Posting because I'm a little bewildered about this. At the beginning of May I decided to cut sugar and refined grains out of my diet, because I have no control over them if they're in my diet. And I knew I'd lose weight doing this, because I did it once before, 15 years ago.

So all is well and good, my diet now consists of tons of veggies and some fruit and lean meats and good fats, it's a very clean diet. I feel great. I'm losing weight. I look so much better.

Yet now I'm finding that I cannot eat the things I used to eat, even in small quantities, without feeling physically like crap afterwards. And yes, these are planned indulgences so there's absolutely no guilt about it.

Example: Saturday we went on a traditional extended-family outing to get our Christmas trees, then to pizza for lunch after. I ate two slices of pizza, which is probably half to a third of what I used to eat. The toppings were cheese and chicken and veggies, but of course the crust was all white-flour. Later I got a headache, my blood sugar was low, I was cranky, I just generally felt like utter crap the whole rest of the day.

Another example: Last night I made myself an eggnog (no sugar, just egg and milk and a little Splenda) with 2 ounces of brandy (that's a little more than would be in a single shot of liquor) as a treat while we put up the tree. Last year I would have had that much brandy or more and felt nothing from it and had no after effects, but this time I got tipsy and then actually felt kind of hungover! And even today I'm kind of headachey and over-tired, despite getting plenty of sleep.

I mean, I realize I've lost 50 pounds and therefore have less mass so I'll be affected by alcohol more easily, but this was really quite a small quantity. And it's the feeling hungover that is really kind of shocking me, because alcohol has never affected me in that small a quantity at ANY weight previously.

Has my totally clean diet utterly ruined me? Anyone else finding that anticipated and planned-for treats are making for unhappy bodies after?

Totally normal.

I can only eat my former "regular" foods in small quantities. I find that when I drink or eat junk, it helps if I drink a LOT of water during the day (or the evening before I go to bed). It does help with the hungover feeling - whether it's from food or drink or both.

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Warmaiden,

The same thing happens to me after I have ONE glass of wine now--I used to have the whole bottle. I am tipsy and giggly. Between that and the weight loss, my hubby and I are almost honeymoon like again! LOL!

ETA: I do like some indulgences but most of my "old" food just doesn't enter my mind. Although today I did get a taste in my mouth for Frito Pie! ...with maybe some guacamole on the side! I bought some fat-free refried beans, some corn tortillas for making my own chips and some black olives and avacado on the side.

Me and my mom were just talking about this today!! We went to a baking party yesterday and both of us only ate a fraction of what we normally would have eaten but still felt crappy after.

We both had tummy aches and just an over all feeling of blah!!

I think it is awesome! I have such a sweet tooth and to know that eating small amounts make me yucky now is inscentive to not eat any!! (Or at least very little )

I have that problem too, especially with sugar items. I don't think it's ruined you, though- seems like a good thing that your body won't let you eat things that are terrible for it.

Tolerance for pizza does disappear... especially if it's not very good pizza. Same for other foods in the "junky" zone. As for the eggnog, my understanding is that a shot = 1 ounce, so you made yourself a double.

Yes, you'll find that the better you eat, the less appealing those foods are. This is a good thing; don't consider yourself "ruined." My food standards are a whole lot higher these days...

Jay

I keep wishing this would happen I mean, it does, a little. But not that much.

i have to hold my hands up, today whilst christmas shopping i grabbed a sausage roll to tide me over as i was starving and now i have a headache.

seriously how quickly do our bodies adapt?!

I'm noticing this too, and it's both frustrating and enlightening at the same time. It makes me think that I was so used to feeling like crap that I didn't notice a little more crap coming in.

And I never thought my diet was "that bad," in the first place (except during PMS - then I was a raving junk food junkie). Oh, I knew I was eating too much, but I thought my diet was relatively balanced because I wasn't overly fond of desserts or fast food. I always preferred "real food," but didn't realize how much hidden sugar I'd been eating (mostly in condiments and sauces - heck I might as well have been pouring pancake syrup instead of barbecue sauce on grilled meats).

In one sense it is a blessing to be made sick by foods I shouldn't eat. It reminds me to stay on target, and yet I find that I still don't always "get it," and often want things that I know will make me sick (and sometimes I eat them anyway, which is even crazier).

It's not just a weight thing. There are folks with allergies and intolerances that do it too. My college roommate was allergic to alot of things, one of them being potato. She could eat potato about once or twice a week without getting terrible symptoms, but if she exceeded that she'd get very sick. One morning she was sick with what seemed to be the flu, and she was pale and looked like she'd been in a fight (two black eyes) - but she explained it was "just" how her body reacted to too much potato.

"Why do you eat them at all," we asked and she said "I love french fries." I love french fries too, but I wouldn't let my body take such a beating for french fries, but then again... haven't I done exactly that?

Oh, I'm so jealous I hope that what you're experiencing IS normal, Warmaiden. How long did it take you to feel that way?

I rarely eat horribly processed foods anymore and when I do-- BAM! Instant headache and lethargy! Especially with MSG and aspartame. I go so far as to say I'm "allergic" to these things (even on Dr. forms, etc.) because the results have gotten THAT bad!

We had a holiday thing in our office building today. The building management brought in caterers and it was all sweet stuff ... little pastries, cheesecake, a chocolate fountain, etc.

I went down and socialized and had 4 things. Just 4. 2 strawberries with a tiny bit of chocolate, a mini-raspberry tartlet, a small square of plain cheesecake, and some baklava drizzled with dark chocolate. That was at about 1.

Keep in mind that before, I'd have had one of everything - probably about 20 items in all - plus a soda, plus probably marshmallows and graham crackers for the chocolate fountain. And it wouldn't have fazed me.

Now? I have been on a massive sugar high since coming back to my office. At one point my hands were shaking so much I couldn't type. My legs are still bouncing up and down as I sit here. I had to do jumping jacks and some pushups just to settle myself down about 2:30. And now, at 4:30 - I have a headache and I feel kinda queasy.

And I didn't eat that much - the total size of these little finger-food thingies was less than 1/2 of a regular sized piece of cake or pie. But I eat processed sugar *so* rarely nowadays that when I do eat it, it hits me HARD.

I seriously will not be doing this again .. no matter what kind of sweets are offered. I feel terrible.

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With greasy foods I feel sick to my stomach when I haven't had them in a while. With sugary things, its only been a month off of them and I can't bring myself to try as I don't like exercising on simple sugars and refined foods. Here's to hoping when I have them again I have a similar reaction and will not be able to overindulge.

My headache today has only gotten worse and worse, despite the copious quantities of water I'm drinking and the good, healthy food I've eaten.

But now I'm kind of laughing (in pained sympathy) at all our posts. I mean, yes, in a way it's good to have this negative feedback, and partly I -do- think we probably all just used to feel like crap so a little more crap was nothing to notice...

...still, the image of all of us with headaches and sick stomachs because we ingested a tiny proportion of the junk in which we used to regularly over-indulge is cracking me up a little.

I'm already re-thinking what I plan to eat at Christmas and New Year's because I do NOT want to feel like this again.

I can also relate!
about 1 month ago we went out to lunch and the menu was not healthy at all- so i orderd a vegetarian pizza.. because i hadnt eaten cheese in so long i felt seriously nauseas (about to vomit!) for about three whole hours afterwards it was seriously horrible! i Used to be addicted to cheese, i could pretty much eat a whole block..now i have no desire to even touch one piece!

The alcohol thing as well! i had one glass of red wine and was wobbling all over the place..where as i used to have about 4/5 glasses till i felt like that... its great now haha!