Trying a New Diet

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.