Making the Switch

The decision was made to begin on this "diet",  a word which I use lightly these days, in November 2008. It's more like a new way of eating, really. We, as in Robert, went through the whole house and pulled all the food that we were not going to eat anymore, (best to do this before you restock your house), and put it in boxes to distribute to the local food bank. If you don't clear your pantry completely, you'll set yourself up for failure. Next,  make a list for the store of healthy foods to replace the junk that you just got rid of.

Keep in mind the first several trips to the store will take much longer than usual with time spent reading labels. Oh yes, labels. You would not believe some of the ingredient lists out there. Ugh. It's a chore, but well worth the effort when you are trying to avoid several harmful chemicals that they are putting in food-like-products these days. This was a process for us, mind you. I had to be gradually weened off all of the sugar, yeast and simple carbs that I was used to consuming. This was so that I didn't feel deprived. I was addicted to sugar! Seriously. I still have a hard time in the coffee aisle and sometimes the bakery section. Dang if they don't smell good. Its like a drug folks.

One thing that has really helped me stay focused is making the mental switch from, "I want it, but I can't have it" to, "I can have it, but I don't want it". It will happen over time. The more healthy foods you put into your daily meals the more the bad food gets pushed out. If you have to just cut back on the sugar like I did, cutting down to things that were less than 10 g per serving is a good start. The more you cut out sugar, the more your taste buds transform. Real food started tasting sweeter. An example, grapefruit. In the beginning you couldn't get me to eat one. Robert had to squeeze the juice for me to drink for quite awhile and he would eat the fruit. Now I eat 1/2 a grapefruit everyday along with the cuticle of the skin. It's full of vitamin P, which is good for healthy gums and teeth (http://www.pittmandavis.com/articles/citrus/grapefruit/eat-grapefruit/grapefruit-benefits/the-many-benefits-of-the-grapefruit.html.)
Woo hoo. What a long way I've come. You will too. Just give it time.