The First Week

I am going to try to get up to date.  My thoughts the first day were "OK, here we go!"  I was determined, so I made it my priority.  I am keeping a diary of my diet, to help me remember what I ate.  The first few days were not rough, not even really difficult, but there were a few times I needed to leave the kitchen.  I hadn't yet found enough sweet things to satisfy, and I was coming down off a normal amount of sugar in my diet.  White sugar, HFCS (high fructose corn syrup), white flour... all things that are SOOO tasty but not good for us.  In the process of refining foods, much is lost.  Most of the good stuff is stripped out of the product, and it is no longer beneficial.  I think of white flour as paste.  Actually you can make a paste out of white flour.  I love the way white flour tastes, of course!  But, I'm learning what's better for me.  I did a lot of internet searching to find recipes I could use.  I posted a link to one that I found very helpful.  This website lists several types of healthy sweeteners, and recipes for them.  I discovered AGAVE!!  This is an amazing sweetener.  All natural.  Made from the Agave plant, which is primarily grown in Mexico.  It's glycemic index number is 15-30... depending on the type of Agave.  Refined white table sugar is 80 and HFCS is 87!  Pure Glucose is 100.  The higher the rating, the faster the sugar hits your blood.  We hear of blood sugar highs and lows.  Well, the high glycemic sweeteners are what causes those.  I am not a doctor or nurse, so I may miss some of what this all means.  If I am not correct, I hope someone will come to my rescue!

I found that by the end of the first week, I was not very often hungry.  I could go longer before eating, though I was eating less.  I was eating things that were so much more healthy that it stayed with me longer.  I no longer craved the sugars like I did.  I was feeling better and sleeping better.  I felt more alert.  I had gone off coffee, but didn't miss it.  I'll try to do a post on coffee some other time.  Every once in awhile I found that I missed chocolate.  That was my one true love in food.  So, I will continue to search for ways I can eat chocolate in a healthier way.  I am also continuing to search for recipes to feed my family that are healthier.