Māmā takiwātanga

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I actually have to take this back now. I do expect I will have to go back to #calorie restriction through #CalorieCycling in order to get all the way to my goal of being under 30% body fat, but currently I am loosing without calorie restriction.

How? I stopped eating #sugar and focused on eating enough #vegetables. I don’t mean I stopped eating refined sugar or added sugar, but foods that are more than 10% sugar with exceptions for #fruit and small amounts of sauce etc. I did and will continue to eat small amounts of artificially sweetened foods as treats, but I didn’t replace my sugar consumption with artificial sweetener, I adjusted my taste buds and now I can taste what fruit and vegetables were meant to taste like.

I realised something. Fruit and vegetables are the sweet foods in nature. Humans have an instinct to eat sweet foods right away, and keep eating them while they are available. That’s probably because fruit and vegetables have a short shelf life, and cause little harm.

If you stop eating sugar, you will also stop eating most processed foods because they have sugar in them.

I thought I was fat because I had no self control. I realise now I was fat because of #capitalism.

We stripped sugar away from the fibre and nutrients that we’re supposed to be with it and encased it in starch and fat and salt so we then applied an instinct that was supposed to apply to fruit and vegetables to starch and fat. And we keep selling it because it was the way to ‘add value’ and make more profit from cheap ingredients.

Of course some people live in our capitalist society surrounded by sugar and processed food and don’t get fat. There are lots of reasons, genes, psychology, food culture, lifestyle, but that doesn’t negate the reality that our society sets many people up to fail.

Apr 2 at 2:10amWeb
Show threadMāmā takiwātanga1d ago

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But the good news is that if you want to change, you can, even small #changes that are sustainable can make a big difference, and the best way to change is not to change everything overnight, but to keep moving towards the direction you want to go.

When I stopped all sugar and increased my fibre () intake, it was surprising how much of a shock it was to my system. I had withdrawal symptoms from sugar (lightheadedness, headaches, jittery, generally not feeling good after exercise, breastfeeding, or going too long without food) and gas and bloating from the increased veg. I road it out and kept to the changes, and it did get better after around week 3/4.

Why I say this is, because someone is reading this who needs to know that changing everything overnight not only might be mentally overwhelming and difficult to sustain, but also wouldn’t necessarily be tolerated by your body. Throw out any guilt you feel about not being able to do everything perfectly and start with small changes that feel manageable.

If you want to change, make a commitment to make small changes each week. Things like walking every day, eating more protein and fibre, or cutting down sugar are good ways to start, but once you get used to one change, continue doing it while you introduce the next thing.

Do a brainstorm of things that might motivate you. Mine are learning more about health from YouTube, exploring new recipe books, and knowing I will feel better after I exercise.

Above all, approach health changes as #SelfCare and an act of #SelfLove. Look after yourself because you are worth looking after. Don’t buy aspirational clothes that you hope to fit into, find clothes you feel good in that fit your body now, because you are deserving of love and of feeling good now.