30 Days Without Sugar
By This morning, right after I’d dropped my kids off at school, I opened the freezer and reached for the Haagen Dasz. Thankfully, I came to my senses and realized that 8:45 in the morning isn’t an appropriate time to be eating ice cream, but how have I gotten to this point? I’ve gone from an occasional indulgence to a nightly treat to a constant grazing of food-like substances.
So, I didn’t eat the ice cream, but I did polish off a bag of Kettle chips. Tomato, tomahto? I don’t know. What I do know is that I’m out of control. I don’t feel well, either. I’m anxious and I’m not exercising and I run out of energy by 5pm, which, as all those who care for little kids know, is nowhere near the end of the day.
Not only that, but lately while I’ve been getting dressed, I’ve wanted to drape myself in a tarp. I don’t weigh much more than I did a few weeks ago, but I feel entirely gelatinous. I feel down. I don’t even like food anymore. I just want to eat something that will make me feel better. Not full, not healthy, but some kind of emotional fulfillment. That’s right, I’m eating my emotions. Welcome to Oprah, eighteen years ago. Cutting edge, I know.
I don’t know if this will help at all, but I’m going back to a no-sugar diet for 30 days. No sugar substitutes, no nothing. I just put in an order for a meat CSA from a local farm as well, and our first shipment should come soon, so that will take care of some meal planning. But really, I just want to stay away from the sugar.
Kettle chips are still a go, but hopefully my desire to eat them before 9AM will go down if I start thinking about other things I’m eating. Hopefully. I’m going to post my meals and weight on Twitter each day with the hashtag (wait for it) #30dayswithoutsugar, if you want to see how I’m doing. Wish me luck.
September 20th, 2011 at 12:53 pm
Luck!
I have been slipping off the diet-y bandwagon myself. Stress is what is doing it for me. I feel stressed and therefore want not one cupcake, not two, but a round two dozen and will cut anyone who tries to take them from me.
Ok, it is not that bad. Yet. Maybe.
September 20th, 2011 at 12:59 pm
Yes, it’s that bad for me. I cannot stop. The other day I ate three doughnuts, not for a meal, just for a “snack.” I don’t know why. I’m guessing stress for me, too.
September 22nd, 2011 at 10:36 am
Good luck with getting back on track! I hope you feel better soon. It’s awful to feel bad both emotionally and physically from eating food.
On a recent trip, my legs and feet swelled so bad from eating (salty) meat at restaurants that I swore I wouldn’t go out to eat again. I felt bad about putting myself in that place.
I find that I don’t do the grazing of food-like substances if I keep my hands busy (like by knitting or writing with a pen or something) or if I stay out of the house all day (or only bring x amount of food with me to work and make a rule about no vending machines, which I break sometimes, but only a little because a dollar is too much for approximately 4 chips in a bag). I don’t know how feasible doing those things are, though.
September 26th, 2011 at 11:34 am
I have to admit I’ve had the same issues in terms of getting myself back on track. As I’ve recently moved to night shift, I have found myself a convenient excuse for pigging out on sugary stuff. I’ve also found it difficult to even do a decent amount of walking that I used to do on a consistent basis.
September 30th, 2011 at 5:44 am
I’m wondering what you mean by “sugar”. Do you mean no fruits? No breads (even whole grain?) Or do you just mean no candy and deserts? Do you mean no adding sugar to your coffee? Your cereal? (I haven’t had table sugar in my house for 5 years now! It IS a help)
Obviously it’s important to have SOME sugars in your diet (take it from someone with hypoglycemia!) but not too many. So what do you think is a healthy amount of sugar per day for you?