I've barely had any actual white sugar for months on end (only getting the natural sugars found in fruit, etc.), plus I'm not eating any white bread or other simple carbs.
Then last weekend, the BF and I went to his family's house. Got invited for dinner of course, and then went shopping for the meal. The meal itself was good. Lots of pinto beans and roasted chicken breast, and I passed on the white tortillas. I was feeling pretty good about it all, as I sometimes get a little nervous when I'm not the one in control of the prep or serving.
I was asked if I wanted some of the fresh pumpkin we'd just bought. Sounded good, right? It had just been baked; it wasn't a pie so I didn't think it would have much sugar added to it. His mom scooped a huge portion into my bowl and it seemed everyone was watching me eat. I thought it looked a little syrupy . . .
So later, on the way home, I had a mad craving for cookies. Not just any cookies mind you, the chocolate chips ones they have at McDonald's. I haven't had that kind of "treat" in months and months, nor have I had a craving that strong since I started eating better.
I caved . . . had three of those suckers. I voiced that I wasn't too pleased with myself over scarfing them down, which prompted my BF to say, "Oh yeah, I forget to tell you, my mom loaded that pumpkin up with a ton of sugar when she baked it, and added more to your serving . . . "
Oh boy. She and I do have a lack of communication going on, and it can make things awkward between us (she's not comfortable speaking English and I don't know much Spanish). And I'm not angry or anything, but at least I'm sure it was that pumpkin that sparked the horrible cravings I had for the cookies. And I don't think she has any idea that I've been trying to avoid sugar these past few months (and I'd rather not make a spectacle of it).
And when I look back and think about how many sodas I used to drink every day . . . yikes! I'm sure what I had that night was pretty typical of my old self, but I think my new self kinda freaked out. I was actually buzzed that night, and instantly became exhausted a little before bedtime. Went to sleep, and was extremely groggy the next morning. Drifted in and out of sleep until 3 in the afternoon!
Makes me wonder how much sugar I actually had there, because wow, I've never had that happen before! Maybe it was a big shock to my system or something? I get the feeling I need to be much more careful about sugar from now on if this is what it does to me. In fact, I'm still not quite back to my normal self and it's been a week. Does it really take that long to work out of my system or is this all in my head?
Anyway, I'm picking up the pieces and moving on. My weight's stayed the same this past week, so I'm taking this as a lesson learned and have been back to my normal routine of veggies, fruit, and other good-for-you stuff.