The Carb Hangover

Relaxing beach side post hangover

The last few weeks, hubs and I have made some major changes in our diet. We're trying really hard to get healthy. This has been hard for both of us. We love us some baked goods. *cough cough* BAKING yogi *cough cough* It's meant that my recreation time is spent differently. Instead of having the leisure time I'd like to head into the kitchen to make a quick batch of chocolate chip cookies, I am out late running or doing yoga or finally catching up on errands that have taken a backseat to training for my half marathon.

We've also stopped buying and making bread. I don't know how long this is going to last, but the last time I had a sandwich was on my husbands birthday in early August. We were feeling great! I was maintaining my happy weight and hubs is already down 15 lbs!

And then... Labor Day weekend happened - Saturday, specifically.

Beer. Pizza. Candied bacon. Too much hummus (which I diligently ate will ALL the carrots). Because I used twitter to proclaim that I was giving up potato chips, I did not touch a single chip (even though they were all tortilla chips).

The next morning, we both woke up feeling terrible - groggy, dehydrated, slow, bloated, upset stomachs. It was... the worst. It felt, legit, like a hangover. Yes, we'd had a few beers over the course of the day, but cutting alcohol is not part of our new healthy diet - though I am aware we would be much healthier if we did cut them. The point is, it wasn't the two beers I had over the course of the day that made me feel that way - it was the food. It was heavy, fat and carb loaded delicious treats that our bodies were just plain not used to anymore.

It's a huge wakeup call. Now that my body isn't used to eating that stuff, it can more easily recognize it as something bad. It's made me realized the real impact those foods were having on my body, and remembering how gross I felt on Sunday is helping me move forward with my healthy eating with much more enthusiasm.