Swearing Off Sugar
I’m a firm believer in dieting moderation. I have more or less managed to lose 63 pounds eating foods I enjoy…in moderation. Weight Watchers taught me to balance the good foods with the fun foods and to even appreciate the good foods as fun foods. I get lots of exercise too, something I hadn’t done while dieting before and even when there are some over the top days or over the top weeks, I’ve maintained my weight loss.
I still have 15-20 pounds I’d like to lose, but I’m thrilled with how far I’ve come. I have changed my lifestyle enough that I can maintain a healthy weight and still enjoy the foods I like. Lately though, more and more sugar has been slipping through. I have sugar issues; this I know. Once I get started with sweet stuff, it’s all I want. And for whatever reason (maybe because I’m getting so comfortable in my new habits), I’ve been letting more and more sweets in. Little tastes here and there. More indulgences than before. Ice cream, Halloween candy, baked goods. I’ve kept careful control of my sugar intake until very recently. Suddenly though, it seems as though the sugar has regained the control. My daughter made chocolate cupcakes last night with cappuccino icing. I had one. It was yummy, and very sweet. And fine. I’d planned for the cupcake in my day because I knew she was making them. And I figured one would do the trick because cappuccino is not my favorite icing flavor and should have been easy to resist.
Wrong. I ended up taking tastes of the leftover icing later in the evening. And I was finding it hard to stay away from the bowl. And this morning? I had a cupcake for breakfast. I hadn’t planned to. Was just going to take a nibble. Ate the whole thing. Oh no.
Thank goodness there was only one. A cupcake for breakfast? That was clearly old behaviors that I let go of a long time ago. And tt was a warning.
Time to stop. It’s time to rein in the sweet tooth for a while. So for this week at least (and maybe a little longer), I’m swearing off sugar. I can do anything for a week. I’ll let it back in when I am back in control of it again. Until then, the sweetest thing crossing my lips will be fruit.
What’s your danger zone food? And how do you control it?
My danger zone food is good ole sugar as well!! If I take one bite of a cupcake, chocolate bar, etc. then I am doomed. I can not resist. What you are doing is the best way to regain your control or at least what works for me. Sometimes I have gotten out of control and gained 4 or 5 pounds and the only thing that works is a day of fasting. I don’t believe in fasting as a way of dieting but I do believe in fasting or abstaining from food for a day to draw in the urges. I haven’t had to do that in a good while but it is the best option for me when I really get out of control and I only do it for one day and I do drink water. It gives me a sense of control and motivation.
Last year during the holidays I gained about 10 lbs…give or a take a pound or two…and I did not regain control and lose it till July. I was lucky that my weight gain stayed in that range and I did not gain more than that (probably due to the exercise I was doing). However, with the holiday season fast approaching we need to be in control.
i too have the HARDEST time with sugar. as much as i’d like to be a “moderate sugar eater”, it’s just not me. i have to eliminate it completely or i just can’t stop.
Sugar and sweets is definitely my danger zone. I couldn’t just swear it off for a week tho. Good luck with that!!
My danger zone is the opposite…chips, doritos, nachos…etc. I actually don’t like cake and I really do not like icing but I could eat an entire bag of chips in one sitting. I take care of this by not keeping it in the house. If I want a bag of chips, for example if I am making a cheeseburger and I want chips with it, I have to actually get up and go buy a bag at the store. Usually, I will too because I don’t believe in deprivation, but I always get the small bag. And it works. Literally, there is never any junk (or as my friends say fun food), in my house except perhaps my ice cream which I limit myself to greatly.