Due to a number of factors (mostly heath concerns), recently I stopped drinking sugary/soft drinks, I quit eating highly processed foods (including eating out), and took a number of steps to clean out my diet from things like wheat pasta, white rice, white bread, that kind of thing. I also reduced the amount of meat/poultry to one portion a week of either of those. I also kept my one portion of fish a week. I did not quit milk, yogurt or cheese, however, I did reduce the portions to 4oz of milk, 4oz of yogurt and a slice of cheese a day. I do have nuts when I want a snack. It was the first time I actually cleaned my life so drastically. After 5 weeks I dropped a few pounds (without exercising much), my skin tone improved, I stopped losing my hair like crazy, and I began to sleep a lot better than I used to. I began to feel healthier, and it has been years since I felt that good.
Then, after about two months I had a small glass of coke just because I did not want to be rude (I had been served before my usual “just water, no ice please”)... After about 2 minutes I had to excuse myself because my body reacted as I had drank poison… I called my doctor in pain and he basically told me “once you stop drinking soft drinks, sugary drinks, or any highly processed foods for about a month or so, the moment you relapse you body will reject it, and depending on how sensitive you truly are to things like food additives or preservatives, it can be as bad as food poisoning”.
So, I felt bad for the whole afternoon/early evening. Over the next few of days I began testing a few things, and here is what happened…
I had a bag of crisps, plain Lays crisps, and felt like I had eaten a bag of rocks.
I had a bag of nachos, worst that the crisps.
I stopped by McDeath one night, and had a chicken sandwich, no mayo with a side of small fries, no ketchup, just mustard. It was just a few bites because it’s pretty small. I felt bloated and my stomach hurt for about 4 hours.
I pinched a panettone after a healthy breakfast of plain whole wheat toasts, lemon grass infusion, a green apple and a slice of cheese. Literally, it was just a pinch. It ruined my day, I could not have lunch because I felt so miserably bad.
During my testing week, I had very poor sleeping, sleeping no more than 5 hours each night. I felt restless and in general I was in a very crappy mood. And I had pimples like a teenager…
I resumed my eating habits and in just a couple of days I felt better again, sleeping pattern came back to normal, pimples were gone, and I assume my weight did not suffer the consequences.
It is very, very hard to drop those things. It is not the first time I have to clean up my act. It looks like my life derails every five years… I used to drink a bottle of coke every day when I was in my early 20s and from 120 pounds I managed to jump to 150 in about a year and a half. Then, when I quit smoking (I was in a pack a day mode) my weight again skyrocketed to almost 180 pounds. Then with diet and exercise it went back to 130. It stayed there for a while. While I was in grad school I did not have good eating habits, and my weight stayed low because i was eating poorly, so after I finished and began to eat like a normal person again my weight moved to about 180… I got in shape again to 140 but after a number of personal problems my life derailed again and I gained a lot of weight yet again and it jumped to 177… It has taken me months to lose a few pounds, and I’m still in the process of reaching a healthy weight to prevent future problems. I eat fruits and vegetables, grains, all that stuff (no magic juices, no wonder powders, just food).
I love coke, and fries, and crisps, and deep fried foods like any normal person (I lived in the south for a while too), I’d die for a good burger, and ice cream with oreos for dessert, but after having a long talk with myself, and remembering all the things my doctor have told me over the years, including the famous “you will not live to see 30”, I had to convince myself that, even though I love all those things, and I will always cherish my visit to the world of coke and how the polar bear bit my head, and tried all the varieties I could, and how I always asked for a good burger place everywhere I went, I had to stop. Not for the calories, or all the ingredients that sometimes are even hard to pronounce, I had to stop just to have a better quality of life, and age graciously…
So, for mental, and dental health, beyond the calories, give it a try and drink water. I’m sure your loved ones want to have you around for a very long time, which is another line my doctor used when he stopped by the hospital after a pretty bad scare many years ago.
This is me sharing a bit of my life, I’m not trying to rain on your parade, or anything like that. As I hit answer, I smile :)
