Monday, August 22, 2011

Taming the Sweet Tooth

Today is Day 22 without sugar. No cakes, no biscuits, no lollies, no chocolate, no sauces with loads of sugar- like in the jar mayo, tomato sauce, no grown up cordial, no teaspoons of sugar in my tea or coffee, no teaspoons of honey, no sharing of a Saturday morning post Ballet croissant with Busy. For a little while there was NO visiting over here, one of my fave blogs but the cake images were driving me wild.

 No licking of the cake batter bowl, no freshly baked banana bread, no sharing of cakes with Busy, no gelato bar trips, no sugar in my tea no sugar in my coffee, no honey, and did I mention  no chocolate no chocolate no chocolate. I never ate a lot of processed foods insofar as things from packets so I wasn't eating loads of hidden sugar, I knew the sugar I was eating,  but a few cups of tea a day and some grown up cordial at night and the odd biscuit, chocolate after dinner - well it adds up.

So what have I learnt? What has changed? Well, I am glad you asked: 

1. it is easier for me to say no all the time to sweet things rather than go through the should I? should I? -the internal battle that rages when I am offered something.

2. it is easier to not have 1 biscuit/ piece of chocolate/ slice of cake at all than to have one then try to not have another one. I am now so use to just saying no I don't even think about if I should anymore. This is great.



3. I really think I was addicted to sugar in that I had cravings for it and I definitely experienced some withdrawal symptoms but I don't feel like it is the problem for me like it may be for others in so far as every time they eat it it caused mood swings and ups and downs and general grumpiness afterwards.

What I have NOW realised, with my PHD in Hindsight, is that working, running My Bearded Pigeon, renovating, being the president of a management committee of a place with some long standing issues that were keeping me awake at night as I tried- stupidly- to please everyone, and dealing with someone being cranky with me at work was actually what has been stressful and causing me to feel this at times, awfulness -not sugar. Of course this all meant I was eating more sugar as a way of (not) dealing with this added stress. So sugar was not the issue at all. (Have since received an apology from cranky work colleague and resigned from the management committee-PHEW! and the renovations are done insoafar as Chef is doing the finishing touches and the builders are gone.)


4. However, I have lost a few kgs (always good) and am feeling a sense of freedom from trying not to have it. I still sometimes feel like chocolate- and at one point early on started saying hello to the Lindt chocolate in the fridge, but it is a passing feeling and I turn to my other friend SALT and eat some nuts. There is also a packet of chocolate covered almonds in the house too, but I am not wanting to eat them, they actually don't have the magical powers of fixing things I previously thought they had. And I am still eating fruit.

I said to a friend of mine at work "I wonder how long I will be able to do this?" she said, so annoyingly right and so counselling 101 "It sounds like you feel like you don't have nay control over that" (the Counsellor does not like being counselled but her words are ringing in my head all the time) I have repeated the same back to her ( also a counsellor) on more than one occasion as she is on a fitness regime and we both agree it makes sense and we have both said it to our clients about 100 times each. 

I wonder should I test the waters? Should I have a piece of chocolate to see that it is not as amazing as I thought so?  Not yet. I want to do this zero tolerance approach for a bit longer yet. I am just past three weeks. The magic it- takes -3 -weeks -to- change- a -habit time. I feel like I am over the hump.  Here's hoping.

16 comments:

  1. Yay for you! You do realise that whenever you have something with sugar in it that it will go straight thru you..... And if you do resort to chocolate, go the really dark chocolate!

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  2. Well done. Don't fall and be a slave to sugar again. The occassional treat should be just that occassional, but of very good quality. If you are going to have something make sure it is a good product and a small quanity. There is no point in allowing yourself an indulgence if it's a dodgy product. The other ways you have used to reduce your stress levels are good to see. Keep up the good work.

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  3. Well done Chook. Please know that the reading of this post was punctuated by photographically-prompted saliva, drooling over the keyboard...(niiice).

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  4. yay, well done Cath! That's amazing. You sound a lot like me {although we still partake in the grown-up cordial} and I find the cravings definitely lessen to virtually non-existent. It's more the idea than the actual taste.

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  5. I'm impressed!
    Mostly because I can't even imagine doing that.
    Maybe I should give it a try!!
    xx

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  6. well done Cath, well done!! you still managed some high sugar sweet pics though :)

    you know why I don't eat my baking, for that exact same reason, zero tolerance, I don't need to think about it, just say NO.
    jellybeans on the other hand...i wish i could say no.

    stick with it chooky, you are doing awesome ♥

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  7. I so need to go there! I can't believe I moved to the tropics and put on weight and ate more sugar and fat! arg - totally in the control of the sugar monster. I so want to get back to whipping it's arse instead of it whipping my increasing arse!
    well done you and thanks for the inspire. Especially the 'still eat fruit' who could resist a mango or 5??

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  8. I am really interested to see how this goes. I have basically given up cheese :P and once you stop eating it, you don't crave it anymore. But sugar is another whole different leve. Like you, there is not a lot of processed sugar going into this body but it seems overwhelming as it is still in so many foods.

    I will follow your post-hump progress with interest. Well done.

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  9. Jeez, I am impressed. I eat much like you but with more chocolate at the end of the day...I have thought hard about giving up sugar but I don't know if I've got it in me. The coffee, the tea, even the mayo! Good job.

    ps - THANK YOU SO MUCH for the package in the mail today. SO lovely. The big kiddoes played rattles with George and adored their stickers.

    With so much else going on in your life, taking the time to send that is a testament to what kind of a friend you be, Cath. You're the bomb!

    xxx

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  10. Wow. Well done.
    I've been telling myself to do this for so long, and I really like your approach - saying a clear 'No' all the time, rather than just trying to cut down.
    Keep up the good work.
    I'm feeling inspired...

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  11. Most impressive. Couldn't do it myself. The Lindt gets me. I take my hat off to you!

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  12. I have just this week slipped off my no-sugar kick. In case you are thinking of doing the same, after about 3 days I felt rotten! I'm suddenly back to wanting something sweet after eating anything savoury! I found it much easier to just cut it all out, and felt much better for it (the original reason was rather less to do with wanting to cut sugar than to cut out recurrent thrush....oh so glamourous!)

    I found I was eating much more fruit, most things tasted better and despite my increased interest in butter on everything I felt much better for it.

    So stick to it, unless like me you need to fall off the wagon to realise that the grass is not greener on the other side!

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  13. I went no sugar and no grains last year and it was brilliant. No aches and pains, no sore feet, and I jumped out of bed in the morning rather than crawled. Will be going back on no sugar now that my health issues have abated - it's certainly a better fit for me.

    Well done for making it 22 days!

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  14. Well done you!!

    I did the sugar-free for a few months earlier this year and loved not only how I felt, but being free from the cravings. I fell off the wagon but am quitting sugar again tomorrow (finishing up a few yummy treats that are in the house first....). Luckily the man does it along with me so there are no temptations in the house. He's to us both being happily sugar free :)

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  15. Hooray for you! I am on week six now and it gets easier and easier and you don't really want the sugar. I do love salted cashews though! Everything is tasting so much better and fruit is sweet enough for me. I have been on the sugar roller coaster daily for the last eight years after the birth of my second child...he was a whopper and I was left drained and resorted to sugar to help me cope. Now going thru 'the change' sugar is really not my friend so she had to go. Well done to you :-)

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  16. I am feeling so very inspired :)

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what a nice person you are- taking the time to comment in this busy hectic world...Thank you!!