The sugar fest that was Millie's last b-day party...
I've been thinking a lot about sugar lately. Actually, truth be told, I think about sugar all the time. I love the stuff. I am, and always have been, a dessert girl. For me a meal isn't (even remotely) complete without something sweet at the end. I crave dessert.
And therein lies the problem.
So let me rephrase my initial statement and say instead that I've been pondering sugar a lot lately. The pondering actually started last year when I read Gary Taubes' article about the sweet stuff in the NYT magazine. That action freaked me out. Big time. I thought about Taubes' article non-stop, brought it up in countless dinner party conversations...and then proceeded to dig into my dessert with gusto. But it planted the seed.
Cut to the present. After reading yet another article damning sugar + finding myself in a particularly sugary period (when I write, I tend to reach for the sugar, and given the fact that I work for a magazine now, which involves copious amounts of writing, well...you do the math), I have officially hit my tipping point. I'm feeling sick and sluggish, and (the kiss of death) my jeans are tighter.
Sugar, you are dead to me.
Well not really, but something has to give. Since, when it comes to this particular vice, moderation isn't really my strong suit, I'm going to try and go cold turkey for six weeks or so to see if I can curb my cravings a bit. So from now through the end of July I'm eschewing dessert, sweet treats, what have you... I will however still put a teaspoon of sugar in my coffee each morning, that one I'm not willing to forgo.
I'm not going to lie, I'm nervous about sticking to this one friends. But you'll help keep me accountable, right? right? I'll report progress every week or so. Wish me luck. (I'm going to need it!)
27 comments:
This post particularly strikes me because a year ago I was the same way. My cousin introduced my husband and me to the paleo diet, in which sugar is seen as inherently bad. Research and the article you mention back up this belief. I use honey in my coffee and eat plenty of fruit to satisfy my sugar cravings, but have kicked the processed stuff. The first few weeks are tough, and I had a few sugar headaches, but you can do it! Good luck!
Good for you for taking the first step!
Watch out for the hinden sugars too, like how they sneak in 13 grams of sugar in low fat and 2% milk! Seriously, much better to go with the crime, atleast that fat turns in to energy where as the sugar converts to stored fat hence tight jeans.
I know it will be tough, I cut sugar out years ago and I have to say you will be happy about it. I eat more savory things for desert now if at all. Not to say I don't have that occasional piece of cake.... I just don't crave it anymore. And when I do have it, I feel sluggish and that's a reminder of why I don't eat it.
Let us know how it all goes! you can do it!
Xx
Callie
good for you! coincidentally i just started a sugar/dessert overhaul of my own on monday. my thought: this week is the official start of summer, time to get fresh and refresh in the food department. plus, i love getting back to baseline where a piece of fruit is sweet enough. good luck, lady!
my husband and i have given up sugar for 60 days (sugar in all forms- carrots, beets, fruit, honey...). we're in our final week! it has made a huge difference in our energy levels, our 'alertness', and best of all- our weight :).
...GOOD LUCK!!! you can do this.
Great timing! I too decided to go cold turkey on sugar. I'm going to use your progress reports to help keep me accountable. Let's do this!
There are some sweet treats that will do you good, no harm.
Medjool dates
Fruit + Honey
Yogurt + a smidgen of jam stirred in
Soft and fleshy prunes
Does that sound better? Good luck, Joslyn!
Good luck! I am so interested to see how you do! Are you bringing the girlies along for the ride?
Are you going to eat fruit? Fruit along with yogurt + honey are my real sweet treats along with Crystal Light Lemonade. I have never had much of a sweet tooth (I didn't even taste my own wedding cake because I don't like cake) but I applaud your desire to push yourself to a new limit.
Ironically, I am reading this post as I await the results of my final glucose tolerance test to see if I had gestational diabetes. I don't care about forgoing dessert but I will miss you so much Asian food! :)
I've been interested to read all the myriads of blog posts by people giving up sugar and linking to articles about how bad it is, and I'll be interested to see how you do. It sounds like you're going to take a somewhat moderate approach - giving up the sweets but keeping things like fruit and honey and yogurt and even the teaspoon in your coffee. This makes sense to me. I am a believer in "all things in moderation". I say that, anyway, even as I eat my mug of ice cream every. single. night. :-D Good luck!
I am a total sugar addict too so I know how had it is to give up sugar, good luck. What an interesting article.
I gave up candy for Lent, because I was out of control. It was surprisingly easy. Of course I couldn't wait for my first nibble immediately following, but it did help me to curb my sugar tendencies. Good Luck! You can do it!
I've been doing the same thing but started Monday. I'm also giving up coffee. Which I think is nuts now that I look back at it. I have to be honest, it's not going that well! I hope I feel better soon. Good luck to you!
That article totally freaked me out, too. It's why my kids don't drink juice! Good luck with getting it out of your system. I'm sure you'll feel better for it.
Ugh. This is totally my weakness, too. I am going to try to do the same...
Im into week 5 of cold turkey absolutely no sugar including fruit for the first 8 wks. Check out a blog called I quit sugar by Sarah Wilson. Sugar is so addictive and I felt sick for the first two days but now feel the benefits. Sleeping better clearer head even after nightshift and I feel like Im a nicer person(less Grumpy) and I'm down 5 kilos as an added bonus and thats with eating full fat dairy products and healthy carbohydrates. Good luck I can highly recommend it...it really is sweet poison
what about wine????
I used to be addicted to sugar, I always craved it after dinner. But I decided to give it up and it is really really hard for 2 weeks, but it is the best thing I have ever done. I never crave sugar now. But I slowly phased it out and now I avoid added sugar as much as I can. Good luck, if I can do it, you can definitely do it!
after the first couple of days and the headaches subsize, you'll be able to do without the morning sugar too.
i gave up sugar and dairy and now i love my coffee black...the biggest shock of the year.
You need Sarah Wilson - she is based in Byron Bay in Oz and is all about the no sugar, give her a google and she'll be your guide and inspiration!
betsy -- just me for now, but i'm planning to sneak it in on the girlies...i'm just not going to make a big deal of it ;-)
veryjoe + youmakemeswoon -- just checked out Sarah Wilson's site. She is indeed awesome. I'm considering that eBook big time.
stephanie -- well wine is not so much a weakness for me, so not cutting that one out...+ isn't red wine in moderation good for you? (at least that's what I'm going with ;-)
I NEED to do the same thing but I'm not as brave as you..somehow even my pants being tight is not motivator enough. Ughh. I still live under the idea that I can do the French moderation thing. Let me know how this goes...maybe I will feel there is strength in numbers and join in!
xo . trina
I am pre-diabetic so I am careful about sugar and especially those products that sneak it in when you least expect it. But I don't feel it is realistic to eliminate it entirely; I don't want my life to be consumed with label-reading. However, one "trick" that I have used when I feel I must have something sweet after dinner is to always have a supply of Tootsie-Pops on hand. Just having that little bit of hard candy with a few chews of the inner chocolate is enough to keep me satisfied.
Wow, impressive. As I read this I was eating from a pint of Haagen Dazs! But only a 1/4 of it! I live by the rule of moderation. Plus I sweat about a weeks worth of calories at Hot Fusion Power Yoga. But I am proud of you for giving it a shot. Looking forward to hearing your progress! xo
E
I gave sugar up for all the same reasons a few months ago. After 6 weeks, I hadn't lost one single pound, so I thought "Well screw this. I'm going back on the cupcakes." Then, when I started eating it again, I realized fully how much better I felt without it - I had more energy and more stable moods. Plus, it hit home how much of my sugar cravings were reflexive -a response to mood, or stress, or environment, or time of day - and most of it wasn't as great as I imagined and remembered. I am much more selective now, and not that much really tempts me anymore.
So, I wish you luck. You seem fond of journeys of self discovery, and this will be one. Like one of the other commenters, I found savory treats, like a chunk of best quality Parmegiano Reggiano got me through my after dinner cravings. I wish you luck!
need it. with you. when do i start? :)
As I sit here reading your blog, I'm slugging a Cherry Zero Coke and munching on Milk Duds...we are off to Europe for a few weeks, but come July 15th, I'm cutting out processed sugar wherever I can, particularly the diet sodas (I only drink 2 per day), the candy and the Talenti Gelato! I'll be watching your blog to see how you handle it :) I tend to eat fairly healthy except for the sweets, which usually are on my mind constantly!!
You can do it! I've cut down to sugar on the weekends only and it's not as tough as I first imagined! Some weekends I don't even want the stuff! Good luck - I know you can do it...
http://www.inherentstylela.com/
After about 3 days you won't crave it anymore, and after that if you DO eat any sugar, what you eat will taste unbearably sweet. You won't even enjoy it. It's good and bad I guess! I need to do this too but have been putting it off. I'm either on or off of sugar, and I've been on it for way too long this time around. Like 15 years. ;)
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