Six years ago my baby boy was born the day before Easter. His birth gave us quite a scare, but thanks to some incredible surgeons and a week in the hospital, Lil C and I were both happy and healthy. Because he was born the day before Easter, I have always had an association with his birth and the holiday. Lil C’s birthday and Easter has been celebrated joyously each year as I am sure you celebrate with your children.
This is the first year that I have added a new association that I was not prepared for. Sugar. Let me explain………I decided to let Easter happen like it has happened each year. Chocolate bunnies and jelly beans were allowed in the house. I asked that we keep things to a reasonable level. Let’s not go overboard, but it was OK to receive candy from the Easter bunny and family. What could be the harm in letting a little extra sugar in the house for a week, right? The sugar started infiltrating my house the day before Good Friday. The kids brought sacks of treats home from school. “How sweet”, I thought, “their teacher had thought of them with this kind gift.” The sack of candy didn’t last the night. The kids devoured it. There was no stopping them.
Easter was a beautiful day, full of lots of Real Food and loving family time. I ended the night allowing myself to have a few pieces of chocolate. After all I hardly eat any sugar so what harm is there in eating a little bit of chocolate with just a little bit of caramel and just a little bit of peanut butter and just a few jelly beans and…………what were those minty things? I spent the whole next day feeling sluggish and thinking about the candy I had left at home. When I say I was thinking about the candy, I’m not kidding. I was thinking about having candy to the point of distraction. What the heck was going on with me? I had given up sweets for the most part and really hadn’t been missing them. This couldn’t be happening to ME.
I spent the week thinking about candy and rushing home to grab just a little something all week. Just a little bit…………and then a little bit more. Now enter, Lil C’s birthday. We had cupcakes Saturday and cake on Sunday. It was all delicious and made from wonderful ingredients, but loaded with sugar. I couldn’t wait to have a second cupcake and a second piece of cake. It was sooooo good.
After just a week……………….I am hooked on sugar again.
Today, I will start my sugar detox. It’s not going to be pretty. When you body detoxes from sugar, you can often have severe withdraw symptoms. Not only the cravings, but flu-like symptoms. I sure hope the sugar doesn’t have a hold on me like it did when I first started my Real Food journey. The best way to combat these feelings is to drink plenty of water and eat lots of whole grains, fruits and vegetables. I need to make sure not to let myself get hungry and not to have the sugary sweets easily available. I need to get back to my rule of only eating honey and maple syrup as sweeteners. You can see more about this here and here.
There is some significant scientific evidence that sugar is addicting. I recently read an article in Prevention Magazine written by Heather Millar. She quotes endocrinologist Robert Lustig, MD. He says, ” Fructose (sugar) may also reduce your enjoyment of food. Dopamine, a neurotranmitter, signals pleasure, and new studies show that if you eat too much fructose, you tamp down your dopamine receptors so that it takes more and more fructose to feel pleasure. That’s how sugar can easily become an addiction, which is why it’s so hard to give up.” This is likely the reason that processed foods have more and more sugar in them. Many of the foods we ate as kids have lots more sugar today compared to when we were kids. The food companies want us hooked on their products. It makes us loyal customers who keep coming back for more. Pretty scary, huh?
I choose to feel good and for me that means dumping the sugar. It also means that I need to be more prepared this time next year. I will need to have a better plan in place so that sugar doesn’t take over me again. If I am feeling this way, I can only imagine how my kids are feeling.
Have you experienced sugar addiction? Have you ever tried to detox? What works for you? What about holidays and birthdays…………..any advice for next year? I have to say, I thought I was getting good at this, but this really caught me by surprise. The good news is that at least I didn’t go to the drive-through to get a greasy burger to go with my sugar. At least I haven’t slipped that far.
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Blush and Barbells says
Ugh I know this all too well. I did the South Beach diet a few years ago specifically to get rid of sugar (no fruit for a couple of weeks either) and I had withdraw so bad it was like I had food poisoning.
I never really learned my lesson though. I try to keep sweets to a minimum but I'm not very successful.
Sweets have always been my weakness. I do eat plenty of fruit and they has been a nice substitute for processed sugar. Fruits have lots of nutrients that make me feel good too. We need to bond together and defeat sugar for good.
Ugh…Yes. I am sure I was addicted to sugar. Both times I weaned myself from sugar my body went through the withdrawl symptoms you described. I haven't come off of sugar completely but have greatly reduced my intake and have started using maple syrup and honey in place of the sugar.
I'm visiting from over at http://www.artistic31mama.com and the Mom's Monday Mingle. I'm following through all your social media. I have four children as well and have been trying to eat healthier meals and more whole foods for our family so I'm truly glad to have found your blog! Have a great week!
Hi Faith. I am so glad you found us. I feel so much better when my sugar intake is reduced, but the temptation sure is great. Why are we so surrounded by sugar? I find sugar being pedaled everywhere. If I stick to my honey and maple syrup only I will stay on the right track.
sweets and sugars are my ultimate weakness…especially during my pregnancy! i try to avoid them as much as i can but they seem to find me! i try to eat mostly fruit to suppress the cravings.
Eating fruit is how I try to battle the cravings as well. It works MOST of the time. You are feeding your baby lots of great nutrition that way too. Sugar is really tough to battle, but it gets easier after you detox your body from sugar.
Sugar – unfortunately I think I'm hooked. 🙁 But thanks for sharing some healthy tips and for linking up at Family Fun Friday.
Sincerely,
Monica
http://happyandblessedhome.com
Lots of great info…Thank you for sharing with us at the Give Me The Goods Link Party!
http://www.dimplesandpigtales.blogspot.com
I know this isn't related to this subject but I do have a question. I would like to eat at some restaurants but don't know what healthy food to choose. I don't want to eat salads all the time. Could sometime you do a blog on this subject? I really enjoy your posts but this subject has me puzzled. Thanks for all the great information and looking forward to what you can tell me about eating out.
I would be happy to write about eating out in the near future. In short, eating out is a challenge because restaurants don't list all of their ingredients for us to see. The good news is that some restaurants are better than others. I am happy to share my research on that real soon. Stay tuned!