In a last-ditch effort to regain my health (and become a less-frequent bathroom visitor), I made a drastic change in my diet. I decided to only eat fruits and vegetables, since those were the only things that didn't hurt. I've stayed mostly good about this for three weeks, and my guts are feeling much better.
Trent and I watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead during this time, and he was converted to eating a cleaner diet. He has joined me for the last week or so, and it has been interesting to see the results.
The good parts:
Together, we have lost nearly 10 pounds. I know most of that is water, and much of it will come back, but for a few minutes, it is a nice feeling!
My mouth does not crave the sugary, carbohydrate-laden food it used to. That is a good thing, since I usually have pretty wild cravings.
Our taste-buds are getting retrained to really like simple fruits and veggies. I really like eating a green pepper, or a spear of pineapple, or a crunchy apple. I snack on carrots - and feel like Bugs Bunny - while I make dinner.
My face didn't break out this week like it usually does at this time of the month. What's not to like about that?
I feel healthier, and my guts don't hurt! I am glad that we've been able to make some good choices in taking better care of our bodies.
Now, the bad parts. Did you think there weren't any?
After the first week, when I felt so much better, I've had no energy. After talking with a nutritionally-smart friend of mine, I added beans and lentils back in, and I feel a bit more energetic. I think some of my weight loss was muscle because I definitely felt weaker.
Eating fresh foods is kind of boring. It wasn't so bad for me, because I'd eat an apple and two carrots and a green pepper and a handful of spinach and half a tomato while I was fixing dinner. By the time everyone else sat down to eat the pasta that I couldn't eat, I was satisfied. Trent, on the other hand, wants to eat a real meal... and I don't have a large repertoire of fresh-food meals. We ate a lot of salads and lettuce wraps. Then we remembered spaghetti squash and cauliflower rice, but it still not as flavorful as what the rest of the family was eating. I feel like I'm feeding my body, but not... eating.
I don't like cooking two different dinners for each meal. No thank you.
It's expensive. Not gonna lie on this one - we went through veggies like crazy! Spaghetti squash is quite a bit more expensive than pasta, and salad is more spendy than bread. If it was just one or two people, I think we could hack it financially. But moving the whole family to whole foods would not be cheap.
It takes a while to adjust. At first, Trent didn't get satisfied. He'd eat three giant bowls of salad and groan, "I've never been so full and so hungry at the same time!" It took him nearly a week to adjust to not having that heavy-stomach feeling.
I have to admit that I binged a little tonight when I made cinnamon rolls. For the kids! I made them for the kids! I was not supposed to eat them. And now I have a stomach ache. Tomorrow, I'll eat well again.
After I feed the rest of the cinnamon rolls to the kids so I won't be tempted again. Don't do that again!
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