My New Start - Help & Advice Welcomed

[TheFlyingScotsman]

Hi everyone,

I am posting on here as I need to change my life before I cause myself serious harm and/or hold myself back anymore.

For the last 10 years or so, ever since I got my first part time job, right through school and university & even now in a full time job, married with a home I have been addicted to sugar and it's been getting progressively worse.

I'll drink 3-4L of full sugar cola a day plus 4-6 chocolate bars and some potato chips/crisps eqach day.

I'll usually always have a cake with my lunch at work, breakfast is usually some cola to kick start me out of the morning fog.

I want to change because I feel terrible all the time, I have no energy and I have trouble concentrating. I have a really bad brain fog most of the time. I need to sleep 9 or 10 hours a day to feel anything like normal.

I get grumpy because I feel washed out. I have days where I don't wash or brush my teeth. I don't really do anything or make my own food because I cannot find the energy. I'll buy sweets when I'm out and bin the wrappers before I get home so no-one know what I've been doing. I feel ashamed and disgusted with myself.

I want to get my life back, I'm better than this. My wife deserves a better husband than she's getting as well. I think of all the other thing I could be spending my money on other than putting it in a vending machine.

So I'm planning to cut junk food and processed food out of my diet for 6 months to give my body a chance to detox itself and get back to normal.

I'm going to ease into an exercise programme to help me lose the 35lbs I've gained, I'm hoping that as I do this things like shortness of breath, mucus build-up, headaches, trouble sleeping will get better.

I'm also expecting some pretty terrible detox symptoms for a week or two as I've been putting so much junk into my body for so long.

My plans for this week is to try and walk an hour each day and to cut the sugar & caffeine from my diet. I think after the 6 months are up I might look at going vegetarian or vegan but for now I think its best not to take on too much and just try to sort out the sugar in my diet and get some energy back.

I'll post some daily updates on here, but I would really appreciate some advice on what I'm doing and some encouragement, as I feel as though I've hit rock bottom at the moment.

[Lisa McGregor]

Hi FS. I'm not going to give you any real advise because I'm not a nutritionist or dietician and you seem to have it all planned out pretty well. I would just like to say that I wish you the very best in kicking all those really bad habits. I'm very interested (in an amateur way) in nutrition. I'll be keeping an eye on you. Isn't it interesting that although you eat loads of sugar, you actually lack energy.

By the way, eating fruit during the day helps to curb the sugar cravings. Especially banana's. Also important that you discuss this all with your wife as her support will also be very important for you.

By the way, does your name refer to your love of trains or are you from Scotland?

Best wishes
Lisa

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

Hey, FS. It's great you are working to break your sugar addiction. I can tell you that you will not regret it. Good luck with everything. I'll be following your progress.

I agree it would be a good idea to get your wife on board with you. Her support could be very helpful.

[Thomas H]

Hi FS,

Making a commitment to health is a great decision and not one you'll regret. My advice is not to "cut" the sugars out of your life but add healthy things to your diet instead. You'll see the unhealthy things (sweets you say) fall out of your life. So, instead of drinking cola, drink water. Instead of eating chocolate eat fruit. Too often people feel like they're making sacrifices when they change their diet, but realize that you're not sacrificing anything. You're GAINING health. (btw, I don't call them sweets because although they may taste sweet, they certainly haven't been treating your body that way.)

I would also become clear about why you want to create this change in your life. Here's some questions you might want to answer:

How specifically can you treat your wife better by gaining health?

How specifically would you rather spend your money, instead of mindlessly putting it into a vending machine?

How would you like to feel about yourself inside? and How will getting health help you feel that way?

Maybe after a week or two you can take the money that you otherwise would've spent in vending machines and do something fun with your wife.

What's great about your situation is that you know that you can be better and you've even pinpointed a problem that's holding you back, now all you have to do is make it happen!

If you need any more advice please post back, or PM me and we can discuss it further, I'd love to help you attain the health you're looking for!

[TheFlyingScotsman]

I am from Scotland, but I live in England after meeting my wife online.

I also have a passion for cars and engineering.

My wife is a bit sceptical at the moment as I have tried to give up a few times before without much luck.

Hopefully after a bit she will come on board a bit more.

Started at 4PM today, had a bit of cheesecake tonight but my wife and I have a special meal on a Sunday night so I can relax once a week, if I keep the rest of the week strict.

Going well so far but only half a day in lol.

Is diet lemonade any better a choice or should I stick to water?

Thanks for all the replies so far I appreciate the help. I'll have a think about your questions Thomas & post back.

[Ali from The Office Diet]

Just wanted to say good luck, it sounds like you've made a great decision -- stick with your commitment!

I agree that ADDING to your diet might help: perhaps try to include more fruit? (This should also aid in resisting cravings for sweets and chocolates.) I find raw carrot sticks surprisingly sweet, too.

Definitely treat yourself once in a while, too.

Best of luck,

Ali

[simon]

Hi FS

Good luck! Take it one step at a time and you will get there!

I find that the best way to drop bad habits, is to understand your enemy better. Please take a look at the following page to see if it helps...

Sugar - Pure White and Deadly - The Problem of Sugar

Allen Carr's methodolgy really helped me in quitting smoking and aclohol and you can apply his techniques to a variety of life aspects.

I guess if you are intaking sugar heavily, you should drink as much pure water as possible to counteract it, whilst cutting down on the sugar you intake.

Good luck mate !

[TheFlyingScotsman]

Just off to bed now made it through my first half day. Doesn't sound like much but it's more than I've managed in the last dozen attempts, usually my brain finds some way to talk me into 'just one more before I give up' I'm sure I am addicted to sugar and thats part of the reason i want to give up.

Watching the videos on Simon's web link showing how the sugar plantation workers are treated makes me even more determined to give up on refined sugar. No one should have to suffer like that just so we can get a sugar hit.

Some people have mentioned adding good fodds to my diet. I'm pretty much going to have to lol, if I remove all the junk I'm left with two half meals. I'm aiming to eat as much unprocessed food as I can, but this is a journey thats going to carry on long term. As I said earlier I want to look into vegetarian or even vegan diets in the future I just don't want to take on too much at once.

As for the earlier questions Thomas asked me.
How specifically can you treat your wife better by gaining health?

Right now I'm grumpy for a lack of energy and brain fog I find it hard to find the energy to do things and hard to concentrate for any length of time. It's incredibly frustrating and it makes me cranky. I want to be more energetic and happier.

I want to have the energy to do more around the house and to be able to kiss my wife without feeling like i can't breathe from the sot in my head.
How specifically would you rather spend your money, instead of mindlessly putting it into a vending machine?

Specifically I want to pay off my overdraft, I've also gone over my overdraft limit or left myself short on the bills sometimes to get a sugar fix. Stupid I know, after that I want to get some things we need for the house like storage boxes. Just little thing that will make our place lok better and give us a boost.
How would you like to feel about yourself inside? and How will getting health help you feel that way?

I want my body to function as well as it can. I want my brain to be clear so I can focus on things and be able to enjoy studying, reading and being active again. This is all about getting my life back.


Thanks everyone for all the suport and making me feel so welcome I'l post again tomorrow with the results of my first full day. Wish me luck.

[Nikaia]

I once gave up sugar for a week, it was on my mom's suggestion as a kickoff to a new round of weightloss so it wasn't quite as much as you're doing now, but I do kind of know how it feels.

The first few days are hard. You keep reaching for the stuff you always eat and going "Oh, damn. I can't eat that right now, can I?" My suggestion is, make it as easy as possible for yourself by keeping non-sweet stuff closer at hand than the sugary things. That way, when you reach for the sugary stuff, when you remember you can't have it, you have a substitute readily available, which helps your willpower to kick in and keep you from succumbing to cravings.

Wishing you a good transition, and enjoy the benefits once you get past the hard bits!

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

Great job on your first half day. Believe me, I understand when minutes or hours are accomplishments, so good going. It's also good that you took the time to answers Thomas' questions. It helps to have those important goals to help you when things get rough.

Keep up the great work.

[Lisa McGregor]

Hi FS. If you are craving a soda have a flavoured water (artificially sweetened) once in a while, but still drink lots of plain water. I've found that wheat makes me mentally foggy and when I cut wheat products (I know - it's hard) out of my diet I have much more mental clarity and no abdominal wind.
L

[TheFlyingScotsman]

Morning everyone its 10 am. Just getting ready to head off for work. Working 2-10 this week.

Had a big bowl of porridge for my breakfast this morning, with some milk. Seemed like a good choice, it's 10 am now time for my first snack and I'm not really hungry which is good. I did put a teaspoon of sugar on the porridge but considering my normal breakfast was a 1/2L of Coke with a chocolate bar I'm not going to worry too much.

Started taking a multi-vitamin as well, as I've read that sugars and acids in pop can rob the body of nutrients.

Still felt quite foggy and mucusy this morning but it did seem to clear out a bit quicker than normal. Was on my driving lesson this morning and it did seem a bit easier to concentrate.

Made the rest of my food for the day to help me not snack on junk.

I've got a youghurt and two apples for my morning snack. Some chicken, baked potato and salad for my lunch. For mid-afternoon I've got some grapes and for dinner I've got some fish, sweet potato & mixed frozen veg.

More fruit and veg in one day than I've had in a while. I'm kinda going thrugh a similar thing to Steve in that compared to chocolate bars and pop this seems a lot to eat. Just have to get used to it I think.

Going to buy myself a big bottle of water as well and see how I go with that.

I'm craving Sodas like nothing on earth at the moment, my brain is trying every excuse it can find for me to have one.

I have been drinking some diet rasperry flavoured lemonade to try and keep the cravings at bay, but I'm tryinn to keep it to one glass a day.

Hardest part of this is going to be overcoming my brain.

Also decided to do a water or juice fast on Wednesday for Ash Wednesday, years since I done a fast so I'll see how that goes.

Have a good day everyone

[Lisa McGregor]

How's it going FS?
L

[TheFlyingScotsman]

Not so good I fell off the rails a bit.

I managed until the evening of the first day then I let my brain talk me into having some coke and a chocolate bar. I kinda went to pieces the following day.

Same thing has happened before when I've tried to quit. Seems like my willpower gives out after a day, bit pathetic huh?

So yeah sitting here feeling kinda sad. I'm going to have to pick myself up again and start over.

[Amandaaa]

I'm also expecting some pretty terrible detox symptoms for a week or two as I've been putting so much junk into my body for so long.

Well it seems like you have a pretty good idea of what's going on and what to expect...

This is the kind of thing that takes a lot of discipline and determination to conquer.. because it's just like any other addiction-- you have to tough it out when your body starts craving the drug.


I don't really have a lot of advice... I would just recommend eating as many fruits and fresh salads as possible. Maybe incorporate some kind of nuts, seeds and legumes into your diet, too. I've found that this really helps the cravings subside when I'm trying to break a bad streak of eating things like chocolate and chips (or other junk food). ...So make sure that you're filling up on all the right nutrients.

Also, sometimes it's a good idea to take it slowly and look for substitutes. If you've been drinking regular soda (pop) every day for years, then maybe you should switch to decaf diet soda with splenda. That's not exactly a "healthy" recommendation, but it is a better alternative to caffeinated full-calorie soda loaded with sugar. (and it'll keep you from falling completely off the wagon). If you're craving something sweet, have a banana or a mango or some sweet red grapes. If you're craving something salty, put garlic or onion powder on your salad. Have sushi with a drop of soy sauce.
If you're desperate, look for alternatives -- anything that's better than what you were doing before.


You'll have to be aware of the time of day when you're most vulnerable, too. If you've developed a habit of eating chips in the afternoon at work, then your body is going to expect you to continue to fulfill that craving. So you'll have to break that habit by replacing it with another (better) habit. Go to work in the morning prepared and have a plan for when you get home...so you don't immediately run for a chocolate bar.

You can do it-- it just takes patience to clean those cravings out of your body & mind...

[Lisa McGregor]

Why don't you reward yourself with your favourite chocolate bar at the end of the day if you've eaten all the right things. Something to look forward to and you won't feel so deprived.
L

[Lauxa]

FS, I am working on smoking right now. It seems like every time I would try to quit I would finally succumb to my brain's tricksome ways to drag me back in. About 3 weeks ago, I decided that I would take a different approach and set a time each evening and not smoke before that time. It has been going very well, I only cheated one day so far (over a week ago). I am smoking much less than before, and when the time comes, I feel a great sense of accomplishment for making it. The smoking itself is also more fun because I don't feel so guilty. I don't know if this would be good for everyone, but I wanted to suggest it if you are looking for a different approach.

[TheFlyingScotsman]

Hi everyone,

I think the time idea sound like a more gentle approach to try. Interestingly this was the approach my Dad used to give up smoking 25 years ago. I think I'd be ok starting off saying no chocolate or coke until after 3 and work it forward in 30 minute or hour intervals every few days.

I think this one could work better for me as I can say to my brain I can have it after so and so, until I reach a point where I'm gonig the whole day without it.

That one day and a bit I did succeed I felt better. My nose felt less blocked up and I felt mroe full of energy so its definitely worth carrying on with.

So I'll go for up to 3pm from tomorrow morning & post how I get on.

Wish me luck I wll conquer this one way or another, I'm not giving up now.

Thanks for all the help everyone, its nice to know people care and want to help