Post-Paleo Update

I am amidst multiple baking sessions, apartment decorating, and party planning sessions for the upcoming holidays.  However, I wanted to pop in and give you guys an update as to how things have been going post-Paleo.  I'll start with my expectations.

As you know, week #1 and 2 were difficult to stomach (pun fully intended).  i missed food that had actual flavor.  I craved greasy, sugary, calorie dense food like I was going through Chinese torture.  Looking forward, I expected the remaining weeks to be pure torture and Day #31 to be pure heavenly bliss.  Then in week #3 I started to notice a change.  My taste buds picked out more subtle hints.  I began losing my cravings for non-paleo food.  I certainly had a lot of help from friends with the creative necessity to make it through.  I began wondering what Day #31 was going to be like.  Will I still like non-Paleo food as much I used to?  Doubt crept into my mind, but it only held a small portion of my attention.   Week #4 was much like 3, but the anticipation of being able to eat pizza, milk, cheese, cookies, and anything else I wanted allowed me to hang onto the lingering cravings that were borne more of my desire to gain back time spent prepping Paleo food than an actual physical craving.  By Day #29 and 30, I was ready.  I was devoid of physical cravings, but mentally chomping at the bit to get back to "normal."

Day #31 came.

You know that saying "You never know what you had until you've lost it"?  It doesn't fit this situation at ALL!!

Early on in the Paleo experiment, I noted that I was never full, no matter how much I ate.  I got full at lunch on Wednesday eating Lobster Bisque and grilled cheese.  You'd think I'd be satisfied to have that comforting feeling back, right?  Wrong!  My body took a nose dive in energy, my stomach felt bloated, and I had an after taste that hung around well past it's welcome.  Sure, it tasted good, but I jumped up and down until my body had enough and threw up.  

Is this what processed food does to your body?

Today I experimented with a couple cookie recipes (simple chocolate chip and peanut butter) in preparation for a party tomorrow.  Four cookies in, I regretted designating myself as the taste tester.  Sugar really is addicting!  All day I've been craving another cookie, but every time I eat one I feel worse.

While I admit that I was never fully physically and mentally satisfied with the Paleo experiment - meals were never as full of flavor as I remember non-Paleo meals being prior to the experiment - I now realize that the experiment itself cleansed both my body and palate.  Without going through another 2+ week adjustment back to non-Paleo food which I can't in good health conscience do, I foresee a much more Paleo style diet in my future.

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Questions

1.  Have you ever had a diet / experiment that you finished and then immediately went back on?
I may not go back to my strict version of Paleo, but I certainly cannot do processed foods other than in small rations.

2.  Is there any single food item that you feel you could never lose the taste for?
Fruit.  Strawberries, kiwi, pomegranate, clementines, grapes...


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