Choose You Blog
I’m happy to report that I have had a successful week avoiding sugar, but it hasn’t been easy. The first few days were the toughest, and filled with temptations.
Usually when I start something like this, the first thing I do is clean out the kitchen of all temptations and stock it up with healthy alternatives. But this time is a lot different. You see, we’ve recently become a multi-generation household, and my mother is an out of control snack-a-holic. This poses a bit of a dilemma, and since purging the house of all my mother’s treats isn’t really an option, I am forced to live with the temptation.
For me, the biggest temptations are in our freezer. Snickers, TastyKakes, ice pops, fudgesicles, chocolate ice-cream, and more.
This is the kind of stuff I have to put up with.
As if these temptations aren’t already enough, I keep dreaming that I’m eating all the candy from the frig. In my dream it’s so real that I actually feel anger and shame at myself for not having the willpower to stick to my commitment. It’s so real, that I wake up questioning myself. Did I or didn’t I?
Then, back in my real life, I am having a small problem with my referee (my daughter) and my supporter (my mother). It seems they’re having some trouble understanding the concept of helping me avoid the sweet treats. My referee keeps forgetting and offering me candy, then she blames it on not having a whistle. She seems to think that to be an effective referee, she needs a whistle. Then my mother’s idea of support is asking me to bring her candy and buy her creamsicles. I’m really going to have to sit these two down and explain to them the do’s and don’ts of being supportive.
The good thing is, nothing they did to unconsciously sabotage my commitment worked, and I got through my first week. In the end, that’s the most important thing. Here are a few of the things I did to keep myself from giving into the sugar temptations…
- I ate as much fruit as I could (frozen blueberries are my favorite).
- Sometimes I mixed the fruit in with some low-fat yogurt.
- I’m getting back into drinking my Isagenix shakes. I always feel better when I’m drinking them, and going off the sugar has helped me be more consistent with that (since they taste a lot like an ice-cream shake).
Something else I’ve done that may seem strange but it has helped me stay off sugar this first week…
I allowed myself to still eat some chips and pretzels when I needed something to munch on. This is something I do to make stopping the sugar a bit easier. It allows me to still feel like I’m indulging in some “forbidden” foods, so I don’t feel deprived during my critical “getting off of sugar” period. This may sound counter-productive, but there is a method to my madness. Once I’m past the two weeks of no sugar, it’s much easier to begin to eliminate the other unhealthy foods in my diet. I think it has something to do with how sugar makes me crave something salty and visa versa.
So there you have it, I’ve made it through week one of my two week challenge to avoid sugar. Once I’m off sugar for a full two weeks, I plan on making a new Choose You commitment that will challenge me even further. Until then, please leave me comments of support and/or tips that will help me stay off of the sugar. I need all the help I can get since my mother and daughter seem to have an unconscious desire to sabotage my goal.
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*Catherine is the mother of two teenagers, she writes about health & wellness at BlogHer and catherine-morgan.com.
14 Responses to “First Week: Temptations Lurking In My Freezer.”
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Hang in there! It sounds like you’re doing great. I’ve found that if I really have a chocolate craving that I can satisfy it by heating up a big glass of 1% milk and mixing just a bit of chocolate in it. Protein and chocolate!
My big downfall is an open jar of peanut butter.
You go girl. I am so proud of you. I just haven’t been able to kick the sugar habit. I am using substituting stevia & stevia blends as much as possible but I simply need sugar in my coffee
@ Gonna Do It — Thanks so much for your support. I know what you mean about peanut butter. I had a really bad peanut butter habit many years ago…the biggest part of the problem was that I was addicted to the one that had strips of jelly in it too. I think it was called “goober” – I feel like a goober admitting that I ever ate that junk, but once I started I couldn’t stop…I wouldn’t dare buy today.
Thanks again.
Thanks Pamela.
Whenever I used stevia it always seemed to have an after taste…Is it just me?
Anyway, I think a little sugar in your coffee isn’t too bad, as long as you don’t drink coffee all day long. It’s the candy, and cookies, and ice cream, and cake that is the real problem.
As Catherine’s Supporter, I think I should defend myself. I’m trying real hard to justify the contents of our freezer. The problem is I am a snack-a-holic, so I don’t have a whole lot of leeway in the defense department. I’d like to say I buy the snacks for my grandchildren because they need goodies to eat, but I must admit I gravitate to the freezer every evening. My condition has gotten worse since Catherine decided to go sugar-free. She’s gotten off sugar, while I am craving more and more sugar. It’s kind of crazy. So there you have it, my defense–it’s a sort of mental condition somehow associated with Catherine’s sugar goal. I rest my case.
@ Catherine’s Mother — I only have one word…LAME.
Catherine — good for you for sticking to it! I find it’s so important to allow myself some goodies. Otherwise, it feels like a “diet” vs. a lifestyle change and ultimately I give up.
Catherine’s mom — choose you! I really think sugar addiction is a real thing. But the only way to kick the habit is to eliminate it from the diet. Very hard at first, but it gets better!
Hi Amy. Thanks for your support. I know what you mean about wanting to not feel like you’re on a diet…Making lifestyle changes is so much more important than just going on a diet.
As far as mom goes…I’m hoping in the next few weeks she gets a little inspired by what I’m accomplishing and starts making some healthy changes herself. She’ll get there…but only after a bunch of kicking a screaming.
I think Catherine’s mom needs a little support
Hang in there Catherine’s mom!!
To Amy & Gonna Do It
I didn’t know I had a sugar problem until this whole Choose You thing invaded my home.
-Okay, that’s a lie.-
I just don’t appreciate facing reality, I guess. I admit I have a problem.
Many years ago I went off sugar for three years, believe it or not. Back then it was much easier to avoid sugar. Today, there’s some type of sugar in almost everything you put in your mouth.
Recently, I was eating frozen fruit smothered in yogurt. It was good, but take a closer look. The yogurt had so much sugar, sucrose, etc. in it that I could’ve been enjoying an ice pop (not sugar-free) instead of the “healthy” snack I thought I was eating.
Anyway, enough about my sugar problem. As Catherine’s Supporter,you should know that I bought her a bag of pistachios today (her favorite) in an effort to make up for my bad behavior this past week. (And I bought very few sugar products)
Catherine:
You and your mom can enjoy your frozen fruit and yogurt if you just sweeten it with Splenda to keep the calories and craving for sugar down. We also eat Plain Organic yougurt with fresh berries and a package of Splenda and add a handful of chopped nuts to get in the Omegas we need. Good Luck!
OK… supporters who sabotage… not good. HOWEVER, the defense that you have your mom/children in the house makes it so you can’t make it a safe house doesn’t really fly with me. Whose house is it??? In MY house, anyone who brings junk in the house is in trouble. If my daughter wants to eat crap, she best do it outside the house. The crap food isn’t good for Mom or the kids either. Anyone in my house who can’t handle it being a junk food free zone or doesn’t like the healthy meals I make are free to find their own space in which they can be unhealthy.
OK… that’s my 2 cents worth. Congratulations on being able to overcome the hurdles in your way!
Hi Pam. Thanks, I’ll have to give the yogurt with some Splenda a try…I’m not overly fond of nuts in my yogurt but I do like to add ground flax seed to it (it does give it a nutty flavor).
Thanks so much for your support.
Hi Lisa.
Thanks for commenting. My supporters have actually only “mildly” sabotaged me, and they really aren’t doing it with any malicious intent. But my intention is to get them both on-board with eating healthy too…I’m hoping when they see how good I’m doing, they decide to participate too (and they have both already hinted that they would).
The person we can’t withhold treats from is my son…He’s only home from college for about 7 more weeks, and then he’s moving into an apartment at school and won’t be coming home summers anymore.
Anyway, it is getting much easier to not eat the sweet treats now that it’s been about 10 or so days. And in addition to the junk, we have stocked up with watermelon, peaches, blueberries, grapes, and other naturally sweet foods that I’m enjoying.
Thanks so much for your support (and two cents) Lisa.
