Oct. 9, 2017
Epiphanies never seem to happen like in Renaissance paintings or Cecil B. DeMille movies, where clouds part and shafts of light beam down upon the astonished recipient, bringing enlightenment along with a nice shot of vitamin D for all that thirsty skin to absorb.
No, my epiphanies involve me staring slack-jawed at Chip (Body Dynamics nutritionist) when he hits me with truth bombs. He had two for me today.
The one he said he was reluctant to share with most clients is “When you aim for the stars in your fitness/nutrition plan, the only one who believes that’s going to happen is you.”
This whapped me upside the head because I ALWAYS believe I can make sweeping, grand changes, turning away forevermore from every bad habit. And of course, I fail. Always have. That’s why Chip’s philosophy is: We start SMALL – we make incremental changes. Get a little success under your belt before you try to revise something else.
The second epiphany was when he said “It takes about two weeks to make a new habit; it takes about two days to break it again.”
Whaaaaat??! Say that again!
Yes, he said calmly. You can work for two weeks to create a good habit. You can blow it in two days. So don’t be surprised, don’t assume something that lasts for two weeks will last forever, and don’t beat yourself up when it happens to you. Keep trying. It’s worth it.
To complete his use of the number two, Chip says since I’ve been making my incremental changes for the last four to six months, I’m ready for a new project. He’s assigned me a two-week “sugar control diet” – a temporary diet (and I’m quoting now) “designed to help recalibrate the body’s sugar control mechanism. It will increase your energy and vitality if followed closely. It is not a healthy diet for all times, but it is beneficial for you during a trial period. Most people will lose cravings for unhealthy foods within 1 to 2 weeks.”
So, okay. If it takes two weeks to set a new habit, I’ll take the Sugar Control Diet as my two-week challenge (starting Wednesday – exactly two weeks before I see Chip again) and use my two epiphanies to inform my attempt.
Could it be possible that my craving for sweet foods can be dialed back?? I’m skeptical. Chip says yes. We’ll see!
fatladyinfitnessland.com 
So “no sugar” means no carbs means no bread, pasta, rice, potatoes? Or just desserts (cookies, candies, cake).
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The diet in its least detailed form is – no grains of any kind. No dairy (except yogurt). No sweeteners of any kind.
Two servings of fruit per day; no more. Don’t eat hyper-sweet ones; banana – mango – they’re out.
All the veggies (leafy green; stay away from starchy ones), nuts, proteins you want. Natural fats good (butter yay; hydrogenated oils boo.) Protein MUST include a minimum of 2-6 ounces per meal; no exceptions. Have as much as you want. (You can see why this can only be endured for a short period.) Can’t remember the other details. Eat foods as close to nature as possible; eat raw when possible.
Interesting, no? There are compensations for the denials. I think I can make two weeks…??
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I totally believe Chip on this one since it has happened to me. I used to live for home made cookies. Now I forget if we have them in the house. Weird. My sugar desire, or at least the relative sweetness of what will satisfy, has decreased with the years— with a little help. Sugar, it seems to me, is Bossy and controlling— esp combined with fat— and I hate to be controlled by external things like that. Makes me claustrophobic.
A friend posited the theory that we humans do not have natural defenses to the fat/sugar combo. Try eating pure sugar, or spoonfuls of honey. After a bit, it’s just too much. Same with fat. I mean who can eat endless spoons full of butter? Combine the two, however, and heaven help self control. So what in nature has sugar and fat together? Not much other than breast milk, which we are programmed to love and never get tired of lest we perish as infants. Our body response, once the first taste is in the mouth, is more, more, more. So it helps me not to even start, or to separate the two once again.
Fat and salt instead. Yum.
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Jeezum, Sarah, you are SO RIGHT. I am defenseless against this combination! I’m encouraged that your sugar jones has faded; it gives me hope that the huge, fanged baboon on my back might shrink down to a more manageable and charming Cappuchin monkey…
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