eat less sugar

After that month of cold turkey and another month of limited sugar intake, I really don’t get the cravings much. When I want something sweet, I get some really good dark chocolate. My taste buds have reawoken to how sweet real food is. The big test was going to pick up meds at the drug store on a day when I was pretty upset and discouraged about my health and walking down the candy aisle, looking at the Jujubes, and then walking away. They wouldn’t make me feel better. They’d make me feel worse. Not worth it. I think I can say that my sugar habit has been broken.

Since I’ve stopped eating candy and sweets, things taste so much sweeter to me. I’ve been taking sips of soy milk right out of the carton (I live alone so who’s gonna mind?) and it totally satisfies my sweet tooth. I had organic blueberries in my oatmeal the other morning and they tasted so sweet, whereas before I thought fruit wasn’t that sweet. I think my tastebuds are remembering what real food tastes like and I like it!

I went to the grocery store and I didn’t get more Cafe Vienna. Now I’m out. I had a cup of coffee with Splenda this morning instead. I’m thinking I should get some decaf coffee so I don’t get hooked to caffeine instead of sugar. I’m really surprised that I’m not drinking the CV. That stuff was my lifeline, my treat, my vice.

I used to read those rah-rah articles that said you can ease sugar cravings with fruit (which is CRAP!) and that your body would stop craving nutritionally bankrupt foods. For the first time in my life, this is actually happening. I had always assumed the authors were on some new illegal drug they weren’t mentioning but it turns out my body doesn’t want junk food anymore. If I choose to focus on candy, I can awaken my old cravings but they have to be invited by me, they don’t just pop up unbidden anymore. Very strange.

I want a bag of lemon drops. I want to eat the entire bag. Then a big box of Jujubes. Then some licorice. Mmmm…and maybe a big bag of redhots and a lot of dark chocolate and at least two boxes of Lemonheads and some superhot Hot Tamales and some frozen orange slices (the candy ones, not real fruit, of course) and some frozen cinnamon bears.

I am going to have a piece of dark chocolate. One piece. I’m so glad there’s no sugary snacks in my house right now. I’d go wild.

My friend pointed out that the other night I had chocolate cake. I totally forgot about that. There was no desperation in my eating it, no “need that SUGAR” feeling. A friend had made it as a birthday cake and the birthday girl is allergic to chocolate and didn’t want her to feel bad so she asked me to eat it. It was really good but didn’t trigger any further sugar longings and I shared it with everyone who wanted a bite. I had about four bites and then was done. Good to know a little sugar won’t send me on a binge.

One of the faculty members here just brought in Krispy Kreme donuts and I was in the lounge getting coffee and said, “Darn! I’m off sweets and candy for a month” and that was it. No feelings of being unfairly denied something I needed, no crazy salivating, no desperation. It’s kind of bizarre. I’ve been a major sugar consumer since my pre-teens, when I would sneak out to the convenience store, get lollipops and other sugary treats and hide behind the bowling alley to eat them all in one go so my super-healthy Mom wouldn’t know.

A friend made dinner for me and said, “I know you’re off sweets so I didn’t get dessert. We’re going to have Coke and peanuts!” Coke. Full sugar coke. I don’t even like full sugar soft drinks. (Putting salted peanuts in is a Southern thing. It’s not bad but I don’t really get the point.) I drank it, one of those small glass bottles. It was sooooo sweet. How do people drink that shit? Bleccch. No sugar cravings at all, which is great. I’m still having my one cup of Cafe Vienna in the morning. It’s about my only vice these days. How sad!

I have now allowed myself one cup of Cafe Vienna a day. I’ve also found that if I have a beer (hic!) every time I have a bad sugar craving, it goes away. Maybe this could work after all. Hic!

enjoying this cup of Cafe Vienna.

This goal isn’t even 12 hours old and I’m majorly jonesing for the white stuff. Just one cup of Cafe Vienna, man, I’m sick. I want it. I want it bad.