Thursday, September 15, 2011

Remain Calm

Gem has asked me, begged me, to stop the Atkins Diet.  I can't answer her in an email as her address is unknown to me.  So, I will answer her, here.

I haven't been eating enough or as often as I need to due to trying to mesh my schedule with my husbands this week while we "vacation" at home.  He eats breakfast at 8 and lunch at 3 pm.  Supper between 6 and 7pm.  This is havoc for me. And I make it worse if I eat a meal with less than the necessary amount of fat/protein. Carbs make me HUNGRY.

My ENTIRE LIFE, I have eaten cereal, bread, flour based desserts, sugar, starchy vegetables and dairy. A few hours after eating a giant serving of cereal (2.5 times the serving size on the box) and milk, I would be looking for a snack to get me along until I could eat lunch.  Then an after lunch snack until supper, usually chips.  Then something while watching television like an entire bag of popped corn.

Like an Alcoholic looking for the next drink.  My family has a predilection for alcohol.  My grandfather (all his cousins), my father and my youngest brother were all drunks.  My nephew belongs to AA.  We come by addiction naturally.

It isn't lost on me, that they serve strong coffee and VERY SUGARY PASTRIES at AA meetings.  They replace the addiction to alcohol with the placebo of sugar.  Sugar and Flour. My 86 year old father started each day with a pot of strong coffee and a couple of donuts.  My dad is the only one in my family that didn't keep right on drinking himself to death.

I have eliminated Sugar, Flour, Starchy Vegetables, Pasta and Rice from my diet for nearly five months now.  And I am experiencing NO FOOD CRAVINGS.  For the FIRST time in my life.  I am in control of my appetite.  In control of my life.  It feels amazing.

Some people walking and living on Planet Earth were not meant to eat wheat, sugar, starchy vegetables.

I am "learning" to enjoy eating meat.  Not huge piles of meat.  Regular serving amounts.  I try to eat eggs. I eat a limited amount of cheese each day.  I have an enormous green salad each day.  I am drinking more and more water each day (with extra lemon squeezed into it), and I am "regular", finally.

Today, I wore my size 14 jeans.  They were always snug when I did wear them.  They aren't now.  I am NOT thin.  I am not losing lots of weight.  I am losing FAT. And that makes me look different.  I still have all my muscles. All my hair.  I can easily lift 40 pound deadweight bags of soil and lime.  Don't worry.  I am fine.

And, no, even though I have a closet full of alcohol, I rarely drink any. Bottles last a long time at my house.

Today is my 43rd Wedding Anniversary.  G & I signed up for Medicare Part A today (and did the prep work to be ready for next year when we sign up for Social Security).  Then we shopped at the Artist Supply and had a lovely lunch.  I had chicken, artichokes, proscuitto, mushrooms and capers in a lemon butter sauce.  Sauteed spinach instead of the pasta.  And a Caesar salad.  Dessert was a small serving of chocolate ganache and whipped cream.

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