Recently every time I’ve had processed sugar it affects my mood. I’ve been clean eating for about a year and half, but sometimes when I’m out trail mix doesn’t cut it. Jelly beans yes. If I can’t get my hands on them, the only other non gelatine sweets available are fruit Mentos or Skittles and my body hates it.
I can’t stop at one. Here they don’t sell individual packs, they sell multi packs of 3. I have a sweet tooth. Almost instantly they affect me. I get irritable, antsy, lethargic, a headache that’s not a headache, a sugar coma that can last well into the next day. Crisps and McDonalds French fries that happen every now and then. I’m human I’m okay with them. Processed sugar’s something else.
I’ve been meat free for about 18 years, 16 animal milk free, the last 7 hardly any dairy just Greek yoghurt and cheese. 5 years ago cheese went. Cheese was hard to give up. I loved cheese on toast, jacket potatoes and cheese with loads of tomato ketchup! 2 years ago I cut out dairy completely. 100% vegan or as P prefers to say plant based (I swear that’s because plant based sounds more masculine than vegan! However there’s a difference. Vegan you can still eat crap on. Plant based is clean) and clean eating. No more Greek yoghurt with my porridge, no more bloated tummy. I felt cleaner. Eggs I’ve never really cared for. They were always been too rich and never settled. Thanks to my cooking skills, I’ve been more or less a raw vegan the whole time even back in cheese eating days if that makes sense. The dilemmas started after going 100% vegan aside from honey!
Up until nearly 2 years I still had the occasional milk chocolate bar until I saw a video how cows were treated at a major farm suppling cheese for a popular pizza brand in the US. I know not all farms are the same, but it was enough to forgo even having a little milk chocolate, I’m still contributing to their suffering. I cried watching that video. Next went palm oil. My beloved Palmers Cocoa Butter Lotion was replaced with a organutan friendly, SLS, petrochemical, paraben free, Alba Botanica Cocoa Butter Hand and Body Lotion. Around the time I went ‘vegan’ I read Jessica Alba’s The Honest Life, which was an eye opener to what’s in skincare and cosmetics products. No tears baby shampoo? They add chemicals to numb eyes so the shampoo doesn’t sting!
The biggest change going plant based was running clean, hence when I eat crap or processed sugar, my body doesn’t like it. It affects my mood. This is from someone who has a massive sweet tooth! I replaced milk chocolate with dark chocolate with orange, mint or nuts, but recently I’ve been noticing I haven’t been wanting any or enjoying any as much. I’d rather have a few medjool dates, mango slices or even carrot sticks and hummus! Eating clean affected my taste buds! I’ve still got a long way to go, eating enough energy. It’s not fun if you want to eat out when all you’re looking for is a huge nutritious salad. When P’s here it’s easier. Sometimes I make dinner requests and magically they appear later! I’m not adventurous with food, but I love to load up on salads. When I say salads I don’t mean lettuce and tomato. I pile on broccoli, kale, avocados, beans, quinoa, red cabbage, pepper, spinach etc!
Monday this week was a huge mistral/storm. The winds started Sunday, Monday afternoon heavy rain and wind. Sunny skies returned Tuesday, yet the sea was still full of energy. I wanted to get close the waves but didn’t have time. In the summer, I visit the beach almost daily, take a dip as often as possible. Had a bad day, feel like crap, one swim all worries seem to melt away. If you’re lucky you get prime beach real estate location, a spot right on the shore line to siesta and listen to the waves rolling in. You won’t believe the competition for those spots! Cycling along the beaches everyday isn’t enough, I needed to get close to the sea!
Christmas treats are starting to appear in the supermarkets. The Spanish love turrons, 200g bars of of chocolate wrapped nougat, coconut, marzipan or nuts. One particular one caught my eye Monday. Dark chocolate and coconut. Kinda like a Bounty bar without milk. I loved Bounty bars, so that went in the basket and in my tummy. I knew better, my taste buds thought they knew better. I ate the lot over 2 days. Wednesday I was still feeling it’s toxicity. I pushed myself out for a run. I knew I’ll feel better, but it wasn’t until I stopped for a few moments to watch the waves, smell the sea and fill a spi belt with shells, I felt better. I should when jelly bean moments hit, reach for the sea. Don’t need processed sugar. Just need the sea and near empty zoo to hear the birds and sea to do what processed sugar can’t!
Finally up close!
And if no sea’s around, mango slices and medjool dates on hand!
Do you find food affects your mood? If you eat ‘clean’ did you notice your taste buds changing after a while? Favourite place to reconnect when you need to breathe?