It has been nearly two months since I've had any candy. As per my self-inflicted(?) dietary restrictions, I am allowed dark chocolate. In the past, I've found this very affective in curbing my sweet tooth. However, this has been the most dramatic overhaul of my diet to date, and sometimes even that doesn't help.
Here are a few highlights (and cheats) of this process:
-Salt cravings- During the first two weeks my body craved salt just as much as it craved sugar. This was a bit unexpected, but makes complete sense scientifically. I won't bore you with details- but there is a connection. I found myself really craving olives and pickles.
- Bagels- So in my initial plan Bagels were out. Bagels contain a lot of sugar. But I found that there aren't a lot of non-sweet breakfast items that you can grab on your way to work. So the first couple weeks I let myself cheat on this, as I considered it the lesser evil over pastries. I also found that the sugar in the bagel really helped curve cravings, while still not giving in to my desire to eat something sweet. After the first two weeks, the need for a bagel subsided and I returned to my usual breakfast of fruit and protein (usually turkey bacon and eggs). I also added in real oatmeal- as opposed to the prepackaged sugar laden oatmeal of my childhood. I haven't fully adapted- I added a bit of agave, but meanly just flavor the oatmeal with cinnamon and nutmeg. Yum!
- Artificial Sweetners- Many people replace sugar with artificial sweeteners when they reduce or eliminate sugar from their diets. This was never a viable option- I do not allow artificial sweeteners in my diet. The point of reducing sugar in my diet is to improve my health. Adding chemicals to my diet would be counterproductive. I'm so strict in my no artificial sweeteners rule that I won't chew gum with artificial sweeteners.
-Caffiene- My original plan was to eliminate sugar and caffiene at the same time. Of course, this was a terrible idea. Both sugar and caffiene have addictive properties. The rule with breaking addiction is one at a time. So caffiene stayed away for about 4 days. However, I have been brewing my own tea from home to prevent myself from buying tea with any added sugar.
-Caffiene- My original plan was to eliminate sugar and caffiene at the same time. Of course, this was a terrible idea. Both sugar and caffiene have addictive properties. The rule with breaking addiction is one at a time. So caffiene stayed away for about 4 days. However, I have been brewing my own tea from home to prevent myself from buying tea with any added sugar.
- Cheats- I'm not perfect and I do cheat. My goal was to not punish myself for cheats, but to acknowledge and keep track of them. This level of accountability has helped a lot. I allowed ysef to enjoy a cupcake at a party after the first week. Two weeks ago, my need for sugar was intense- I stood in a deli analyzing the sugar content of every cookie there. I finally settled for Pepperidge Farm Chessmen- which only have 5-6 grams of sugar per serving. Everything else had 10+. But overall I'm really impressed at the low number of cheats I've had in the past two months.
- Energy- In the last couple months I felt a huge energy drop. One of my hopes was that after a few weeks withput sweets my energy would balance. This, sadly, is yet to happen. This may be linked to the caffiene dependence, so that will be the next step.
The next step
So now that I've successfully reduced my sugar intake, although I'm definitely still in the process, my next step is maintenance. What cheats do I allow myself in the future? How often can you cheat without inducing a habit? Of course the best option is to not cheat, but I would like to occasionally have a cupcake for a birthday, etc. For now my resolution is to allow a few chests in the cookie/cupcake realm, but stand fast by the candy. The real challenge for me will be around Christmas, when my seasonal job tends to amplify my sweet tooth, and free treats are all around!
