A
few years ago, I was planning a trip to Dallas to meet with some author
friends I'd met online. It was a huge incentive to lose weight. I was eating
healthy and exercising (see my Insanity blog). I lost a ton of weight, bought
new clothes, and was feeling good.
After
the trip, I went back to my old ways, and here I am several years later, right
back where I started, only heavier. Like most people, I hate dieting and
exercising. That whole B.S. about "think of it as a lifestyle change, not
a diet" doesn't work for me. I've tried a million different diets. I lose
weight, then I go right back to how I was eating before. I happen to love
healthy foods. I just love junk food more.
Having
recently celebrated a milestone birthday, I figured I'd better get back on
track. The latest thing is eating foods that are good for the bacteria in your
intestines. The idea being that they help with weight loss and stabilize your
digestive system or some such nonsense. So I decided to give it a go. Here's
where I put in the disclaimer that I'm not a medical professional, and please
consult your physician before trying any diet or exercise routine. I never do,
but I have to say it.
Anyway,
the basics are this - no sugar, artificial sweeteners, wheat, corn or dairy.
You can eat all the veggies you want and pure veggie juice along with limited servings
of lean protein (including eggs), beans (including hummus), sweet potatoes,
nuts and nut butters (saying nut butter always makes me giggle), fruit (no
fruit juice), unsweetened almond or coconut milk, olive or coconut oil, oats,
quinoa, and brown rice. You can use a little raw, organic honey as a sweetener.
So I
started yesterday. My biggest hurdle besides chocolate is artificial
sweeteners. I eat low carb chocolate and use Sweet n Low in my tea and coffee.
I also like the occasional Diet Dr. Pepper. I had a ruthless headache yesterday,
and I wanted to bite people, so I went to Trader Joe's looking for healthy crap
to eat. I bought dates. Dates are sweet right? Who eats dates? I even bought a
papaya. I hate papaya. Then I found some unholy frozen concoction of quinoa, kale
and sweet potatoes that I bought for dinner. Today I went to the grocery store
to try to buy some more appetizing foods. My intestines may be happy, but my
sugar monster is definitely not. I'll keep you updated.
