No Sugar in December?
Yeah…I’ve been overdoing it in the sugar department lately. One of my favorite all time snacks is a cup of Earl Grey tea and a chocolate biscotti, or even better the lemon pound cake from Starbucks. Ahhh….delicious!
But too many cookies and caffeine really wreck havoc with my digestive system and I’ve decided to abstain from sugar for the next 30 days. Unfortunately the next 30 days just happens to be during the worst time of the year for sugary treats!
I’m taking my inspiration from a story in Gretchen Rubin’s book The Happiness Project. She also struggled with this dilemma during the holidays, but found the best solution was to totally cut off all sugar consumption. Eating a cookie here or there created too much temptation to eat more, but making a solid decision not to eat any sweets made it much easier to stick with her goal.
While this may make me sound like a total scrooge, I think it’s a good thing to set limits, particularly around this time of the year. I still plan to bake and decorate cookies with James, and I’m sure I will appreciate the time much better without the accompanying sugar highs and lows that usually come with it.
Have you ever had to cut out sugar during the holidays, or challenged yourself to some other diet restriction during a challenging time? How did you get through it, and did it become a permanent habit for your life?
I’m off to see if my UN-caffinated brain can get some work done!
Leah Day
I actually do (almost) the same thing during the holidays. With temptation everywhere, I find it easier to abstain, than to try and have "just one" here and there. With a focus on fresh fruits and veggies and dip, good cheese with interesting breads and crackers – it ends up being relatively easy monce the initial sugar cravings subside. One of the things I do not give up is my weekend cup of coffee (really large cup) with real coffee cream and a splash of my favorite flavored cream (Belgian Chocolate Caramel). It satisfies my sweet tooth without making me want more. I also find starting my day off with refrigerator oatmeal with berries on it (simple recipe which has been sweeping Facebook and Pinterest for the past few months – I just love it) not only fills me up in a healthy way, but also takes my digestive system on a spa vacation and tastes absolutely delicious!
Yes I did. Gave up unhealthy food last year. When tempted my a tangerine or cutie was picked up, sneakers went on, ear buds + favorite tunes = more energy from walking the park. Even when 97 % of me wanted to give up and in-once I got to walking, I was calmer, energized, focused and so glad to be doing it. I'm 55 and the last year I have gotten more activity in than all previous years combined. Stick with it because you are worth the effort, time and sacrifice!
Being a diabetic, I have to limit my sweets greatly. When I was first diagnosed, I ate no sugar at all. After a week or two it become much easier until taking a bite of apple tasted like the sweetest thing ever. You have to reset that internal sweet tooth. Abstaining from all sugar really helped stop the cravings. And I was a total sweet-aholic – scraping the extra frosting off the cardboard when we had birthday cakes at the office, etc.
A couple of years ago, I started to get really sick every time I ate sugar (which was almost all the time). Nausea/vertigo type sick. So I went cold turkey. The first couple of weeks were the worst, but the fear that I was developing diabetes like everyone else in my family kept me from going back (as did just how awful it made me feel.) The holidays were not easy, but I found that there's actually a number of lovely fruit-sweetened or honey-sweetened recipes out there. My tastes changed after giving up sugar and now most food that has been sweetened at all tastes kind of gross. It's been 2 years and I am not diabetic and still minimize sugar as much as possible (although I've found it's close to impossible to not eat any of it, there is sugar in EVERYTHING.)
Anyway, best of luck on your journey. It is totally possible. Make the holidays about your lovely family instead of about the food and you will get through. 🙂
Yep, I switched to low carb -which also means very little sugar. Once you level off, it's great!
I am an 'all things in moderation' kind of person, but we don't live in a one-size-fits-all kind of world and we all have find what works best for us. Best of luck with your sugar ban. I have known friends who have done this and loved how they felt totally off of refined sugar! 🙂
I eat the "whole30" way. (www.whole30.com) I've been doing this since 1/15/15 and have seen a phenomenal improvement in my health as well as a 40 pound weight loss. It is very similar to paleo, but NO sugar…or sweetener of any kind except 100% fruit juice and/or fruit. I have found that dates or other fruit are my "dessert" when everyone else is eating sugary stuff. I have even found "date rolls"…which are dates, almonds, and coconut…for sale in the produce dept. this time of year as well as on Amazon.
Good luck in your path to gut-health! 🙂
I've always been a sugar-holic. I temper it a bit better these days, now that I know it affects moods and emotions so much, not to mention internal inflammation (which is especially noticeable at night, when you're trying to sleep). My 30-year-old son has managed to quit all sugar (also meat, dairy and gluten) and says he has never felt better in his life. Ah, someday…. 🙂