Healthy Eating Challenge?

[The Albatross]

I tend to be a "whole food" person... trying to aim to get maximum nutrition for about 1200 calories a day. Basically I try to hit the food pyramid in recommended amounts... but run into difficulty being allergic to dairy, corn, wheat, peanut, soy, egg, and something else major that slips my mind at the moment. I was gluten free but when docs pushed me to test mid year.. they said I'd skew the test if I didn't put back wheat. It is in my diet some but not daily and I may go gluten free dairy and soy free again.

Caffine is my indulgence... and I'm allergic to coffee and teas (both black and green). I went off chocolate (allergic to both chocolate and vanilla which royally sucks). I'm waiting to have results read from a full metabolic panel this week... and if I decide not to test for Celiacs... then I want to go gluten/dairy/soy/corn/caffine free again... so don't count me out yet.

 

[angel2write]

I have to eat a celiac diet (Gluten intolerant), plus I can't tolerate oats (even GF ones), chocolate gives me migraines, and I'm beginning to suspect that I've got some kind of problem with sugar. Can you be allergic to or addicted to sugar?

Sugar free and caffeine-free for 2 days.

 

[Mina]

I'd like to kick caffeine and sugar for forty days and see if it makes my symptoms better.

It did for me. Hope it does for you, too!

Btw, I'm also gluten-free. And yes, sugar is addicting. You might want to check out Lisa Byrne's info on "Break the Sugar Habit" at wellgroundedsite.com - I've found her info helpful.

 

[heidi]

Eating better does help. The body needs all the help and strength it can get.
You might want to be careful with sharply cutting caffeine intake.

 

[The Albatross]

I'm beginning to suspect that I've got some kind of problem with sugar. Can you be allergic to or addicted to sugar?.

I do know I have a food intolerance to cane sugar and over 200 regular food items and dyes including glycerin and yeast. A lot of this is due to mold allergies and environmental (plant) allergies... I'm allergic to 59 of the basic 60 plant & environmental items tested so he said I'd skew further testing other than the basic 8 (major foods test). With those I reacted to them all. But on my own I did independent food intolerance testing at my own expense last year to try to improve my comfort level and it has helped a good deal..

You can also be in a way "addicted to sugars" if you are food intolerant... because the body will initiate cravings to try to prevent "withdrawl". I really have come to believe that the AA'ers were right, in my case as a result of finding underlying allergy and intolerances... in my case I am allergic to most all of the basic food ingredients in booze and also food intolerant to cane sugars and corn syrups.

 

[Sazza]

I am miserably failing at the moment, most you seem really healthy to start with. I am such a fussy eater and my diet is rubbish always has been really, i am trying to eat better was doing well for good few days but my mood is sinking and i am a comfort eater. Tomorrow is another day i will try again, most you put me to shame to start with.

 

[angel2write]

I am miserably failing at the moment, most you seem really healthy to start with. I am such a fussy eater and my diet is rubbish always has been really, i am trying to eat better was doing well for good few days but my mood is sinking and i am a comfort eater. Tomorrow is another day i will try again, most you put me to shame to start with.

Don't feel ashamed, Sazza! That's totally not the point of this thread. I'm doing this to try and break my addiction to comfort eating, too. It's so hard. On days like today, when I feel like I don't want to live, it's kind of hard to get real concerned about a balanced diet. Y'know? :rolleyes:

I'm trying to develop a list of things that make me feel safe and comforted, but that don't involve food. It's not easy. Every time I try to restrict what I eat, I end up back in my memories with my parents denying me food and love and desserts as punishments.... or locking me in my room or in closets... or eating treats in front of me and sneering.

Dieting is hard, not only because of my attachments to junk food, but because being able to eat what I want is so tied up with my sense of security.

Just that you're trying at all is great.

(Sending support)
A

 

[Mina]

Please don't feel bad, Sazza. It's a really difficult thing, and you'll probably find that most of us who are eating healthy didn't get there overnight. My own journey on that started over 7 years ago, long before I had PTSD.

Something that can help is to focus on one thing at a time, master that, and move onto another. You only have so much focus and so much energy, and I've found that trying to allocate it all over the place means everything gets shorted and doesn't succeed (it actually turns into an epic fail :rolleyes:). For most, doing a major overhaul is just not sustainable. However, I can focus on one thing, and give it my full attention. Say, drinking 8-12 glasses of water in a day...then do it again the next day...and the next...until it's a part of your routine, and it sticks. At that point, you add a new thing - maybe walking for 10 minutes a day. You end up succeeding at a lot of small things, day by day, and it's very encouraging for keeping momentum and adding more. And if you don't succeed one day, oh well - you take a deep breath and try again the next day. I've seen people who just scrap it all at that point, when it's better to just forgive yourself and move forward.

Angel2write, I have been sugar binging lately (wow, I really hate to admit that, especially in writing!), so I'll join you in cutting that out.

 

[oef'd]

I'm right there with you, angel2write! I gained about fifteen pounds after getting back from a recent deployment, and now I'm working towards shedding it. To start, I cut out all sweets, fried foods, and liquid calories (beer included, unfortunately) - you know, pretty common sense stuff. I'm also shooting for running at least twenty miles a week.

As a few former smokers have told me, once you get through the third day without cigarettes, you're "over the hump". I believe the same is true with most bad habits, and it looks like tomorrow is hump day for me. I've got to say, I'm already feeling better after only two days of living right.

 

[angel2write]

the 3 day rule seems to apply to me, too. The third day without sugar, I can practically feel my skin crawling, i have a horrible headache like a caffeine withdrawl, and I feel sick all day. Then day four, it's like my body finally relaxes into the situation.

Running twenty miles a week?!? Holy cow- I'm impressed. I am trying to walk a mile every day. I suppose it's a start.

Sugar and caffeine free- 3 days, going on four!

 

[Deaf Global Nomad]

I have been working hard for a couple months (and still am) to increase my number of meals. I used to go days and weeks without eating, mostly because I was so out of touch with my body. I still struggle, but my ILS worker has tried with different types of spreadsheets to try and get me to eat regularly.

At this point I can reliably eat an early dinner daily, which consists of heating up a meals on wheels tray in the microwave. For two and a half weeks I ate two meals, but after our meeting on Monday which sent me for a tailspin all the best intentions have not been enough.

 

[Eleanor]

Hi Angel2write! Excellent start! My husband is gluten intolerant and I am insulin resistant - so we've become "foodies". I have a serious sweet tooth - so rely on stevia and xylitol (which I can tolerate in limited doses.) We've had a pretty easy time switching over - nothing like knowing that that donut is going to make your face swell up and give your husband a five day tummy ache to pave the way to a replacement diet. There is a TON of stuff on the web for low carb (always no-sugar) and gluten free cooking. The trick for me is to focus on all the awesome stuff that I CAN have - avacados, raspberries, strawberries all year long. Pistachios. Coconut-milk ice cream. Since we don't eat out (hardly ever) we've given ourselves permission to buy whatever we like in the produce section. I also make truffles (no sugar, just a mixture of stevia and xylitol) when I need a chocolate fix. MMMMM.... Thus I never feel deprived. Also, coconut milk is a great thing to substitute in baking for water/milk. The unexpected up-side is that all these already yummy foods taste even better having given up gluten and sugar. Oh yeah, and we are healthier too. Congratulations on your resolution and ... Enjoy!