So, I haven’t updated this blog for quite a few days. For the rest of Saturday, all Sunday and Monday I was very busy finishing off a VERY long essay and literally had no time to blog. Now in the past, when I was under essay pressure and trying to keep my brain on track, I would use sugar for a boost. Basically, hacking the brain. Not only does it give you energy but it also releases endorphins, giving you a feeling of temporary comfort which is a nice relief from the stress of academic writing. However, the positives you get from ‘using’ (or abusing) sugar in this way also has it downsides – unfortunately, a sugar boost doesn’t last very long and leaves you feeling even more tired afterwards and so you have to keep repeating the cycle. In addition, the fluctuations in mood I get from doing this leave me irritable and more prone to despair. This time, writing without the buffer of sweets and chocolate, I DID feel a difference. Although slightly low in energy, I felt more on an even keel – able to work longer before resting. And although I had less sleep than usual over the weekend and subsequently had increased M.E. symptoms (aches, pains, tiredness etc.), I was able to complete my essay without my body going over the limits of what it deemed acceptable. In other words, while having quite a bit of pain and while not feeling great, I didn’t have a complete M.E. ‘crash’.
Not surprisingly, since I finished my essay, I have been very tired and achy, so I’ve been resting a lot. My diet hasn’t been great, however I’m still managing to stick to the sugar-free diet. I did have two prunes in my porridge on two consecutive days, but that wasn’t because I was craving sugar but because i was having ‘toilet issues’ – a polite way of saying that I was blocked up! After getting almost half-way through my thirty sugar-free days, I nearly fell off the wagon yesterday, simply because my OH had left half an iced Danish pastry on the table. I was about to eat it, when he reminded me of my sugar-free diet – In my delight at seeing what he’d left, I’d completely and genuinely forgot about it! At least, my conscious brain had – I’m convinced my sub-conscious had remembered but conspired to make me ‘conveniently’ forget! The addicted brain is tricky!
Here’s my up-to-date food diary
Rest of Day 10 – Saturday
Chicken, chips, broccoli, carrots and mayonnaise
Herbal tea, water
Day 11 Sunday
Breakfast: Porridge with almonds and 2 prunes (for medicinal purposes!)
Lunch: Chicken salad and broccoli
Afternoon snack: Breadsticks and houmous
Dinner: Home-made chilli-con-carne and rice
Herbal tea and water
Day 12 Monday
Breakfast: Porridge with 2 prunes (for medicinal purposes!)
Lunch: Vegetable korma, chips and rice
Snack: Breadsticks
Dinner: Fishfingers, chips and peas
Herbal tea and water
Day 13 Tuesday
Breakfast: Salty porridge
Lunch: left-over chilli con carne and rice
Dinner: Chicken tikka massala and rice ready-meal ( I had to scour the supermarket with a magnifying-glass to find a sugar-free one)
Herbal tea and water
Day 14 Wednesday
Breakfast: Salty porridge
Lunch: chicken and spinach tortellini
Snack: ready salted crisps
Dinner: Fish and chips from the chippy :))
Herbal tea and water
Day 15 Thursday
Breakfast: salty porridge
Lunch: Asian bacon, celery and garlic soup with rice noodles
Dinner: Home-made chicken, pepper and courgette pasta sauce with gluten-free pasta
Herbal tea and water
PS I’ve realised that eating breadsticks does not satisfy my hunger, on the contrary it just seems to stimulate it even more, hence I’m not going to eat them any more unless it’s with a mix of other foods.