It may seem that no sugar is a strange place to start this blog about "living." And I know plenty of people who have given me the stink eye when I've mentioned the idea. It's not a popular decision and is often considered extreme.
Here's what I know:
1. I have a grandfather and a mother who have dealt with type II diabetes.
2. I am dependent on sugar. I think about it every day. If I don't have it, I think about wanting it. If I have it, I feel guilty about it. This is a cycle that very much impedes my health and well being.
3. When I'm lonely, sad, or bored, sugar is the first place I turn to for reliable relief and disconnection from feeling it. It's very much an emotional thing for me. It has ties to not feeling good enough.
4. I can feel my heart race sometimes after I've eaten something really sweet. I don't like it.
5. This weekend, while with my family, I couldn't stop. I literally made myself sick.
6. I have felt, repeatedly, that I needed to do this. I feel I need to honor that. Even it it feels like it might kill me.
I figure that I'm already living an extreme. It just so happens that my extreme is supported by the social norm. I'm hoping that by going to the other extreme (and cleansing my body from its dependence) I can eventually move to balance between the two.
Now, in full disclosure, I've tried this before. I've never made it longer than a week. And that one time was because I felt forced into it by a nutritionist who wasn't explaining the "why" behind it to me. While I feel more ready and more informed now than I ever have, I'm also fully aware of how hard this will be. Practically impossible. Then again, I've run three marathons. I wasn't always sure I'd finish those either, but I did. And I wouldn't change it.
It starts tomorrow. My rules: I'm avoiding all white carbs (which are all essentially sugar). This includes white flour, white rice, etc. (Holy shit. What am I gonna do without cookies? Ack!)
I will write every one or two days. I will share what I'm cooking, what I'm learning, and how I'm coping. I'll also share information and books that I've read in case you're interested. Any love and support you could send my way would much appreciated. Hopefully I'll make it out alive.
5 comments:
Good for you! It's such a tough decision to give up sugar. What a coincidence that this same, exact week I started my kids on a month without sugar.
We kicked it off Tuesday with a nutrition/food pyramid primer. There were some tears when I told my 5-year-old we weren't having sugar until our birthdays in September. For the next couple of days she asked me pretty repeatedly for treats, but by Friday this had all but stopped.
Saturday I took the kids to a farm market and we got apples and peaches and blueberries and a cantaloupe, all picked right on the farm that day. On the way home BOTH kids wanted blueberries and each had an apple. This is the first time ever that they sat and ate apples without my first slicing and peeling them. The baby even ate part of the apple core when I wasn't watching close enough!
Furthermore, although my daughter is still asking for dessert every night after dinner, she's asking for fruit - cantaloupe, mandarin oranges, bananas.
The jury's still out on improved emotional stability. They're both under 5, so there will always be highs and lows. I'll let you know how it goes though.
On a less successful note, I also must add that my daughter frequently tells me of her sugary treat plans for her birthday and wants me to write them all down so I don't forget. She's definitely still thinking about sweets a lot.
Good luck tomorrow! The first couple of days will be the hardest, but hang in there, I think it's a great first step towards finding balance.
xo,
Ellisa (Evans)
I applaud your determination - though I doubt I'd ever do the thing myself.
Food, such a challenge. It's tied into every part of our lives, for better or worse. Our memories include the food that was included in different events and happenings. Odors and tastes illicit memories of childhood, happiness or sadness. Food has an amazing and mysterious power over us, sometimes consuming our whole lives. I congratulate your effort and am looking forward to learning from you.
I made cookies this weekend with soy flour. They taste a lot like those soy joy bars you can buy. I added chocolate chips and almonds but you could add nuts and raisins instead of chocolate. I'm just not sure how to address all the sugar in them. What do you think about soy flour?
I've never tried it, but I totally would. I'm all about alternatives to wheat flour. I have tried spelt.
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