Rationalizing Snacks and High Fiber Diet Rules

This morning my longterm nemesis (irregularity) influenced my choice to snack on fruit while I prepared breakfast this morning. Actually I was 'irregular' yesterday and FEARED that pattern would continue today. So rather than let my body naturally return to its 'regular' pattern, I got scared and rationalized that I should eat some fruit (black grapes) and drink hot tea when I first got up to get things moving. However, standup snacking at the kitchen counter, while preparing my REAL breakfast (a bowl of oatmeal cooked in hazelnut milk with apples and almond butter), ONLY gave me low blood sugar symptoms, because I ate low fiber grapes (with no additional protein or fats) after a 13 hour overnight fast. I've officially decided that grapes are 'teasers', not whole body pleasers, because they taste good, but don't keep me unhungry for even a few minutes.

That whole prebreakfast snack experience, i.e. rationalizing eating whatever fruit (grapes) I could easily grab, reminded me (1) how often I used to rationalize bingeing when I was irregular and (2) how I have judged foods by their fiber level and fear eating low fiber meals will cause irregularity. I know from my recent experience with nutmeg that any allergy reactions or intestinal imbalances (from bacteria, fungus or parasites) more often causes irregularity than consuming a few low fiber foods. I know that meals containing a balance of high fiber, high protein and high fat foods are my whole body pleasers, which keep me unhungry for hours afterwards. However, just as normal eating can include teaser foods (taste good, leave you hungry) and pleaser foods (taste good, satisfy hunger), a 'healthy diet' can include low fiber foods that merely taste good. BTW I waited to eat breakfast after I got hungry an hour later. Then my irregularity disappeared after my 'regular' high fiber oatmeal breakfast.

My fears about irregularity seem rather irrational, until I recall my excruciatingly painful experience (10 years ago) with a botched outpatient hemorrhoid treatment, then 48 hours of unrelenting pain, as well as nausea and vomiting after taking only one of the prescribed pain pills, then inpatient 'complete hemorrhoidectomy' (surgical removal of all inner and outer hemorrhoids), followed by 8 weeks of bedrest recovery with 2 Demerol (narcotic) every 4 hours with an antiemetic to prevent me from throwing up the Demerol (which also lowered my already low blood pressure and made me feel faint) and laxatives. I've heard that recovery following hemorrhoid surgery is more painful than any other and I totally agree. So I obsessively fear that irregularity could cause more hemorrhoids. I can't take most laxatives, because I react badly (excruciating cramps) to sorbitol, senna and ingredients in most laxatives. Instead I take daily magnesium aspartate with potassium and try to include high fiber foods in each meal. Fortunately high fiber foods also satisfy my hunger and keep me unhungry longer, when combined with proteins and fats. However, the benefits of high fiber foods make me FEAR the effect of low fiber foods. Nevertheless, I've believe that I can eat low fiber foods in moderation (with other foods) without serious negative regularity problems, just as I can eat high sugar foods moderately with other foods without serious negative blood sugar consequences. If I consider high sugar and/or low fiber foods as tasty 'teasers' or occasional pleasers, I don't need to completely abstain from either of those kinds of foods.