I recently changed my diet. I had been feeling pretty crappy for quite awhile whenever I ate anything, and a few weeks ago I got really sick and could hardly eat anything at all for a few days. I knew that something needed to change. But I didn’t want to change anything. Because for years, my body had been telling me exactly what I needed to eliminate. My body had been urging me to stop ingesting it. It would rebel after I ate it, and still I pushed on and ingested food that was quickly feeling like poison to my body.
My body no longer wanted sugar. In any form. At all.
But my mind wanted it all: Donuts. Brownies. Chocolate. Bread. Sugary Cereal. More Chocolate. Cookies. Chips. Candy. Fruit Juice. Even More Chocolate.
And the busier I got with work, the more I craved the junk. The more I needed it. (Or at least thought I needed it.)
Now, it’s not that I was eating that horribly – truth be told. I don’t eat meat. I don’t eat dairy. I don’t eat soy. I drink a green smoothie every day. I eat tons of fresh veggies.
And yet still I felt yucky. And my body, all of these years, was telling me that it was because of the sugar. Too much of it. White bread. Carbs. Sweet candy. If it had sugar, I wanted it.
And so two weeks ago, in the midst of feeling pretty horrible and not being able to keep much of anything down at all, I made a decision. I would officially cut out all sugar from my life. Period. For awhile. A long while. Until I felt better.
And I waited for the cravings to kick in.
All new food needed to be bought. Research needed to be done. I had to figure out which foods turned into sugar when they were digested: wheat, white rice, honey, potatoes. I had to learn how to cook without processed foods. I had to learn that there were actually foods left that I could have because for awhile there it felt like I was quickly running out of foods to eat.
I felt pretty yucky at first – like I was detoxing (because I was). Fever, chills, sweating, sore throat, headache. But still I pushed on. I was determined to eliminate it completely from my diet.
But I made it through. And I never once craved sugar.
And that confused me.
Except I just realized why: my body knew all along that sugar was bad for me. My mind was overriding it for all of these years. My soul knew that eating sugar was not a good idea. But my habits and comfort zone ran the show.
I liked grabbing a handful of chocolate-covered almonds each time I walked into the kitchen. I liked munching from the bag of potato chips while I watched my favorite TV shows. But I always felt worse after I ate these things. And I chose (for years) to ignore this feeling because I just wanted to be comfortable and happy.
And that really got me thinking: my eating habits were so similar to my life habits.
I never wanted to leave my comfort zone. And I was so afraid of change and anything new, that I would rather harm myself (either by eating foods that weren’t good for me or by allowing my fear to keep me from pursuing opportunities) than stretch out of this place of safety and leap into something potentially amazing.
Because it’s this in-between time that scares me. I know that I’m always going to be fine. I know that I will find healthy food to eat and be fine. I know that I’ll be able to reach my dreams and end up okay.
But I dread this in-between time where I am searching for recipes and unsure of how to cook anything that won’t taste like cardboard. It’s so similar to how I also dread this in-between time where I have a dream and leap toward it but am flailing about in the freefall completely lost and worried and wondering if I should have jumped at all.
And now that I’m seeing the connection between not wanting my diet to change and being afraid to leap towards my dreams, my advice to myself is the same: to listen to my soul. To allow myself to be led by this wise part of myself that knows what’s best for me. To get out of my ego self (that part that wants to keep me safe and comfy) and to drop into this wise self (the part that actually knows what it’s talking about).
So that’s what I’ll continue to do. And that’s what I encourage you to do.
I’m going to keep going forward with this sugar-free diet. And I’m going to do my best to embrace this in-between time. To be grateful that I am taking steps to feel healthy again. To be happy that I have chosen to take inspired action. To feel better. To feel more alive. To see this in-between period as a time of adventure and newness and opportunity rather that one to be dreaded and scary and avoided at all costs.
Tonight I had the most amazing dinner: Green Bean Pesto over Brown Rice Pasta.
It was so good, and as soon as I post this, I’m going to go back for seconds. And for dessert, I’m going to have almond-butter cookies using Xylitol instead of sugar and brown rice flour instead of wheat. And I’ll wash it all down with fresh lemonade with Stevia as the sweetener. And I’m actually excited about each of these.
Change can be a good thing. This in-between phase can be a fun place to be. Feeling healthier is definitely a great way to feel. And I’m finding that listening to my soul is truly becoming the only way to live.
Are there any parts of your health where your soul is asking you to make some changes? Would you be willing to implement any of these suggestions today?
We all deserve to feel our best and to live full lives. And sometimes all it takes is a little nudge from our soul and a little willingness on our part. 🙂
I would love for you to share this post on Facebook and Twitter!
Sounds like you had a breakthrough, but forging through a crummy time of it, too. Wishing you all success with the changes you are making.
To answer your questions, Yes- it’s been knocking at the door for a long time and Yes- each day I try anew there is backsliding and sickness, but starting fresh again and again lol. Feel good soon ♥
Thanks, Gloria. 🙂
I’m glad you’re also working your way toward health! Each day we get to start again – and we get to just do our best and then start again the next day. Wishing you well along your journey!
Well done Jodi. It’s really not the easiest thing in the world to make such a huge change in our eating habits. I’m so glad it’s working out well for you…and thanks for the reminder to be more attentive to what is best for our body and soul.
Love Elle
xoxo
Thanks, Elle! 🙂
Yes, this was a huge change, but I felt so sick that it needed to be this drastic. I’m so thankful that I did it!
Hugs to you!
I agree with Elle,
It is really hard to change eating habits… I struggled with it for years in my quest to be lighter and slimmer. Very difficult.
My thing was that, if I don’t start now, i will not be able to do it in the future.
YOu are very correct in that, we need to listen more to our inner being. but that is easier said than done in this modern and noisy world… lol
Great stuff though and thanks for the article.
-Richard
Hi Richard – thanks for your comment!
It’s very true that we need to get still and sort of filter everything out before we can hear our soul/inner voice, but it’s so worth doing this! Because that’s where our true wisdom lies.
🙂
This is so, so true. I have been thinking and writing a lot about this realization lately. Our souls know the answer to lead us out of misery. It’s getting our minds to play along that’s the hard part. Many blessings to you for the “in-between part”!
Hi CJ! 🙂
Thanks so much for wishing me well during this tricky phase before it becomes a habit.
And you’re so right that when we get our body, mind, and soul all on board – we are unstoppable! 🙂
Jodi, my body has been telling me that it doesn’t like sugar also. I’ve cut way back and definitely can feel the difference. I’ve still got a little ways to go but all in all I feel much better. I guess I haven’t committed to breaking up completely with the sugar…dysfunctional relationships are tough to break away from;)
Hi Leah! I love that you’re cutting back on sugar, too! We can support each other along this journey. Love to you! 🙂
Beautiful post, Jodi. So often you and I blog about similar subjects at the same time, a symbol of our soulful connection! After I wrote about my connection to chocolate this week, I learned that this is American Chocolate Week. One thing I have learned over years of health challenges is that I need not ban anything from my life. My only job is to keep drawing closer to the Divine source. From that place, all transforms.
Thanks so much, Lesley! That’s so funny that we’re in a very similar place right now. 🙂 Love to you!
Jodi, great job on listening to your body and making the connection between your eating habits and your life habits. We can all relate to that. I’ve had to give up on dairy for a few years now, and I’ve learned of late that my body doesn’t like processed foods anymore. So, weaning myself off of chips. Your post inspires me! 🙂 Thank you and so much love to you!
Thanks, Alice! Yes, my body isn’t a fan of processed foods either. I’m truly surprised at how easy this transition has been – giving how much I love wheat and sugar. But my body is running the show for now, and I love feeling better. I look forward to hearing how your weaning goes, too! Sending you love!
Jodi, I know that moment all too well – wanting to quit sugar and the more I stayed align with that discipline, the more I saw my inner life habits and how clear they became. The more disciplined I was with my eating habits, the more my positive life disciplines were in place. When I cheated with a cookie, chocolate …. my positive life habits would slip too.
Congratulations on your sugar free transition 🙂
Hi Aileen!
Yes, there is definitely a connection between our eating habits and our life habits, isn’t there? It’s all woven together. Thanks for cheering me on! 🙂
Jodi,
You’ve been working so hard that I’m not surprised you were craving sugar.
We crave sugar when we have not been “sweet” to ourselves. When we are too hard on ourselves and don’t stop to reward ourselves with relaxation or any of the fun things in life our body will crave what it lacks from us – sweetness, kindness, love and tenderness.
I too crave sweets when I drive myself too hard….it’s my signal that time away from work and some is needed.
Glad you’re listening to your spirit.
xxoo,
Angela
That’s a great point, Angela. And not something that I had considered. What’s really interesting is that since I gave up sugar, I’ve been taking better care of myself in other ways, too. Not working quite as much and having more downtime are becoming normal parts of my day. So it really is all connected. Hugs to you!
I gave up so many things over the years to help my body feel better. Quit drinking alcohol when I was 21. (You could drink at 18 when I was growing up). Gave up caffeine, sugar, yeast, red meat and other things over the years. I lived a pretty healthy lifestyle in most ways. Except for one thing. I smoke. I like to smoke. When I grew up, everyone smoked. You could smoke in school. Nowadays it’s different. It’s never bothered me. I could always run, work, play and be as physical as I wanted and still smoke. The past month, I’ve decided my body is saying it’s time to let it go and move on to other things. If I am changing my life for the better, this is one habit that needs to go. It’s holding me back and I do not feel as good as I should.
Hi Lee,
What a beautiful gift you are giving your body by deciding to quit smoking. It does sound like you’re spirit is saying that it is time – that you’re ready. And I am so happy that you’re listening. 🙂
You made it on the other side, what a great achievement! I’m lucky that I’ve never learned to use food as a source of comfort. In fact, I’m quite the opposite, if I’m preoccupied with something, I forget to eat (also not a good thing). I still eat sugar in very moderate quantities, but I’ve fried food, alcohol and caffeine. Well, only fried food was hard, because alcohol and caffeine weren’t something I was into that much to begin with.
It’s true, its just like any other habit in our lives. It’s hard to break through, but once you build a new habit, it becomes easy!
I completely agree – once we have a new habit in place, the old one becomes much easier to let go of. I’m finding that having healthy snacks on hand (like celery with almond butter and sunflower seeds) is so helpful. So when I go into the kitchen and am craving something, it’s already there to grab. 🙂
Hi Jodi,
As I read through your message, I think of people in my life. How I could compromise my peace, yet when my body said no thank you, that was “it”. And, how I would compromise my peace (because I was afraid of the in between stage) until my body said no thank you. I think, in general, as we center further into alignment, our idea of nourishment changes as well. I love that you are experimenting with food..and I love that you share as openly as you do! Thank you 🙂
Hi Joy! I completely agree with that – as we become more aligned with our soul self, our idea for what feeds us and what will nourish us changes. So beautiful. I walk down the aisles and wonder how I ever could have liked all of the processed, artificial food. But I am just seeing it as different stages of soul growth rather than a judgment. I’m just simply in a different stage right now. And whole foods just seem more appealing. 🙂
Great job Jodi! You are on your way to feeling so much better! I gave up sugar and carbs for 4 months this year. The first few weeks were tough. After that things go much easier. I have added some sugar and carbs back into my diet but on a much smaller scale. It feels good to honor my body. I’m so glad to know that you are honoring yours! Big LOVE!! XO
Thanks, Shann! I love that you’re honoring your body, too! You are such a beautiful example for me of what it looks like when someone practices self care so regularly. Thank you for that. XO
Congrats Jodi,
I feel so blessed i have never had a sugar craving- enjoy and now with my high alkaline diet anything sweet is a bonus.
I make dessert just with fruits and you have inspired me the next time I do this to take photo and share the recipe.
I sometimes use organic agave syrup if I need to add a sweetener.
You body will love you more 🙂
Have you seen http://sarahwilson.com.au she has an I quit sugar book and blog
Thanks for the great suggestion – Suzie! I’m going to check her blog/book out right now. Hugs!
Here’s to the “in-between’s”, and my commitment to implement a more regular exercise routine back into my life! 🙂
Yay – that sounds wonderful, Angela! 🙂
Wow that is a great commitment to yourself and your health! I have recently committed to eating healthier and shedding some weight …it’s slow going, I have ‘blips’ but it is working, and I do feel better, even if it’s just because I am committed to caring for myself more.
Thanks, Samantha! I’m so glad that you’re feeling better and are committed to caring for yourself! I definitely have noticed that I’m already feeling better – and I can’t wait for that to just continue. Hugs!
Hmm…this post hit a little nerve with me…I keep getting those messages to at least cut down on sugar too…that I am happily ignoring! But what you said was so interesting “my habits and comfort zone ran the show.” I wonder if it would be easier than I think?? I’m still resisting, but my resistance is easing…slowly! Thanks Jody! x
Hi Donna! I would definitely encourage you to give it a try. If you’re getting such clear messages from your soul, then I think you’ll be ready. Even if you don’t cut it all out at once, to just cut back on it a bit. I look forward to hearing about your progress! 🙂
Oh I so feel you! I’ve been sick with a daily digestive challenge for almost a year. After trying a million different things, this month I took on 100% grain-free, dairy-free, sugar-free eating. Yikes it’s hard! But it’s an investment in healing.
I like how you integrated the food piece with the rest of the stuff that holds us back from our soul’s purpose. Lovely insights!
Love and light,
Sue
Hi Sue – wow. I’m so sorry that you’ve been feeling so yucky, but I’m really glad that you have made some drastic changes for your health. I hope you feel better soon! Hugs!
So good to see someone talking about the reality of the healing process – not always a pleasant one. We all want to be healed, but not everyone is willing to go through the healing process. This is true of physical, emotional, and spiritual healing.
Hi Marla! Yes, we definitely have to walk through it if we want lasting change. But it’s so worth it, and it doesn’t have to be as hard as we think it is going to be. 🙂