good carbs, bad carbs, chocolately carbs of pure delicious evil

I am finding it very difficult to stay away from sugar. I just have this damned sweet tooth. I take full and complete responsibility for everything that I put into my mouth, of course, but damn if there isn’t candy, pastries, cookies, ice cream, and foods with tons of sugar added EVERYWHERE around us. You don’t really notice it to this degree until you try to stop eating it completely.

I haven’t had too difficult of a time with white rice, white potatoes, corn, or white bread. By that I mean that I don’t miss them as much as I thought I would. And it’s not like I don’t occasionally eat the white bread anyway. Hardly any places serve sandwiches that are made on bread that I can eat (i.e. whole grain 100% stone ground, no added sugars). I do the best I can, but it’s not 100%. I think I may have had white rice once since October, and corn maybe once. White potatoes — two or three times, in french fry form.

But the sweet tooth is just killing me.

Oh yeah, I also have a tortilla tooth. There is nothing like a hot fresh white flour tortilla with melted butter.

This is not a diet; this is simply the way I plan to eat from now on, because it’s nothing strict or crazy that I can’t stick to for the rest of my life. This is NOT ATKINS. Those Atkins people are nuts (no offense, Mom). I don’t want anyone to have the mistaken impressions that I am on the Atkins diet. I am eating healthy carbohydrates (whole grains and fiber), and avoiding the unhealthy ones (processed white flour, sugar, white rice, corn, white potatoes, pineapple, bananas — no problem there, carrots to some degree, anything with added sugar, which includes just about every condiment imaginable except mustard and mayonnaise, anything with chemicals or preservatives or processed ingredients). I am learning to like sweet potatoes, which for some weird reason are OK to eat in moderation, although I wouldn’t touch them before. They are good sliced and grilled or baked with lots of salt and vinegar.

The great part about this is, I already really like most healthy foods. I love vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, brown rice, tofu, nuts. I am eating a lot more meat than I have in years and years, but it’s not that bad. I’m learning to like it more.

I have a feeling that Quickies for Couples II is going to focus a lot on foods that are naturally low in carbohydrates, simply because I write from my life experience and that is what I’m experiencing now.