Don Gwinn

Sure. When I gave up sugar and starch, the cravings were so strong that I really wasn't sure I could keep doing it forever. I was almost afraid to try it temporarily, because I was afraid to find out that I needed to eat that way and also that I couldn't hack it. That seemed worse than not trying, in a way.

What I found was that the cravings for those sugary, starchy foods fade away, and I just see it like anything else now: it's just food, and I can take it or leave it. It's not just that I manage not to eat it; I know intellectually that a doughnut tastes good, but it doesn't feel like I have to have one.

On the other hand, crunchy salads without a ton of dressing never really appealed to me before, and now I genuinely enjoy them. I think that's partly because I let my palate clear, and partly because I put a lot more effort into making a *good* salad now, or finding restaurants that serve them. Fast food salads are widely variable. Order a salad at Hardee's, and you get a little shredded iceberg lettuce, a slice of tomato, a couple of rings of red onion, and often they've shredded one of the American-cheese-food-product slices that go on the burgers. It's not great. But I recently discovered that Steak n' Shake actually makes a pretty good, fresh salad with grilled chicken.

Broccoli, cauliflower, peppers and brussels sprouts are all examples of things I really only came to appreciate after I gave up other foods. For other people, eating those sugars and starches in moderation is probably a better choice than giving them up altogether, but for me, that's what it took.

The only thing I can't identify with is giving up meat and cheese. I still eat too much cheese and have to be conscious of cutting back on it; it's the classic low-carb diet thing where people decide to go on a Bacon Cheddar Diet.