Breaking My Sugar Addiction - What I Have Learned
Several months ago I broke an extreme sugar addiction I didn’t realize I had. I started a 40-day Yoga Chakra Cleanse thinking I would get healthier, lose weight and get into a daily yoga practice. The Cleanse required me to cut out all processed sugars among other things, but allowed honey and fruit. I stopped eating processed foods and sugars. By day three I was feeling quite cranky.
The first two weeks were the hardest. I developed a headache from the back of the neck up over the top of my head, which did not cease. I became snappish and felt like flinging plates at people’s heads. Those who know me might find this shocking because I am the least likely person to yell at you, let alone fling something at your head. I was going through sugar withdrawal. The craving got so bad I recall standing in front of the kitchen cabinet, soup spoon in hand, eyeing the brown sugar. This shocked me more than anything else, because this was something new. Who eats heaping spoonfuls of sugar? After returning to that cabinet more than once to look at the brown sugar I knew I had a problem. That day I faced the fact I had an extreme sugar addiction and it had to stop. I dumped the processed sugars in the house into the trash. Opened containers and poured the granules out in case I was tempted to dig through the trash later. I had to get it out of the house. That was the roughest patch but I stayed strong.
On day 38 I broke the cleanse because it was my birthday. I was celebrating at the Lori Foster Reader Author Getaway and brought in a sheet cake to share so of course I was going to have a piece. A small piece, but it was sugar and you cannot fool your body. That evening I also had a birthday drink, a strawberry daiquiri with whipped cream. It was a fun birthday but that evening I was up until 4:00 a.m. All that sugar and I couldn’t sleep. The next day I had flu symptoms (and the headache I would come to recognize) from the early morning hours until dinner. I believe it was the sugar because it went away when I drank plenty of water and ate a mild dinner.
That was more than six weeks ago. Other than my birthday I’ve stuck close to avoiding processed sugar. This weekend I made my famous rum cake for our youngest sons birthday dinner. I tried a small slice and ended up with that headache again. I’ve learned to recognize it.
At the end of the 40 day cleanse I felt healthier and lost twelve lbs and kept it off. I didn’t feel deprived because I could eat all the fruit I wanted. The headaches were gone. Carrots and strawberries tasted sweet again. My tongue now celebrates the natural sugars in fruit. I feel better not eating sugar than I do eating it and have come to the realization that even that small piece of cake isn’t worth it nor does it taste as good as I thought it would.
During these past three months, I’ve learned a lot about myself and everyone else around me. Here are some things I learned which have had me thinking.
Sugar is in nearly every processed food and the amounts can be staggering. Americans are eating far more sugar than many realize. It’s socially accepted that we eat plenty of sugar. Every holiday we’re surrounded by sweets. Candy, baked goods, drinks. If we say no thank you I’m full or I don’t care for any right now some people will still take offense. They might say…just a bite. One little bite won’t hurt. Everyone else is having some. You can go back on your diet tomorrow. You can eat healthy after the holiday is over.
Some say sugar is so addictive it should be classified as a drug. It works on the part of the brain, which responds to opiates so there is science behind this train of thought.
Let’s replace the word sugar with another addictive substance like cocaine or crack. Most of us would never agree to just try a little. Because someone says a little won’t hurt.
You’re going to hear me say this more than once. You are in control of what you put into your body. No one else. If you give up that control to someone else because they twisted your arm, made you feel like you ought to or have to, then you give them the power over your body and over your health. It also touches on the issue of respect. If you do not care to have any then your wishes should be treated with respect. Adults should treat other adults with respect and if they do not, there is more going on than simply who is or who is not having that slice of cake.
There are many good cooks out there whose egos are heavily invested in their cooking. For some, it is a way of showing love and there’s nothing wrong with that. But for those who take issue with someone not having a slice of that cake, or pie, or cookie it could have more to do with them than with you. People with low self-esteem are often threatened by anyone who doesn’t do as they do, like what they like, like what they’ve made. Their self-esteem is caught up in the piece of cake you don’t want. They might even be a little angry. Sometimes the person shoving sweets at you is not so sweet.
Some people will be threatened by anyone living a healthier lifestyle because they don’t want to examine what they are doing in their own lives. It’s easier to focus on you and take that focus off them. They may say all sorts of strange things to you, accuse you of being difficult, sabotage in small ways like making your favorite dessert, giving you sweets as a gift, buying that extra sweet treat one for them and one for you. Anything to pull you out of that no processed sugar life choice. Let’s again switch the word sugar for cocaine or crack. Why would anyone want you to take something into your body after you’ve told them it isn’t healthy for you, or you don’t care for it? I’ve met people who have told me it’s easier to tell people you’re diabetic or have “sugar” so they’ll leave you alone. But when I ask, then do they leave you alone, the answer has been no and shots or testing the levels are mentioned. I have a lot more sympathy for anyone who is diabetic and dealing with this.
It puts me in mind of folks who’ve told me I ought to take pills for lactose intolerance so I can drink milk or have ice cream. Taking a pill in order to eat something my body clearly says is not good for me has never made sense to me. Again, I return to the question, why are other people so interested in or invested in what I do or do not eat or drink? What is the big deal? You eat what you like and I will eat what I like and let’s co-exist peacefully together. It does not have to be a big deal.
I will say it again. You and you alone decide what you put into your body. No one else. You are the one living inside your beautiful body and it is the temple for your soul. Treat it well and with love. Be strong, be healthy, and be well.
