Kicking the habit

03 October 2015





Hello!

As you may have read in my last blog post, I have recently decided to give myself a one month challenge where I will be cutting out Sweets (candy), Pizza and Fizzy juice (pop).


Friday 2 October was day two (this is being posted on the 3rd because I had college, a Mandarin meeting and then work.  It's a busy life for some!  I'll be referring to yesterday throughout this post as "today" so shhh!) and so I thought I'd post a little about how I got on. 

While it has been fairly straightforward, I have experienced some set backs.

Throughout today, I experienced...  withdrawal symptoms.

What exactly are withdrawal symptoms?

Let's just say, in short, that they're not nice.  At all.  The biggest thing you experience is you shake a lot and i mean a lot  oh my god.  My hands were shaking and I was shaking, my pinky on my right hand had like dance fever while i was resting it on the keyboard during my marketing class!

Also; temperature.  This is one I didn't tell to my friends.  Basically, I kept feeling both burning hot and freezing cold at the same time.  When I was simply sitting, and at rest, my body temperature felt so, so hot.  And it lead me to feel my next symptom...

...Nauseated.  I felt a bit sick.  On numerous occasions I felt as though I was getting ready to actually be sick, but I did nothing about it because I knew that that I wasn't really going to be, it was just the feeling I have in my stomach.  (And nothing did come of it.)

I felt really, really dizzy.  All day. When I walked onto the train first thing on the morning in order to get to Glasgow, I literally nearly fell over because I seriously felt as though I was walking horizontally.  It was not a fun experience.

Fatigue was another big symptom.  My muscles and joints ached all day.  Not to the extent of not being able to move at all, just at the extent where I'd rather sit down than walk to the vending machines, before convincing myself I needed to eat something because I need to eat and I wouldn't get another chance to before 2.30.

Finally, a loss of appetite.  Though, this was closely linked to the Nauseas feeling.  From 8.00 until 9pm I ate the following: 

  1. A slice roll (roll and square sausage)
  2. A caramel "Squares" bar
  3. A BBQ chicken (with very little cheese in it) panini.
  4. Grapes
  5. Chicken Nugget supper.
  6. Which of those were the only things I actually felt like eating?  None.  Which of those did I enjoy the taste of?  Caramel squares bar and the grapes.  Mostly the grapes.

I was so disappointed at myself about the chicken nugget supper because i love chicken nugget suppers!  And more so from my place of work!  They taste amazing!

But, I didn't finish it.

I think what is most worrying about this is the knowledge that there is only one of the foods I have given up this month that could possible have this kind of an impact on me.

Pizza could not. Pizza was only in this list because I am in a habit of choosing to eat it when I don't know what else to eat.


Sweets (Candy) arguable could do this to you, but I'm not cutting out biscuits, cookies or cakes to allow myself to still enjoy sugar from an alternate source.  Which isn't cheating, per say, it's more to do with not allowing myself to go cold turkey on sugar.


The culprit is fizzy drinks.

I think I, before starting this, drank an average of 5 cans of Irn Bru a day.  and that is terrible.  Imagine all the e numbers!  More concerningly, imagine all the caffeine.

You may have been reading my withdrawal symptoms and realising that they're very alike what a habitual drug user would face when cutting out the drugs.  Well, you're not wrong.

We can conclude that I have an addiction to the drug caffeine.  And this will help me get that monster off my back, at least for a while.

On a positive note, however.  I did experience a good impact from doing this!  AND ONLY ON DAY TWO!

I ate a raw tomato.  (I hate raw tomato).

This was when I was eating my panini at lunch time.  I didn't feel as though it had filled me up (although I didn't feel like I was filled up at all, and nauseous at the same.time.  But regardless, I tempted myself to eat them!  And although I did not enjoy then taste (because I reiterate, I hate raw tomato!!! I hate it!!!) I am likely to do that again!


So, let's end this post now.  How exciting though!  I can't wait to see how I am next week, and the week after and finally until I complete the experiment and write up my findings.

I'll keep you posted throughout this journey should anything of interest take place, like today!

Until next time, be excellent to each other.

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