Without further adieu…
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For those of you who don’t know me, this is Nick… Jen’s husband.
More often than not, when I tell people what my wife does for a living, I get the same response: “Does that mean you have to eat all healthy?” At first, I noticed that ever single guy asked the question, but as time has gone on, I’ve noticed women ask just as often. How can living a healthy life style be viewed so suspiciously and, at times, negatively?
Despite popular belief, Jen doesn’t force me to eat how she does or dictate my diet in any way. I’ll be honest, my regular diet isn’t great. However, it’s improved greatly since Jen & I have been together. I’ve always appreciated her willingness to allow me my “normal” foods. I eat a pretty typical American diet and eat out often. And I definitely eat more meat and fake cheese than I do vegetables. For the most part, I was happy because I love food.
That tense change at the end there, where I went from present tense to the past (“I was happy…”) is because this past holiday season I finally hit the wall. I LOVE Thanksgiving, and I ate a lot of food since it’s my favorite holiday of the year. But then I didn’t (or couldn’t) stop eating. I ate large quantities of food at all hours of the day and most of it was sugar.
By the time Christmas hit, I was already 5 lbs heavier than I was a month earlier. Sadly, Christmas was the nail in my dietary coffin since I couldn’t stop myself from eating cookie after cookie. I woke up the day after and felt really bad. The scary part? That bad feeling was starting to feel normal which is a pretty good indicator that I had been feeling pretty bad for a while.
I made up my mind and I told Jen I wanted to try her Sugar Cleanse, but I needed her to do it with me. She told me that if I was serious, she would do it with me. With New Year’s and my birthday a week away, we decided that January 3rd would be the start date of our cleanse.
Headed down the Sugar Cleanse Rabbit Hole
And so we began… Two days into the Cleanse and I already started to feel better. Four days in I had an enlightening “moment” – there is a package of gluten free cookies in the house that Jen reviewed before Christmas. My eyes locked on the cookies and I stared intently at them for a few seconds, but then my eyes drifted up towards the bowl of Granny Smith apples. I honestly wanted the apple more.
As the weeks have gone by, I’ve come to realize that I prefer eating this new way. When I tell people I’m on a low sugar diet, I get eye rolls and am asked why I would do that to myself. That’s when I tell them how my wife and I have been making really good food. Not just “good for you” food, but GOOD food. It’s been delicious. I don’t think I have eaten this well at any point in the past 6+ years because I was more interested in the not-so-healthy choices.
My Success Story
Because of Jen’s Gluten-Free Sugar Cleanse, I have more, sustained energy, I’m sleeping better and have lost 8+ lbs. Though I’m a terribly picky eater, I’ve been eating some of the most delicious food of my life and get to spend time with Jen making it. I’m an avid cyclist, and my performance on the bike has improved and become more consistent. I’m what a lot of people call a “meat and potatoes” kind of guy, and if I can do this, anyone can.
Now that I’m getting to the end of the three weeks, friends ask me if I’m going back to eating “normal” when I’m done – the answer is yes and no. Yes, I will eat starchy foods and food with higher sugar content. No, I will not eat it nearly as often as I was before. More importantly, I don’t want to because I feel too darn good.