Life Without Sweets

I love sweets. I love candy, cake, cookies, dessert, and treats. I’ve eaten cake for breakfast. I’ve had ice cream for lunch. I’ve snacked on treats all afternoon to the point that I’ve not been hungry for dinner. I love sweets. My family, friends, and coworkers all know my weakness for the sweet stuff.

It’s an amazing thing that I don’t weigh 200, 300, or 400 pounds considering how much sugar I ingest on a daily basis. When I eat a lot of some kind of “pure” sugar, such as cake icing, my friends joke on me about my sugar high. I do tend to talk a lot for an hour after gorging on it and then I crash and want a nap. Fortunately, that situation doesn’t happen often.

I’ve mentioned in this blog about my sugar foods hidden in the house (hidden from the kids): Cap’n Crunch cereal and such. Some of this stuff at the end of a hard day is a pick-me-up for an hour or so, and then I fall asleep.

I’ve often tried to cut back on the sugar. I’ve sworn off this specific item or that particular item, and I held to that decision for a period of time. But eventually I forget and end up eating it again before I remember my decision. That’s the hard thing about quitting something slowly.

I imagine it’s like trying to quit cigarettes by slowing down. Someone who wants to cut back from a pack a day to half a pack a day can fail because they’re still carrying around a pack of cigarettes. They may light one up and get halfway through it before they remember, “Oh, damn, I already had one this hour.”

To quit drinking drinks (sodas, pop, Coke, Mountain Dew), I had to just quit completely. And it worked. So I’ve decided to quit sweets, now. Nothing particular caused me to decide this; it was just a complicated consideration I’ve thought about for a long time. For one thing, I’m curious to see how my body reacts to the lack of sugar. I remember the withdrawals I had when quitting drinks. I wonder if I’ll loose weight from just cutting out the desserts and treats. I already get some exercise (not as much as I should and want), usually each day.

Yesterday, Saturday, was 7 days I’ve gone with no dessert or sweet treat. The first day was Cowgrit’s birthday — and I baked a cake for her. I’ve held to the agreement with myself all week, even when other people were eating sweets in front of me. I’m rather surprised at how easy this first week was. I often found myself standing at a snack machine or looking at the dessert menu before I remembered my decision. I even once bought some candy and had it in my hand before I remembered — I tossed the candy in the trash and walked away.

I’ve even had Cowgrit “get rid of” some Girl Scout cookies that came in from my orders. That situation almost had me frantic:

“Get rid of them. Throw them away, give them away, feed them to the dogs next door, I don’t care. No, don’t say you’ll hide them. I’ll tear the house apart looking for them once everyone is asleep. Just for the love of God, get them out of the house! Then call a priest and have him exorcise their evil from our home! They’re calling me! They’re whispering directly into my head!”

My brain shut down and I went catatonic for nearly half an hour after that. But when I woke up, the cookies were gone and my “diet” was secured.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com