I am on a mission to lose 100 pounds and have lost 30 lbs so far. All was going great, I was feeling the best that I have felt in years. My discipline was at an all time high skipping to the scale every Friday watching the pounds disappear.
I headed out on my summer vacation with a well-designed plan for staying on track, three weeks went by without a hitch until I arrived at the food and wine capital of the United States, Napa Valley. With all of my determination I walked into a great restaurant and after wrangling with the waiter about the specifics of my food requirements, my order was placed. My long time friend Pam had joined me, and all she had to say was, “Lori, you are in Napa Valley, you should have a glass of wine”. From the back of my neck crept up the voice that I had ignored for three months. I call the voice the couch potato. The couch potato loves carbs, alcohol, sugar and blowing off exercise. He had been patiently lurking, ready for this moment to go in for the kill. “Lori, come on, you deserve it, celebrate, enjoy yourself for once, why suffer, you are on vacation, what is the big deal, one glass,” he was in full swing. The waiter passed by and my hand shockingly went up and with the swoop of a pen, I had ordered a glass of Napa Valley Pinot Noir.
I savored every sip and enjoyed it so much that the couch potato had convinced me to order another one. The waiter then told us about their ice cream sundae and how it was the best in the Napa Valley. The couch potato piped in “you have come all the way to Napa Valley and you are not going to get the best sundae in the world?” It had now turned it into the world’s best sundae. I compromised and said I would have a bite of Pam’s. Of course, the waiter brought two spoons. The next morning I awoke with the beginnings of a sugar coma. The sugar was taking me over inch by inch. I could not walk by the hotel’s pastry tray without the couch potato’s voice in my head screaming at me to pick up a croissant. My tongue was on the verge of an orgasm at the moment my eyes landed on anything sweet. I walked into a chocolate shop and again the couch potato told me I needed to indulge because the sign on the door said that Oprah liked their chocolates, how could I miss out on that in my lifetime? On and on it went, I was in a vortex of sugar plums dancing in my head and I could feel the yeast beasts in my stomach begging for more. I had been seized and kidnapped and there was no way to escape, the couch potato was in charge.
On to a friend’s birthday, I then finished off a third of her left over chocolate birthday cake. I had hit the tilt button and was in a full coma. For survival, I stopped at Dairy Queen for a Blizzard, an appropriate name for how I was feeling. By now the couch potato did not even have to chime in. I arrived home desperately seeking sweets which I do not have in my house. Before I could jump in the car and head to the candy counter, reason arrived with a pile of guilt and shame for what I had just done to myself. I had abandoned me. I had been led to a place where I was not safe, where I was out of control and where I would never find happiness. I had taken the plunge into not loving myself and giving in to mediocrity.
I shook off the pain of what I had done and kicked the couch potato, who was now scratching his belly, off of my couch and threw my last jar of peanut butter in the garbage can as he left. I was ready to fall in love with myself again. I chose freedom. With freedom, I can choose what is good for me and fill myself up with vibrant plants and healthy choices. I want to get high on life, not on sugar.
So here is what I did to get back from my sugar binge:
1.) Loaded up with protein at all meals and ate absolutely no carbs. If I had an uncontrollable craving I grabbed a slice of turkey, some beans or an egg.
2.) I drank a gallon of water to clear out my system of all the toxic sugar.
3.) I ate raw vegetables to keep me chewing my food and absorbing the nutrients and flavors.
4.) I worked out so that I could move the toxins out of my body faster and I would feel better overall.
5.) I had an apple for lunch which helped to satisfy the cravings that normally come after a sugar binge.
I am back on track now, it has taken two weeks to eliminate the sugar and the lingering voice in my head, however, I have learned about my vulnerabilities and turned my weaknesses into strengths. I stepped on the scale yesterday and I lost a few more pounds. I am back from Candy Land and safely sipping my organic, hand picked lemon grass, ginger infused iced green tea. I matter to me.
