Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Here's what I'm learning

*Even a small amount of white flour--say in a few slices of pizza--will put me in a carb coma.

*I cannot eat quick-cook steel cut oats.  They put me in a carb coma.  I CAN eat regular steel cut oats that take 20 minutes to cook, without any carb reaction.  (I always eat these with one egg, to balance the meal with protein.)

*I can eat blue corn chips (but have to count them and be very careful to control quantity); I can't eat yellow corn chips.

*Salsa can have sugar in it.  After being off sugar for just a few days, I could taste the sugar.  (I normally buy "Wholly Salsa" that just has the good stuff in it.  The grocery was out & I bought another kind, but this was before I went off sugar and wasn't checking labels.  Now I know to check labels on salsa, which, IMO, has no business having sugar added to it in the first place.)

*BBQ sauce's #1 ingredient is sugar.

*If I'm home all day with a sick daughter, who I'm worried might have appendicitis because she's had a low grade fever and stomach pain for 3 days, I'm going to binge on sugar. 
Sophie is fine now. I talked to the doctor yesterday morning primarily because she'd been running a 99-100 temp for 3 straight days, which is abnormal for her.  The doctor thought it was a virus, but said to watch for certain signs that could indicate appendicitis. And I worried all day long; every time her stomach would cramp & hurt, I was afraid I'd be taking her to the ER.  She was hurting up until she went to bed at 8:30.  I finally lost it at 8:45 and ate cookies and Easter candy out of the kids baskets.  She's fine today; I'm fine today. 
*I need to exercise.  I ran two short runs last week, and that was it.  I need to make time to workout.  My brain needs the endorphins and my body needs the outlet.

*Dry roasted edamame is the bomb.  Simply the best, easiest, "keep in my car for hunger emergencies" snack ever.

*Hot green tea is delicious.

*I cannot weigh myself everyday in the midst of learning to be sugar free.  When I don't lose every day, I have way too many the "what's the point?" thoughts.  I put the scale in Mark's bathroom.  I haven't weighed for about a week.  My pants are looser.  That's enough for me.

*My definition of "sugar free" is actually "very low sugar."  I still use 1/2 tsp Splenda brown sugar for my tea, which is 50/50 splenda/sugar.  I still use 1 tbsp lite choc syrup for my coffee in the morning.  I use unsweetened soy milk for my latte, but it has a gram or two of sugar.  There's a gram of sugar in the soy crisps I like (like rice cakes but with soy--have protein in them, and I'm not reactive to them), even though the ingredients don't list sugar.  I probably get between 10-15 grams of sugar on a good day. For now, that's good enough.

*I still have no idea how to accept "I'll never eat chocolate again."  I don't know if I can. 

*The best way for me to stay away from sugar/refined carbs/carbo overload is to remember how they make me feel--I do not like to be passed out on the couch in the middle of the afternoon.  I do not like to feel grouchy with my kids for no reason.
The recent carb comas have happened from NON binges.  From a few slices of pizza.  From too big a meal, even one that is sugar free (but not carb free--too big a sweet potato along with a big meal is too much for me & I get sleepy).
*I am extremely reactive to TOO MUCH. 

9 comments:

Laura N said...

Had to cancel my therapy appt for yesterday since I was home sick with Sophie. I am rescheduled to Monday the 9th.

~ChubbyMommy said...

Stumbled across your blog and read back through your posts till i got to the "Overcoming Sugar Addiction" post. I felt as though someone hit me over the head as i was reading something that i could have also done (with the cupcakes).

I think that this is my problem.

Heck, i KNOW it is.

I've ordered this book...and while i am anxious and fearful of what i'll read when i get my hands on this book, i see some light.

Thank you for being honest in your writings...i'll be back to check on you. :0)

Vickie said...

glad you posted

smiled through your notes, they are very true, but still funny in their own way.

one of the women in my free weights class had a junior high kid (earlier this year) who they thought had the flu and it was appendicitis, so you were smart to be cautious.

Laura N said...

Hi chubby mommy! Thank you for commenting. I appreciate you taking the time to let me know you're out there.

Hi Vickie. :)

Jill A said...

I think it's great that you realize what you are learning! There is freedom in knowing your limits.

A friend of mine posted on Facebook a couple of weeks ago that he had a cramp in his side that wouldn't go away. His wife told him to quit being a baby and suck it up. His FB friends told him to go get it checked out. 3 hours later he was in surgery for an emergency appendectomy! It's good NOT to ignore things like that!

Glad Sophie is doing better! xoxo

Vickie said...

I use ChiChi's salsa. No sugar added. Lowest sodium level I can find. the carbs that are in it (2g) are probably from the tomatoes. I use medium level, you might like hot.

My grandmother sprinkled sugar on her tomatoes (raw tomatoes) to cut the acid.

My husband's mother used to sugar raw fruit (like strawberries).

yes, both had weight problems.

debby said...

Regarding the chocolate--I guess you don't like sugar free stuff? I can tell you my favorites if you want to try it. It has almost as many calories as regular, but it seems like I can eat one piece and be content with that. I used to think that I couldn't live without chocolate, but most days I don't think about it much. I still do have it fairly frequently, its just not on my mind.

Heidi Hoffman said...

Have you tried making your own salsa? Super easy, super fast! Basically, chop up tomatoes, white onions really small, dashes of lime, cut up a hot pepper, mix and let sit. I'm sure it's more complicated than this - but not by much! ;)

Vickie said...

did you smile at the thought of making your own salsa? I did. I make a lot of things from scratch, but salsa is not one of them. I suppose I would if I could not find one that worked for me. And oddly, the Amish (here, our Amish) make a lot of salsa.

Did you survive Easter?

Is it next week your office moves?

thought about you all weekend.