Ignorance Is Bliss: The Flipside of Eating Well
March 6, 2013 by Tish
I’m learning when to put the fork down…
Credit: viZZZual.com
When you know better, you do better. That’s what Oprah says anyways. So you’d assume that after finding the alkaline diet, eliminating dairy, gluten and sugar from my diet, and witnessing the benefits first hand, I’d never look back to the foods that left me feeling less than wonderful. You’d assume wrong.
I had researched the heck out of gluten and its effects on the body. I then had put my notes to the test and challenged myself to a great alkaline plan for 30 days. At the end of the challenge, I felt clearer, stronger and better overall. I felt fantastic, but that didn’t stop me from picking back up a dang slice of pizza (my favorite food!) and devouring it in a matter of seconds. I felt like poop after (which I knew would happen,) developed a crazy amount of acne and had stomach issues for days. Yet, I still will occasionally (especially on the weekends) feast on gluten-tastic meals sprinkled with zit-inducing dairy (at least for me). How and why is this?!
I know the food is bad for me. I know it’s going to make me feel like crap and take a really long time to get out of my system, yet I eat it anyways. Sometimes I wish I would have never learned what being gluten-, dairy- and sugar-free feels like. Then I could eat all my bad food and assume how I felt was normal…but I know better now…and my body knows better. So now my next act of love is to be kinder to my body and actually listen to it. I don’t know yet how to give up the foods that I enjoy. I know we say “all things in moderation,” but, for me, I’m not sure that applies to foods that make me feel like poop. I simply need to do more research and get cooking in the kitchen to find better-for-me versions of the foods I love!
What about you? Do you give up any and all foods that make you feel worse? Do you indulge occasionally? Hungry, foggy minds want to know. —Tish
Yes ignorance can be blissful but Knowledge is so much more powerful that it far out weights the blissful ignorance.
Yeah I agree.
I really like this bit ‘I know the food is bad for me. I know it’s going to make me feel like crap’
When I am preparing for a competition, I have to really buckle down and cut a lot out of my diet. At first I would do the same thing and binge after my comp was over. Now, I don’t go to the food extreme I once did. It is crazy that there is a way for healthy food to be a little less healthy.
Now that I have high blood sugar, I made to the point to give up all the foods that will trigger it or worsen it. Now I am more aware of eating healthy for it is for my own good too. Its hard at the beginning but in some time and adjustment, all will be alright.
I have given up all foods that make me feel crummy! Goodbye wheat, dairy, gluten, sugar, soy (except soy sauce every so often when I go to sushi & not much), nuts & alcohol! I feel fantastic, which is all the motivation in the world to keep up with it!
I have a similar problem, but with coffee. I totally crave it every morning but, I know it really makes me feel bad. I causes me to feel very achy in my joints and and gives me an overall yucky feeling. When I do quit drinking it for awhile I start feeling so much better. Then, the not so smart part of me caves and I start consuming it again. So, frustrating…like we crave what is worst for our bodies!
I think we all need to do more research and get cooking in the kitchen to find better for me versions of the foods that we all love. We can still incorporate healthy foods into our diets that we still enjoy that will be not make us feel so crap afterwards. Can’t beat a slice of pizze tho lol
especially a freshly homemade one with all natural ingedients.
I’ve been gluten-free for three years now – after testing and finding out how much it causes me digestional distress…. However, it’s very difficult to not have ‘one bite’ of birthday cake… or one bite of that killer bruschetta. The trick, for me, is to get that one taste and savor it — it better be absolutely fabulous food before I’ll allow it to make me feel like crap.
@Marybeth…you are my shero. YES! That’s exactly where I’m at right now.
@Gigi Eats Celebrities, did you know they make gluten free soy sauce?! Briggs baby!!! I use it all the time in my stir fry!
I find that the more i stay away from foods i like, the less i start to crave them. Foods high in sugar are the worst as sugar is highly addictive. I’ve also heard that wheat based foods are possibly also addictive. Something to do with the wheat. If this is true, it would explain why spaghetti eating italian’s develop a pop belly. They eat too much because it becomes like an addiction.
I started a new motto this year, if I’m going to eat something “bad” it better taste awesome to be worth the negative effects. I’m not going to waste calories on crappy tasting food any more. Following this thought I have stopped participating in the office doughnut days cuz those things are just nasty but I still have my little chunk of dark chocolate a couple times a week. Mine is not due to food sensitivities like yours though; just trying to better myself for the long term benefits.
Its amazing how many people live daily in that ignorance, unaware of the fact that they feel pretty crappy. Im in the same boat as you Tish, I notice when i eat the wrong foods (and yet i still eat them
) Knowledge is a mixed bag sometimes, both a blessing and (when im staring at ice cream) a curse!
It’s so hard not to fall into temptation from time to time on our favorite “unhealthy” foods even when we feel like crap after. But, its nice to have that reminder of why we eat healthy, to feel great! I needed that reminder today with pizza too. I’m already regretting it and eager for my veggie soup tonight!
Wow what a really great read. my cousin told me about your blog and she was right.
I stopped eating refined sugar over a month ago, and once I had a couple of bites of it, I was SHOCKED at how disgustingly sweet it truly was. Same goes for sucralose or any other sugar substitute. When I’m not consuming lactose and sugar, my body functions a lot better, and my stomach doesn’t hurt constantly (my sleeping is also a lot more regular). Consciousness of everything you put in your mouth truly pays off.
I have the same dilemma with staying away from foods that aren’t so good for me. Mine is a nice big juicy burger and fries. I haven’t cut it out completely but I’m down to only a couple times per month. Funny how tough it is to avoid even though I know it’s bad for me
I struggle with this, too. I’m a gluten-free “pescovegan,” and though there are some foods that now taste terrible to me after going months without them, there are also foods that are still delicious and will trigger a full-out binge-eating relapse whenever I take a bite (pizza, bread, cheese). I truly think abstinence from them is the way to stop reawakening those cravings every time I give in.
On that note, I’ve been reading “The Hunger Fix” about food addiction and what to do about it, and it’s very interesting.
Yep, I’m finding that dairy and I don’t mix so well lately. But I can’t seem to help myself from having a glass of milk before bed! It’s a habit I’ve had since I’ve been young and it helps me sleep but I’m going to have to find a replacement. Makes me bloated and feel horrible in the mornings
Don’t know how you find your strength to abstain from pizza.What a hero!
I’m finding that the more I avoid those foods and try to eat mostly fruits and vegetables, the better I feel, however I agree with you. It’s really tough to give up on the “bad for you” foods. Even if they make you feel bad.
This post is great – I am an avid abstainer from gluten and dairy food stuffs, but boy, when I slip, I slip! The satisfaction rush after indulging disappears so quickly and is replaced with a feeling of dread as I know what reactions my body is gonna have and for how long! Ah well – no one is perfect!