Weight Loss Confession Alert: I’m an addict and I’m addicted to something that is completely legal and socially appropriate – artificial sweeteners.
Artificial sweeteners seem to get mixed reviews. Every once in a while you read an article that says they are OK for you. If you read one of them, you may want to ask yourself who is paying for the research. I’ve read hundreds of articles written by individuals who have nothing to gain by sharing their stories who talk about how much better they feel once they have kicked the artificial sweeteners to the curb. Here are a few great ones: Just Say “No” to Artificial Sweeteners, Why I (Finally) Gave Up Artificial Sweeteners, and 5 Excuse Proof Reasons to Quit Artificial Sweeteners.
I wrote about my crazy college life and the year I survived on virtually no sleep in But Why Not? Why Haven’t I Lost the Weight? That was the beginning of my addiction because I basically survived on Diet Pepsi.
I drank so much Diet Pepsi that I had significant side effects even though I was young and in my late teens and early twenties. My acid reflux was horrible and let’s just say my college boyfriend put a bottle of beano in my Easter basket and another bottle in my Christmas stocking. Note, the college boyfriend wasn’t promoted to Husband status for obvious reasons :).
Quitting artificial sweeteners was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done
I tried to taper down my soda consumption while I was pregnant but justified drinking two Diet Pepsi a day because I didn’t drink coffee.
It wasn’t until I was in my mid 30’s that I truly realized how badly Diet Pepsi was affecting me. I was drinking at least 6 cans of it a day by that time. Every time I tried to quit, I felt like I was going to die from migraines, exhaustion, lightheadedness, and my brain was so foggy I had a hard time functioning.
I drank my last Diet Pepsi about twenty times before I finally gave it up for good over 5 years ago.
How could artificial sweeteners sneak back into my life after I worked so hard to give them up?
They snuck back into my life when I started going to the weight loss clinic this March. The weight loss clinic offers tasty, convenient snacks that ring in at about 100 calories and 10 grams of protein each. The only problem is they are full of artificial sweeteners.
Within a few months, I was addicted to the artificial sweeteners, again.
Artificial sweeteners seem like a probable cause for my inflammation issues
I’ve been reading through my journals, a past blog The Holistic Emergency Tune Up For Inflammation, and looking back at pictures throughout the last sixteen years. My face and legs are much more swollen than they should be at my current weight. I can clearly see, something has been causing me significant inflammation over the last few months. And I’d like to interrupt myself and this paragraph to put a plugin for journaling. Please friend, consider it if you are not already journaling. If I put a few pretty ones in Tanya’s Treasures, will you at least look at them? Anyways, I have this sneaking suspicion the artificial sweeteners are causing the inflammation.
As of tomorrow morning, in preparation for the Whole30 starting on September 1st, I will no longer be eating or drinking anything with artificial sweeteners.
How about you? What are you currently doing that isn’t resonating with your body? How do you plan on controlling it?
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