The juicy details

I feel a bit of a fraud posting my last entry like it was just the beginning.  Basically, I couldn’t wait for Daisy to finish her three months and hand over the reigns to me.  Last Tuesday I began my sugar free life, so it’s been over a week and I’ve already past the exciting, gruesome details part of the blog.  The juicy bit that anyone considering ditching sugar is interested in.  Not that I was in much of a fit state to be typing.  This is how I remember it.

Tuesday – A quiet day at home.  I ate sugar free and it was easy.  Curious to know how many Weight Watchers points I’d eaten without my legal fix, I totted it up and realised I should lose weight easily, despite eating nuts and increasing the fat content of my meals.

Wednesday – I boldly told the folks in the staffroom that I’m giving up sugar.  Most of them looked at me as if I'd grown an extra head, except for one kindred spirit who gave me some tips.  The caretaker told me he looks forward to meeting the new woman I will become.  I wasn’t sure how to take that.  I also worried about the timescale of Daisy’s withdrawal symptoms.  If I followed her pattern, I would be doomed for the Moonwalk I was due to complete.  Eek, what had I done?

Thursday – Oh boy.  I don’t remember much of the day.  I had the headache from hell.  I had trouble keeping my eyes open and people were commenting that I looked awful.  Kindred Spirit gave me a pep talk and told me I was going through the worst of it and not to listen to other people’s negativity.  By the time I had put the kids to bed, I had crammed a tonne of more natural carbs, including jacket potato, strawberries and banana ‘ice cream’ but nothing was helping – every tiny movement sent shockwaves through my head.  I felt sick and had weird spasms going on with my right eyelid.  I went to bed just past 8pm and was actually hallucinating. 

Friday – I woke up feeling pretty decent actually.  I slept past my 5am alarm, which is very rare for this confirmed insomniac. I still had the remnants of the headache and I did take some paracetamol which I wouldn’t normally.  Kindred Spirit had told me it was important to be gentle with myself after all.  Which brings me to…

Saturday – It seems my idea of being gentle with myself is power walking a marathon, half naked, for charity.  In the morning I felt like I had a cold coming so I glugged pints of water with Echinacea and didn’t tell anyone as I knew they’d tell me not to do the walk.  I packed my bumbag full of nuts and Nãkd snacks and headed to London.  I was worried as all my training had involved chocolate almonds and hot cross buns as fuel and every marathoner will tell you never to change your fuel source on marathon day.  I needn’t have worried.  Turns out nuts and Nãkd make very good power walking snacks combined with the banana they hand out on the walk. 

Sunday – Gah – the end of the Moonwalk and the porridge van wasn’t there like normal!  Most reluctantly I ate a large cheese burger and man, it tasted good.  I should have eaten another one.  I was blinkin hungry.  And when I got home I ate… 4 Oreos and a Cadbury Crème Egg.  Bad Tea Lady. The egg didn’t even taste that nice.  Note to self: from now on, after vigourous exercise, fill up on carbs and protein.  Onwards and upwards…