Day Six.

Interesting tidbit: My 'cold' may actually still be signs of sugar withdrawal.

In most of the articles I'm reading regarding symptoms of withdrawal [in cases of sugar and in other addictions such as coffee and cigarettes], there is usually noted reactions such as runny nose [the body tries to dispel toxins thru liquid form], fatigue, fever, and throat discomfort. While I haven't been running a temperature to my knowledge, I have been experiencing the other three [particularly the throat discomfort, it feels like an entire family of frogs has set up camp in my esophagus]. The difference between this feeling and an actual cold is that usually, by now, the annoyances would be full blown, box-of-tissues, loss-of-voice sickness, but they are not. They simply have remained dull, annoying reminders that I'm not feeling on top of my game. But, as they say, it must get worse before it gets better. I'm hoping another few days, tops.

Observation: I've been eating much more than is normal for me. It makes me wonder if perhaps most of my calorie intake before this experiment was actually just empty sugar. Now instead of finishing half a sandwich and then consuming three brownies, I have a sandwich, some pasta, some chips [or whatever, you get the idea]; I'm actually eating side dishes, a concept foreign to me before this project [unless partaking in a rare evening out where no cooking is involved, of course]. I'm also trying to make sure that the food I'm consuming is relatively healthy. Granted, during the week, I'm lazy and usually don't eat anything that didn't just come out of a toaster or microwave, but at least I'm buying organic TV dinners and throwing a few veggies in with my mac and cheese.

What am I eating? Good stuff actually. I've had a few people express concern that cutting out sugar, mammal products, and chicken might not leave me with much else to live on, but that's quite untrue. First of all, the fact that I was probably living mostly on sugar before should probably be more of a concern. Second, depriving myself of dessert actually means I'm spending more money on real food. This week some noteworthy meals have included vegetarian chili, broccoli cheddar soup, turkey lunch meat sandwiches, and just today: a yummy mushroom lover's 'burger' covered with salsa and a side of pickle. [Ok, and I'll admit I also added a tiny splattering of ketchup and miracle whip to that last one despite the high fructose corn syrup on the label, but as I said before, this week allows for a few, non-dessert exceptions.]

Meanwhile, I do feel a change in my body. Not necessarily in size [again, not a goal], but in capabilities. I feel like things are functioning better, like my system isn't quite as bogged down by unnatural substances and is therefore freed up to work the way it should...
but then you must excuse me while I blow my nose and clear another amphibian from my throat...
so I guess the jury's still out.