...I can so go "sugarless" for a year. Sim-ple.
But back to that in a moment. This afternoon at work, post-chicken 'n' dumplings soup, unsweetened applesauce and leftover popcorn, hunger came-a-callin'. Though it pains me to put three whole quarters into a vending machine, I gave in and got some pretzels when I knew I wouldn't be able to wait until after work for more food. (And a colleague brought in cookies again. Today, I stayed strong!)
I can tell already that when I officially subtract sweetened snacks from what I can eat, I'm going to go hungry. So in effort to avoid feeling so starved that I fall into sugary sin, I'm going to have to stock my desks with snacks appropriate for a sugar free year. Before the first of the year, I'll post a list of rules about what I can and cannot eat (and I'm sure throughout the year, I'll find a few food items I'll have to research before deciding). But for now, I feel compelled to clarify: when I say I'm going sugarless, I definitely don't mean I'll eat sweet things if they have fake sugar in them. What I mean is that I am essentially actually giving up desserts. No more pie (I'll miss you, pumpkin!). Cake. Ice cream. Pastries (I might have one more canoli before New Year's Day.). Most juice will be out of the question (but I might be able to find something that's naturally sweet at a health food store). So Jello pudding? No, thanks. But unsweetened applesauce? Yes, please.
Anyway, I'm glad I went for the pretzels. They held me over until a party after work, where -- after salad and chili -- I stared a cheesecake in the face and didn't even feel tempted.
Day -15: Boomshockalocka!
Showing posts with label sugar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sugar. Show all posts
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Starting early...
I figure if I'm not going to eat sugar for an entire year, I may as well avoid it in the next 15 days -- the last days I'll be allowed to indulge until 2011.
I realize that my rash decision to quit sugar cold turkey is evidence of insanity. I mean, in just the short period of time during which I wrote last night's entry on this blog, I actually ate two donuts. Two! But with friends (and a blog) to hold me accountable, I go forth with confidence.
I can so do this.
But around 2 this afternoon, I wanted a snack. And thanks to the daggum vending machine in the break room, I knew exactly what I wanted:
That's right. Grandma's Mini Sandwich Cremes.
Have you ever tried them? Are you aware of the perfection in the cookie to creme ratio? Can you fathom the way they melt at the right rate of speed? Has the artificial flavor changed your life?
Yes, I love them. Yes, I realize my love for them makes me a hypocrite (do as I say, not as I do?) And yes, I am ashamed.
But I am not ashamed to report that my good friends will power and popcorn showed up just in time.
Day -16: Success!
I realize that my rash decision to quit sugar cold turkey is evidence of insanity. I mean, in just the short period of time during which I wrote last night's entry on this blog, I actually ate two donuts. Two! But with friends (and a blog) to hold me accountable, I go forth with confidence.
I can so do this.
But around 2 this afternoon, I wanted a snack. And thanks to the daggum vending machine in the break room, I knew exactly what I wanted:
That's right. Grandma's Mini Sandwich Cremes.Have you ever tried them? Are you aware of the perfection in the cookie to creme ratio? Can you fathom the way they melt at the right rate of speed? Has the artificial flavor changed your life?
Yes, I love them. Yes, I realize my love for them makes me a hypocrite (do as I say, not as I do?) And yes, I am ashamed.
But I am not ashamed to report that my good friends will power and popcorn showed up just in time.
Day -16: Success!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Oh, sugar.
Let me be blunt: sugar and I don't get along.
Our feud started overnight, at slumber parties -- ugh -- in my youth. Even to write this now, fifteen years since my last sleepover, I shudder. And want to barf. Bowls full of M&Ms and the friends who pressured me into eating them kept me from the safety of my sugarless sleeping bag. Something seemed wrong with the unabashed stuffing my face with food my mom would never buy, but my friends of yore were not the kind who wanted to be right.
When I realized the way the all-night sleepless sugar fests made me feel -- you know, stomach and mind in shambles, plagued by regret and the shakes, stone cold and completely empty -- I quit going to them. But sugar showed up elsewhere.
For the rest of elementary school, I ate cookies and milk after school. By middle school, lunch time bake sales begot after school sugar comas. And in high school? Root beer made my butt grow. By tenth grade, the scale said 175. Wake. Up. Call.
First, I stopped drinking soda. By that alone, I dropped 20 pounds. I gave up carbs for an entire summer (wouldn't necessarily do that now, for the record). Rode an exercise bike for 30 minutes a day. And by senior year, the scale said 135. Cha-ching! But I was still missing... something.
In college, I figured out what that was: nourishment. While I loved my size 9's and being so thin that the skinniest girl in school said things like "Your thighs are almost as small as mine!" (Yeah. She had couth.), I looked sort of sickly. While what I didn't eat played a major role in a major loss of weight, what I did eat wasn't cutting it. And it's just as well, since in college, I crept back toward my old ways -- but never fully.
By no means am I an unhealthy eater. (Ask my Aunt Laura in North Carolina. Last time I visited, I made her stock up on spinach and garbanzo beans. And that was so I'd have something to eat for breakfast.) But by no means am I where I'd like to be, because if and when you show me the sugar-laden treats that, years ago, led to my boycotting slumber parties, I. Can't. RESIST!
Just today, I ate three cookies from a bowl a colleague brought to work. Needless to say, saying no to sugar is a struggle that's been on for years. In one of many attempts to kick the habit -- and by habit, I do mean addiction -- a few friends commended my desire to live dessert-free. But the same friends still offered tempting treats, and told me how to justify it: everything in moderation.
But I can't agree. Why, even in moderation, would I want something like the sugar you find in sweets? It feeds inflammation. It suppresses the immune system. It contributes to anxiety. It can cause depression. I can vouch for all that first hand.
If there's nothing in it that my body needs, I really don't see the point. So soon, I'll do to sugar what I should have done the day we first met.
I'm going to walk away.
Say goodbye.
Sever all ties.
And I'm gonna do it for a year.
I'm aware, of course, that my body needs some sugar -- and that, I will mostly get in fruits, vegetables and bread. The experiment, inspired by a recent conversation with my friend Sarah, won't be easy. But I'm curious enough to give it a shot. What will happen...to my body? To my moods? To my tastebuds?
Two and a half weeks to cut back.
Two and a half weeks until 2010.
My sugar free year.
Our feud started overnight, at slumber parties -- ugh -- in my youth. Even to write this now, fifteen years since my last sleepover, I shudder. And want to barf. Bowls full of M&Ms and the friends who pressured me into eating them kept me from the safety of my sugarless sleeping bag. Something seemed wrong with the unabashed stuffing my face with food my mom would never buy, but my friends of yore were not the kind who wanted to be right.
When I realized the way the all-night sleepless sugar fests made me feel -- you know, stomach and mind in shambles, plagued by regret and the shakes, stone cold and completely empty -- I quit going to them. But sugar showed up elsewhere.
For the rest of elementary school, I ate cookies and milk after school. By middle school, lunch time bake sales begot after school sugar comas. And in high school? Root beer made my butt grow. By tenth grade, the scale said 175. Wake. Up. Call.
First, I stopped drinking soda. By that alone, I dropped 20 pounds. I gave up carbs for an entire summer (wouldn't necessarily do that now, for the record). Rode an exercise bike for 30 minutes a day. And by senior year, the scale said 135. Cha-ching! But I was still missing... something.
In college, I figured out what that was: nourishment. While I loved my size 9's and being so thin that the skinniest girl in school said things like "Your thighs are almost as small as mine!" (Yeah. She had couth.), I looked sort of sickly. While what I didn't eat played a major role in a major loss of weight, what I did eat wasn't cutting it. And it's just as well, since in college, I crept back toward my old ways -- but never fully.
By no means am I an unhealthy eater. (Ask my Aunt Laura in North Carolina. Last time I visited, I made her stock up on spinach and garbanzo beans. And that was so I'd have something to eat for breakfast.) But by no means am I where I'd like to be, because if and when you show me the sugar-laden treats that, years ago, led to my boycotting slumber parties, I. Can't. RESIST!
Just today, I ate three cookies from a bowl a colleague brought to work. Needless to say, saying no to sugar is a struggle that's been on for years. In one of many attempts to kick the habit -- and by habit, I do mean addiction -- a few friends commended my desire to live dessert-free. But the same friends still offered tempting treats, and told me how to justify it: everything in moderation.
But I can't agree. Why, even in moderation, would I want something like the sugar you find in sweets? It feeds inflammation. It suppresses the immune system. It contributes to anxiety. It can cause depression. I can vouch for all that first hand.
If there's nothing in it that my body needs, I really don't see the point. So soon, I'll do to sugar what I should have done the day we first met.
I'm going to walk away.
Say goodbye.
Sever all ties.
And I'm gonna do it for a year.
I'm aware, of course, that my body needs some sugar -- and that, I will mostly get in fruits, vegetables and bread. The experiment, inspired by a recent conversation with my friend Sarah, won't be easy. But I'm curious enough to give it a shot. What will happen...to my body? To my moods? To my tastebuds?
Two and a half weeks to cut back.
Two and a half weeks until 2010.
My sugar free year.
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