Sugar detox

Well Easter did not go as planned. I started out at brunch pretty well, I filled half my plate with fruit and veggies, and seconds were a mere taste. Then I relaxed a little (too soon!).

This fall I'm making a wedding cake for my friends and I used Easter to test a few flavors on my family. I had one and a half pieces at brunch, not too bad. I gave away a lot of the cake but couldn’t let go of my favorite flavor.  I knew in my brain that It would be a disaster to bring it home but I...wanted...it. When we got back, as soon as no one was watching, I went into vacuum cleaner mode and ate half of the leftover cake in just a few minutes before I managed to save myself by quickly dumping the rest into the garbage. Blarg. I made myself sick with sugar and I still didn't feel right the next day, time for detox mode.

The day after a binge is a pivotal moment. Pulling your body chemistry back into balance so you can enjoy healthy meals again is not an easy thing to do. Sugar overload has real withdrawal symptoms that can lead into a viscous cycle, just like a "real" addiction. The best method I've found for getting back on track, and for controlling cravings in general, comes from a book called Potatoes not Prozac, which is about sugar sensitivity. You can read more about the concept at Radiant Recovery, the website of Dr. Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D. in addictive nutrition. There's a lot of "it's not your fault!" rhetoric that I'm not sure about but the nutrition advice is amazing at controlling hunger and cravings.

Here's the short version: Take your body weight, divide it in half. That's how many grams of protein you need in a day. Now divide that by three, that's how many grams of protein you need at each meal. Meat, eggs, cottage cheese, low fat cheese, beans, unsweetened yogurt or veggies like spinach or edamame are all great sources. 

In addition to your protein, have a serving of unprocessed complex carbohydrates, 1/2 cup for smaller people, 1 cup for bigger people. This can be oatmeal, brown rice, sweet potatoes with skin, beans, whole grain crackers like wasa, high fiber tortillas, etc. 

Eat your protein and your complex carb (ideally with some fruit of veggie and a glass of water) within one hour of waking and you've got a meal that will keep you feeling satisfied for four hours or more. This is my best method for breaking out of the sugar craving cycle and truthfully, the best way to reduce my hunger overall. Every meal can be based on these concepts. Here's a day of eating that's based on this formula.

My kitchen still looks like it did in this picture from Monday (the day after Easter), actually it looks worse because I've only added to the dishes since then, but at least my cravings are under control. One thing at a time. Onward!