First of all, you’re not going to change your whole life overnight. It’s hard at first, but now sugar doesn't taste good to me anymore.
I think it's a real addiction, we have a sense memory of good things related to eating sugar. Holidays and special occasions, but since sugar is in everything now it’s not so special anymore.
Sugar and wheat both cause inflammation, which causes lots of problems. Just as a gentle reminder, if you aren’t on the blog too much, I’ve been every size from a 2 to a 14 and I’ve always done the wrong thing. I’m guilty of binge eating, weird dieting, working out for an hour or two a day every day of the week, feast and famine, fasting, juice cleanses, you name it I probably tried it.
I’ve always had medical problems. Acne, heavy periods, the worst cramps, long periods that lasted more than 7 days, asthma, dermatitis, hashimoto's thyroiditis, nasal allergies, hormone imbalance, cysts on my ovaries, back pain, joint pain, and six years ago I was going to have carpel tunnel surgery. But before that was scheduled I went to get nerve conduction testing done and it turns out I have arthritis. AT MY AGE!
So I came to a point in my life where I was just exhausted. Everything came to a head: I was at a job I hated, I was in an apartment I hated, and in a body that was ready to quit. I started small. I picked one thing and committed to it. First, I think I stopped drinking soda. In about a week I noticed I was sleeping better and not as bloated. The next thing was to eliminate added sugars all together. Just keep in mind that there is no way you can eliminate all sugar from your meals unless you grow your own food. Just adding up spoons of sugar in my tea and coffee and baking, it’s a lot! But I choose to control the things I am able to, so I turned to Stevia. It’s a natural sugar substitute and it’s a natural alternative. It’s three times as sweet as sugar so I think it’s worth the price, but to be honest you can get a no name brand of stevia packets from your local dollar store, just check the ingredient label just says ‘stevia’. I’ve been avoiding added sugar for 7 or 8 years now. I’ve also been wheat free since March 2015. Now it’s hard to eat sugar, it just doesn’t taste good to me and it really hurts my stomach. It’s also not sweet enough to me, since I use the zero calorie sweetener stevia and that’s 3 times sweeter than sugar. Like I said, it doesn't happen overnight. Small changes work best. Set yourself up for success in small milestones that are realistic, so you build up that positive confidence and then you can see what you’re capable of. Whatever you do, do not do that dramatic personal trainer thing where they toss out the whole contents of the refrigerator and stock the house with ‘healthy’ foods. You body is legit going to be craving sugar and wheat and you will be out in your garage picking things out of the trash. Your brain, on a chemical level is really craving that feel good reaction from eating sugar. So it’s best to wean yourself off in steps.
For years I was just so tired and my tummy gave me trouble all the time. As I said before, Acne plus really bad cramps and heavy periods, lots of things that didn't seem related cleared up once I made some changes. It’s also due to the fact that I didn’t have consistent medical care for the time between college and up until 6 years ago. I was covered under my mom’s insurance while I was in college, but I was so busy I never took advantage of it. Between the age of 20 and 26 I didn’t see a doctor. Especially with my condition, living with asthma, I think about all the risks I took. I had a time 8 years ago on Christmas Eve I couldn’t breathe, it felt like bronchitis but I just ignored it until I couldn’t anymore. I ended up in the emergency room completely red in the face from being so out-of-breath. My thyroid condition went untreated until 6 years ago, which probably caused hormonal and chemical imbalances that took me at least a year to correct.
I had surgery in May 2015, I needed a d&c cause the lining of my uterus was abnormally thick and my left ovary was inflamed. I had been complaining to the general doctor for about 2 years about bad cramps and the worst back pain the first 2 days of my period. There was also pain on my left side pelvis like soreness. But i had a ultrasound and nothing visibly wrong.
So fast forward, I went to my gynecologist last year because my period started in January and wasn't really stopping until March. Like 2 weeks of bleeding and spots, then a few days of nothing, then it would start again. She wanted to do the surgery, and I was agreeable because yes PLEASE MAKE THIS STOP! After the d&c it seemed to reset my cycle, and now I’m on a low dose of birth control.
But for years since high school i had the worst period pain, and terrible heartburn. Again, not related right? Wrong! Before the surgery they tested my blood for everything. From everything I’ve talked about to my general doctor and my gyn, they concluded that I have gluten intolerance.
This never crossed my mind, because I’m Italian and Asian. We live off noodles and pasta, so I never put it together. I always just thought I ate too much. I was always bloated and had heartburn, even when I avoided things like coffee, hot spicy foods and oily foods. Doing gluten free eating everyday is not as hard as I thought it would be. At first I was eating lots of tacos. Thank you, Pinterest found lots of other recipes!
Keep in mind that my situation is unique, and you have to figure out what’s best for you. Don’t stop talking to your doctor, and if they don’t listen do your research and find someone else. My general doc and my gyn were amazing, but it took me 32 years to figure out that I wasn’t a wimp for not being able to endure period cramps without taking a day off from work, or I wasn’t washing my face enough, or I was drinking too much coffee, or whatever excuse I made up for my own body doing things it wasn’t supposed to.
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