Craving Some Treats (Not What You Expect)

I’m now two weeks into my hiatus from starting the Paleo experiment.  In that time I haven’t been eating like total crap, but I have my ups and downs.  My lunches have consisted of a huge hoagie, cheesesteak or otherwise packed sandwich every other day.  I’ve been snacking on pretzels and sweets.  All of this is being washed down with lots of Coke Zero again.  These aren’t the cravings that I speak of though.  Instead what I’ve been craving is something far different.

I haven’t been self soothing as much as reverting back to comfort foods, convenience foods and foods (and caffeine) that will keep me moving from one fatigue lifting sugar high to another.  A week in or so I started feeling the tug to eat some nutritious anti-oxidant rich foods.  I know eating crap and not getting enough rest are two stressors the body doesn’t need.  A big salad of greens, tomatoes, raw purple cabbage and other handy vegetables seemed to be the appropriate thing to do.  A few days in however it wasn’t the hoagies that have been calling my name but the salads.  The same goes for my snacking choices.

Snacks through the night have been heavily dependent on potato chips, pretzels and chocolates.  They provide really quick buzzes to keep me awake when I need to be.  I use the same trick when I’m driving to make sure I don’t get anywhere near a nodding off state.  As much as I have been enjoying those flavors I haven’t been craving them for at least a week.  Instead when I’m home and looking for a snack it’s not the excess chips I’m looking for but the berries, nuts and dried fruit.  I even proactively packed a whole slew of nuts, dates and grape tomatoes to keep me through the night and throw tomorrow morning’s drive.  Coke Zero has taken on a comparable dimension.

I’m not going to say I don’t enjoy the flavor of Coke Zero anymore.  I will say that after two weeks of drinking volumes of it equivalent to what I drank at my peak consumption levels that I’m kind of sick of the stuff.  I have been reaching for it more out of necessity than anything else at this point. When I think to myself, “I am really thirsty!” it is not a Coke Zero that I picture quenching my thirst but a big bottle of lemon infused seltzer water or spring water.

It’s not a totally weird adjustment.  These are foods that I often look forward to eating.  It is still comforting that after two weeks of heavily eating junk foods and giving myself license to eat them with reckless abandon for the time being it is not those foods that my brain is now reaching out for but the wholesome good stuff that I also enjoy.