Thursday, August 13, 2009

Too Good To Be True

My standard lunch these days -- a Big Salad!

Every man is the creature of the age in which he lives; very few are able to raise themselves above the ideas of the time.
~ Voltaire ~


I have completed six days with no grains or other refined carbohydrates. No cereal, no bread, no pasta, and certainly no cookies, candy, cakes, or ice cream. I've gotten plenty of carbs from vegetables and fruit, but a greater percentage of my diet has come from protein and fat over the past six days. And I've got to tell you -- I'm nervous to even say it for fear that it's just my imagination or the placebo effect, but here goes, I'll say it -- my food cravings have greatly diminished, dare I say disappeared? And I don't really feel hungry. I'm not thinking about food all the time -- what I just ate, what I'm going to eat next, what I want to eat but shouldn't, what I wish I had not eaten, or what I'm eating now for just one last time.

I haven't blogged about this sooner because I kept waiting for it to pass, thinking that it is too good to be true. I'm still worried that it's too good to be true. But I know others who have adopted this type of eating and they report the same. They have encouraged me to try it for a long time now. But I kept resisting it as too extreme, not in keeping with generally accepted nutritional guidelines and conventional wisdom. I finally just decided to try it for myself and stop relying on other people, even the government, to tell me what to eat. We all have our own inner wisdom if we will only listen. So I'm trying this new way of eating. I tried it for one day, and one day turned into six. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
If you are interested in learning more about this for yourself, here are some resources I have found helpful. They don't all agree on every point, but there is a shared common theme. Besides, I'm no longer looking outside of myself for the definitive answer. I'm gathering information, trying it if I choose, and listening to my body's own inner wisdom to find what works best for me.

Protein Power by Michael Eades, MD
Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes
The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain
Mark's Daily Apple - http://www.marksdailyapple.com/

2 comments:

LoveKatt said...

How exciting! I am glad to hear the carb reduction really works! I have never tried it myself, never really believed it would work like that!

By the way, the pics of your meals are so inspiring! There is nothing like a great picture to enhance a description, and these meals are mouth watering with the pics!!!! I love your presentations too. I'm watching another food blogger too, who is posting pics of food on tinfoil and in cookie sheets. Definitely not as inspiring...but he's a guy. Go figure.

Pat said...

Thanks for checking in Katt! It always makes my day to hear from you. Getting feedback is so nice.

You might not get the same result from carb reduction...I think it's highly personal.