Thursday, December 10, 2009

In Case You Were Wondering, Yes, I Am Certifiable

Here is an example of the insane things you might do if you try too hard to stick strictly to a prescribed diet plan.

As I mentioned, I'm not really doing Phase 1 at this point, but generally I'm eating Phase 1. I say "generally" because I did sample the cookies I made last night. The majority of the cookies will be eaten at either Jason's party for the undergrads he teaches tonight or by my Young Women on Sunday.

In an effort to stick with the Phase 1 idea I bought some plain Greek yogurt last week and some sugar-free jelly to mix in, at the suggestion of some people on the South Beach board at SparkPeople. The jelly is made by Polaner and sweetened with Splenda.

OK, let's take a step back. First of all, I don't eat sugar-sweetened jelly as it is. I eat Polaner All-Fruit or any other completely fruit preserves that I can find. However, on Phase 1, fruit is forbidden. So I bought the stuff sweetened with Splenda because somewhere in my crazy head was the idea that eating the artificial stuff was somehow better than real fruit. Because it was compliant with Phase 1. Because I am insane.

Yesterday I piled a couple of tablespoons of raspberry Splenda-sweetened jelly into my yogurt. The first couple of bites tasted divine. Then the Splenda aftertaste hit me. I soldiered through most of the yogurt, but finally stopped because it was really starting to gross me out.

Today, in a moment of clarity, I realized how insane I was being. Tomorrow I'll be eating my yogurt with jelly made of fruit and only fruit.

3 comments:

Sarah said...

I'm not a fan of the no fruit rule on SB phase 1, although I can see why it helps take away those sugar cravings.

I just feel like I'm never going to completely eliminate a desire for sugar and if I can be happy picking up an orange rather than a cookie, then great.

Donna said...

Agree with Kip.

When I was pregnant with my first daughter, at first I ate yogurt that was flavored with Splenda...and although I had previously adored it, suddenly the Splenda flavor tasted SO. DISGUSTING.

I totally agree with you that it's better to eat real sugar than Splenda (or NutraSweet, etc). Same with butter. But the trick is to still limit the intake of those natural foods...*sigh*

Anyhoo, good luck to you on this! I'm sure the true fruit-flavored yogurt will be so much tastier, and better for you.

Andrea@WellnessNotes said...

It's all a journey... And we learn along the way...

And I totally agree. The "real stuff" is a lot better than the "artificial stuff."

And you'll find what exactly works for you. It may be South Beach or something else. But it'll work for you! :)