Day Fifteen

Mood: 7/10 - Best day yet. Feel relatively normal.

Energy: 5/10 - Need some sleep

Withdrawals? None!

Ate/Drank:

• Breakfast - Skipped it. Oops.
• Lunch - Sausages & sweet potato
• Dinner - Chicken wings (no breading!)
• Drank: 2.5l water, 4 cups of peppermint/detox/camomile tea.

Today was a different day. I can feel the difference in things now. The first thing I have noticed is the impact of sugar on me. The Whole 30 bars ANY source of fake, processed sugars. There are things you can eat with sugar in them. They specifically name a couple of health food bars which are ok, the nakd bars I've been eating amongst them. Fruit is also allowed. When I began the program, I was hesitant to have any of these things. I felt like to get the benefit, I needed to remove all sugars in their entirety. Having read the book, I came to understand more about the way the body processes sugars. I was kind of under the impression that because the sugar composition is the same in fruit and sweets, they’re interchangeable. (Seriously, they’re not.) For one thing, fruit offers good stuff like vitamins, antioxidants and water, while sweets and desserts are nutritionally void. Fruit also tends to have less sugar by volume. Half a cup of strawberries: 3.5 grams of sugar. Half a cup of strawberry ice cream: 15 grams. Plus, whole fruit has a lot of fiber, which actually slows down your body’s digestion of glucose, so you don’t get the crazy insulin spike processed sugar causes. That also means your body has more time to use up glucose as fuel before storing it — as fat. 

However today was the first time I became actively aware of how sugar made you feel. Where a month ago I would snack on sweet things all day - cereal bars, sweets, biccies, etc - and constantly go through the rollercoaster of up for a while then down for a while, today I was really tired after work and I had a couple grapes and some mango. About ten minutes or so later, I felt my energy levels lift. However, this lasted a little longer and I didn't have the huge crash. I have eaten fruit over the past two weeks but hadn't really noticed any positive benefits. Today I saw how a handful of grapes can give you a little energy boost but doesn't leave you needing more an hour later like a bag of jelly beans. And I'm confident that an apple or two a day is not doing nearly as much damage to me in the long term as a bag or two of sweets.

This evening I went to Bruce Prichard's Something to Wrestle With live show in the Woolshed with my friend Shaun. As I remarked to Shaun, I always feel so odd when I'm out and about on my own with the girls at home. I feel about a decade younger, no responsibilities! Still, I always have a niggling feeling about being away from them. Anyway, I really enjoyed my night. Part of this shift in my life over the past while is trying to get back in touch with people and re-establish connections with people. When I feel a little low, I withdraw from life somewhat. So reconnecting with a wonderful soul like Shaun is always a joy. We had a good laugh at the show and great chats catching up. Of course, me being me there is one thing that will never change. It's as though I was implanted with a homing chip that goes off when I've been out for 2 or 3 hours. I just want to get home. The show ended exactly when that chip was going off, thankfully. This is a part of me I have always struggled to verbalise to other people. I like to be social and connect with people. But I'm introverted and I like my own company. Where in my 20's, I was very outward, always desperate to make an impression on people, as I have gotten older, I am not overly concerned with that. I know I'm a good dude and that most anyone who knows me well would know that. If I'm in a quiet mood, or my energy is low and I just want to go inside and keep myself to myself, I will. But the "are you ok? You're quiet today" stuff never stops. Funny how as a society quiet = bad. 

Given there are 31 days in July, I am not officially halfway there yet but symbolically it feels like a good night to celebrate hitting the 50% mark. I am really happy with how things have gone. Bear in mind it was only 22 days ago the germ of this idea sat in my head. To have 15 days removed from coke, ice cream, sweeties, pizza, take away etc is something I am proud of. I have had people ask me have I secretly binged in the car or had a cheat meal. The answer is emphatically no! When we went out for my mum in law's birthday we chose a BBQ place so we could eat cleaner food, such is our joint desire to stick to this. Multiple times Carra has left biccies or ice pops around, or offered to share something with me and I have refused. There have been a plethora of biccies, sweets etc in the office and I haven't touched one. I have been really diligent. And I feel different. I don't feel chained to those things now. I am excited to see what the next 16 days bring.