I gotta be honest, I used to think I had good self-control when it came to eating habits. I generally try to eat healthy and make good decisions, having done this for years after being taught how to read labels by my mom when I was a kid.
Over the past couple years, I feel that I have made the “wrong” decision more than the “right” when it comes to food. My husband is extremely disciplined when it comes to eating what is good for him and I always figured I could do it – just chose not to.
Recently, my husband has been dabbling in a couple of diets, one being the Paleo, and currently the Slow-Carb. This particular diet was highlighted in the book The 4-Hour Body by Timothy Ferriss. There are only 5 rules!
Rule 1: Avoid “white” carbohydrates (or anything that can be white).
Rule 2: Eat the same few meals over and over again.
Rule 3: Don’t drink calories.
Rule 4: Don’t eat fruit.
Rule 5: Take one day off per week and go nuts.
To hear more detail or explanations, be sure to check out the link.
Although my husband has been living this diet the past few weeks, I have not attempted. One reason – being away from home most of the time for work, I figured it would be difficult to stick with something to rigid. Reason two – I need SUGAR!
After a weekend at home with Tim, I decided I would try out the Slow Carb Diet. Although I have physical goals I would like to obtain, my biggest reason, honestly, was to test myself. CAN I really follow a diet? Something I have NEVER done before? Can I go without sugar, grains and fruit? It’s only 6 days until a cheat day… right??
Day 1 started out good. I healthy breakfast before hitting the road for Austin. Plain tuna, baby carrots, peanuts at work. Chicken breast and frozen vegetables with ginger for dinner. So how did I feel toward the end of a successful first day? I NEEDED SUGAR!! I felt what can only be described as a Sugar Detox. I needed SOMETHING! Unfortunately, I have some fun-size candy bars at our Austin house from my bad-decision days. I had to stay away! I knew I didn’t need something that drastic; just something! What are my options in a house with almost NO food – I see a jar of all-natural peanut butter. I desperately called Tim and ask, “Can I eat peanut butter on this diet?” He thought about it and said it is probably OK. I took this as a strong YES and dug in!
Was it the best food choice ever? Probably not. Did it get me over that hump? Yes it did. Bless you jar of peanut butter!