Allow me to start by sharing the conversation between me and my nine year old, Zoey about my break-up with sugar. I sat the girls down (and the boy, but he didn't listen, he just kept pretending to attack me with his pirate sword) to share with them my goal and to inform them that I'd like to involve them once I get the hang of it myself. It went a little something like this:
Me: "Okay, here's the deal, I am going to try to not eat sugar, or anything with sugar in it for a while. I don't think it's good for me. I get sleepy every afternoon. I crave it in an unhealthy way. And, I just think it's time for sugar and me to call it quits."
Zoey: "Oh, Mom, that is going to be SO hard for you! You LOVE sugar and you have that sweet tooth!"
She then gives me a hug as though a good friend of mine had just died. To be honest, it kind of feels that way.
So - there it is, in a nutshell. My NINE year old can see how close of a pal sugar has become. She can sense my undeniable need for it.
I am currently living through day three of my sugar defiance. Sugar. I defy you.
Why am I doing this, you may wonder. It's not a diet. I'm not doing it to lose weight (although if that does happen, I certainly won't complain).
Here is the thing: I am addicted to the stuff. I drink (drank) at least two Diet Cokes daily, added brown sugar to my grapefruit, dumped it in my coffee, ingested it in any form I could around 2pm every single day, ended every meal (yes, even breakfast) with some form of it. And while I did seem to master the art of sugar bingeing in a low calorie way (through artificial sweeteners), it just didn't feel healthy.
I have not been advised by a nutritionist, acupuncturist, buddhist, dentist, therapist, or any other "ist" to do this. I have seen blurbs on the internet; it's faddy. The "sugar cleanse" caught my attention because of my unhealthy relationship I have with the white stuff. I would catch it in some facebook status updates, Ellen is doing it, Mike O' Donnell is doing it, Erin Huggins did it, the list goes on - but these websites are a handful of the ones I visited when trying to decide if this was a good move for ME.
It is. Why?
1. I get cavities even though I floss every day and brush my teeth for a combined total of 6 minutes daily. Yes. Four in the morning and two at night, including a fluoride rinse at bedtime. Still. At the age of 34, I rarely make it out of that chair with the dreaded news that I have yet another cavity. I don't even know how that's possible because I have got to be running out of teeth to grow holes in. Cutting back on sugar is sure to help that, right?
2. Every afternoon around 1:46pm I want nothing more than a nap. I hate naps. I'm not a napper. Yet every afternoon I slip into a sleepy spell. I am hoping that's a sugar funk.
3. I am married to a teacher and have three kids surrounded by germy other kids every day. My kids are germy, too - this isn't to say that they are pure and get riddled with germ bullets without shooting a few back to their friends. All I'm saying is that it's a germy world out there and I want my immune system to be playing it's A game.
4. It just isn't good (there is a link hidden there, click away).
5. Maybe, as a bonus, I will finally slip below my weight loss plateau that I have been stuck in for about three months. Well, exercise might help that, too. One thing at a time!
So, there it is. I am NOT saying that I will never ingest sugar again. I am saying that today, just today, I am going to try to eat as little sugar as I can and the sugar that i do eat will be found in natural sources such as fruits and vegetables. I am saying that today, just today, I will avoid Diet Coke and all other forms of artificial sweeteners. I will opt for water and tea. Boring. Yes. But, that is my goal for today. It was my goal yesterday. And it was my goal the day before that. I have succeeded, so far. Oddly enough, it's not so bad...yet. Also - I won't give up beer. Every now and again, a girl just needs a good, cold beer. The trick is sticking to the "every now and again" part.
Wish me luck! I'll keep you posted if I'm able to stick to it.
