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Feb. 4th, 2019 09:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
colebaltblueI decided to do a month without added sugar and if you're going to "give up" something for an entire month, why not pick the shortest one? Am I right or am I right?
(behind a cut because it's very navel-gazey self-indulgent dribble)
What this means is that I avoid/don't eat any foods have had refined sugar (sugar, brown sugar, cane sugar, etc.), corn syrup, maltodextrin, etc. I also don't eat sugar substitutes so no stevia, agave, etc. and avoid anything that is sweetened with fruit juice (yeah, it's "natural," but it's also a glug of sugars in quantities you couldn't consume if you were eating the actual fruit - no actual fruit is "off limits" though). It also means, practically, all processed foods are out of the picture - which with my schedule is near-impossible to manage long-term. I have an outrageous sweet tooth and can be found munching baked goods (cake, pie, cookies) most nights and candy when I can't get baked goods. This month is just means that I'll be snacking on those little halo oranges and honey crisp apples and bosc pairs and cheese. So. Much. Cheese.
When I say it's unreal though, I mean it. You do find the first couple of days. Then your body is like - hey, aren't you forgetting something? It's ok, it says, you can just substitute what you're missing with all the cheese in the world. Then a few days after that it goes, um, that was just something to tide us over, we'll take some actual sugar now and you get these insane cravings. And if you don't feed it sugar your body then decides it's time to get sick - yep, that's right, you get a little withdrawal cold. Awesome. So THEN after that's over after about the third week and you start the fourth you finally start to feel really good. Like amazingly good. Especially if you're like me and your diet is like 50% sugar.
When your month is over, it's actually almost hard to go back to eating refined sugar and I try to ride that wave as long as possible. Processed non-sweet foods that have corn syrup in them? No problem, but an actual cookie tastes overwhelmingly sweet and it gives you a rush and makes you feel all shaky and weird.
Sugar isn't "bad" or anything - I don't believe in ascribing moral value to food - but I do eat a lot of it and doing things like this occasionally remind me to not let it get out of hand. I do also allow some allowances for practicality. I'll avoid foods when eating out that I KNOW have sugar in them (like ketchup), but if the dish is a savory dish I won't stress at all about whether or not the marinade they used has sugar in it. Due to dietary restrictions in our house and the fact that family pancakes is a Sunday morning tradition we have like one acceptable pancake mix we like and it has monkfruit in it and I happily chow down on those (with a little plain greek yogurt and some cinnamon or coca powder they're just perfect). So things like that.
Anyway. Navel-gazing.
(behind a cut because it's very navel-gazey self-indulgent dribble)
What this means is that I avoid/don't eat any foods have had refined sugar (sugar, brown sugar, cane sugar, etc.), corn syrup, maltodextrin, etc. I also don't eat sugar substitutes so no stevia, agave, etc. and avoid anything that is sweetened with fruit juice (yeah, it's "natural," but it's also a glug of sugars in quantities you couldn't consume if you were eating the actual fruit - no actual fruit is "off limits" though). It also means, practically, all processed foods are out of the picture - which with my schedule is near-impossible to manage long-term. I have an outrageous sweet tooth and can be found munching baked goods (cake, pie, cookies) most nights and candy when I can't get baked goods. This month is just means that I'll be snacking on those little halo oranges and honey crisp apples and bosc pairs and cheese. So. Much. Cheese.
When I say it's unreal though, I mean it. You do find the first couple of days. Then your body is like - hey, aren't you forgetting something? It's ok, it says, you can just substitute what you're missing with all the cheese in the world. Then a few days after that it goes, um, that was just something to tide us over, we'll take some actual sugar now and you get these insane cravings. And if you don't feed it sugar your body then decides it's time to get sick - yep, that's right, you get a little withdrawal cold. Awesome. So THEN after that's over after about the third week and you start the fourth you finally start to feel really good. Like amazingly good. Especially if you're like me and your diet is like 50% sugar.
When your month is over, it's actually almost hard to go back to eating refined sugar and I try to ride that wave as long as possible. Processed non-sweet foods that have corn syrup in them? No problem, but an actual cookie tastes overwhelmingly sweet and it gives you a rush and makes you feel all shaky and weird.
Sugar isn't "bad" or anything - I don't believe in ascribing moral value to food - but I do eat a lot of it and doing things like this occasionally remind me to not let it get out of hand. I do also allow some allowances for practicality. I'll avoid foods when eating out that I KNOW have sugar in them (like ketchup), but if the dish is a savory dish I won't stress at all about whether or not the marinade they used has sugar in it. Due to dietary restrictions in our house and the fact that family pancakes is a Sunday morning tradition we have like one acceptable pancake mix we like and it has monkfruit in it and I happily chow down on those (with a little plain greek yogurt and some cinnamon or coca powder they're just perfect). So things like that.
Anyway. Navel-gazing.
no subject
Date: 2019-02-05 01:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-02-11 06:46 am (UTC)I had a box of lucky charms stashed in the back of the pantry (I'm a sucker for sugary cereal) and one day I asked my 4.5 year old what kind of cereal he wanted - we buy them kix or cheerios - and he said "I want that red box cereal" and I was like, whaaaaaaaat? How do you know about that? And he said "oh, nana gave me some!" and I had to tell my mother-in-law no sugar cereal for the kids, first of all, because WHY did you give my 4.5 year old lucky charms? And then after that the gig was up, no cereal in red boxes in the pantry because he KNOWS what those are now. Almost all the best sugary cereals come in red boxes!
In a lot of ways it's really really nice to do it. I'm on day 10 and getting to the part where I feeling better. I'm past the generalized cravings and into the specific ones "I'd murder someone for a milkshake" was uttered in my house this evening - multiple times. I had a tiny drizzle of honey on my oatmeal yesterday (dates, pistachios, cardamon, milk, and honey) and it tasted super-sweet to me!
But I can't keep this up. I feel like one of those super-pretentious people when I do it too long. Like "oh, I don't eat sugar. subtext: therefore I'm better than you." Also. Pie.