Since I started this diet, I've learned something very important about myself. I'd love to say that I learned will power or self control, or something that sounded really introspective and analytical, but I didn't. Rather, I learned, through trial and error, that there's a very good chance that I'm hypoglycemic.
For those of you who don't know (because I didn't!), hypoglycemia is a condition that occurs when your blood sugar is too low. I've always snacked on sugar-rich things throughout the day (crackers, cookies, flavored lattes, candies, really whatever I could get my hands on), so my sugar has never really had the opportunity to get low. A few times over the course of the last few years, I waited too long to eat and got really irritable and a little nauseated, but I always ate fairly quickly and it went away. I attributed these things to hunger and nothing more. It wasn't until last weekend, at my parents' house, that I figured out it was most likely something more. (I haven't been officially diagnosed, because I'm terrified of needles, but I'm pretty confident based on what happened last weekend.)
I started my diet Wednesday. On Saturday, at around 11 pm, I was sitting in a chair in my parents' living room. Vince and Joey (my husband and my brother) were on the couch across from me.
All of a sudden, for no reason at all, I felt mad and then sad. Maybe a minute later, I got nauseated like I had been in a car on a curvy road staring at my phone for too long. My hands and feet started to feel like they suddenly had big, thick socks or mittens on them. My face went numb, except for my lips, which tingled. I could feel tears running down my face, but I didn't understand why I was crying.
Vince looked over at me and asked if I was all right. I said I was. He didn't believe me and quickly went to the kitchen, got me an apple, and put it in my hand. I just stared at it and thought, If I eat this, I'll vomit. But he made me eat it anyway, even after I very sluggishly told him I'd ralph.
Just seconds after that first bite of cool, crisp, juicy sweetness (I really love apples), it felt like someone was pulling a wet spiderweb off my face. I could feel the sugar rushing to my head then down in my arms and legs. After just a minute or so, I was normal again.
On this new diet, I drink a fruit and protein smoothie after my workout every weekday. Vince and I don't workout on the weekends, so this was the first day of my diet when I didn't get fruit/sugar in the afternoon. That's why my body freaked out. It was scary enough that I'm now overly aware of how I'm feeling, and I'm always prepared to go grab an apple or something if those symptoms even start to rear their ugly little heads.
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