Mid-Afternoon Munchies

Well I am at Day 3 and still doing good as far as withdrawal. Little headache last night but I'm getting used to those dealing with my little rug rats all day! In all my reading and talking to others, it seems that everyone has certain times of day that are usually the toughest for them to cope with food choices. Most of us start out great in the morning and can usually get through the lunch hour. My two areas of difficulty are mid-afternoon and after dinner. Usually I can manage after dinner because I know I am only a few short hours away from sleep and that I don't really need any more food to get through my day. But after lunch, especially when my kids go down for their afternoon naps....I want to munch!

I take a supplement, L-Glutamine. It is supposed to help stabilize your blood sugar so I take it every day around 3. Hopefully I'll only need it for the first month or so. It really does help. I'm also trying my best to get out of the habit of sitting in front of the TV (usually in front of some brain-zapping show like the Real Housewives!) and packing away the food.

One thing sugar does to me is gives me a false sense of hunger. I will eat a huge meal and then feel legitimately hungry just an hour or so later. It makes no logical sense why I would be hungry, but my stomach is growling, I feel faint and then feel better when I eat something more. When your body is as impacted by sugar as mine is, even the smallest amount can get your blood sugar levels all screwy. And when your levels are constantly going up and down, it's tough for your body to know what to do. The first time I went off sugar a few years ago I was blown away by actually feeling "full" after a meal and not needing to eat for 4 hours. I realized that I had no recent memory of ever feeling satiated in a way that made me feel good. In the past I had only felt full by feeling stuffed, which was more of a sick feeling. That's when I realized that all of these years struggling to have "will power" was more than just me having a strong mind. I was also trying to fight an actual physical reaction to a food, and that is difficult!

I stopped beating myself up and realized that my body was just different in how it processed sugar compared to some. I can tell when I talk to people that they don't always believe me. But I'm trying not to concern myself too much with how others think (much easier said than done!). The two books that really opened up my mind to this are:

Overcoming Sugar Addiction by Karly Randolph

Lick the Sugar Habit by Nancy Appleton

These two books blew my mind. And if anyone also thinks they may have an actual sugar addiction they are worth a look.

Thanks for all of comments so far! And thank you to people that have tried to comment but are having problems. I'm still trying to figure out this blog stuff, I am not the most technologically savvy person. Yet another project to keep me away from the sweets!