My Year Without the White Stuff

Or the brown stuff. Or the powdered stuff that makes waffles so whimsical. Or the stuff called by any name ending with -ose (dextrose, glucouse, sucrose…).

Sugar caused mischief for Gretel and Hansel and it has certainly caused mischief for me in the form of extra pounds. You are what you eat and I don’t want to become a gingerbread woman who is part of a fence!! 

For 2014, I am going a year without refined sugar as part of my resolve to live with more congruency.

What ‘No Sugar’ Means to Me

Basically, no desserts except fruit. Anything with added sugar is simply not invited.

For sweeteners, I’ll use applesauce or all fruit jams but super sparingly if any at all. Honey gets out of hand for me. It has really beneficial nutrients but is so dense in sugars, it’s something I overuse (as in chug). I’m still going for dairy, fruits, meats, and vegetables as well as carbs (which surprisingly I don’t have trouble with).

I’m not doing Splenda or anything like that, though I think there’s a little in my protein powder drink from Trader Joe’s, but it’s like 1 gram a glass or something so, fine.

I’ve become increasingly aware of sugar’s lurking presence in almost all processed food. Luckily, I already shop mostly from the outer aisles for produce, dairy, and meat. I’m going to keep staying away from those inner aisles of hell at the grocery store.

As of February, This Includes Whilst Traveling or Socializing!

The thought of traveling or socializing without experiencing interesting desserts makes me feel wackadoodle, and thus far I’ve been slipping in January on this point, thinking, I’ll tackle that next year. Or never.

But I was at a party last night and of the myriad sugary things I ate, only one was really worthy. That’s why from this point on I personally have to also just turn sweets off while traveling or socializing. Otherwise, I become a sugar vacuum that moves about the room as if on duty to personally clean up all sugar.

“But Cindy, Moderation…“

Sugar has been my drug of choice and my crutch. It probably can be nominally harmful if used in moderation. But that’s the thing! With me, with sugar, there is no moderation. There are only boundless trysts.

Every tooth in this mouth is a sweet tooth!

I feel like each of us has weaknesses that can’t be bargained with. I can eat fried foods only once every couple weeks, no problem at all, but I can’t moderate sugar. Maybe someday. For some people, it’s drinking. Other people, smoking maybe. I’ve decided it doesn’t matter if my neighbor can be moderate about the suga-sug, what matters is, can I?! Uh, no.

I have to learn from my actions and be honest with what I’ve demonstrated.

Preach! (Sorry, goes with the territory…)

A year of no sugar can sound like Spartan insanity but I think it’s actually the baseline. I’ve come to believe that I, if not most of us in the United States, have acquired a warped sense of sugar. By eliminating refined sugar, I will simply be at the recommended daily amount for sugar intake (about 30 grams). That 30 grams goes fast and pretty much comes from fruits, vegetables, dairy, etc. as well as seemingly innocuous things like ketchup.

I’ll try not to be annoying about the whole thing, and have definitely determined not to talk much about it in public unless asked but this is a topic that’s definitely in my consciousness for 2014.

…More Why’s

I need to move away from potential diabetes, weight gain, and other things that make life harder. Life’s hard enough!

I’m pretty sure my pancreas or my liver or whatever is assigned to keep sugar from turning right to fat doesn’t work in me anymore. Now it’s on strike and I need to get back in its good graces.

Peace is another interesting concept when reasoning about food paradigms. I need to feel the peace I’ve sometimes felt when I’ve been congruent with my beliefs about what is healthy. As in other categories of life, peace should not be pushed aside for excitement to reign, or rather, excitement should never come at the expense of peace. If it does, forget the excitement and choose peace! It’s more faithful to you.

I hope this page’s ramblings are useful to more than just my own self-accountability, but if not, I’m a good enough audience. ‘Cause I’m stinkin’ doing this! Even if I have to try over and over again. (Planning on it!!!)