Yesterday was international no diet day and there was a post on the Green Mountain Facebook page that said, "I’m not dieting, I’m just trying to eat healthy by watching what I’m eating." Stating that even that thought is full of diet mentality. This has really got me thinking.
A true 'no diet' is listening to your body's cues for hunger and satisfaction and eating whatever you want. Here is my problem with the 'eat whatever you want' part of the no diet plan. I am addicted to white refined sugar. I am addicted to it in the form of cookies, cakes and candy, but also in the form of bread, rolls, biscuits. Anything that can come from a bakery. Also, sugar is often found in most processed foods, so even if I thought I was avoiding it, I wasn't. In my recent readings, I have become so much more aware of what it means to be addicted to white refined sugar and the way my body reacts isn't much different than how a body reacts to nicotine or a harder drug.
When we eat refined sugar, it goes immediately into the blood stream. This is different than if we eat a piece of fruit. The fruit goes to the stomach first and our body breaks it down and puts the fructose to work where it needs to be in our bodies. When we eat refined sugar, the sugar goes immediately to our blood stream and gives us the sugar high. The rest of the food (the carb of the cookie or whatever) goes to the stomach and our bodies aren't sure what to do with it. It can't break the food down normally so it breaks it down and stores it in our fat cells. This is when insulin comes into play because insulin is there to help break it down. But insulin is the fat producing hormone.
Once our bodies get the food into the fat cells and the insulin has done their job, we begin to feel empty or 'hungry' because the process is over. So in a day, I could have a bagel for breakfast and as soon as my body has finished processing that, I would have a sugary granola bar. When that was processed, I would have a sandwich with processed meat and cheese. When that was done, I would have a cookie. Then for dinner some kind of processed meat and bread and maybe then a vegetable. By the time I went to bed, my body had been producing fat cells for 16-18 hours. When I woke up the next morning, I had a headache that could only be cured by more breads and sweets. It's a never ending cycle....an addiction to white refined sugar.
So now back to the original topic at hand. If I were being a true 'no dieter' then wouldn't I be eating all of those carbs and sweets? Well, I have come to realize that my time at Green Mountain helped me to quit my addiction and I don't really want to get back up on THAT wagon. Also, with all of the reading I have been doing about processed foods and GMO's, I really have no desire to eat anything but organic foods. I still eat sweets, but I choose to eat the ones with organic cane sugar or I have one sweet while I am out to eat with Joe and don't have more options at home to feed my addiction.
While I am eating healthier, I still like to think I am leading a 'No Diet' lifestyle. For me, the no diet is a little harder than others simply because of my addiction. Like an alcoholic, I don't trust myself around processed foods and white refined sugar, so it's easier to just stay away. Unlike an alcoholic, I do trust myself to have a cupcake every now and then because total deprivation will lead to my desire to have it and an eventual binge. I may be contradicting myself there, but I think for me, it's all about what I buy and stock at home.
I enjoy eating organic, natural foods. They taste better to me than the processed foods I was eating. Thinking back on some of the fast foods and questionable meats I was eating actually makes my stomach churn a little. And to be honest, now that I have cut way back on my meat intake, the days I do have some kind of meat, my stomach tends to hurt immediately afterwards. So what is my body trying to say then? Cut it out completely? I don't know. I am not willing to give myself any certain rules like that because again, I don't want to feel deprived of anything. I just know that when I have two options in front of me, like chicken or portabello mushroom fajitas, these days I am leaning toward the vegetarian option because I know I will physically feel better after the fact.
So yes, I am eating healthier, but I don't think it is because I am 'watching what I eat'. I honestly think that I have been able to rebrand myself and different foods are simply more desirable. At times when I hear the siren call of the white refined sugars, I satisfy it with my organic candies and breads that I have at home. I have prepared myself for those moments and instead of relying on my 'willpower' (which as you recall, I believe is a myth), I have options to choose from that don't make me feel deprived. Some days I feel guilty at first for eating a sweet when my body isn't genuinely hungry, but in the end I feel grateful for my 'no diet' lifestyle and I am able to let it go.
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