Dukan

As I have mentioned before I went on the Dukan diet Memorial Day weekend of last year.  I have lost over 50 lbs.  I feel better than I ever have (well, except for the raging cold I currently have, courtesy of my children who still feel that the directive to share means germs as well.  Assholes...).  My joints don't ache nearly as much, I have more energy, I have learned how to cook with spices and flavor again, and I have realized that, like the majority of people out there, I don't eat enough vegetables.

That being said....I don't recommend the diet, really.  Why?  It is super restrictive.  Ironically, that is one of the things that really appealed to me about it.  They tell you exactly what you can and cannot eat.  I did not want to have to count calories, or carbs, or grams of fat.  I was given a list of foods I could have, and I could eat as much as I wanted to off said list.  Removal of having to think was a big part of the appeal for me.  Especially someone who tends towards emotional eating, which we all know=carbs.  The grains I was consuming then contributed to my flares, which made me feel like crap, which then led to more emotional eating.  It was a nasty cycle.  And I finally broke it.

I will soon be "allowed" to re-introduce grains back into my diet.  I have to admit, I am a little scared about this.  It is almost like an addiction for me...will I totally lose control?  I surely don't want to gain that 50 lbs (well, 60, once I lose this last 10 to get to my goal weight...).  Will that be motivation enough for me to keep up my progress?  I am also just scared that re-introducing grains will make me flare again.  Don't think I have not cheated on this diet...I TOTALLY have.  When I did, the aches I got the next day didn't really make it worth it.  Seeing the scale jump, say, 5 lbs, even if it was mostly water weight, wasn't worth it either.  I just FEEL better.  Really, that is what I set out to do.  Feel better.

Has this cured my Sjogren's?  Fuck no.  Do I feel I can manage it better now?  Absolutely.  At this point in my life, that is what I want.  I will never be a model.  My belly is ravaged from my children and sports a C-section scar.  My breasts are pretty saggy without a good bra.  I have stretch marks and bruise super easily.  A few years ago, all of that would have really bothered me.  Apparently I grew up...because now, I just feel better (well, mostly; I still have bad days...) and that is all that I want.  The looking better thing is a bonus.

Though I still maintain that it is totally unfair for a person who has such difficulty having children to have child-bearing hips...maybe I have not grown up that much after all :p