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[EFJ0216]

I just started SLD last weekend, and am continually amazed by it. I was absolutely convinced it wouldn't work, and when I noticed AS the first day I assumed it was all in my head - since so many things are! The next day, after incredible AS all morning and afternoon, I had a few small pastries after a funeral (we Jews believe that every occasion is a good occasion for eating). Things were still good into the early evening, but by 10 pm I was RAVENOUS. Then the next day I wasn't feeling nearly as much AS and ate noticeably more than I had when the AS was strong. I decided the whole AS thing had probably been psychosomatic to begin with, but that I'd stick it out for another week or two just to make sure.

Next day - yesterday - the amazing AS was back in full force. Today, now that I'm actually MEASURING my canola oil instead of eyeballing it, it's even better (go figure...). I decided the hunger I was experiencing was almost definitely related to the sweets I ate on Saturday. I always knew sugary/refined floury things were a weakness, but this was the first time I could see it so acutely. SLD seems to be working like a charm for me now that I've pinpointed this, so I couldn't be happier. I have NEVER felt anything but powerless when it comes to food. I read Dr. Kessler's book and thought "okay... well that sort of helps" - not until I read SLD did I know what to actually do about my food issues.

This was a VERY convoluted way of asking: for those who have similar problems with desserts, do you find that the only way to manage it is to avoid them almost completely? I rarely eat desserts (it's always a very, very fast downward spiral when I do), but I do want to be prepared so I have as much information as possible.

[karky]

avoiding foods you know cause a problem is a good thing.
example: eating refined white flour makes me gain, so I do not eat bread.

[Ainsprid]

karky, do you not eat bread at all? What do you usually have for breakfast and lunch?

I'm just wondering because in the Netherlands, we eat a lot of bread. It's usually for breakfast
and lunch (or dinner, instead of lunch). I don't like eating a lot of bread though.

[Daffodil-11]

I find this really interesting, because I seem to be your polar opposite: since starting SLD, desserts have fallen almost totally off my radar. As I write this, I've got half a brownie (a really, really good brownie) sitting stale in its bag in the kitchen because I never finished it, 3/4 of a cherry pie in the garbage (it started going moldy before I got back to it) and three half-full pints of haagen dazs in the freezer. Sweet things just no longer hold my interest. I can have a pie in the kitchen, and after the first slice, it just never occurs to me to go back for more. Two days later I look over and think, "oh, hey, I forgot about this pie sitting here. Eh, maybe later."

And let me be clear: I have always been a full-bore dessert binger. This is a profound shift for me. A pint of ice cream used to be gone in an hour; now it lasts a week or more, if indeed it gets finished at all.

Now, I should say that there are other foods that I'm still helpless toward. My soda addiction remains in full force, though eating less in general means my consumption has dropped a bit, and with the weather getting a little milder here, I'm no longer going off on 44-ounce glugfests of sweet sugary relief from the heat. We all have our weaknesses. And I'm still trying to find my way around this new concept of "enough food," something I've never had to deal with before.

But my new indifference to sweet things is the main thing by which I measure the effectiveness of my routine. When I start to wonder whether this is still working, I look to the fact that after half a chocolate chip cookie I lose interest, and then I know that it is. I hope something like this kicks in for you as well, or that you find a similar measure of your own by which to confirm that it's not all in your head (something of which I am also sometimes convinced.)

But I suppose the real conclusion to draw is that SLD is going to affect everyone differently. The net results will hopefully be similar for most of us, but there's no "typical" SLD experience. Which speaks to the complexity of the systems of appetite and metabolism that we're dealing with here.

[karky]

karky, do you not eat bread at all? What do you usually have for breakfast and lunch?

I'm just wondering because in the Netherlands, we eat a lot of bread. It's usually for breakfast
and lunch (or dinner, instead of lunch). I don't like eating a lot of bread though.

Here is my typical day,
I get up, drink coffee/iced tea until 11ish, then take my dose at noonish, which lately consists of kefir, oil, and sugar, noseclipped, then back to iced tea after 1:00, then maybe a snack of cheese and some gluten free crackers, or possibly some melon in the afternoon, or maybe no snack, (depends on hunger level)  and then supper, which today was a slice of grilled pork loin and 2 spoonfuls of potato salad. and keep on with the iced tea and/or Coke Zero until I go to bed.  Sometimes I might have a dish of kefir ice cream, that I make with kefir and sugarfree pudding in my little cuisinart ice cream maker.
No bread.
I had some digestive issues earlier this summer and decided to cut all wheat products out of my diet.

[Seth Roberts]

okay, I give up, how much did I pay you to write that?

[EFJ0216]

Hey, I just calls 'em like I sees 'em! This is the first thing that has made me stop wanting to eat. Everything. Constantly. And isn't that reward enough?!

The weird thing about my whole dessert experience was actually not that I was drawn to the desserts - I had no trouble stopping and even had to give a brownie to my boyfriend because it was too sweet. It was just how the all those simple carbs ended up affecting me later in the day and the following day. In general, though, I do feel less drawn to sweet things since starting, which is incredible. The (not even very tasty) Starbucks pastries that I pass by on my way into the office no longer hold much appeal, which is awesome for my weight loss and my wallet...

This is all just so bizarre to me. I really am going to lose weight - finally.

[Seth Roberts]

The (not even very tasty) Starbucks pastries that I pass by on my way into the office no longer hold much appeal, which is awesome for my weight loss and my wallet..

this reminds me of when I stopped eating processed food -- food in boxes, packages, etc. -- and started buying the raw ingredients (meat, vegetables, fruit) instead. All of a sudden a grocery bag full of food cost about half as much. And I lost 13 pounds that I never regained.