Now, being back on track emotionally gave me the space to take a look at my physical symptoms and decide to do something different, like sleep....
This morning, I was up by 5:00 a.m. Again. Still, my Fitbit tells me I had a FAIR night's sleep, likely marked down some by not hitting my 7 hour minimum sleep goal, but hitting all other benchmarks for the sleep cycles. So many variables go into the calculation of the Fitbit "sleep score", which has become my barometer for knowing if I slept well or not, instead of trusting my body and the degree to which I feel rested.
Lest you think I'm the only one Fitbit dependent, a friend of mine made an emergency doctor visit after a period of time in which her Fitbit did not give her any sleep score at all due to being unable to gather enough data while she was asleep. She first, wisely (haha), bought a new Fitbit but when that didn't solve the problem she was off to the doctor to have her heart checked. They sent her home reassured, and we all had a stern talk with her Fitbit for playing naughty tricks on her...and learned that maybe these tracking devices are not infallible. Go figure.
Anyway, my Fitbit also sends data to my Medicare Advantage Preventative Health plan which gives me "dollars" to spend on gift cards, as allocated by how many "active days" (based on steps taken) and exercise classes, etc I take with Silver Sneakers or on my own, as well as keeping up on preventative medical visits and tests. This year I've earned $160 to spend on gift cards and mine will all go to the Amazon option. This is a mere pittance of what I'd earn if they paid for ALL my classes. (They only allow you to "claim" 4 classes a year! Ridiculous! I take that many in a week.) But I'll enjoy a few freebies from Amazon, so that's some motivation, I guess.
In addition to sleeping better, I decided to eat better too. After watching the documentary (on Netflix -- check it out) "Forks Over Knives", I started in early November to eat a mostly plant-based diet. No land or air meat at all. Maybe every 10 days or so some prawns. (Holding out on a decision on salmon next year when it's back in season.) For a few weeks I was vegan and ate no dairy and no eggs, but I've eased up on being that restrictive. I eat those infrequently, but without hesitation. And guess what? I feel so much better! I know it could be the relieved stress helping my symptoms, but I just feel so much better overall I can hardly believe it. I'm sticking with it.
The biggest hurdle this holiday season, as every year, is my descent into sugar addiction. I swore it would not happen this year, given my new healthful eating plan. But it did. Cake, cookies, brownies, pastries, candy, ice cream, mochas, eggnog lattes...oh my. These are my drugs of choice. I am powerless.
So yesterday, in a fit of disgust, I Googled "giving up sugar". There are hundreds of "hits" for articles, books, documentaries, essays, ads.... I settled on two guides to start with: "Beating Sugar Addiction for Dummies" (cuz I find those "dummy" books about complex subjects to be very readable, so I guess I'm the target "dummy" audience) and "Year of No Sugar" by Eve O Schaub, whose memoir writing is so funny and down-to-earth true; I love her. This one is about how her whole family spent a year not eating any added fructose in anything! I don't know if I can go that far, but what I've read about the way sugar ravages our bodies makes me want to purge 69 years of sugar consumption and get on the stump with a megaphone. I'm going to start with just eliminating anything I know to be purposely sweet -- the aforementioned cakes, cookies, sugar drinks, etc. -- and not worry too much yet about what sugar there is in my Dave's thin-sliced multi-grain bread. I will leave off the jam though.
Like any good resolution-maker, I'm starting in earnest on January 1. This will be VERY challenging for me. Society uses sugar in so many ways that have nothing to do with nutrition (of which there is none) -- it's used to say "I love you"; "Let's celebrate"; "Feel better", etc etc. Sugar is everywhere -- not just the hidden kind (read the labels!) but the obvious kind too. There are whole cookie aisles! Whole bakeries within the supermarket! I know! I love them!!!
I am heartened, however, to realize I've already given up cigarettes (1982, but with a very occasional, like on average less than once/year "cheat", until 2011), alcohol (2011), red meat (sometime over the past 15 years; not sure when exactly), and the rest of the land/air animal flesh 6 weeks ago (OK, two chicken cheats) and now I miss none of it and don't feel weird or socially out of place (most of the time) with my choices. So I hold out hope for this to be difficult for awhile (2 weeks is the typical 'withdrawal/craving' timeframe for sugar addiction) and then, hopefully, easy. (Easier.)
If you've gone before me on this sugarless path, send suggestions for not gnawing my fingers off. I can't help but assume there is some trace fructose in my new Lemon-Rosemary Balm hand lotion and it will sound awfully good in a few days...I can see myself licking my paws like a cat, can't you?
At least, that's the view from here...©
PS: I just checked my Dave's bread: 2 grams sugar per slice in the form of organic fruit juices to supply the "sweet". Ms. Schaub would have eliminated this from her diet. I'm not gonna. Yet. I get into trouble and have zero long-term follow-through when I go all or nothing on things like this. Baby steps.
Photo Credit: www.pixabay.com
You are brave to give up sugar. I've tried a few of the diets and read a few of the books you mentions but I can never stick with it. But you seem to be more dedicated to healthy living and have more will power than me. More power to you!
ReplyDeleteI get obsessed by my Fitbit report on my sleep too. It's the first thing I look at in the morning. Instead of worrying about whether or not I've slept 5 or 7 hours I obsess about whether or not I've gotten the 20-25% rem sleep (for brain health) and the 20-25% deep sleep for your body. It would make me nervous to have my Fitbit info going to my insurance company!
I mostly look at the REM and Deep too. I like seeing the benchmarks and find I most often fall within them. That's good. As for sugar....we will see. That's a hard one for me, willpower or not! I'll keep you posted. Also as I read further into Year with No Sugar, even she and her family chose one thing NOT to give up and allowed themselves on dessert a month. That sounds more doable.
DeleteI do it. I eat no sugar, nor have I for at least a decade. Nor do I want it. I eat mainly meat (of all kinds, although I prefer beef) with a few mushrooms or a half an avocado occasionally. I drink a glass of dry wine (white or red) two or 3 times a week.
ReplyDeleteActually sugar was easier for me to give up than wheat, because I used artificial sweeteners to taper off. Wheat, now there was a true withdrawal story. I was doing a food elimination diet, giving up one food at a time to see if it had an effect, then adding it back in to see if that had an effect. After about 3 days of no wheat, during which I had real, but mild, withdrawal symptoms just like opium addicts say they have, shaky, nausea, cravings, etc. It was unpleasant. Then I noticed colors seemed brighter, music sounded more beautiful, I was inspired to go outside and just enjoy the natural world. It surprised the heck out of me, but I concluded I had been addicted to wheat, and immediately gave it up. That was 10 years ago. Bread was really hard to replace, and eventually I gave up trying, but the hardest was beer. I still miss beer, but the digestive issues just aren't worth it. And I like wine.
I fear I've become one of those people I used to mock around food "issues", but I just know what makes me feel better. No meat is working for me. We will see about the no sugar but I have to assume ditching it is good for me too. I gave up gluten for awhile and felt good -- but slowly went back to it. I've read Grain Brain about not eating gluten/wheat. I may try that again. I joke that soon I'll be living on kale and water. LOL
ReplyDeleteBut only free trade, shade grown, organic kale😸
ReplyDeleteObviously!
DeleteNow for a serious response. I plan to watch the video in the next few days. I have limited success in tuning into the reactions and feeling physical being. My starting point is to focus on those subtleties. You are an inspiring role model.
ReplyDeleteJust trying to stop jumping from one "trend" to another and settle on what makes my body feel good. It's all an experiment. But you KNOW my struggles with sweets -- feel free to take my purse away next time we are at coffee and I'm about to purchase a cookie, or Danish, or cinnamon role, or slice of carrot cake, or....or....or...
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