Thanks Pinkhippie and Wannabe, it's helpful to hear both of your perspectives.
I have been legalizing food since the middle of march, so nearing about two months now. I may not have started quite the correct way, but I've always allowed myself to eat what I want, even if at the beginning I really struggled with the guilt of eating "unhealthy".
I think that I have begun to crave healthy foods, but I just wanted to be sure that these cravings came from a place of health and nourishment, really from my body trying to feel good, not me forcing it to eat healthy. After your posts, wannabe and pinkhippie, it seems that you also reached a place where you began to crave more fresh foods, and your bodies got sick of the sugar crash. I am also sick of the bloated/slow feeling, and I think the breakouts I've been getting have been a way for my body to say that it's ready for some fresh food now.
I know this is a process about trusting your body. At first I struggled with believing my bodies cravings for junk food, how funny is it that I'm now learning to accept my bodies cravings for healthy foods! I think I'm learning it's not only accepting junk foods without the stigma, it's also accepting healthy foods without the stigma too!
Thanks Pinkhippie and Wannabe, it's helpful to hear both of your perspectives.
I have been legalizing food since the middle of march, so nearing about two months now. I may not have started quite the correct way, but I've always allowed myself to eat what I want, even if at the beginning I really struggled with the guilt of eating "unhealthy".
I think that I have begun to crave healthy foods, but I just wanted to be sure that these cravings came from a place of health and nourishment, really from my body trying to feel good, not me forcing it to eat healthy. After your posts, wannabe and pinkhippie, it seems that you also reached a place where you began to crave more fresh foods, and your bodies got sick of the sugar crash. I am also sick of the bloated/slow feeling, and I think the breakouts I've been getting have been a way for my body to say that it's ready for some fresh food now.
I know this is a process about trusting your body. At first I struggled with believing my bodies cravings for junk food, how funny is it that I'm now learning to accept my bodies cravings for healthy foods! I think I'm learning it's not only accepting junk foods without the stigma, it's also accepting healthy foods without the stigma too!
It's all just food.
It sounds like you are in a good place right now. And it is all about trusting your body. I think it makes sense that after dieting and restriction it would be hard to accept your bodies craving for healthy foods.
Speaking of trusting our bodies, I think I need to start trusting what my body is telling me about sugar for me.
I think its ironic because we had this discussion about sugar yesterday. So, I had that 1/4 of my blast but of course I couldn't throw it away. Plus, my husband got my order wrong the first time and got me a peanut butter shake. So he brought home a peanut butter shake too. Now, add on to the fact that my toddler was extremely sick and not drinking fluids and basically nursing all day like a newborn and you have a perfect sugar storm.
I finished almost all of the snicker blast after dinner and it was really good but combined with the nursing hunger I think I ate more than I needed. Then right before bed i ate some of the peanut butter shake because once again I was hungry and I felt guilty that my husband had spent this extra money on this shake so I felt like I had to eat it. Yes I know that is bad bad bad. So then, my stomach hurt, I had a hard time falling asleep and this morning I am just tired. I don't have any energy and Im not sure how Im going to get the gumption to do my normal tuesday work out routine. Im seriously barely awake right now. Wow. Sugar. I had stopped eating it for the most part because I didn't like how it made me feel but I guess such a huge influx after a long break exaggerates the effects or something. I just can't believe how much better I feel not consuming sugar. Today I took the peanut butter shake and dumped it out. It was hard to do and I felt guilty but my health is more important than a few extra bucks. I am hoping this feeling goes away soon. Right now I seriously just want a nap. When I think of how tired I had been over the past year I wonder how much of it I could attribute to too much sugar.
Last edited by Pinkhippie; 05-13-2014 at 10:56 AM.
I'm reading Women Food and God by Geneen Roth right now. It's very good. I like that it focuses on emotional eating and being present in the moment, acknowledging your pain and emotions, etc. I think it's going to be very helpful for me. Now that I'm clean and eating IE there are some emotional issues that are cropping up that I need to learn how to deal with- because I never had. Good stuff.
Don't be so hard on yourself pinkhippie, nursing is hard work! How old is you LO? Before I had my son I never had a sweet tooth. I liked desserts but just a little and not very often. I did not relate to chocoholics. Then I started breastfeeding and started having ferocious cravings for sweets. I would wake up in the middle of the night and think about cookies, it was the most bizarre thing ever. It's one of the major reasons I gained weight and my sweet tooth still plagues me. I didn't understand until my mid 30s how terrible sugar can be because I couldn't care less about it before. Buy now I have proof that its not good for us. I know I know, it's not right to vilainize food but there is no substance I have ever known to cause more damage than sugar. I struggle with wanting to control it.
I'm reading Women Food and God by Geneen Roth right now. It's very good. I like that it focuses on emotional eating and being present in the moment, acknowledging your pain and emotions, etc. I think it's going to be very helpful for me. Now that I'm clean and eating IE there are some emotional issues that are cropping up that I need to learn how to deal with- because I never had. Good stuff.
OOh I LOVE that book Locke! I found a lot of books I read on emotional eating referenced it in some way as well. That is good stuff.
Last edited by Pinkhippie; 05-13-2014 at 11:53 AM.
Don't be so hard on yourself pinkhippie, nursing is hard work! How old is you LO? Before I had my son I never had a sweet tooth. I liked desserts but just a little and not very often. I did not relate to chocoholics. Then I started breastfeeding and started having ferocious cravings for sweets. I would wake up in the middle of the night and think about cookies, it was the most bizarre thing ever. It's one of the major reasons I gained weight and my sweet tooth still plagues me. I didn't understand until my mid 30s how terrible sugar can be because I couldn't care less about it before. Buy now I have proof that its not good for us. I know I know, it's not right to vilainize food but there is no substance I have ever known to cause more damage than sugar. I struggle with wanting to control it.
Thanks Wannabe! I guess I do tend to be hard on myself and not even realize it. I am working on it. Nursing IS hard work! It's kind of crazy. She just turned 2 and had been down to bedtime and wake up time but yesterday she was sooo sick that she was crying all day, wouldn't eat anything or drink anything and was only happy if she was laying in bed nursing. Im glad Im not the only one who gets cravings for sweet things when Im breastfeeding. I know I don't want to villainize foods either but wow sugar! I just feel it so strongly. And not only that, but when I woke up I was craving starchy carb laden breakfast foods. Raisin bran, flavored yogurt, fruit. So I ate those and then felt even worse. It's hard to hear my body well when I eat a lot of sugar I think.
So, I drank a lot of water, forced myself to exercise because that always makes me feel better, and I do feel a lot better. Not the way I normally feel, I can tell there is still a sugar fog but I don't feel like I can barely keep my eyes open. The challenge today is to nurse sick baby but when Im hungry to make more protein based choices even if my body is telling me a cookie is just the thing. I think like I was saying earlier, quick energy is what my body wants especially while nursing. I think this is the one time my body signals get confused or something. I guess Im still working on perfecting the body communication thing when it comes to breastfeeding. Hopefully it won't be an issue much longer though, I had been working toward her gradual weaning up until she got so sick.
Last edited by Pinkhippie; 05-13-2014 at 12:08 PM.
I would say that I'm at the point when I don't want to be eating lots of sugar and stuff, but I can't say I'm eating healthy because I don't even know what that is anymore. All the sensationalist headlines about how meat, saturated fat, sugar, grains, carbs, etc. will kill you really make me scared and confused. What is healthy food? Is eating a chicken breast with buttered vegetables healthy, or should I worry about the high protein and fat? I'm being serious, I am kind of panicking about this today. :/
I would say that I'm at the point when I don't want to be eating lots of sugar and stuff, but I can't say I'm eating healthy because I don't even know what that is anymore. All the sensationalist headlines about how meat, saturated fat, sugar, grains, carbs, etc. will kill you really make me scared and confused. What is healthy food? Is eating a chicken breast with buttered vegetables healthy, or should I worry about the high protein and fat? I'm being serious, I am kind of panicking about this today. :/
What? Come on relax don't go there. Don't panic. Anything you put in your body you are doing so with the intention of nurturing yourself. Regardless of the reason, method, or nutritional composition of the food. Even a Twinkie holds some nutritional value, remember that it is not poison. I think you're overthinking. We all do it.
Yeah it's true. I don't know I find myself panicking sometimes about eating "healthy". The low carb high fat vs. high carb low fat debate is the worst. I think about how food is going to give me cancer, heart disease, or diabetes. Ugh. Anyway yeah I've got to remember that we're all going to die of something and enjoying the time we have by eating for pleasure (the true pleasure that comes from eating what your body really wants) is the best way to go.
What? Come on relax don't go there. Don't panic. Anything you put in your body you are doing so with the intention of nurturing yourself. Regardless of the reason, method, or nutritional composition of the food. Even a Twinkie holds some nutritional value, remember that it is not poison. I think you're overthinking. We all do it.
This is great advice. I need to write that out and post it in the kitchen where I can see it. I do tend to overthink things like this as well. Great reminder. "Even a twinkie holds some nutritional value." I love it.
Im feeling better as the day wears on. I realized something else I did yesterday without even being conscious of it. I chose to be hungry most of the day because I was eating my usual amount but with all the nursing I was doing I was starving. But, I just pushed through it, kept doing everything I would normally do and then at 11 o clock at night I was in the kitchen looking for FOOD. Such an old unhealthy pattern. I can't believe it popped up so quickly and easily. Today I made sure to snack if I was hungry, even if it had only been 2 hours since I last ate. And my snacks were not sugary. I feel much better today than I did yesterday. Ahh its a constant learning process.
For the first time in two months I had a salad today.
If you had told me two months ago that I would enjoy it as much as a chocolate cupcake and ice cream I would've literally laughed at you. But today I did just that. This salad was every bit as satisfying as the cookie meals I used to have.
I think I'm finally starting to understand what you guys have been saying about your body moving towards fresh foods also. It's nice to know that desserts DO actually start to lose their power.
It is difficult y'all. I tend to doubt the healthy foods I choose. I think "am I eating this because I want to or because it's healthy?" Or worse, "will eating this healthy food cause me to binge later?"
For the first time in two months I had a salad today.
If you had told me two months ago that I would enjoy it as much as a chocolate cupcake and ice cream I would've literally laughed at you. But today I did just that. This salad was every bit as satisfying as the cookie meals I used to have.
I think I'm finally starting to understand what you guys have been saying about your body moving towards fresh foods also. It's nice to know that desserts DO actually start to lose their power.
Yay that is great! Im glad you ate your salad and truly enjoyed it. I used to burn myself out on salads when I would "try" to eat healthy so it took me quite a while to enjoy a salad or eat one on purpose again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wannabeskinny
It is difficult y'all. I tend to doubt the healthy foods I choose. I think "am I eating this because I want to or because it's healthy?" Or worse, "will eating this healthy food cause me to binge later?"
Absolutely. This was my train of thought last night faced with the peanut butter shake or a "healthy" snack. Its crazy how complicated eating can be for us these days. I can say though that I have gotten to the point that I really love vegetables and enjoy them. That is a big difference for me. I feel unsatisfied if most of my meals don't have vegetables, but it took a while to reach that point.
Good Afternoon! I am having a good day. I feel a lot better than yesterday and my toddler is on the upswing so we are back to our normal nursing schedule, so I am not ravenous and craving sweet things like I was.
I finally had to satisfy my curiousity and I downloaded Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat: How to Break Your Eat-Repent-Repeat Cycle. onto my Kindle last night.
I am not very far into it yet but so far it really has some great ideas about hunger and a lot about emotional eating. I will let everyone know more as I continue reading.
