When someone has a hangover and drinks just a little more whiskey to help them get over it, they’ll sometimes refer to that as “having some of the hair of the dog.” The full expression is “the hair of the dog that bit me,” hearkening back to days when you’d take a hair from your enemy and create a potion to destroy them. Essentially, what they’re doing is slowing the cleanse enough so they can handle it.
Well, as you’ll recall from last week’s post (you did read last week’s post, didn’t you? Well, go do it!) I’ve gone off sugary treats. I’m now a full week sugary-treat free. But round about Wednesday night, I went into a massive withdrawal. I’d also had too much caffeine just prior, too – my headaches were really nasty – so I was combating a sugar and a caffeine withdrawal, all at the same time. I got a fever, wanted to throw up, and couldn’t stay awake to save my life. After wrestling with it for a whole day, trying to decide what to do, I sent my honey out for a 20 oz. bottle of Coke and administered the hair of the dog.
I drank 2/3 of the bottle on Wednesday night, and was amazed at how much better I felt just after a few swallows. This was a clear indication to me that yes, my body was definitely going through a withdrawal. The next day, I drank the remaining 1/3, and have felt just fine ever since. I just needed to slow down the cleanse enough to where I could handle it, and now I’m doing great. I didn’t feel the need for any more than that small amount.
I’m not worrying about the smidge of sugar that might be in my salad dressing or my bread at this point – right now I’m taking it a step at a time and learning to redirect my thinking toward other foods and away from desserts and candy. Coming off chocolate was a huge step for me, and now I’m taking this one, an even larger step, trying to come a bit closer to where I want to be.
What’s the most interesting to me is that I’ve lost 2.5 pounds this week, and all I did was go off the sugar. I didn’t make time for exercise or much of anything else – the sugar was the only thing I did differently. That’s a small piece off the nine I gained in the last month, but it’s definitely significant. Right now, though, I’m trying not to concentrate so much on weight loss as I am on getting my habits changed. That’s got to come first anyway, otherwise, I’ll just keep sabotaging myself.
Related Blogs:
The Unfortunate Potato Salad Incident
A Few of My Not Favorite Things