Surviving Detox

I am not well… Seven days off of sugar, flour, and wheat have left me with symptoms that could sometimes rival my withdrawal from heavier substances all those years ago. I feel exhausted, spacey, headachy, anxious, and overwhelmed all at the same time. I keep waiting for the morning I arise to a clear head and a spring in my step. That morning has obviously not arrived…

Several years ago, I read a book called Anatomy of a Food Addiction: the brain chemistry of overeating by Anne Katherine, M.A. She is a Certified Eating Disorders Therapist and recovering food addict. Her plan views sugar and refined carbohydrates as types of drugs, which we use for comfort. I wholeheartedly agree! I love what she tells us to write in big letters:

“ABSTINENCE IS NOT A DIET.
ABSTINENCE IS AVOIDING A DANGEROUS DRUG.”

She advises for a slow withdrawal from these foods to minimize the harsh detox symptoms. Under her plan, you would avoid all forms of sugar and alcohol for a year before removing refined carbohydrates, including all white-flour foods. I am an extremely all-or-nothing kind of girl, so that would seem like an eternity to me. I would rather trudge through it all at once and be done with it.

Katherine describes the withdrawal period as “The Big Ten,” referring to the first 10 days as being the worst of it. I’m beginning day 8, so by her calculations I’m in the homestretch. She lists what we can expect during this time on p.126-127 of her book:

• Anger, sadness, anxiety, restlessness {for me, YES to all 4}
• Trouble sleeping {yes}
• Extreme thinking {yes}
• Strong urges to shop, spend, or go somewhere {no, I just want to stay in bed}
• Tricky cravings {YES}
• Loss of insight- forgetting your symptoms are detox-related {yes, this is probably the most difficult for me}

There are others listed, but I wanted to touch on the main ones I am dealing with. Although I don’t feel the need to shop or go somewhere yet, I can definitely understand that one. It is replacing food with another escape. I think once my exhaustion and headache wears off some, I may struggle with those more.

She gives a lot of tips in her plan. I think most of my physical symptoms are caused by not following many of her instructions. Honestly, I had completely forgot about this book until I decided to post on detox symptoms. I wish I had read over it again a couple of weeks ago.

Some important tips from her plan (p.123-126):

• Never skip a meal. Stick with three a day.
• Make sure to have protein with breakfast.
• Eat 2-3 whole fruits every day. {I think this would help tremendously with cravings}
• Switch to decaf. Caffeine can trigger appetite and fat storage.
• Get plenty of rest.
• Be outside some every day.
• Take a vitamin and mineral supplement.

There are more but these are the ones I want to focus on. I would add ‘Drink TONS of water’ to her list. I think I tend to stay dehydrated which can definitely make things worse.

Anne Katherine allows whole wheat in her daily diet. I am still a little torn on this one. I plan to research wheat dangers this afternoon for tomorrow’s post. Remember the list to prepare for your own journey to abstinence in Week 1 Survival Tips? The list to hopefully make your life easier so you won’t have to stress and suffer as I have during the withdrawal period. If you are a blogger, add pre-write a few weeks worth of posts to the end of the list :)…

Please check out the details and other posts of this series in my 31 Days to Food Addiction Recovery if you have not had a chance already!

*If you are interested in learning more, purchase Anatomy of a Food Addiction at your local bookstore, Amazon.com {my affiliate link}, or any other online book outlet.