with fructose in it.  No junky sweets, no sauces that seem savory but in fact have a lot of sugar in them, no fruit.
nada.
(well, mostly, I have accidentally tried a few things that had sugar in them without realizing it, but 99.9% of my food intake has been fructose free).

So far the net result is that I have lost 10 pounds and I feel really good.  I sometimes miss sugar, but I've only had one really bad day (more on that in a minute).  The rest of the time it has been surprisingly easy.  I don't eat the thing I'm not supposed to eat, and somehow because I'm not eating that, my body tells me the right thing to eat.  Like "hey, you know what would taste great?  How about some sausage and beets and spinach sautéed with pecans and pumpkin seeds!!  RIGHTEOUS!"

Trust me, he's saying "RIGHTEOUS! RIGHTEOUS!"

There are all sorts of combinations that are occurring to me that I never thought of before, thanks to the suggestions from the book (like pouring seeds -- chia, pumpkin, sunflower, flax -- on top of food for an extra nutrition bonus).  The best dinner I have had all month was mushroom ravioli that I got from the store that I cooked with some asparagus (out of season, I know) then I grated some fresh parmesan and lemon zest and then topped with some truffle oil.

I made both of these faces when I ate the ravioli
probably with every bite.

I better cool it with the GIFs for awhile before I give someone an aneurism.

My one really bad day was last sunday when I got my period and it seemed like the only thing worth living for was chocolate.  I managed to white-knuckle it through the day (even through an afternoon at the Renaissance Faire which was up to your eyeballs in junky treats) until I could make this recipe: Chocolate Nut Butter Cups:

I call these "Not Reeses" 

They seriously did the trick!  It was crazy, they're not even really sweet, but I had one and didn't want any more.

That never happens.

I told my dad that and he said "I'm not very good with 'one.'  I am good with 'zero' or 'all'."
So at least I know where I get THAT from.

I have so far been having a really great semester too.  All of my classes (all 8 total) have been really fun and feel successful.  Rehearsals for the show that I cast have been going well too (hopefully I have not jinxed both by mentioning it).  I have just started to wonder if the sugar is affecting these things?  If my mind is clearer or if I'm just exceptionally on my game (or wildly deluded as to how well things are going).

Madeleine and I went out for pancakes the other morning (well, me for poached eggs) and when the waitress asked her what she wanted she said "May I please have pancakes without sugar?"
that made my heart well up with happiness.

So yeah, 10 pounds.  And literally all I've done is stop eating fructose.  I do exercise some (twice a week I get a great workout when I teach my movement class; the rest of the time I'm just aiming for my 10,000 steps on my fitbit).  I don't restrict my food intake.  I just listen to when I want to stop eating -- something I am *bizarrely* able to hear for the first time in my life.  I eat cheese and eggs and meat (organic).  I've been drinking coffee (decaf) with half and half most days.

yes.
coffee.

That is another strange development in a month of strange changes in my palette.
One morning I went to school for convocation and I was really tired and I decided to drink some coffee (which I have hated my whole life) with some creamer.  And I really liked it.
It has replaced a morning snack most days.

Back to my eating habits... I find that I'm just not that hungry.  I mean, I get hungry.  But Friday night I had a large breakfast and a late lunch so come dinner time, I just didn't feel like eating a meal.  I had a few veggie chips while I gave Madeleine her dinner, but I literally cannot remember a time in my life when I just didn't feel like eating a meal.  I have, it is true, occasionally, been so broken hearted over a boy that I couldn't eat; but to just not feel hungry and be cool with it.
it was so strange!

I am enjoying feeling my body shave down a bit.  The changes are too subtle for anyone around me to see them.  But I'm comfortably wearing a pair of Next-Size-Down jeans that I barely squeezed into (and bought) in May when I was doing well with weight watchers.

I get sad sometimes when I think about sweets.  I miss them sometimes.  Wistfully.  Like a toxic ex.  There's a line in the play we're rehearsing now about God bringing someone Krispy Kremes and every time I hear it I want one.  If I think about an entire lifetime with never eating sweets again it is sad.  But I don't want them now.  Or at least, I don't want them enough to give up feeling healthy and losing weight.

Finally, I want to say a word about losing weight (well, that's a lie, I want to write a rambling paragraph about it): this shit is hard.  And not just because sugar is addictive, but also because it's such a difficult war to engage in.  Every day people who are trying to lose weight have to resist eating the things that are not healthy, they have to find some way to move their bodies more than their bodies (think they) want to move, all day.  every day.  And, if you're REALLY lucky, after maybe 4 days or so you step on the scale and the number goes down by one.
BY ONE!

Losing weight is hard because we, as humans, tend to suck at the long range.  It's hard to think "well, if this keeps up for a YEAR I'll be half way to where I want to be."

But the good news is "IF I KEEP UP WITH THIS FOR A YEAR I'LL BE HALF WAY TO WHERE I WANT TO BE!!!"

ten pounds is ten pounds, man.  I'm proud of that.
I'm proud that I just ate a small dish of cashews and macadamia nuts and half a cucumber for lunch and that's all I want.
I'm proud that something is making a difference in my health and my well-being :)

I'd write about it more but I'm absurdly busy.
I'll check in when I can.
I leave you with some happy dances:

(oh yeah.  I'm definitely Tom Cruise on Oprah's couch)