Well, here we are, two months into eating paleo, and its hard to
believe but its just getting easier and easier! My attitude towards food
has changed so much, and my internal thoughts and cravings are so
different than they used to be. I am sure everyone else has been there
at one point - you smell that freshly baked bread, see that plate of
homemade cookies, taste the first fork full of cake/ice cream/pie. It
smells/looks/sounds SO good and you find yourself overcome with the
feelings and cravings that you just have to have some, right NOW. And
you bargain with yourself, promising you will only have one bite, one
cookie, one slice. And then 10 minutes later there you are, the pan of
brownies demolished, the loaf of french bread half gone. Those cravings
are near impossible to overcome, so you give in, and then comes the
guilt. That cycle has always been so completely exhausting, but one I
have repeated over and over again in my life.
One of my biggest surprises two months into eating paleo is that those cravings, that desire, that need to have (insert food drug of choice) right this very second...is gone. Almost (see dried fruit below) totally and completely gone. I walked into Costco the other day, where the bakery is right next to the fresh fruits and veggies, the area I was heading to. The smell of freshly baked bagels wafted over to me, and my old self would have immediately thought "Bagels! Bagels are so yummy, toasted and slathered with butter...omg, yum yum yum. I know I shouldn't buy those, because I will want to eat them all (and its a Costco sized pack folks!), but man, they sound so good. Mmmmmmm...bagels with butter. Bagels. And butter. BAGELS AND BUTTER". And then the bag of bagels would go right into my cart, and my previously full and very not at all hungry stomach would suddenly be starving, and I could think of nothing else until I got home and satiated that craving with a nicely toasted bagel. And butter.
How crazy is it to be such a slave to food?! The new me smelled the bagels, immediately got a hopeful question from somewhere deep in my bagel loving memory that asked "Bagels???" and just as quickly the new me piped up and replied "Naaaaah. That doesn't even sound that good. Lets grab some cucumbers and carrots instead.". WOW. It was in that moment that I realized I am doing more than getting my body healthy - I am changing the way my brain reacts to and thinks about food. I am changing the cycle of cravings and guilt. I am changing my relationship with food forever. That is some pretty powerful stuff!
Now, with that said - the bagel/Smartfood/jellybean/tortilla chip monster may have been slain, but I am under no circumstances allowed to be left alone with any sort of dried fruit. That is now my drug of choice, and I have come to the realization that I just can not buy it, can't have it in the house, can't walk down that aisle in the store, because I have about zero willpower around it. Weird huh? The worst thing that my body wants to eat is dried fruit. Even though I make sure to get unsulfured and unsweetened fruits, they are still so full of concentrated natural sugars that they are a no go right now while I have weight loss in mind. So I just avoid them like the plague, and continually get that much closer to being able to lay that beast to rest too. Like all things worth doing, its a work in progress.
Speaking of progress! In the last two months (since January 1st) Matthew has lost a whopping 26.5 pounds, and I am right behind him having lost a total of 24 pounds! Absolutely amazing. We still haven't been doing any sort of exercise and weight continues to fall off effortlessly. I know that this will slow down here in the next month or two, but dang it feels good to see that number going down, and to feel the differences in our bodies. We are on our way to being healthy and fit, and I am so excited to see where this year is going to take us!
One of my biggest surprises two months into eating paleo is that those cravings, that desire, that need to have (insert food drug of choice) right this very second...is gone. Almost (see dried fruit below) totally and completely gone. I walked into Costco the other day, where the bakery is right next to the fresh fruits and veggies, the area I was heading to. The smell of freshly baked bagels wafted over to me, and my old self would have immediately thought "Bagels! Bagels are so yummy, toasted and slathered with butter...omg, yum yum yum. I know I shouldn't buy those, because I will want to eat them all (and its a Costco sized pack folks!), but man, they sound so good. Mmmmmmm...bagels with butter. Bagels. And butter. BAGELS AND BUTTER". And then the bag of bagels would go right into my cart, and my previously full and very not at all hungry stomach would suddenly be starving, and I could think of nothing else until I got home and satiated that craving with a nicely toasted bagel. And butter.
How crazy is it to be such a slave to food?! The new me smelled the bagels, immediately got a hopeful question from somewhere deep in my bagel loving memory that asked "Bagels???" and just as quickly the new me piped up and replied "Naaaaah. That doesn't even sound that good. Lets grab some cucumbers and carrots instead.". WOW. It was in that moment that I realized I am doing more than getting my body healthy - I am changing the way my brain reacts to and thinks about food. I am changing the cycle of cravings and guilt. I am changing my relationship with food forever. That is some pretty powerful stuff!
Now, with that said - the bagel/Smartfood/jellybean/tortilla chip monster may have been slain, but I am under no circumstances allowed to be left alone with any sort of dried fruit. That is now my drug of choice, and I have come to the realization that I just can not buy it, can't have it in the house, can't walk down that aisle in the store, because I have about zero willpower around it. Weird huh? The worst thing that my body wants to eat is dried fruit. Even though I make sure to get unsulfured and unsweetened fruits, they are still so full of concentrated natural sugars that they are a no go right now while I have weight loss in mind. So I just avoid them like the plague, and continually get that much closer to being able to lay that beast to rest too. Like all things worth doing, its a work in progress.
Speaking of progress! In the last two months (since January 1st) Matthew has lost a whopping 26.5 pounds, and I am right behind him having lost a total of 24 pounds! Absolutely amazing. We still haven't been doing any sort of exercise and weight continues to fall off effortlessly. I know that this will slow down here in the next month or two, but dang it feels good to see that number going down, and to feel the differences in our bodies. We are on our way to being healthy and fit, and I am so excited to see where this year is going to take us!