I should have fallen off the wagon. I should have been writing this blog tonight with a tinge of defeat in regards to my no sugar/no flour experiment that is now wrapping up its third month. I should be telling you about my mother’s recent visit with us for nine days and how it messed up my controlled eating environment, which led to eating out, which then rolled into multiple days of eating sugary food, which then caused me depression and made me lose my will to even go to the gym any longer, so I have to “get back on the horse”. Those statements are how I would have started this blog in any other time of my life when I tried turning over a “healthy leaf”.
To be honest with you, I had actually prepped and given myself permission to indulge myself a bit during my mother’s visit, simply because I knew we would be doing some sightseeing, eating out, and running around. I’m not trying to say my mother visiting makes me unhealthy, but just that I realized I would be in more of a “real world” situation than I had been up to this point. This thinking, combined with the fact that I haven’t eaten flour or sugar for almost three months, meant anything could happen.
In all actuality though, it ended up being a pretty healthy week for me once again. While I didn’t go to the gym that regularly, we still did a lot of walking and the occasional bike ride. Yes, we ate out, but I didn’t feel the need to eat things that were filled with sugar or flour. I actually ended up dropping a pant size during this time.
You see, the reason I’m writing this is because people just don’t understand one important fact when you give up sugar and flour. It gets easier the longer you do it. This may be tough for you believe, but it’s completely true. I’m not sure if it’s because you eventually shake the hold that sugar has on you, or if processed foods are a conspiracy to keep your body confused and craving things, but you end up just not thinking about what you’re not eating. This is the complete opposite of “diets” where you might give up oreos, but still snack on sugar free cookies every so often, or eat some angel food cake with cool whip because it’s a “healthier option”. In the end, sweet is sweet and processed is processed.
If you have the courage to try this experiment, I promise you that in the beginning, you will crave the soda you are used to drinking every day and you might in fact feel like you will die without it. As time goes on, your romance with that drink will begin to fade until it’s a forgotten lover from an immature time in your life. I can promise you that after a month without sugar or flour, you won’t find yourself “throwing in the towel” of your new healthy lifestyle just because your favorite cookies were at a party you attended and it must be fate that you should eat them. I know this last example too well from previous healthy attempts in my life. I’d go to someone’s house for a visit or event and see my favorite foods sitting on the counter, and suddenly it becomes their fault for tempting me with the deliciousness, so I have to eat as many as possible.
Over time your brain shifts from “it’s impossible to give up sugar” to “wow, I can’t believe I’m surviving and seeing amazing results”, to “candy and donuts….MEH”. The benefits you will feel both physically and mentally after just two weeks of going cold turkey will amaze you. In fact I feel confident to challenge you to just try it and if you don’t feel better physically after two weeks, then you have my permission to call me an insane liar. But…if after two weeks you feel like it has made a positive impact on your life, then shoot for a month and see what happens. If you’re like me, you’ll realize that it’s easier to keep going forward than try and turn around and go back to the place you were.
As always, my resources are free for you to use, just let me know what you need.
All the best!
John Graham
[email protected]
To be honest with you, I had actually prepped and given myself permission to indulge myself a bit during my mother’s visit, simply because I knew we would be doing some sightseeing, eating out, and running around. I’m not trying to say my mother visiting makes me unhealthy, but just that I realized I would be in more of a “real world” situation than I had been up to this point. This thinking, combined with the fact that I haven’t eaten flour or sugar for almost three months, meant anything could happen.
In all actuality though, it ended up being a pretty healthy week for me once again. While I didn’t go to the gym that regularly, we still did a lot of walking and the occasional bike ride. Yes, we ate out, but I didn’t feel the need to eat things that were filled with sugar or flour. I actually ended up dropping a pant size during this time.
You see, the reason I’m writing this is because people just don’t understand one important fact when you give up sugar and flour. It gets easier the longer you do it. This may be tough for you believe, but it’s completely true. I’m not sure if it’s because you eventually shake the hold that sugar has on you, or if processed foods are a conspiracy to keep your body confused and craving things, but you end up just not thinking about what you’re not eating. This is the complete opposite of “diets” where you might give up oreos, but still snack on sugar free cookies every so often, or eat some angel food cake with cool whip because it’s a “healthier option”. In the end, sweet is sweet and processed is processed.
If you have the courage to try this experiment, I promise you that in the beginning, you will crave the soda you are used to drinking every day and you might in fact feel like you will die without it. As time goes on, your romance with that drink will begin to fade until it’s a forgotten lover from an immature time in your life. I can promise you that after a month without sugar or flour, you won’t find yourself “throwing in the towel” of your new healthy lifestyle just because your favorite cookies were at a party you attended and it must be fate that you should eat them. I know this last example too well from previous healthy attempts in my life. I’d go to someone’s house for a visit or event and see my favorite foods sitting on the counter, and suddenly it becomes their fault for tempting me with the deliciousness, so I have to eat as many as possible.
Over time your brain shifts from “it’s impossible to give up sugar” to “wow, I can’t believe I’m surviving and seeing amazing results”, to “candy and donuts….MEH”. The benefits you will feel both physically and mentally after just two weeks of going cold turkey will amaze you. In fact I feel confident to challenge you to just try it and if you don’t feel better physically after two weeks, then you have my permission to call me an insane liar. But…if after two weeks you feel like it has made a positive impact on your life, then shoot for a month and see what happens. If you’re like me, you’ll realize that it’s easier to keep going forward than try and turn around and go back to the place you were.
As always, my resources are free for you to use, just let me know what you need.
All the best!
John Graham
[email protected]
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