6:21 pm
All I want is bread. And cake. Chips, bread, cake, all the carbs!? All. The. Carbs.
Yet, I know I can’t do that. And, I know I’ve been working WAY too hard these past years, literally, to lose a few pounds around my waist–way too hard to let it slip away with a few untimely carb binges. But, I want. I want, I want, I want! Gah!
It’s been about five months since I started on a low-carb diet–well, let’s be honest, a “less carb” diet; an ATTEMPT to eat LESS carbs than I have been eating (at least since I got sober!). And, by carbs, I mean specifically bread (I’ll allow wheat bread once in a while, but it’s an arbitrary distinction), white pasta, and well, sweets, like actual sweets (cookies, cake, etc.) but also “sweets,” like anything that is a high-carb bomb (juice, fruit, um, pretty much everything that is not a vegetable and/or comes in packaging, it seems).
UGH. It is making me cray cray, this CRAVING for bread, carbs, all the carbs!? Bread and butter–YUM. And, it seems, the more I try not to eat carbs–and it’s been five months of intentional cutting back–the deeper the craving gets. Last night, I gave in and ate pita bread and white rice and like, four freaking oatmeal raisin cookies (and, of course, the topping to the rice, which was homemade chana masala–good stuff). Only to feel like a wobbling, dizzy baloon before going to bed and well, the same after waking! And, today, it’s happening again: I cannot stop eating all the things, especially chips. I got the yeast out and was trying to decide between making naan or regular white bread when I was like, gurl, what are you doing?
The reason I started on this whole low-carb thing was because, last year, I went away on a trip for about 10 days, during which time I was sort of forced to drastically change my diet–and my perimenopausal night heat (burning up, dry chills, no sweating) went away! I mean, I stopped the bread, the pasta, the snacking, and the sweets; I only had one small cup of hot coffee in the morning with my breakfast (which consisted of eggs and rice and fruit)–and, no night heat! For the first time in like, years. SO, I tried to keep that up when I got back to the States, and I thought the craving would get less as time went on, but…it seems to be getting worse. Like I’m in a carb deficit and the sinkhole just keeps getting bigger and bigger, pulling me under…! Haha.
I gained weight years ago after quitting drinking–um, I started eating instead of drinking–and it’s been a struggle to not dive into every sweet, carb, or boredom-filling whatever since then. So, it was a great feeling when I went away last September for a week or so, to not only feel better but lose weight. Now, it seems, the cravings for carbs are stronger than ever–it’s almost painful, actually, like my belly is a yawning chasm, like my mind is in a constant state of semi-anxiety over not having carbs in me. I mean, I do have carbs once in a while, but really, the pasta is out since it makes me feel bloated now, and the bread and cookies and cakes and juice, and all that–I am trying to minimize it. UNTIL…I just cannot and I binge.
I’m convinced that the severity of my perimenopausal night heat is made better by not eating carbs (which cause inflammation and other stuff, I have to assume, related to hormonal fluctuations). And, well, not eating after a certain hour. Like, if I eat dinner late, or eat in the middle of the night (out of anger or anxiety that I can’t sleep!), I feel horrible the next morning, like that food has not budged! I try not to eat late anymore, but that doesn’t always work out. I TRY not to eat carbs, but as you can tell, that isn’t always easy.
Anyway, feeling pretty good today aside from that. Any other ladies experience the same (or different) off carbs?
Drunky Drunk Girl 