30 Days NoGluten/Sugar Challenge

Day 2

Fasted until 5:20 pm today. I don't really know when I started fasting but I think it's a 19h+ fast. It's been a while since I fasted actually. It's like meditation, when you don't do it for a while and then you do it again you don't understand why you quit.

I did actually went gluten/sugar free last week since my last post, but I relapsed on Friday. I had pizza with my cousin and then I had junk food again this weekend.

 

Back on day 1 again.

It was a good week where I fasted regularly. Slipped yesterday on a family party. I simply couldn't resist the dessert. Ate multiple of them.

Well, today I didn't allow the slip-up of yesterday to deteriorate my eating pattern of today.

 

Was gluten/sugarfree for 10 days but I relapsed on Wednesday. Went to a night shop to buy cigarettes for someone else and I got tempted and bought a bag of paprika nuts. These are peanuts with a crunchy layer. This contains flour, sugar and vegetable oils. I also drank a Coke.

Next day I got tempted and ate like crap again. How a mild slip-up always leads to a 180...

I also relapsed with PMO. I now can officially establish that my eating patterns are dictating my PMO habit. When I'm on keto/paleo I have zero urges to watch porn. I even completely forget about the existence of P. When I eat sugar/gluten, I'm suddenly overwhelmed with urges weirdly enough. I always thought it was because of black and white thinking but I feel it's way deeper than that, it feels visceral.

Maybe it's the inflammation of the brain that causes these urges. Either way, the reality is that, for me, there's a one-on-one relation between my diet and my susceptibility to watch P. All my relapses were in the lethargic aftermath of eating like crap.

Tomorrow will be day 1 again. I'm now fully convinced that there is actually zero benefit in eating gluten and sugar. I have to come to terms that if I want to fully recover from my P addiction, I simply can't have gluten and sugar in my life.

From now on, I will have to approach these components like I'm currently approaching alcohol. I simply don't consume any alcohol. I'm going to do the same with gluten and sugar. My body can't stand it. It's like poison. I feel depressed when I consume it and I do things that I regret everytime it's in my system.

Tonight I will have some ground beef with tomato sauce.

I want to hit a year sugar/glutenfree...

 

Day 1

Felt a lot of cravings today. Felt tired and not so good overall.

Had a box of dried dates to deal with the cravings.

But now I feel that the gluten is out of my system so the worst part is over.

 

Day 2

So I still feel that I'm in the process of detoxing my body from the relapse/binge of Thursday/Friday.

Yesterday, I took a pen and paper and wrote down all the junk food I had during these 2 days I binged... I was really shocked by the amount of bad food I had. The lizard brain really took over during these 2 days. The good thing is that I got back on the horse pretty quickly.

Today I did soothe my depleted state with a box of dried dates again. It's a lot of natural sugar and I'm planning to cut that out again too, but at least it makes the transition from eating a lof bad carbs to going low carb a bit easier. Had a jar of kefir and a pack of goat cheese too.

I slept long today and had some eggs around noon. I will probably eat some more eggs later.

I'm glad that I got through the first 2 days without gluten and refined sugar. I really felt quite depressed yesterday and today. Such a big contrast when I'm doing intermittent fasting and keto.

Apparently I was killing it in March, pretty much fasting everyday.

Soon it will be exams and normally that would be a period where I eat comfort food to soothe the stress. I remember that last exam period I didn't eat bread etc. and I felt really good actually. I'm not going to bother eating junk food during my exams because this is taxing for my concentration and mood etc.

I think I will be taking a break from the forum for a while so I can focus on my studies. I hope I can come back in a more energized way where my relapse is only a distant memory!

It's also fascinating how the diet really impacts the skin. My skin was pretty clear before Thursday. I ate like crap and now I have some pimples again!

 

Day 9

Quick update. Did intermittent fasting everyday for about 20-23 hours this week. Today I fasted for 18-19 hours.

I basically ate keto all week. Yesterday I had a whole box of dried dates, but that's okay. I felt really depressed during the first days but now I'm getting the hang of it again.

 

Day 12 of nogluten/added sugar.

Day 9 of daily intermittent fasting [fasts ranging from 19h-24h40mins].

In those 9 days I had a box of dried dates [195g of sugar!] once. For the rest of the days I ate keto. I don't count macros so I might have had more than 20gs of carbs on some days [tomato sauce, kefir, etc.]. But I'm already glad that I'm not eating any wheat, sugar, starches, etc.

I'm having quite a lot of cheese. But I don't feel that it's taxing for my system like carbs do I will have to start limiting it though.

 

Gluten/refined sugar-free for 22 days.

I have been doing intermittent fasting everyday for 16 days straight. In these 16 days I had a box of dried dates once. The rest of my days were really low-carb. Not even quinoa, buckwheat, patatoes or rice.

Maybe it's a bit too early to talk about benefits, but I've been feeling pretty good for for the last 2 weeks. My energy levels have improved. I got acne breakouts when I relapsed before I started this wagon, now my skin has cleared up significantly.

I remember that maybe a week ago I had some meatballs as a snack and I crashed after eating them. I think that's because they might contain flour and maybe even seed oils. Today I crashed too. I was overwhelmed with fatigue. I think it's because I'm a big eater and I overwelhm my system with a big amount of food when I break my fast.

Something I want to change is the amount of cheese I consume. I don't think cheese is taxing my system as gluten does, but I tend to gorge on it. I really have to start measure my intake of cheese.

If I now go through the cheese products I had this week, I come to a total of 11 cheese products [2 of these products were pretty big blocks of cheese: Emmenthal en Gouda...]. That's excessive. Cheese should be consumed in moderation. It surely doesn't have the inflammatory effect on me as gluten-filled carbs, but it's a lot of calories... Cheese is also not cheap, so I'm going to limit it from now on.

New rule: I will consume a maximum of 3 cheese products per week. I will also keep it with sheep/goat cheese or cheese that is made from raw milk. I'm going to quit consuming cheap Gouda.

 

I think it's time for a quick update.

So it's been 40 days since I had any food with grain or refined sugar.

Also, for 37 days straight I've been doing intermittent fasting for a minimum of 16 hours every single day. I think 2 days ago I ate something in the morning which was the first time I didn't really fast [it was still maybe 14 hours].

I really have been keeping it low carb [basically keto, although I haven't really been counting my macros and I do eat a lot of proteins which might kick me out of ketosis too]...

I feel pretty good. Skin looks better too. I'm going to stick to this diet to see how far this can get me. For the past 2 weeks I've been going a bit easier on the cheese. In one of my previous posts I said I'd like to limit my cheese intake to 3 cheese products per week. I think I consumed 4 cheese products last week. The week before that maybe 5, so I've been going a bit easier on the cheese.

I'm really glad that I finished another 30 day NoGuten Challenge. But I feel that this is just the beginning.

 

So, I've been off keto for the past 2 weeks.

Carbs can really pull you in.

Can't deny I have a certain nostalgia for the time I was fasting everyday and doing keto.

But... I have to watch out with this type of all-or-nothing thinking.

A very valuable lesson I have learned by reading a book about CBT is this: don't create 2 problems for the price of 1. Although yes, it might have been better if I was still on keto and fasting instead of eating the way I'm doing now, I don't really think it's productive to catastrophize and think in perfectionist terms. For the past couple of days, I've been eating bread again and normally I would have thoughts like "I shouldn't be doing this. I really don't have self-discipline." but these thoughts really amplify the suffering. The difference with past relapses/binges is that I am enjoying the food without the feelings of guilt and self-loathing. The problem with guilt is that it only puts pressure on yourself and pushes you into a negative cycle.

That being said, I do think that fasting + keto is very viable and I'm not really planning to eat bread again. My skin has really improved, and it still looks pretty smooth. It's a matter of fact that if I now keep up with eating bread etc. I will gain fat and my energy levels will take a hit.

So, I'm excited to announce that tomorrow will be day 1 of this challenge again. I have enough eggs to eat tomorrow.

 

Day 1

Had eggs, cheese, and a steak today. Also had an apple from my garden.

I'm drinking coffee again. I think I had like 10 cups. I make it with a french press, so it's very diluted, and it doesn't give me that jittery effect like it does when drinking coffee from an espresso machine. I want to reduce my coffee intake and just drink yerba mate instead though. But I'm not going to think in black-and-white categories. I always thought that drinking coffee causes urges to eat sugary food. Maybe it does. But there's also a lot to say about the cognitive distortions behind it. Does drinking coffee entail a relapse with bad food, or is it mainly because of the all-or-nothing thinking patterns that are triggered when drinking coffee [because ultimately, I see it as a bad habit]?

I'm currently writing on my thesis which means that I'm sitting a lot behind a desk all day. Normally this would also 'trigger' eating bad foods because of thoughts like "It doesn't really matter if I'm eating healthy or not because I'm sitting all day anyway." or "I have a lot of stress. It's not so bad to soothe myself with sugar."

But these thoughts aren't really rational and objective...

I can't deny that I had a certain urge this evening to get into my car and drive to a night shop for a bag of chips. But I will just take a bath instead.

 

Day 1

I'm back on a nogluten/sugar diet again.

I can't deny I had trouble with my diet during the past month and a half. It's not all black-and-white, I had healthy meals too. I had a lot of junk food. I went frequently went to the night shop in the evening to buy potato chips etc.

But that's okay. I'm not really beating myself up about it. There's no point in doing that. What matters is the present!

 

Yesterday I wrote a pretty long draft that I wanted to post here. But it's gone.

Well... It's been a while since I updated this thread. My diet has been like a yoyo during the past weeks... It's been a cycle of eating clean for a few days, relapsing, bingeing, getting clean again, etc. It's ultimately an addiction and my behaviour clearly corresponds with that of an addict... I'm a food junkie.

I remember that from the end of May until mid July, I was on a strict keto diet. I didn't cheat. I was fasting everyday. I felt great. I was so sharp. But then I remember that I tried some potato chips during a family party in July and I've been off the rails since. Not that I've been only eating junk food since that time, but getting my diet back on track has been a constant struggle with recurrent relapses and binges. It's very difficult to get into the momentum that I had a few months ago...

It's weird. How hard could it be? I've been off sugar for extended periods a numerous times. Periods where I see sugar products and think "How was I even able to eat that?". But then today for example, I was plagued by severe cravings that pushed me into my car to drive to a supermarket that is open on Sunday so I can buy pastry snacks and chocolate figurines... What drives me into such behavior when I rationally know that this food is very unhealthy and provides no benefit besides the temporary pleasure? When I know that this is a waste of money? When I know that cravings are temporary and that in a few days/weeks I feel normal again?

I'm now reading the book Food Junkies by Dr. Vera Tarman and this has already been an insightful. She asserts that eating disorders should be framed as an addiction instead of just an eating disorder. Framing it as the latter suggests that moderation is key. But in my case, moderation with sugar/gluten-filled carbs has never worked. Whenever I tried sugar during a sugarfree streak, I just fall of the wagon completely and struggle to return to my diet. And it's almost like it becomes harder to get back on the horse with every relapse. I repeat: addiction.

"To a food addict, eating even just a little bit of sugar, or any other trigger food, will set up the phenomenon of cravings that leave her wanting more. Just one cookie is enough to act as a trigger; like a lit match to kindling, it inflames a highly volatile reward pathway. It’s just waiting to be set ablaze, an inferno that consumes willpower and makes it impossible to rationally moderate portions after that first taste." Food Junkies, Vera Tarman

It's true. Whenever I have the wrong food, it just becomes so hard to push the 'OFF button'. It becomes impossible. Yesterday I was writing that today would be day 1 again. But then suddenly my cousin visited me and he had already ordered 2 pizzas. It was easy to rationalize "I'll start tomorrow anyway!". I remember that after the pizza I was even craving more carbs... Today he went to the supermarket to get a baguette. I ate that too, despite my initial resolution. In the afternoon I had cravings for carbs again, so I went to a supermarket...

Now I realize that I can write this and be dramatically negative about my lifestyle. But it's not all-or-nothing. I have acquired good habits during the past weeks. I have nutritional yeast everyday. I didn't have any caffeine for over 60 days. I have ACV everyday. I'm jogging regularly since September. I'm not even overweight. I'm pretty fit...

So yeah, I need to post this to make a commitment again. I need to go through the feeling of boredom again that quitting carbs entail... It's suffering, but it's temporary. I can do this. I have a bit of bread left. I will throw that away. I will need to reflect more on how I will deal with social situations where I can consume sugar. These situations have always been a pitfall that lead to relapses.

 

Day 1

I made it. I woke up around noon and felt sluggish as hell. I ate some ham and cheese I bought yesterday to make 'croque monsieurs' [hot ham and cheese sandwiches]. Luckily, I threw away the few slices of bread I had left, otherwise I might have been tempted. Tonight I made bolognese sauce, which I ate without the spaghetti.

I had some cravings today but it was manageable.

Good to hear from you man. I was reading some older posts of this thread yesterday and the accountability we had definitely helped!

If it looks like an addiction, then why not just call it an addiction?

When I drive compulsively to a night shop in the evening because my brain seeks the euphoria of consuming potato chips or cookies despite the fact that I made a resolution the same day, then that's clearly an addiction.

Even if my food addiction didn't cause me to be overweight or obese, that doesn't mean that this isn't impairing my life. I wasted quite some money with all the trips to the supermarket/bakery, even if it's against my better will... All the bouts of depression because of the aftermath of gorging on junk food. It's definitely taxing my life like any other addiction does.

I don't really understand the reluctance to see chronic overeating as a true addiction. Just because eating is tied to survival, doesn't repress that fact. By the same token, PMO is linked to our desire to reproduce, social media to our desire to socially connect, etc. The fact that it's tied to our primal survival mechanism is what makes it addictive because it activates the limbic system in our brain. Eating sugar causes a surge in the neurochemicals that cause pleasure.