Breaking my addiction to sugar is taking a lot longer then expected. I'm in week four of the detox from fructose and I am still having cravings and getting the shakes. Dealing with these cravings has made me develop some techniques to push through them.
When there is a sugary treat in front of me and the thoughts race through my head to gobble it up, I walk a way and have a glass of water. By the time I drink that full glass of water the craving has subsided and I can face the sugary treat (often being eaten by the boy) again without the desire to snatch it out of his hand.
When out to eat and everyone is getting desert, I have taken David Gillespie's advice and I order the cheese plate instead. This really works for me because if there is something I love more then sugar it's cheese. It is a great indulgence for me and I can still feel like part of the group at the end of the night.
This weekend I was faced with a craving like I have never had before. The boy was making rocky road for a bake off he was doing at work and enlisted my help. I made it through the whole process of making the sugary dish without once licking my fingers covered in chocolate. But when the rocky road had set and I was helping cut it up I lost it! I did everything; walked away, drank water, ate some random cheese in the fridge, and I even took a cold shower to take my mind off of it. But it was still there and driving me crazy, so I decided to eat one small piece. Boy was I glad I did that, it was so sweet that I couldn't even eat the whole thing and turned me off it. Then I realized I must be almost off my addiction, because that is one of the signs, that sugary things that I use to eat tons of are unbearably sweet.
With cravings under wraps I am feeling like I might have kicked the habit, now for a weigh in tomorrow, yikes!!!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Getting there.....
I am getting there on getting sugar free.
I can successfully say that I have cut out all deserts and sugary snacks. It hasn't been too hard besides when the boy is sitting in front of me eating a bowl of ice cream, that however is a whole other bag of worms.
I am now trying to get my house into a sugar free environment and it is scary what I am finding in my pantry! The obvious are out the door: tomato sauce, bbq sauce (much to the boys sadness, though I think he is a hiding a stash somewhere), sweet chili sauce and well pretty much every sauce there is in there. But looking at my pasta sauces and their sugar content was scary, as well as some of the canned soups I had in there. Who knew! I thought eating soup was a great, healthy option, boy was I wrong! One vegie soup had 17grams of sugar per serving. In the bin it went.
Now as I walk the super market isles I spend about 5 minutes on each product comparing labels and trying to find the lowest sugar content as possible. My shopping trips lately have doubled in time, but I am hoping as I am learning I will start to remember which brands are the lowest in sugar and it will become quicker trips. Probably should start a list....
I guess this is all part of the journey but this week it has been a real education.
I can successfully say that I have cut out all deserts and sugary snacks. It hasn't been too hard besides when the boy is sitting in front of me eating a bowl of ice cream, that however is a whole other bag of worms.
I am now trying to get my house into a sugar free environment and it is scary what I am finding in my pantry! The obvious are out the door: tomato sauce, bbq sauce (much to the boys sadness, though I think he is a hiding a stash somewhere), sweet chili sauce and well pretty much every sauce there is in there. But looking at my pasta sauces and their sugar content was scary, as well as some of the canned soups I had in there. Who knew! I thought eating soup was a great, healthy option, boy was I wrong! One vegie soup had 17grams of sugar per serving. In the bin it went.
Now as I walk the super market isles I spend about 5 minutes on each product comparing labels and trying to find the lowest sugar content as possible. My shopping trips lately have doubled in time, but I am hoping as I am learning I will start to remember which brands are the lowest in sugar and it will become quicker trips. Probably should start a list....
I guess this is all part of the journey but this week it has been a real education.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Hi my name is Karen and I'm an Addict
I have come to a harsh realization, I am a sugar addict. I know, I know you all are like duh!
But really I didn't think I had a problem! At the beginning of this journey I thought the only problem I had was with the sugars that were sneakily added to foods and I would have no problem with giving up sugary deserts and snacks because I rarely ate them. Wrong!!
I guess I was a bit delusional about my regular diet and to be honest I would blame a lot of my sugar eating habits on the boy. I thought the only time I would have a sugary treat or desert would be when he had one. I would just go with the flow when he was home (because a lot of the time he is gone on military exercises) and it was only every once in a while.
Now that I am entering into my 3rd week of this new world of being "sugar aware" I have hit a wall. While writing down my habits I almost burst into tears, it took me about 2 weeks to complete this list because it was a harsh reality to face. I eat a lot of sugar and the obvious kind. This past week I started to go through withdraw and it was not pretty, all I could see was cake, soda, and juice everywhere and I wanted to gobble it all up. I was very moody and the poor boy caught the brunt of it. That when it hit me, I'm an addict and this is damn hard.
Thoughts ran through my head mostly along the lines of wishing I was blissfully ignorant of how sugar effects the boy and I could go on my sugary way. These thoughts and temptations soon past as does everything and here I remain with a better understanding of myself and what I need to avoid in future to be successful. The boy has recovered as well and is trying his best to not be an enabler in my battle to kick this addiction.
One positive note though, on the weekend I ran in the Run for Fun which is a 10km. I have never ran in a race, I have walked with groups but I have never taken it seriously. This time I was excited to get out and run and try to reach the end of the race without keeling over. I finished in 1 hour in 20 minutes and I felt great! Before this leap into the world of "sugar awareness" I would never attempt something like this. But I found the desire to do the run and not for losing weight but because I enjoyed it and can't wait to sign up to the next one!
But really I didn't think I had a problem! At the beginning of this journey I thought the only problem I had was with the sugars that were sneakily added to foods and I would have no problem with giving up sugary deserts and snacks because I rarely ate them. Wrong!!
I guess I was a bit delusional about my regular diet and to be honest I would blame a lot of my sugar eating habits on the boy. I thought the only time I would have a sugary treat or desert would be when he had one. I would just go with the flow when he was home (because a lot of the time he is gone on military exercises) and it was only every once in a while.
Now that I am entering into my 3rd week of this new world of being "sugar aware" I have hit a wall. While writing down my habits I almost burst into tears, it took me about 2 weeks to complete this list because it was a harsh reality to face. I eat a lot of sugar and the obvious kind. This past week I started to go through withdraw and it was not pretty, all I could see was cake, soda, and juice everywhere and I wanted to gobble it all up. I was very moody and the poor boy caught the brunt of it. That when it hit me, I'm an addict and this is damn hard.
Thoughts ran through my head mostly along the lines of wishing I was blissfully ignorant of how sugar effects the boy and I could go on my sugary way. These thoughts and temptations soon past as does everything and here I remain with a better understanding of myself and what I need to avoid in future to be successful. The boy has recovered as well and is trying his best to not be an enabler in my battle to kick this addiction.
One positive note though, on the weekend I ran in the Run for Fun which is a 10km. I have never ran in a race, I have walked with groups but I have never taken it seriously. This time I was excited to get out and run and try to reach the end of the race without keeling over. I finished in 1 hour in 20 minutes and I felt great! Before this leap into the world of "sugar awareness" I would never attempt something like this. But I found the desire to do the run and not for losing weight but because I enjoyed it and can't wait to sign up to the next one!
Monday, November 1, 2010
The Halloween melt down
Unless you live in a cave, you all know that this weekend was Halloween. As an American in Australia I have always found it my duty to spread the joy that is Halloween and all it's fun. There is, however, one big glaring thing that comes along with Halloween and that is candy, lots and lots of candy everywhere!
As the boy and I, fully costumed up (I was a sexy devil and he a giant death thingy), headed to my dear friend Kat's Halloween party I was full of confidence that I could get through the night with out diving into the goodies. I planned ahead with bringing beer as my drink of choice (very low in the bad stuff thank goodness!) and the hosts were having a bbq so bring on the snags minus the sauce and I would be good. Wrong!!
There were sweets everywhere! I held out as long as I could but a few drinks in the mind and focus started to wonder. "Oh one little M&M won't hurt" I would say to myself and then "just one shot of butterscotch schnapps with the group will be okay" and finally "oh it is Halloween who cares!!" That is when I went for it. Now I will say I didn't pig out terribly, but a couple of handfuls of M&M, a few gummies, and what probably killed me was all the sweet drinks.
I woke up the next morning with not only an alcohol hangover but a sugar hangover. I felt horrible! I was only in my first week and I blew it! But hey one of the rules is "Party food is for a Party" and well I was at a party, it's not like I lost it in my house but still no excuse.
But moving forward and past this into a new week and hopefully I learned from my meltdown over the weekend.
As the boy and I, fully costumed up (I was a sexy devil and he a giant death thingy), headed to my dear friend Kat's Halloween party I was full of confidence that I could get through the night with out diving into the goodies. I planned ahead with bringing beer as my drink of choice (very low in the bad stuff thank goodness!) and the hosts were having a bbq so bring on the snags minus the sauce and I would be good. Wrong!!
There were sweets everywhere! I held out as long as I could but a few drinks in the mind and focus started to wonder. "Oh one little M&M won't hurt" I would say to myself and then "just one shot of butterscotch schnapps with the group will be okay" and finally "oh it is Halloween who cares!!" That is when I went for it. Now I will say I didn't pig out terribly, but a couple of handfuls of M&M, a few gummies, and what probably killed me was all the sweet drinks.
I woke up the next morning with not only an alcohol hangover but a sugar hangover. I felt horrible! I was only in my first week and I blew it! But hey one of the rules is "Party food is for a Party" and well I was at a party, it's not like I lost it in my house but still no excuse.
But moving forward and past this into a new week and hopefully I learned from my meltdown over the weekend.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
The Weigh-in
It has been hovering over me since I made the decision to jump on the sugar detox train, getting my base weight. It wasn't pretty and took me about 20 minutes to get the courage up to step on those scales. All I will say is that I am not the heaviest I have ever been, but I am not far off.
Now that it is done and over with I can at least have a way to measure some of the changes my body is going through. The next step is to take some measurements of the good old hips and thighs, yikes! Though I think I am still a little freaked from the weigh-in and I might wait till next week for that one.
I am planning on doing my weigh-ins and measurements every Wednesday, why Wednesday you ask? I think it is the most unassuming day of the week with the least about of pressure on it. Not much happens on a Wednesday and hey if a lose a couple of pounds it might put a spring in my step to make it through the rest of the week. But honestly it doesn't matter what day of the week it ends up being it will be a scary day. My hope is that I will eventually look forward to it.
Now that it is done and over with I can at least have a way to measure some of the changes my body is going through. The next step is to take some measurements of the good old hips and thighs, yikes! Though I think I am still a little freaked from the weigh-in and I might wait till next week for that one.
I am planning on doing my weigh-ins and measurements every Wednesday, why Wednesday you ask? I think it is the most unassuming day of the week with the least about of pressure on it. Not much happens on a Wednesday and hey if a lose a couple of pounds it might put a spring in my step to make it through the rest of the week. But honestly it doesn't matter what day of the week it ends up being it will be a scary day. My hope is that I will eventually look forward to it.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Getting the boy on board
While I have been excitedly planning out my road to sugar detox I have forgotten one little detail... my fiancee. With that realization this journey has gotten a whole lot harder.
To say my husband to be is a sugar addict is an understatement. The boy lives off Coca Cola and chocolate bars. I would say he has at least 2 cans of coke a day, a bar of chocolate for a snack or two and lets not forget the ice cream with choc magic dripped on top to end the day. Oh and of course his drink of choice is bourbon and coke.
So as I have been reading David Gillespie books he has been keeping his distance and giving me worrying looks. Now I had three options here I could sneakily reduce sugar from our diet and leave him in the dark, I could do it alone and let him make his own food all the time and keep the bad habits up, or I could think about what is best for our health (and our fiances) and let him know this is what I am doing and we should do it together.
I chose the third option which has not gone over well at all. After a very long talk he has agreed to let me do my thing for food and drinks around the house slowly and maybe he would come around to change his out of house habits. But already I have seen progress instead of the bottle of coke that comes home with him, today there was a bottle of coke zero!
In terms of my own dietary changes I am doing okay.... I have started with Rule #1 from "Sweet Poison" don't drink sugar. So instead of my normal mocha with skim milk everyday I have switched to a flat white with no sugar. It has taken some getting use to but it has cut my main sugary drink out of my day.
To say my husband to be is a sugar addict is an understatement. The boy lives off Coca Cola and chocolate bars. I would say he has at least 2 cans of coke a day, a bar of chocolate for a snack or two and lets not forget the ice cream with choc magic dripped on top to end the day. Oh and of course his drink of choice is bourbon and coke.
So as I have been reading David Gillespie books he has been keeping his distance and giving me worrying looks. Now I had three options here I could sneakily reduce sugar from our diet and leave him in the dark, I could do it alone and let him make his own food all the time and keep the bad habits up, or I could think about what is best for our health (and our fiances) and let him know this is what I am doing and we should do it together.
I chose the third option which has not gone over well at all. After a very long talk he has agreed to let me do my thing for food and drinks around the house slowly and maybe he would come around to change his out of house habits. But already I have seen progress instead of the bottle of coke that comes home with him, today there was a bottle of coke zero!
In terms of my own dietary changes I am doing okay.... I have started with Rule #1 from "Sweet Poison" don't drink sugar. So instead of my normal mocha with skim milk everyday I have switched to a flat white with no sugar. It has taken some getting use to but it has cut my main sugary drink out of my day.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Why do it?
So why do it?
To be honest it started with vanity. About a year from now I will be getting on a plane and heading back to the US to get married to my lovely Aussie fiancee and well I want to look damn good. But over the last few years I have consistently put on weight regardless of my exercise schedule (which varied depending on what my life would allow) and it was starting to worry me. As a kid and teenager I was full of energy and was up for anything you threw at me. As I have moved into my late 20s my motivation seems to be decreasing and I don't have the same zest for life or body for that matter. This coupled with my recent unemployment has made me take a hard look at myself and how I treat my body.
A few days ago I was wondering through a book shop, the "Sweet Poison" caught my eye so I picked it up to have a look. An hour later I was standing in the same spot about a quarter through the book thinking to myself I better buy this before the shop attendents kick me out. Over the next day or so I poured over the book and it just made sense.
Now let me just state I am not one of those people who goes from one diet craze to the next and binge eat in between. I consider myself fairly normal person who eats regular food in regular quanties and exercises as regularly as possible, but the weight still comes on.
David Gillespie is no genius, but a man who realized he had a weight issue and was tired of people telling him what to do to lose weight and it not working. He took an intelligent approach and looked at what we as a people eat and how that is broken down through out the body. After sifting through hundreds of papers and taking a crash course in biochemistry he came to the conclusion that many other scientist already had: it's sugar, fructose to be exact. Fructose contains a high level of "energy" that is easily stored in the body as fat cells and we have no appetite control for it. As a scientist myself I felt like kicking myself because this was basic cell biology that was a course I aced in college.
Now it all make a bit more sense but the scary part is how this sugar can effect our bodies and the fatal conditions that occur when it is unregulated. This is what woke me up and as much as I want my butt to look good on my wedding day, having a healthy heart and other vital organs to spend the rest of my life with my future hubby is more important.
By no means am I doing this cold turkey like I said in my previous post this is a journey and well an adventure into the world of food with out sugar or rather too much sugar.
To be honest it started with vanity. About a year from now I will be getting on a plane and heading back to the US to get married to my lovely Aussie fiancee and well I want to look damn good. But over the last few years I have consistently put on weight regardless of my exercise schedule (which varied depending on what my life would allow) and it was starting to worry me. As a kid and teenager I was full of energy and was up for anything you threw at me. As I have moved into my late 20s my motivation seems to be decreasing and I don't have the same zest for life or body for that matter. This coupled with my recent unemployment has made me take a hard look at myself and how I treat my body.
A few days ago I was wondering through a book shop, the "Sweet Poison" caught my eye so I picked it up to have a look. An hour later I was standing in the same spot about a quarter through the book thinking to myself I better buy this before the shop attendents kick me out. Over the next day or so I poured over the book and it just made sense.
Now let me just state I am not one of those people who goes from one diet craze to the next and binge eat in between. I consider myself fairly normal person who eats regular food in regular quanties and exercises as regularly as possible, but the weight still comes on.
David Gillespie is no genius, but a man who realized he had a weight issue and was tired of people telling him what to do to lose weight and it not working. He took an intelligent approach and looked at what we as a people eat and how that is broken down through out the body. After sifting through hundreds of papers and taking a crash course in biochemistry he came to the conclusion that many other scientist already had: it's sugar, fructose to be exact. Fructose contains a high level of "energy" that is easily stored in the body as fat cells and we have no appetite control for it. As a scientist myself I felt like kicking myself because this was basic cell biology that was a course I aced in college.
Now it all make a bit more sense but the scary part is how this sugar can effect our bodies and the fatal conditions that occur when it is unregulated. This is what woke me up and as much as I want my butt to look good on my wedding day, having a healthy heart and other vital organs to spend the rest of my life with my future hubby is more important.
By no means am I doing this cold turkey like I said in my previous post this is a journey and well an adventure into the world of food with out sugar or rather too much sugar.
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