Feeling cold and stuck...

[Major]

At the start of the year I told myself I was cleaning up my diet and eliminating sugar, exercising more -the works.  Unfortunately I wasn't entirely committed.  Sugary food tastes awesome! Some days I ate great, other days reverted back.  Fast forward to a few weeks ago, and I've noticed unusual symptoms.  Like clockwork, a few hours after eating, the tips of my fingers go cold and blue.  Little things started to piss me off to the point I was nearly throwing objects ( I am in no way an angry person)!  I get the shakes, and eventually need to put on two jackets just to feel some semblance of warmth.  I realized last week that the quickest way to feel warm and 'stable' again is to jam something sugary in my mouth.  Mentally, this made me feel awful but at least my fingers were functioning.  I headed to the doctor where both thyroid and A1C tests came back normal.  So last Saturday I truly committed to no sugar/grains and for the weekend I felt awesome.  I was warm all day and actually smiling -not wondering what my body is trying to tell me.  Monday and today however, the coldness is creeping back and I'm just hoping I'm not back at square one.

 

I'm not asking anyone provide me a medical diagnosis, Only, has anyone had similar symptoms cutting back on sugar?   I'm hoping it's my body readjusting to living without the steady supply of carbs and sugar I'd previously been feeding it.

 

On a positive note, my fitness level has gotten better!   Not knowing what's wrong is taxing and for now I'm going to have to accept the fact that this game of life has suddenly rebooted me on a harder difficulty. 

 

[Evicious]

Going cold turkey on sugar definitely screwed up my moods, although I was angry-depressed, rather than just angry. Eating whole fruit helped reduce the moodiness, and didn't traumatize my little OCD brain. I still eat fruit as a part of my daily diet, but now it's more like a banana in my smoothie or an apple at work, than a giant bowl of frozen mango pieces.

[Zahirah]

I haven't had any physical symptoms like what you have described, but I do have just as difficult a time staying off the sugar and it ultimately is doing a huge number on my confidence...not because of the way that I look, but because I am disappointed in myself for not being more disciplined.  I suppose that in itself makes me moody at times.

 

Like @Evicious, I am trying to focus resorting to fruit whenever I get sugar cravings.  Yes, they are still sugary, and yes, I eat a butt ton of fruit, but at least I am still putting something healthy in my body.  I think once I can really solidify this as habit, I'll work on cutting down the amount of fruit I eat.

 

 I've realized cutting sugar out completely cold turkey isn't realistic, and is going to doom me to failure.  So, I am taking baby steps.

[psychic-lipstick]

I haven't had any physical symptoms like yours, but man....giving up a sugar addiction is awful. On that count, I feel you! I recently recommitted to getting healthy and the hardest thing has been cutting down on sugary, carby, caffeinated comfort. I have been grouchy and irritable. When I fail, I get more grouchy. I feel miserable. It sucks.

 

Do you have a blood glucose monitor? Or a blood pressure monitor? I recommend getting one of each (or, dusting them off if you have them around). When you're feeling crummy like that, measure your vitals and jot them down in a notebook. List your symptoms and what was going on at that time, and what other factors were involved. At the least, you may be able to ask your doctor to recommend a nutitionist or a specialist who can help you figure out what's wrong -- and you'll have this self-collected data to help figure out the problem, maybe.

 

Good luck. And, hang in there!

[Major]

Thanks for the encouragement, guys.  I've been feeling a lot better lately but not 100%.  Hopefully it will slowly climb there.  In the meantime I leveled with my doctor about how bad I've felt and I'm waiting on the results of more indepth tests in-case there is something underlying.  

 

Fruit really has been my best friend lately.  That and figuring out when and why I want sugary/carb laden foods.  While I can throw away unhealthy foods at home, my coworkers think it's pretty awesome to have the office stocked with chocolates... So I've gotten in the habit of telling myself it's for them and not me- actually imagining myself stealing their lunch out of the fridge if I want to eat the community bag of Reeces Pieces.  It's worked surprisingly well! 

 

We can do this!  

[ArgSki77]

Glad to hear things are getting better!

 

I will throw something new into the mix that I dont see anyone else has talked about yet. I cut out liquid calories a while back and thus sugar content dropped significantly. Definitely made me more irritable and moody but I adjusted over time. One thing I found that helped was chewing gum. Pretty basic but it gave me that sweet taste that my body was looking for. I tried the fruit thing but it was really wrecking my calorie count during the day since the sugars were driving my carbs up.