Wow. So, I had a wow moment (or weeks really, like 4 weeks now). I stopped craving sugar… WHAT?  Right. Yes. Me.

If you know anything about me, you know I am a sugar addict. I can’t let it be. If there’s a box of donuts, I HAVE to eat all of them until they’re gone. If you give me a box of chocolates, I have to eat them all in one sitting. Same with a  jar of dulce de leche. Or Nutella.

You don’t get crowned the Queen of Nutella for nothing.

Of course, a few years ago just turned into eating Nutella before every race, a whole jar of course.

Anyway, the point is that sugar was 70% of my diet and, WORSE, a complete addiction I thought I’d never cure. Obviously that implies, being over my happy weight, messy sleep, poor nutrition, feeling tired all the time, etc, etc. Plus, I think sugar is the worst of all the drugs. I do. Sugar SUCKS the life out of you. I am sure it’s the culprit of most ailments in modern society. I just never thought I’d get out of that cycle where I’d try to stop it and the come back with a hungry revenge. My only issue was the highs and lows. I’d be super cranky, tired, overexcited, sad, all if it, in a matter of minutes. And I got tired of it. Mostly, I got tired of feeling crazy and tired.

I went to see a nutritionist. Obviously, I had zero hopes.

We talked for an hour,  he was great, he’s a RUNNER. He said I didn’t have an eating disorder, but disordered eating (ha, cool!). He gave me a diet, with a LOT of protein, and a LOT of fiber. Guys, it’s rally a LOT of food. Oh, and I was supposed to drink 3 liters of water every day; I was probably getting about 1 liter in -on the good days!. Basically, what I thought was a portion of protein, was half (you know, the palm of your hand, etc). So,just one day later, I was eating SO much, SO much, that of course I had no candy cravings (and no space in my stomach for any extra food!!!). I was so completely full all day long. I am now eating even when I am not hungry and my weight has stayed the same. Het gave me a few recipes, a list of snacks (high in protein and fiber), and mostly taught me how much of each macronutrient I should be eating and when.

And, now it’s been 4 weeks and I’ve barely had any desserts or sugary fun “food”. I had tiramisu over Christmas (hey, I was at my cousin’s and it was right in front of me) and a pack of two reese’s cups, 10 days ago. That’s IT. To me, that’s completely insane. I used to have Reese’s cups EVERY DAY before this. I swear. I just don’t crave it anymore. And if I see candy, something I wouldn’t even think twice about before, now I just let it be. The only “added” sugar or refined sugar I get is the 8 grams of sugar in the greek yogurt. Carbs come from grains, vegetables, etc…

But… I have been spending an insane amount of time cooking (any time over 10 minutes a week is too much for me) and my grocery spending has doubled. I am starting to understand how my body works. Finally. I am freaking 40, it was about time!!

I’ve been using two apps for help. You Food gives you recipes, super easy and you can add them to your “fridge”, you can search by expertise level (“easy” please!), and make folders to save them. I also use My Plate to keep track of what I eat. I don’t need to keep track, but it’s great because I’ve learned a lot with that. You can scan any bar code and it just adds it, you just pick the serving size.

I get bored with water, so I’ve been drinking chocolate milk, and mostly a million cups of tea a day. Tea is awesome.

I am now one of those people who packs 3 tupperwares to work every day, plus all the fruit in the world. I used to make fun of those people.

It’s been pretty great, thought I hate cooking and doing dishes. I am not on a diet, I am supposed to eat whatever I want, as long as I fit in ALL that protein, ALL that FIBER, and all that FAT, plus ALL the carbs. Most days it’s really hard to hit the numbers. Sometimes 2 hours after dinner I realize I still need about 200 calories more… I am hoping this works long term. 4 weeks is definitely better than 3 days but we’ll see. For now, it’s working. Stay tuned.

It’s 10 am and I already had 3 eggs with cheese and bacon, 1 cup of greek yogur with 2 cups of berries, 1 banana and 24 oz of tea. I am tired of eating (ALL THE TIME).

PS: If you have time, find In Defense Of Food, an amazing two hour documentary on PBS, you’ll LOVE IT. Here you can read about it.