Day 37 - On Cravings

First, some random Day 37 tidbits that may or may not interest you:

I slept too late and missed my workout this morning. I feel weird and sort of uncomfortable/stiff without it. I am both exhausted and exhilarated.

Even after a full, active weekend, it’s a Monday and I have energy. This is a new feeling for me.

 After my experimental week with only tea, my one cup of coffee this morning made me jittery, tense, and a bit queasy. I may cut back to half-caf or switch back to tea entirely.

My appetite has severely decreased to what is probably a normal healthy-person level. My three-quarter cup of steel-cut oats with raisins, honey, and milk was almost too much, and was certainly too sweet* (a sensation I’ve almost never experienced). I’m actually looking forward to a light, crispy salad for lunch. Weird.

ON CRAVINGS
I used to crave various foods virtually all day, every day. I constantly thought about ice cream, buttery popcorn, pizza, cheeseburgers, chips, chocolate, etc., and felt near powerless to resist their call. My thought process would simply go: “I want ___.” And I’d get. And eat it. All.

I’ve read that certain foods - like sugar (especially processed sugar like high fructose corn syrup), fake sweeteners, fried food, processed grains, and salt – trigger your body to both shut off the “fullness” response and to crave more sweet/rich/salty foods. Vicious cycle much?

Aaaaaanyway... after cutting out a great deal of that kind of food for a few weeks, I think I’ve broken the cycle! I’m feeling very few cravings, and actually desire to eat more produce and leaner meats. I now better understand how people can eat healthy, how people can think of something greasy or sweet or rich as “too much.” I can even see how people can have treats in their desk without scarfing them all down in one sitting. This is a bit of a personal revelation. :)