That "protein every time you eat" thing really messed me up. I couldn't eat sugar without chicken, or a muffin without a protein shake. End result? Eating twice as much as I needed or wanted. Eventually, I decided to live dangerously and eat just a bowl of Cheerios, or just a donut, or just fruit. Do you know what happened? Nothing. I ate the carbs, waited to die of insulin surge and diabesity, and nothing happened. I felt fine. After some more daring experiments with this, I lost weight.
I've since realized that as a healthy person, my body regulates insulin and blood sugar just fine, no matter what I eat. It doesn't spike and crash like in the interwebz fables. I don't get shaky or nauseous, no headaches, no crankiness, no ravenous hunger, no insta-pudge, nothing. I still have meals that are just popcorn, or just cereal, or just an english muffin and a glass of almond milk. I don't eat every meal that way, because hey, I like protein and fat, and I really like mixing them up with carbs.Â
It makes me mad that I bought into the dogma and ate so fearfully for so many years. If I eat what I want, I'll want protein foods soon enough. I don't need to force it.
This is a dogma that I STILL struggle to let go off. I'm working on it though. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I don't, but I'm getting better.