A Bump in the Road page

[Knic]

Hello All, I am new to the site but I have just had the most frustrating day. I have just started the primal life style and am only a week into it. I have been doing really well and then today after a really long walk I came in and all wanted was sugar. So I had a cookie and chocolate milk. Ugh, I am afraid I will never be able to break away from all of this. It is also difficult because I am crashing with friends at the moment while I wait for the closing on my house. I need my own kitchen!!!

But, all in all, I have already noticed a tremendous difference in my energy levels over the last week. I am going to keep pressing on. Soon I will not even think about my sweet tooth, right?

[steve.mull]

Don't fret the small stuff. You had an oops but don't fret over it. Accept it for what it is and then move on. Deciding to make the change, especially with your living circumstance, is more important than a small hiccup. You may or may not have a sweet tooth. You may have a sweet tooth but it might be geared towards fruits and honey. Different people have different results. Just stay focused on the overall primal guidelines and try to incorporate more and more each day and just enjoy the process.

[palebluedots]

I'll be honest with you, I didn't stop having a sweet tooth until I limited fruits. I mean, I was able to feel perfectly satisfied eating just fruits as a source of sugar, but I wanted to eat them too often. Now that I don't eat much fruit at all, no sweet tooth at all. Don't know if that holds true for everyone, but that's how it is for me.

[ATTAACK]

Oh, I thought this post was going to be about the murdered U.S. ambassador in Libya....

[TigerBeard]

Hi Knic and welcome!

It is highly likely that you "bonked" - used up all the sugars in the blood due to the "really long walk", and your body correctly demanded correction of the situation. Nothing wrong with that. This situation is different to the addictive call of sugars/carbs when you really dont need them.

Im also in the early stages of going Primal, and I "bonked" last night during my exercise session having not had enough "good" carbs prior. I measured my bloods when I got back home, and I was only 4.1mmol, which is right at the bottom end of "normal". My body needed sugars - so I had 2 cookies. I regard this as an "emergency" situation*, and you and I both showed our new found discipline by not continuing to scoff the entire packet!

2 good things:
a) listen to your body, and act if needed. If it isnt needed, its an addictive craving to be avoided.
b) feeling guilty about it shows your determination to do it right. Keep at it!

1 bad:
There are probably many good Primal ways of restoring blood sugars quickly, but being new to this I grabbed something quickly to hand. Fruit would have helped (but for me, that breaks another of my self-imposed limits - no fruit after 8pm to avoid gout/toe pains).

*As a diabetic I need to avoid sugars in general, however even my doctor recommends keeping a high sugar drink and food available for emergencies.

[Spiralicious]

Once your body is used to burning fat as fuel, you DO NOT need to keep your blood sugar up! Blood sugar is toxic, and what starts this whole issue to begin with! If you are giving your body plenty of fat, some protein, and quality carbs, exercise will not induce any sort of physiological need for sugar. Psychological, maybe.. but I think for most that does indeed pass with time. For me, the trick is to not let that one little splurge turn into days of bad eating. Get back on track! You will feel better for it in the long run.

[brookesam]

Having your own kitchen will make things so much easier

Btw... I'm not far from Memphis. I usually make a couple of trips either there or Nashville to stock up at Wholefoods.
I hear there's a great Farmer's Market in the Memphis area too!

[Knic]

There is a great Farmer's market here. There are actually a couple of them. I think that they both close for the season in October

[TigerBeard]

Once your body is used to burning fat as fuel, you DO NOT need to keep your blood sugar up! Blood sugar is toxic

1) The OP has just started ("a week into it"), and so their body will NOT be used to burning fat as fuel.

2) Your brain runs on blood sugar (ie. glucose), hence when blood sugars crash you can go into a hypoglaecemic coma. When a primal diet is working, it is generating the glucose from burning of fat, rather than the more direct route of sugars/carbohydrate in the diet. With sugars and carbs in the diet, the body turns this into EXCESS blood sugar, which is toxic (ie. diabetes type 2).

Blood sugar is essential for life; sugar in the diet is not.