No news and #iquitsugar week 3

Tags

Anxiety, As You Like It, blood sugar levels, Christmas, detox, Easter, Father’s Day, gluten denial, guardian angel-type people, Halloween, Hashimoto’s, I Quit Sugar, joblessness, Mother's Day, Shakespeare, sugar, sugar addiction, swings and roundabouts, Thanksgiving, trick or treating, Valentine's Day, worry

An empty street stage in a Melbourne laneway, waits for its actors

All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players:

They have their exits and their entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts…

~ Shakespeare, As You Like It

Joblessness

In case you were wondering, the saying “no news is good news” is a crock o’… you-know-what.

Waiting, waiting and waiting to hear back about various leads from recruitment agencies. Sometimes the company withdraws an advertised job for financial reasons, or suddenly they’ve hired someone by other channels. Yet all the recruiters tell me what an amazing skill set I have! Often I’m just not getting a look in. Even with short term jobs that don’t pay as much as I normally get paid, but that I’d be willing to do just to have some cash flow happening.

I like to imagine that the Universe has a hand in this. As in, I won’t be placed in a job if it isn’t good for my health or stress levels etc. Ironically, having no job at all is NOT good for those things either.

It’s a case of swings and roundabouts, as the saying goes.

Then again, being in the thick of an undesirable situation is never as bad as worrying about what might happen if such a thing comes to pass. In the last weeks of my contract role, my belly was very unhappy with all of the anxiety and so (excuse the TMI) I had the runs.

Now I’m all unemployed with no new job lined up, the runs (sorry!) have cleared up. I’m getting a lot more sleep, and taking time to do the things I need to do. So that’s actually nourishing for my health. As long as I keep faith that the Universe will provide, then my stress levels are under control, too.

Plus, I find myself surrounded by lovely guardian angel-type people. Folks I wouldn’t have met had it not been for this blog, yet they are kinder and more giving than my own family.

Two such angels are Nadine and Kerry, whom I’ve talked a lot about recently. Let’s just say they are beautiful people as well as being excellent at what they do. I’m so grateful to have them in my life! Thank you! xxx

Quittin’ sugar, week 3

Last week I was dealing with a box of chocolates that I really didn’t want in my life. Bloody hell. I had some of them.

But the funny thing is that I didn’t want to consume them all like I would have before starting my sugar detox.

In fact I’ve noticed that the less sugar I have, the less I want it all. Very. Interesting.

Today at the supermarket I again noticed an absolute homage to sugar at checkouts, hoping to catch people at a weak moment.

I also really saw for the first time just how much sugar is tied to holiday occasions: Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and birthdays.

You folks in the US also have Thanksgiving and Halloween. I understand there’s even a Thanksgiving dish that involves marshmallows! Let’s not even talk about the diabetes in waiting sugar situation known as trick or treating.

Anyway, like I said before: the less I have, the less I want. Conversely the more sugar I have, the more often I want it. Which is a telltale sign of addiction.

Big business bets on this addiction by including sugar in most of our processed foods. So then those extra treats at the checkout are harder to resist because there’s already plenty of sugar in our body, crying out for the next fix!

I recall certain periods in my life where I HAD to have chocolate every single day. But no longer, because this autoimmune condition of mine does much better when my blood sugar levels are balanced. Too much sugar and my body freaks out!

Honestly, I consider that a blessing.

So this week as part of the detox, I’ve been upping the ratio of good fats in my diet. Things like avocados (which are crazy cheap right now), pumpkin seeds, coconut oil, certain cheeses etc. Unsaturated fats in small doses that quickly sate my appetite and provide much needed nutrients.

In addition, I’m eating more vegetables and organic/free range meat. Plenty of water, coconut water, green tea, tulsi tea and chai.

Basically, it’s all going well and I don’t seem to be missing sugar at all. For now. Apparently it gets harder in a few more weeks…

Also: gluten denial!

Oooh boy. I confess I’ve been majorly in denial about gluten.

Only certain types of food containing gluten cause me real physical grief, specifically things like bread and pizza. In small doses I can handle dumplings (my weakness)…

But gluten is gluten.

Part of me really hates the idea of being all “special needs” with my food and this fuels my occasional rebellion.

However all the reading I’ve done on Hashimoto’s strongly recommends going gluten-free.

So I’ve had a very stern talk with myself: *clears throat* Even if we’re not having an obvious physical reaction to gluten (hello, dumplings that aren’t gluten-free!), that doesn’t mean its okay to eat it. And no, we can’t occasionally have pizza with gluten just because it’s more convenient. That’s dumb-ass, young lady, and we know it’ll hurt! So. Just. Stop.

Sheesh. Sometimes I’m very stubborn about the wrong things.

That’s all for now, y’all.

Oh! I do have a couple of things going on. I’m writing a couple of guest posts, and also maybe doing a bit of freelance work. More updates soon…

~Svasti

P.S. Please do send the Faeries In Charge of Jobs and Abundance over to my house for a spell, okay?

Week 2: Giving up sugar

Tags

adzuki beans, Chai tea, complex carbohydrates, dark chocolate, detox, hot chocolate, I Quit Sugar, impending unemployment, lentil sprouts, mung beans, stress levels, sugar

So folks, here we are! Week 2 of this quittin’ sugar detox and so far, so good.

This is actually pretty amazing because right now with the whole job situation STILL not panning out, it’s a battle to keep my stress levels under control.

And stress = feeling crappy = sugar cravings!

The job sitch

I had an interview last week and about halfway through I was pretty certain this was not a job I wanted. Given that (for now) tomorrow is my last day of actual paid-with-a-regular-pay-cheque-type employment, I was amazed that I was able to admit this to myself instead of just going for the job anyway, misgivings and all.

Which is what I would’ve done once upon a time.

But I stuck to speaking truth, and I was very clear that in no way would it be a suitable job if I wanted to retain my health.

There’ve been a couple of other interviews, but so far nothing concrete. This is the third time in as many years that I’ve been in this situation. I sure wish I knew what I’m meant to be learning from it all!

My unemployment is no longer just a potential situation. It’s happening as of COB tomorrow.

(More on what I’m doing about all of this in my next post)

Recapping week 1, sugar-free

Getting through week 1 was kind of a breeze, as all new efforts are. In the beginning when you’re committed to them, that is. Before the battle of old vs new habits really kicks in.

As I mentioned, I’d already been cutting back on sugar before I started my detox. Like, for months I ate a gluten-free cereal for breakfast that was choc-full of dried fruits. That’s some serious sugar, people! But it’s been out of my life for a couple of months now.

You see, one of the things I’ve noticed with this whole thyroid/autoimmune thing is that my body is much more sensitive to sugar than it used to be. Gone are the days when I’d devour any chocolate in my path. I simply can’t handle it anymore (thank goodness!).

So last week was about just cutting out the really obvious stuff. The low-hanging fruit, so to speak (pun intended).

For example: The odd square or two of 80% cocoa dark chocolate I’d have some days. Or an occasional hot chocolate or chai tea with honey.

However, I did trip up inadvertently a couple of times. Like ordering chai at a cafe and drinking it before figuring out that they’d stirred some agave into the pot. Doh!

Going off all fruit is a bit of a challenge. I like to inhale the odd punnet of blueberries or strawberries in lieu of anything more evil (e.g. ice-cream, chocolate). But for now, fruit has to go.

Things I’m still eating: small amounts of gluten-free bread (breakfast is usually boiled eggs or avocado on toast), and some rice. Grains, in case you weren’t aware, are complex carbohydrates that break down into sugar within the body.

My “easy-does-it”, less than hard core approach means that I haven’t taken those foods out yet. That said, I don’t eat huge amounts of bread or rice, either. For now, they’re staying put.

To date, I’ve noticed a couple of potential effects but as I mentioned to a friend of mine… I’m not sure if they have anything to do with quitting sugar or not. I could be making this up entirely!

Things like: being more aware of my appetite; my appetite seemingly spiking less intensely than usual; and, the 3pm “crash” most people experience also seems to be less extreme.

Other things

As well as cutting my sugar intake, I’ve also been reducing the number of times a week I eat out/buy take-away. It’s something that got out of control when I developed PTSD because I simply didn’t care enough to cook for myself.

Speaking of cooking – something else I’ve been reminded of lately is that handling and preparing your own food helps to sate hunger almost as much as eating it.

Oh, and also? Bought a new seed and bean sprouter so I can add living sprouted foods to my meals.

From top to bottom: adzuki beans, lentils, mung beans

The sprouter is apparently made of eco-friendly acrylic glass.

This week I’m growing mung beans, adzuki beans and lentil sprouts. 🙂

Week 2…

So far, week 2 has kicked off just fine as well. But I shouldn’t speak too soon, I imagine.

My monthly cycle usually brings all kinds of sugar and fried food cravings. I’m positive that’s gonna be another experience entirely. (Yikes!)

Wanna be my sugar-free buddy?

My friend Kate (no added sugar required for all of her sweetness) has already joined me, even if she is on the other side of the planet. So glad to have some company on this wee adventure, thanks Kitty!

But the more the merrier. Give me a shout if you’d like to join in the fun!

~Svasti