4 Days and my Cravings are Gone.

This is amazing.  It’s day five of my 30 cheat free days, and I feel fantastic.  I’m eating less bychoice not by force.

The first three days were tough.  Over the weekend, I’d been eating stevia sweetened organic chocolate, raw milk cheese, raw almonds, and  as much as I hate to admit it, I’d drunk a few diet sodas.  What those foods have in common is that they hook me.  Maybe not at first, because I can start out having just a few squares of dark chocolate at a time, but after a day or two I can’t get satisfied until I eat the whole bar, preferably with two big handfuls of almonds.When I eliminate the crazy-making foods my menu may seem a little austere, but I feel the way I imagine naturally slender people feel.  I eat until I’m comfortably full, and then I get up and get on with my day.

Here is the best part- after a few days the obsessive thoughts about food go away.  This is a wonderful gift.

So if it’s as easy as just  three days of mental effort, why didn’t I figure this out years ago?

Well, from examining my own behavior, It’s a lot like the way I felt all the times I quit smoking. (By the way, I’ve been nicotine free for nearly 13 years now.)  I would quit smoking, get through the physical withdrawal, and then I’d start thinking, hey, that wasn’t so bad, maybe I could have the occasional cigarette.  Then I’d bum one, buy a pack and be back up to smoking a pack a day within the week.

Just as everyone doesn’t get addicted to cigarettes, everyone doesn’t get addicted to sugary floury creamy carbs.  The simple fact is that I do get addicted to them- over, and over, and over.

Now here’s the odd thing.  No health professional would ever suggest that I have a drink or two if I had and alcohol obsession, but there is still a strong cohort of fitness, nutrition, and even psychology professionals who believe that restriction of certain foods is bad, and that only those who can eat a bit of everything are truly healthy.

This is incredibly frustrating for some one who has felt the madness that a pint of premium ice cream can cause.  In my case the madness can be brought on by a stupid hot dog bun.  Ridiculous!

So I will keep on with my 30 commitment.

Here is the greatest pitfall:  After 4 days off the obsessive foods, I feel so good that there is a little voice in my head that says,

“See that wasn’t so hard.  It’s totally safe to treat yourself sometimes.”  Thank goodness there is an angel on my other shoulder telling me to be true to my convictions.

Listen to the voice that supports you dreams, and see what happens.