At 03:07 PM 4/1/01 EDT, Charles Alban wrote:
>In a message dated 3/31/01 3:39:57 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
>[log in to unmask] writes:
>
><<  recall years ago cutting out sugars, refined stuff, etc., but not the
> starches; the addictive nature of my tastes and wants remained.  It wasn't
> until I eliminated both that some sense of balance returned, I've noted.
>  >>
>Dianne - yes, this is the key. It is the overall, delicate balance that the
>body has to maintain. These things are very subtle, and not easy to detect
>unless your body is "finely tuned". I know sugar seems to be desirable, and I
>do consume some, but if you listen very carefully to your body, it will tell
>you that sugar is putting the system off balance. At the extreme, eat a
>Krispy Creme donut. This will give you a sugar high, due, I suppose, to the
>highly refined confectioner's sugar.

<g>  That time I spoke of...  we had a birthday celebration in the office,
I ate a regular sized candy bar... you'd have thought I was on speed...  I
was literally running up and down the halls (I managed to find a lot of
things that needed to be returned to different offices!).  I even talked
fast.  It was absolutely bizarre.

But what's more bizarre is that I eventually went back to eating the stuff!

>I tried a piece of the yellow sweetcorn the other day, and was shocked by how
>sweet it was. No wonder they can extract corn syrup from it. Starches are the
>same. You will get a feeling of bloat after consuming potatoes, white rice,
>pasta, white bread, etc.

Good reason not to even feel tempted...  although I must say, I don't miss
any of that stuff, oddly enough.

And yeah, I discovered lemons are *sweet* :)  I also tend to have a bit of
frozen fruit every day in a sort of slush--1 part fruit to 2 parts
water--and it's plenty sweet for me!  What a difference.

>It may also be possible to "reverse train" yourself -- in other words to
>create a mental aversion to harmful things. I've achieved this to a certain
>extent - I get a feeling of revulsion from seeing too much food on a plate,
>for example, and if you know you will feel stuffed if you eat starches, this
>feeling arises in anticipation when you look at them

Come to think of it, it does.  I was in the store the other day, and
walking down one of the frozen food aisles, looking for some frozen veggies
that were on sale.  The freezer case on the other side was one of those
chest types, with a display area on the back--the freezer contained all the
frozen desserts, and the back all the syrups and stuff...  I recall feeling
repulsed by it all and thinking my taste for sweets had certainly taken an
interesting turn!  I get the same reaction in the bakery area, and I'm sure
it's just what you're saying.

Ironically, cheese and plain yogurt do not affect me that way at all,
although the thought of cream does.  In fact, after the last few months,
those two things remain things I miss--the only things I miss.  Given my
desire to follow my body's lead, and having observed how turned off I am by
all the other stuff I no longer eat, I've decided to give just those things
a limited try and observe any changes--weight, over all feeling, energy
levels, sleep, cravings for other "forbidden" stuff, etc.

I've also discovered that I'm one of those folks for whom beef, at least,
has a direct effect on my blood pressure, unfortunately :( -- but I'd never
have been able to distinguish something like that before!  Next thing to
check is the egg yolks, and try some other fine tuning.

Our bodies are pretty amazing, aren't they?

Dianne