Thursday, May 10, 2012

Starting Over

Following the Great Greg Caper my eating went all to hell. The birthday is a mini-holiday season; the difference being that it lasts about 2 weeks instead of a month. I knew it would happen; my friends like to eat, drink and bake. So there was pizza. And chocolate. Ice cream. Little chocolate donuts. And even Oreos. A steady stream of sugar, in fact, that culminated in mocha-choco-latte-yayas and Grotke cupcakes. After 4 months of good eating, my system rebelled at everything. Nothing settled well and yet I ate on, knowing full well this episode would end in the bathroom just like the rest. Insanity.

I felt like a sugar junkie, incapable of saying no to it, relishing the burn and the high and puking every time I ate it. My body just doesn't want it in my system anymore.

So on Monday I stopped the insanity. Cleared the starches and sugary stuff out and gave them to neighbors. But the craving is there. Making the shopping list from the supermarket website I noted every baked baddie, every bit of junk on sale. Spaghetti made it onto my list, then was scratched out. Just say no, right? It ain't that easy, Nancy.

So tonight I baked up some sweet potatoes and onions. It's a healthy middle ground. I'll be damned if I regain the 40 pounds I fought off. Sugar is like junk to me. So things like carrots, sweet potatoes, onions... I figure they're like methadone. They're sweet but healthy, and cheap enough, too. Toss them in a roast pan and in an hour there's a dinner that staves off the craving without blowing my waistline, budget or guts later. I really wish I'd just stayed with the eating I was doing. That was a reckless detour that did nothing but get me sick. But I've started over and it's going well. I've learned that lesson, I hope. 

8 comments:

Geo. said...

Appetites are strange. 6 mo.s ago I put a little goat cheese on something. Now I want it on everything. Now goats find me in the field beside the house. I don't know what sweet attracts but be careful.

Elephant's Child said...

Isn't sad the way that you think your body is demanding the bad things, (the fats, the sugars. the salts...) and then you give in to these demands. And pay.
It is past time to clean up my act. But before the next shopping I swear.

Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe said...

Wow, 40 lbs. That is great, Laura. After all that effort you put into losing it, you don't want to go back there. It won't be hard for you as you have the determination to do it. Feeling good and healthy is a good incentive.

Austan said...

Geo.- Haha! Watch them goats, I don't trust em!

Austan said...

EC- If it's not in the house I don't eat it. Living alone makes that easier, except when friends come around. ;)

Austan said...

Arleen- Exactly. I was feeling so much better and it was a plan that worked. Still not feeling too great, but at least I'm not "praying to the porcelain god." It'll be good in a week or so.

Anonymous said...

It's so weird. I can go for months and be so good, and then, the cravings are back and I want sugar and yeast and diet pop...rats. Then, I have to start all over again and it is harder each and every time. Why do they make this stuff?

Austan said...

Lawless- I'm thinking they make it cuz we'll buy it. What gets me is the folks who can eat it all and never gain weight! I worked with a guy like that- he ate a 2# bag of Oreos in one afternoon- he's thin as a rail. He doesn't even have a butt. I've known him 17 years, have watched how he eats and am mystified at how he does it. If life was fair, he'd be 500 pounds.