Day #196 - Flipping the Switch

Starting Weight - 347

Weight Last Week - 324

Current Weight - 317

Weight Lost Last Week - 7

Total Weight Lost This Year - 30 lbs

For the first half of the year I only managed to lose 10 lbs.  The best thing I can say about my first six months was that I managed to not gain more weight.  However, in the last 3 weeks I've managed to double up on what I had lost so far adding a surprising 20 lbs to my total.  7 more lbs last week and 20 lbs in 3 weeks, obviously I'm thrilled.

I've been thinking about this post all week, trying to come up with some way of describing how I'm feeling since I totally gave up sugar and started eating a low carb diet.  It's really hard to share because I've never really felt this way before... EVER! 

After the first week of sugar detox it's like a switch flipped inside my head.  A switch that's never been touched before, something that lay dormant inside me with cobwebs all over it.  My appetite... gone.  My cravings for certain foods... gone.  These two things alone are great, but it's even more than that.  My concentration is improved, I'm doing better in my job.  My outlook has improved, I'm not seeing my mood go up and down as much.

To all of you out there who have written about the evils of sugar, let me apologize for how I used to feel.  I used to read those posts and think that it was all wrong... that anything was OK, even sugar, if it was in moderation.  I never realized how sugar had such a hold on me, not just cravings for more sugar, but overall cravings and appetite for even non-sugar foods.

As a testament to how this switch has flipped, let me share with you some information about my last 3 weeks...

In the last 3 weeks I have lost 20 pounds.  I have not felt deprived in any way and have not had a single craving (after sugar detox).  During this time of losing about 1 pound per day I have gone out the eat 3 times...  The first time I went to Chinese buffet.  I ordered water and stuck only to non-breaded items, vegetables, and meat.  Any of the dishes that had a sweet flavor were skipped.  I walked out completely satisfied, not needing dessert.  The second time I went to a burger joint for lunch .  I ordered a big fat juicy burger with bacon and an egg on top, but instead of a bun I got it on a lettuce wrap.  Instead of fries I got a side salad.  The third time I went out, we went to a steakhouse.  My daughter wanted ribs so bad but they don't have them on the kids menu.  I ordered a rack of ribs to split with her and we split the sides; she got the mashed potatoes and I got the side salad, again, picking out the croutons.  Rolls came out early on and it was no issue to watch everyone else have them, I just munched on a few peanuts.  All this and I'm still losing weight week after week.

With each passing week I see just how much food used to consume my thoughts.  When I woke I used to think about getting a nice big breakfast and no sooner than after breakfast was over my thoughts would turn to what I had for snacks or what I wanted to eat for lunch.  I used to think about food all the time.  No so much anymore, food is starting to become an afterthought.  I'm not bored with what I eat, but at the same time, I'm not excited about food either.  My trips out to eat were more enjoyable because of the people I was with and the discussions we had; the food was not the main attraction!

So this is the best I can do to explain where I'm at right now.  I can't promise this approach works for everyone, but it certainly seems like I've found my path.  I still have a long way to go, but my confidence is very strong that I can get there going in the direction I'm going.  After next week I go on vacation and I plan to continue my losing ways right through it.  When I return I will go after my next challenge... getting more exercise. 

Stay Strong!

 

[Photo: Flickr / Playing Futures: Applied Nomadology]