It’s Shark Week folks, so disclaimer to all the guys who get squeamish about hearing about periods, this has some mentions of it.

Meal prepped lunches this week, so I wasn’t anticipating much trouble… but then I ran into some unexpected consequences…

Monday, March 5

Woke up after having a period dream (sorry to any male readers) where you dream that your period has arrived. And it actually had. In went the cup and then I tried to go back to sleep.

Had the usual peanut butter, butter and whole meal toast for breakfast and then packed my lunch off to work, all the while feeling like absolute crap.

Had pineapple fried rice for lunch, substituting the soy sauce for liquid aminos. It’s packed with mushrooms, mixed veg, some chicken, brown rice and pineapple and sauce to make it taste better than the previous iteration.

At about four, cramps returned with a vengeance and I took pills. Also started feeling pretty lightheaded so i bought two slices of papaya, which helped although I’m still fairly woozy. I think my conclusion is to keep eating and pack more fruits.

Went home to have my dinner, and ate another portion of the meal prep. I microwaved it longer (about three mins) since parts of it were literally almost frozen. And then nearly an hour later my stomach seemed to have digested it and I began feeling lightheaded again. To sum it up, I also had a slice of pear and then one of bak kwa (similar to pork jerky) which is full of sugar, oil and fat, but I had to eat something to stop feeling giddy.

Tuesday, March 6

The usual breakfast this morning, then I shovelled twice as much food into a glass Tupperware container.

Had it for lunch, but it has already caused me to want to take a nap. Did not feel hungry till about 5pm which is pretty good I guess. Slightly lightheaded as well.

Went home for dinner and had nearly an entire plate of spinach (my in laws eat very little), a bowl of white rice, soup with macaroni and minced pork, two small pieces of salmon and other things l I cannot recall now.

Wednesday, March 7

Another dizzy day. Clearly I need to add in more protein. I think I’ll raid the fridge tmr before I go to work and take some to add to the fried rice. Another option might be to get some canned tuna and pop it in.

To curb the dizziness I went down to get some fruits and I’ve been slowly eating it. I also had a small piece of love letters just to be fully accountable.

I also met my friend for a Pokémon raid and she tried to gift me chocolate cake (for my belated birthday two months ago), to which I thanked her and told her about the no sugar project. I hope she enjoys it as much as she wanted me to. I’m honestly contemplating eating table sugar to go with my third cup of tea or Milo.

I had two slices of pear and then one slice of papaya so I wouldn’t faint…had a meeting at Starbucks so I had a month’s worth of sugar in a green tea Frappuccino (apparently MyFitnessPal says it contains 48g of sugar).

After the meeting where I talked a lot of potential crap, (too late for self-censure) had Pepper Lunch for dinner, steak, vegetables and mashed potato. Still a bit dizzy but it got better after a while.

Thursday, March 8

Today was better since I dumped an entire can of tuna into the fried rice, which I’ve also completely finished, so tomorrow I’ll have to see what I can eat. Was fairly okay the whole day with slight dizzy spells, thankfully not as severe as previous days.

Had dinner outside too, my usual dinner of chicken thigh (no sauce), salad, cauliflower and quinoa. Managed to get a workout and 35mins of power walking in.

Friday, 9 March

Usual breakfast, and then headed to work. Generally okay until standing in line for lunch when I started feeling giddy again. Will this never end?

Ordered sliced fish beehoon soup with more vegetables. I didn’t taste sugar, but maybe a bit of shaoxing wine or something I have no idea. Basically it tasted different.

Went to the pantry to get tea and told myself I could get one cookie. I stared at the rows of treats before me…and didn’t get anything. I am officially hungry though.

Had a similar dinner to Thursday’s, but with spaghetti instead of salad, which caused a mountain load of bloating. Didn’t help that I wolfed it down since I was sooo hungry. I still worked out despite it. Probably too much carbs and not enough time spent actively digesting it.

Saturday, 10 March

Had beehoon yellow noodle soup for breakfast, since I was too lazy to think of what to make. Didn’t discover any potential sugar, but I don’t really know how ubiquitous it is in hawker fare.

Gonna have white rice porridge for lunch along with anything else my mil makes. I’ll eat a bit of everything.

Stayed home for dinner, so see Tuesday’s dinnee. It’s pretty similar most days.

Sunday, 11 March

Had wanton mee for breakfast. Tried to avoid taking the gravy cos I think that’s where the sugar hides.

Lunch was a rushed affair since I had to head back to church for a (thankfully) short meeting. Had Nando’s quarter chicken plain-ish, with a side salad, and black pepper sprinkled over all of it. I also stole a couple of my husband’s wedges.

Contemplated getting a mid-afternoon snack and found no sugar options in Ishimuraya, but I felt intimidated by the sales lady (and wondered if she thought I was intending to shoplift) so I left and wandered around NTUC in the basement instead. I discovered that the chips of a particular brand doesn’t have sugar, so that might be an option.

Had teppanyaki for dinner, and if the sauce had sugar, it didn’t taste especially sweet. I chose it because they give bean sprouts and another type of vegetable in the price, which is great.

So that’s it for week 2. Still feel some dizziness here and there, but generally it’s manageable. I haven’t meal prepped for week 3, so let’s see how that goes.