Sunday 28 February 2010

the big March detox

I like cake. Well, according to my reputation, I luuurrve cake. But truthfully, I'm not sure whether it's about cake itself or about catching up with friends for cake and coffee or because I love to bake.

Whatever, the fact remains I eat too much of it. Especially when it's something I don't like the kids to have often. I mean, just last week I went to an event where I brought home leftovers equivalent to approximately half a fruit cake. Not to mention the two kiddy parties I went to, and another three occasions where cake or other sweet treats were provided. On top of that, I baked apple cinnamon muffins this afternoon. Not that I necessarily ate something evil at everything I attended.

I'm at that stage where I don't even like it anymore. The fruit cake I brought home, sure, that was great, and the stuff I bake myself, of course. But I'm getting over the whole cake thing. Maybe because it often tastes mass-produced or like it's been sitting around half a day too long, or because I wouldn't dream of letting the kids eat even half as much, or maybe because I've just been feeling crap for too long.

The cake is going to stop.

Now, I'm not very good at cutting out one thing and being tempted by others, then reasoning to myself that just this or that or whatever will be okay... so I'm going to cut out a whole heap of things for March. I've done it before and it's a guaranteed way of feeling great, and it's healthy. None of this starving rubbish. That is something I could never do. Forunately I never wanted to be a model anyway.

My little detox (probably not technically a detox but that's what I'm going to call it) has no restrictions on how much I can eat, which suits me very well. Because I definitely like to eat. There's just a whole bunch of stuff I won't be eating. And I'm pretty sure that after a month, I won't even be interested in cake (I'm sure too, that will build back up slowly after a while).

So, during March, there will be no:
Tokay or other alcohol. This will be easy.
Dairy produce. This will also be easy as I'm lactose intolerant and don't eat much anyway.
Sugar. You'd think with my love for cake, this would be tough, but it's not really.
Wheat. This is the hard part.

Wheat is hard to cut out completely because it's everywhere, and while there are plenty of substitutes, the other four people living here don't necessarily want a substitute. Not all the time anyway. I won't even be able to use soy sauce in my fried rice!

But really, it's okay. As I said, I've done it before, so I have a long list of alternatives to make sure I don't go crazy, and I figure the trick is to avoid getting so hungry I just want to grab the closest thing. Well, the first time that seemed to be the key, but I haven't really noticed it any of the other (three) times. One of the other things I learned the first time was how many packaged foods, especially cans, contain sugar. For example, for one type of canned vegetable, there might be three or four brands. Two or three probably contain sugar, yet one or maybe two don't. And they're pretty much the same price.

Anyway, I'm all stocked up, although most of the foods I'll be eating are things I generally eat anyway. Porridge or (Carman's) muesli for breakfast, although there is a rye sourdough bread from Alex's Wuppertaler & Rye Bakery that's acceptable, so maybe eggs on toast some mornings. There's plenty of rice and rice/corn pasta, corn thins, plain rice crackers (the sugarless brand) and when I'm out and get stuck, hot chips work. I drink black coffee, so I don't have to miss out on my caffeine fix(es). Dinners will mostly be curries/tagines, (corn/rice) pasta or something that's mostly veggies. Not that that's any different to our usual fare.

Anyway, I wonder if anyone's interested in joining in. You may not want to cut out so many things; maybe just one thing, or change something, or whatever. So far, there's one other person onboard, who's cutting back on all the same things as I am, and maybe another person, who might be turning vegetarian (waiting to hear back).

If you don't want to join in, feel free to have one extra slice of cake, for me.

5 comments:

オテモヤン said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
colour-me-in said...

I'm always amazed at people who are willing to cut things out of their diet. I unfotunately do not have the will power. I love my carbs way too much. And too be honest I don't have the time or patience to find alternatives. Isn't that negative! I don't think we can be too hard on ourselves, too many pressures these days. I just try and keep balanced. Good luck!

Tiggy Johnson said...

Thanks colour-me-in. I like your motto, don't be too hard on yourself. I love carbs too, and have been eating a heap of rice. I think my body would stop by 11am if I stopped carbs!

Anonymous said...

You might be surprised at the changes you feel.

I have a severely restricted diet, and I love it now. I have celiac disease and other food intolerance's, but this has lead me to a super healthy diet.

The only things I eat are organic meats, organic veggies and fruits, raw honey, occasional rice, and rare beans.

The best thing a person can do for themselves and their family is to get off GMO food, which pretty much means all mainstream, corporate foods.

Best of luck! Let us know how it goes!

Tiggy Johnson said...

Wow, hats off to you, that is definitely one set of restrictions. I quite like the detox once I get stuck into it too, and always feel much better. I do find it difficult to eat when I'm out though, either visiting or buying, and then there's the occasional daydream about chocolate :)

Will do another post near the end of the month about it (although so far, so good). Thanks for your support.