30 Days NoGluten/Sugar Challenge

Day 2

I feel quite exhausted. I went to Aldi today and I had some cravings when I saw all the chocolate bars etc. But I resisted. Doing groceries when you're sugar/gutenfree is pretty easy. You can skip most of the isles.

This night I woke up at 4 am and felt hungry as hell. Not a real craving for carbs, but just hunger. Maybe because I went for a 8k run yesterday. So I warmed up some of the bolognese sauce. That's okay.

When I came back from the supermarket I had 2 dry sausages and a pack of cheese cubes. I know it's not the cleanest food and my behavior is still kind of 'bingey', but my goal now is complete abstinence from sugar and wheat. So I'm not giving myself a hard time for this.

Generally speaking the depression today was okay. Kept myself busy with job searching. Now I'm feeling quite lethargic. I expect I will feel a bit off for a few days.

I'm now making a cauliflower pizza... I already made it a few times and it's great:



Thanks for your post @glaze

Yeah it's a vicious cycle like you describe. That's why I see it as an addiction. Scientists have developed a scale that is specific for food addiction: The Yale Food Addiction Scale. It can be used to diagnose a food addict. If you answer yes to 3+ criteria, you could be suffering from a clinical addiction to food:

1. I find that when I start eating certain foods, I end up eating much more than I had planned
2. Not eating certain types of food or cutting down on certain types of food is something I worry about.
3.I spend a lot of time feeling sluggish or lethargic from overeating.
4. There have been times when I consumed certain foods so often or in such large quantities that I spent time dealing with negative feelings from overeating instead of working, spending time with my family or friends, or engaging in other important activities or recreational activities I enjoy
5. I kept consuming the same types of food or the same amount of food even though I was having emotional and/ or physical problems.
6. Over time, I have found that I need to eat more and more to get the feeling I want, such as reduced negative emotions or increased pleasure.
7. I have had withdrawal symptoms when I cut down or stopped eating certain foods. (Please do NOT include withdrawal symptoms caused by cutting down on caffeinated beverages such as soda pop, coffee, tea, energy drinks, etc.) For example: developing physical symptoms, feeling agitated, or feeling anxious.
8. My behaviour with respect to food and eating causes significant distress.
9.I experience significant problems in my ability to function effectively (daily routine, job/school, social activities, family activities, health difficulties) because of food and eating.

 

Day 6

It's still early days. My body is shifting from metabolizing carbs to metabolizing fatty acids. This takes some time and isn't always pleasant.

I have been eating mostly meat during the past days. Some of it raw organ meat, like liver. Probably not everyone's cup of tea, but as adults we agree to disagree on dietary choices. Everyone has to find his own way.

A few days ago I felt very energetic. Yesterday I had severe cravings... I had headache, fatigue, irritability, etc.

I do still have cravings and experience a weird feeling whenever I pass a bakery. Is it a coincidence that they put the sweet pastries at the window of bakery shops [same in grocery stores]? Or is it a tactful decision to prey on the hijacked neurochemical desire that customers have for sugar?

Cool, someone recently gave me a kombucha mushroom.

I prepared the batch yesterday. It felt weird buying sugar and green tea the other day, because I'm off caffeine too. But I think it's worth the try. When it's ready I'm planning to have like 1 glass a day. I think I will let it ferment a bit longer than 2 weeks so that most of the sugar gets consumed by the bacteria and yeast. Next time I might make it with rooibos and raw honey instead.

Tonight I have a family dinner and I was already worried if it would be something like spaghetti. The problem with moderation in my case, is that it leaves me behind more deprived than complete abstinence. I don't think portion control is for me. Tons of my significant relapses that led to binges were in social settings. Luckily, it will be an oven dish with meat. I will get out of my way to decline deserts and starters like quiche. Otherwise, the cravings would be obtrusive the next day.

Thanks for the accountability, MW!

 

@MindfulWarrior

Heads up mate. We've all been there.

Do you think that this might have caused a certain 'chaser effect' the next day? I always have it at least.

Whenever I eat sugar/gluten, I feel like suddenly I'm driving a car but someone else is steering the wheel for me. It awakens a monster in me, just like peeking at P does. I personally find it easier to say no to ther first cookie than to the second. Hence, I frame it as an addiction.

Day 9

I'm still having cravings. I need patience...

 

Day 13

So for I've been basically eating animal-based only. It's not that I necessarily recommend this diet. But I just want to try it. My carb consumption is basically zero. Today I had 1L of raw milk.

So I'm having massive cravings today.

I treated myself with a box of dried medjool dates after my dinner. I thought I deserved it after making it to 13 days. I drove to Aldi for this and walking past the isles of cookies was really tough. I took a pack of dates and got out. But after I ate the dates I was craving junk food like my life depends on it. I'm constantly feeding the idea of getting in my car and going to a local snack bar and a night shop...

Here's the truth:

It would feel awesome in the short term, but it's bad in long term. I would feel intense regret tomorrow morning. It would trigger a chaser effect where I would be craving bread again tomorrow. It would be hard to resist it. I would fall back into the pit of carbs.

So I'm making the decision not to get into my car and get myself a durum.

I'm not considering my dried date treat as a cut of the challenge.

 

Day 15

Yesterday was tough. I always get extreme cravings in the evening.

I went to the city and I approached a girl. We went on an instant date and she took me to a hookah bar. I smoked hookah. Not a healthy decision but I don't really see the issue of doing this like once a year. The last time I had a cigarette is over a year ago, and luckily this didn't create more cravings for nicotine. The mint tea had sugar and was pretty sweet for me.

For some reason I also got alcohol cravings. It's been almost 2 years that I'm without alcohol. I read in the book Food Junkies that studies indicate that binge eaters tend to replace their food addiction with alcohol... I guess it's the same reward system that is triggered. A neighbour invited me to a bar. I went but luckily I just took a sparkling water. When the bar closed, I was kind of relieved, because I was flirting with the idea of grabbing a beer.

When I was home I had intense cravings. The brain kept instilling this scene of me driving to the night shop, buying chips. I really felt like a drug addict who wanted his fix. Maybe these cravings were a result of the sugar that was in the mint tea. Although the compulsion was strong, I just couldn't get myself into my car eventually. I know it would lead to nothing. I looked into the mirror and I saw that my skin was kind of glowing because I've been off sugar and flour for 2 weeks. This gave me motivation to embrace the pain and just go to sleep. When I woke up, I was happy that there weren't empty bags of chips next to my bed.

I dodged a lot of bullets yesterday... What could have been a pretty unhealthy evening involving alcohol and junk food, was just a spontaneous date where I had shisha and mint tea with a girl. That's nice. I might have another date with a girl this week. I usually take them to a cosy bar. The only non-alcoholic drinks they serve are mocktails. These are sugary fruit juices. I will have to watch out with that too, because this can induce cravings.

Well put! We have to accept the pain. The hard part is the delayed reward. We can't expect quick results. We can't just undo the damage in a week or a month. It doesn't work that way.

 

Day 22

Time for an update. So it's been more than 3 weeks since I have had any sugar, grains, flour, etc. I've been basically eating an animal-based diet. Yesterday I was craving sugar like crazy. I went to the supermarket and got myself a box of dried medjool dates instead to sooth the cravings. So if I track my sugar intake for the last period, I only had 2 boxes of dried dates, a mint tea which contained sugar, and some kombucha which contained some sugar too. Yesterday evening I 'harvested' my kombucha tea and I had 1 glass. It tasted the sugar and this induced cravings for more. There are potato chips, waffles and candy of my cousin in the house and it was really tempting to eat it. Luckily I didn't give in.

I basically have been late night cravings almost every night. The only thing that works is to just go to sleep, and then I wake up with a sense of relief "Pfew, I dodged a bullet." I expect these cravings to go away after 4 weeks. Otherwise I might have to start ditching other foods, like dairy. I honestly think the incidental sugar intake is suspending the withdrawal.

I've also been eating 3-4 tablespoons of Udo's Choice oil everyday. This is a oil blend based on seeds with a good omega 3/6 ratio. I take this because I always get a dry skin in the winter. These oils protect the organs and in the winter you need more of them. You can't survive with dry organs, but you can with a dry skin. That's why your skin gets dry in the winter.

I approached that girl in a 'direct' way on the streets, by complimenting her on her eyes [she made eye contact]. It took me tons of approaches and failures to be able to do a cold approach like this though. I started out by asking for directions and gradually evolved into more flirtatious conversations with women. It's hard to give "cookie cutter" adivce on this where I can say "just do it like this". It requires consistent action, patience and self-acceptance. You can PM if you have more questions, or we can take the discussion to my cold approach thread, which is still active.

Btw, I appreciate your honesty in describing what you're eating.

 

Day 26

Almost 30 days...

Yesterday and the day before I had a date with a girl. On both dates, I took a mocktail which was basically a sugary fruit juice. Last time I had one of these I had intense cravings for more sugar when I came back home [and I gave in], but now it was allright. I didn't even finish the whole thing. I just use it as something to 'sip on'. When I came home I just had my meat and went to bed. I also had a glass of my own kombucha. It's still pretty sweet so I'm going to let it ferment longer or just give it away to my parents. I don't think it's a safe drink for a sugar addict like myself.

One thing that I've been noticing lately is the improvement in my mood. I have less negative thoughts. I feel less irritable. When I go to the city, I feel confident. I feel more relaxed in social situations. This is definitely [albeit partly] a benefit of ditching sugar and flour whilst pursuing a diet high in saturated animal fats. Maybe it's the Udo's Choce oil that doing it's work. Maybe the B vitamins of nutritional yeast.

Have you ever considered eliminating your "trigger food" completely? In my view that's the easiest way to get off sugar eventually. If I have even the smallest nibble, that can reintroduce cravings and lure me back into a relapse/binge that can undermine weeks of good behavior.

"Cheating by having a bite here or a spoonful there is also an excellent way to suffer withdrawal in perpetuity. Withdrawal will not end if the substance is constantly being reintroduced into the brain reward pathway. This is perhaps one reason why a gradual detox that does not eliminate the trigger completely is actually more difficult than a cold turkey approach." Dr. Vera Tarman

The problem of our contemporary conception of eating disorders:

"Most medical clinicians prefer to encourage people to eat all foods, including sugar, in moderation. Food addicts who present their abstinence treatment plan are often discouraged, even if their plan is working. The irony is not apparent to health professionals: Would that same clinician urging moderation of sugar insist that a crack addict learn to smoke crack in controlled amounts? Advise a cigarette smoker to cut down to just three cigarettes a day? It is the rare person who once smoked a pack a day who can gradually reduce their habit to three cigarettes a day without undue emotional strain."

 

Glad to see you on track, MW!

I wanted to write an update for a long time but I kept procrastinating it...

So I was in Morocco until the beginning of last week. When I was there, I loosened up with regards to my diet. I drank a lot of tea with sugar, had bread, ate pastry snacks, etc. It's not that I was eating like crap all the time, but abstaining from sugar and gluten was difficult. I even started smoking again when I was there.

I got back and I had difficulties getting back on the wagon. Things aren't black-and-white, but my diet is currently not like I want it to be.

Tomorrow is a new day. Back on day 1.

Also, good luck @Last Resort Report

 

It's been months since I have updated this thread.

For the last months I have been mainly eating meat, cheese and fruit. I quit keto and I don't buy veggies anymore. I really like the minimalism of this diet and I feel that meat is the best source I could get in terms of nutrients. Whenever I only eat meat long enough, I feel amazing.

That being said, last months weren't perfect. There have been sugar binges. I have had gluten and other nasty stuff on multiple occasions. But I always got back on the horse and get back on steak and butter.

This weekend wasn't too great, I went to a gas station 2 times to buy a sandwich and cookies. It's not a good thing to do for sure. But is it a catastrophe? Does it make me rotten just because I ate some bad stuff? No, that's all-or-nothing thinking.

But I do come here in order to make a some sort of a gesture in order to commit myself in doing everything to avoid sugar and gluten. The fact remains that I am a food addict who has a very hard time to control my consumption of foods with sugar.