Retraining my palate



I am on a diet of sort, for the next two weeks. I started last Tuesday and it is meant to last for 21 days, during which I am only going to eat low carb, gluten free food as much as possible, with one or two concessions ie a fruit a day. The idea is to balance my blood sugar levels and learn about the hidden sugar of the food I eat, chosen from a particular list. Losing weight is not the point of this diet, though I might lose some and, combined with a sustained  exercise programme, I might get leaner muscles. I am already in a relatively good shape and exercise regularly, so this is not quite my ultimate goal. But I decided to join a group of other people doing this programme, under the supervision of a nutritionist, because it sounded like a new adventure, learning all about sugar levels and experiencing first hand the difference it makes to the body when blood sugar is rebalanced. And  21 days is hardly an eternity!
I must say that initially I did not fully realise what it would really mean, rather, I did not realise how totally addicted to sugar I was. I was actually convinced I was not. I hardly ever eat cakes or chocolate or drink sweet stuff, I am pretty much off dairies, I never gorge myself, I always make sure there is a gap of a good twelve hours between my last meal and the first one of the day, I drink water  religiously.  I thought, very smugly,  I was doing all the right things. All right, I indulged a bit this Christmas and New Year, but that is normal, is it not? When I do that it takes me just about a week to get back to my usual weight and shape.
BUT  I discovered I was totally wrong about my food habits, I eat a lot of wheat based food, I love biscuits and have them regularly, I take a little honey in my tea, I drink wine. And coffee is my real weakness. All this means sugar, sugar, sugar.  Coffee contains caffeine, rather than sugar,  but among the effects of caffeine is a desire for sugar.
On the first day I put my lovely home made bread in the freezer  - I will not touch it until day 22 because it contains wheat flour  - and took stock of the content of my pantry. I began this journey - I really see it as a journey of discovery, in every sense, quite gingerly, half heartedly even, then it fully hit me I had to commit or it would not work.
My reward for completing week 1

The first few days were hellish, the recipes I am following satisfied me but I craved sugar and did not even know that it was sugar I was after. I was so ratty and impossible to be with, my son was meant to visit but when I told him about the diet he said he'd see me when it's over ('don't want to fall out with you mum'). I felt this sense of immense dissatisfaction with everything, I kept on going back and forth to the kitchen opening cupboards and I honestly did not know what I wanted, I just knew I wanted something, but what? When I saw the honey jar, I instantly knew. I stopped myself from dipping my finger into it and licking it, I have a lot of self control, but I locked honey, jam and marmalade away, even though they are all organic and what not.  I had never really experienced a craving on that scale and the worst thing was that I did not know what I was craving.
I am being quite strict with myself and am cutting out as much as possible, avoiding eating too much fruit, of which I am quite fond (but one a day is OK). I spent a good two hours food shopping at Waitrose the other day reading all labels very, very carefully then I decided to go to a health food store, where I also read all labels very carefully and bombarded the shop assistant with questions.
Now on day 6,  I don't crave sugar so much, I am in a better mood and am determined to enjoy the experience. The interesting thing will be to monitor my mood while on this programme and my emotions. I have begun to feel a sense of greater clarity too, that is probably the effect of eliminating sugar from my blood. I am even a little calmer. Things have begun to taste a little different, I have read somewhere that the point of this programme is to retrain one's palate.
I will not turn this blog into a journal of my eating experiments but I thought I should post on this.
The best thing of all is that not buying wine and biscuits is making me save money and so I am giving myself rewards. I bought a lovely jumpsuit from Collectif and by the end of next week I am going to get the wonderful Chanel Vernis Rouge Noir. I know that there are copycats, like Kiko, which I already have and they are very good. But I want the authentic one (that's 2 bottles of medium priced wine, money wise).
I can't wait for day 22!

My reward for completing week 2
Me wearing Kiko Rouge Noir 









Comments