At work I talk a lot about drugs. I'm not a drug and alcohol counsellor, but helping clients work through their addiction and encouraging them to stay clean is a big part of the job. Talking about recovery is a big part of the process. Too often the clients that don't talk about staying clean are already using. I'm always amazed to hear what people can overcome and see how much courage it takes to change. It's always easiest to stay they same, challenging ourselves to do something new can be tough. How can you live a clean lifestyle if you've never lived it, and commonly you're parents didn't either. Recently at work we were talking about how treatment centres ration sugar and serve decaf coffee. It's not uncommon for addicts to create a pseudo-high by getting a sugar and caffeine buzz. This got me thinking- I'm admittedly a chocoholic, but I think that I'm really a sugar junkie. A sell my soul for Swedish berries kind of girl. I love the zing I feel after eating something sugary. It's a sure-fire pick me up, but the crash is depressingly spectacular.
So I decided that if my clients can kick a 20 year crack addiction, I can kick sugar. Currently at day 3. There is no chocolate in my house, and I know this. For some reason I keep mindlessly looking in my secret chocolate hiding place. The hiding place was taught to me by my Nana. Her theory was if chocolate is kept in the freezer it will have to thaw before it can be eaten, and by that point, the craving will have passed. This theory was inherently flawed, I have no problems eating frozen solid chocolate!
The tricky part is the places that sugary treats hide, like cereal. Haven't we all learned that breakfast during the work week consists of cereal? The rest of the meals don't have such monotony for me, so why be boring with breakfast? (slap chop?) The best part is that I have a jumbo bag of gluten free corn pops in my cupboard, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with those. Although yummy, they don't satisfy for very long. I knew that I needed to find breakfast alternatives so I went off to my local Choices. $80 later I had one bag of groceries. sigh.... Groceries is one area I allow myself to not budget- gluten free vegetarianism isn't cheap. But even for me this seemed a shocking price. I picked up some Agave. It's a natural sweetener, sweeter than sugar so you use less and in theory doesn't give a sugar zing. At 3 times the price of honey, it will be used sparingly. I also picked up some Lara Bars. They are naturally sweet date bars. The ingredients are so simple dates, peanuts, salt- that's it, but so yummy. So I'll feed the sugar cravings with more natural sugars as they have a lower GI (glycemic index) and therefore don't affect blood sugar like sugar/corn syrup/high-fructose does.
I also thought I could fill the cravings buy drinking more tea. I really like tea, but tend to only drink it at home in the fall and winter. I probably have 15 types of tea on hand right now, obviously I must like it. I wonder why I only have 2 types of coffee although I drink it much more frequently? I picked up a extra spicy chai tea to add to the collection. I have a vague plan of switching to decaf coffee and drinking tea instead. Tea makes me feel good, and I secretly think tea drinkers are cooler than coffee whores.
Wish me luck. If you see me licking bags of sugar in the local Safeway then you know I've failed.
So I decided that if my clients can kick a 20 year crack addiction, I can kick sugar. Currently at day 3. There is no chocolate in my house, and I know this. For some reason I keep mindlessly looking in my secret chocolate hiding place. The hiding place was taught to me by my Nana. Her theory was if chocolate is kept in the freezer it will have to thaw before it can be eaten, and by that point, the craving will have passed. This theory was inherently flawed, I have no problems eating frozen solid chocolate!
The tricky part is the places that sugary treats hide, like cereal. Haven't we all learned that breakfast during the work week consists of cereal? The rest of the meals don't have such monotony for me, so why be boring with breakfast? (slap chop?) The best part is that I have a jumbo bag of gluten free corn pops in my cupboard, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with those. Although yummy, they don't satisfy for very long. I knew that I needed to find breakfast alternatives so I went off to my local Choices. $80 later I had one bag of groceries. sigh.... Groceries is one area I allow myself to not budget- gluten free vegetarianism isn't cheap. But even for me this seemed a shocking price. I picked up some Agave. It's a natural sweetener, sweeter than sugar so you use less and in theory doesn't give a sugar zing. At 3 times the price of honey, it will be used sparingly. I also picked up some Lara Bars. They are naturally sweet date bars. The ingredients are so simple dates, peanuts, salt- that's it, but so yummy. So I'll feed the sugar cravings with more natural sugars as they have a lower GI (glycemic index) and therefore don't affect blood sugar like sugar/corn syrup/high-fructose does.
I also thought I could fill the cravings buy drinking more tea. I really like tea, but tend to only drink it at home in the fall and winter. I probably have 15 types of tea on hand right now, obviously I must like it. I wonder why I only have 2 types of coffee although I drink it much more frequently? I picked up a extra spicy chai tea to add to the collection. I have a vague plan of switching to decaf coffee and drinking tea instead. Tea makes me feel good, and I secretly think tea drinkers are cooler than coffee whores.
Wish me luck. If you see me licking bags of sugar in the local Safeway then you know I've failed.
1 comments:
so howse the sugar free living going?
As you know, I too get a zing after sugar. Maybe I should consider giving it up. But then is life really worth living?
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