njashka8's Journal, 13 January 2014

I wish I could help you with this but I'm definitely not very knowledgeable in the field lol. I would take measurements around my belly button and hip bones :) 

Anyway, regardless of where you are taking that measure, I think the most important thing is to always make sure you are taking the measure at the same places ;) 

Yes well obviously:-):-):-) hips and belly button it is. Hows ur sugar detox going? 

heheh Well, the desire for sugar has decreased amazingly, to the point where I don't even think about it anymore for the majority of time. Sweets would probably taste good if I ate them now, but I don't have a strong desire for them anymore. Honestly, my desire for fruit is stronger now because it tastes much better than it did before. When I open the door of the fridge I make a conscious decision to look away from the sweets that are there though because I don't want to reactivate old brain connections lol (just being cautious). I even manage to ignore all the sweets at the grocery stores now. I do look away but that is enough to keep the desire at bay. I desire sweets less now than before I started the ban on sweets, which is truly amazing and unexpected just a few days back! :) Now my food obcession is fruits (including some exotic fruits that I bought recently heheh). And I also have a greater desire of adding new ingredients to my diet and trying new recipes since all food started tasting better. I think this has worked out great so far (and I'm not even talking about all the physical improvements I feel thanks to it). The only thing that's bothering me is the RL symptoms I have been experiencing and I can't quite pinpoint their origin. They appear to be stress related but they also appeared around the time when my bad on sweets started. It's also true that I have been stressed before many times but I never had experienced this so it's possibly a mixture of both. Either that or it is simply a coincidence and the combination of stress + my present age that made this. I will just have to hope but I'm definitely not quitting the ban on sugar because of this (for now at least lol). I'm still hoping it will subside. :)  

As far as physical improvements, I feel so much better in so many ways. possibly the improvement that affects me the most is the energy levels that I have now. I considered myself to be a naturally tired and drowsy person. I would wake up well and after as little as half an hour, I would feel tired already (with some exceptions). Exercise has been a great help with this, but quitting refined sugar improved this to a whole new level. With exercise, I would feel very energetic, aware or awake immediately after doing it, then the levels of energy would slowly drop as the hours passed, my head would always be slightly tired. This has made that tiredness go away. I now feel constantly aware and awake all day. I never thought I could be this aware for so much time without needing to sleep or rest lol. It's like taking coffee but without the nervousness I feel very energetic but calm heheh. Even after big meals when would usually just feel like sleeping lol. If it wasn't for this RL thing I would feel perfect. Right now I can say that, even though I was doubting that I was going to make it during the first days (in fact I was sure that I wasn't going to make it), I am now sure that my body doesn't have the power to force me to eat sweets anymore. If I decide to eat sweets in the future (won't do that in the near present), it will be because I feel like I'm missing out on something. But, considering all that I have gained, there is a possibility that that decision won't happen ;) Unless I go on some self-destructive path due to some depression or something (can never rule that out). Right now, I can say with all certainty that I will not go back (something I would definitely not believe just a week ago or so heheh). Withdrawal is very very powerful and makes you truly believe you need things. 

During the first days of withdrawal I was setting myself for quitting. The thing that kept me going was fooling myself into thinking that I was just waiting a few days to eat the sweets which is funny lol. If I tried to think that I wasn't going to eat any more sweets I would have definitely quit. 

I was like, Ok, I'm done with this, I'm going to quit but I'm just going to wait a few more days ;) 

This was the only condition that allowed me to get this far. The promise of a sweet at the end of the line lol. 

That quiet ironic actually:-):-) good on u for getting this far. I'm just trying to eat everything in moderation a bit of sugar now and then is ok for me:-) 

I completely agree with you. I've just done what I done because I've been realizing that sweets have too much power over me. It's difficult for me to eat them moderately lol. I ended up eating some 1000 calories of them daily :P 

Yes! It's definitely ironic! :) And It wasn't intentional, like I really honestly believed that I was not going to make it and that I was just waiting lol. 

Also thighs, calves and bicep are good places too. So when you build muscle you won't freak out. 

Yes good idea thanks! 

Depending on how many measurements you would like to track, you can measure your: neck, upper arms (biceps), bust, underbust, thighs, hips, (natural) waist, and midway between your hips and waist (which I affectionately call the "love handle" measurement). These are all areas that will show you how much you're shrinking! 

Thanks eden6. Will do the underbust to hips i think i'm happy with arms and legs it was my middle section that has suffered from two 4kg babies:-) 

ME TOO! I think I'm technically "apple"-shaped. And no, babies didn't help me either lol. What I wouldn't do to have an hourglass figure. Working on whittling my waist right along with you! 

Lets do it! I just have these little "pockets" that werent there before:-)