Is Sugar Robbing You of the Sweet Life You Crave?
With every New Year comes a new resolution — or more appropriately for me, a new attempt at keeping the same old resolution: to control my sugar addiction rather than letting it control me.
The holidays are always the worst time for sugar binges with all of the decadent desserts coming at me from every direction. Come January I’m usually so burned out on sugar that I’m ready for a drastic change… until around January 3rd or 4th, when I find myself craving yet another frosted brownie or slice of pecan pie.
In 2008, I made it through mid-March before breaking down for a chocolate-chip cookie. Then it was down-hill the rest of the year. I was pretty proud of myself for lasting that long, but disappointed that I didn’t make it through the whole year like I’d promised myself. In 2010, it’s my goal to put my big girl panties on and make a real and lasting lifestyle change – to enjoy only an occasional sweet with great moderation. No more “all or nothing” mentality that sets me up for failure. I’m determined to break the habit of ending every meal with something sweet. (Yes, I’ve even ended breakfast many times with a dessert of some sort). But then, if I attend a wedding, I’m going to at least taste the cake! I’m just not going to eat a piece the size of New York, or go back for seconds or thirds, or go home after the wedding and binge on even more sugar because I’ve “already blown my diet today anyway.”
I’m going to try a more sensible approach. I plan on filling my diet full of such good stuff that there’s not a lot of room left for junk food. But on those special occasions where I’d feel completely deprived if I didn’t indulge a little, I’m shooting for approximately 200 calories worth of something sweet, not 2,000 calories of mindless munching. Come Valentine’s Day, I’ll eat a little chocolate. Just not enough to put me in a sugar coma for the next 4 hours.
Why the determination to tame the sugar monster? Because I’ve noticed something really scary happens to me when I’m eating sugar without moderation. For example:
- that’s all I crave. Neither fruits, vegetables, nor proteins sound good to me while I’m “chasing sugar” most of the time.
- I lay awake for several hours in the middle of the night, perhaps due to the hypoglycemia that my doctor told me I’d developed a while back.
- As I lay awake, I feel anxious… stressed… and angry that I can’t sleep when I know my body needs the rest.
- I’m groggy throughout the day, without a lot of energy to commit to important tasks & relationships. Depression can slowly seep in, which often leads me back to the cookie jar, and it becomes a vicious cycle.
- Throughout the night, I keep waking up with my throat feeling like a desert waste-land. (That’s “desert” as in “sand dunes,” not “dessert” as in “bowl of ice cream.”) I lay awake feeling so dehydrated that I can’t drink enough water to moisturize my throat.
And all of this has got me thinking lately… If sugar dehydrates my throat so badly, what is it doing to the rest of my body? Is that why my eyes often feel like sand paper? Why my skin feels so dry and tight? What else might sugar be wreaking havoc on?
And then I recall how many women email me with complaints about their “well running dry” — how vaginal dryness can rob them of their sexual pleasure. I can’t help but wonder if our unhealthy diets have anything to do with our lack of sexual interest?! Could there be a connection between how women stereotypically “love chocolate” but “hate sex?”
It’s a hard question to face, but let’s consider it for a moment. HAS sugar become such an addiction for some of us that it’s robbed us of things we never realized, such as restful sleep, mental sanity, emotional sobriety, highly-functioning organs and metabolic processes, etc.? Can we really be our best selves when we’re under the influence of any harmful substance, even one as “socially acceptable” as sugar? And if it’s true what researchers say about white sugar being as addictive as cocaine, could our sweet tooth be keeping us from becoming the Sexually Confident Wives we desire to be?
Maybe I’m just preaching to myself here. Then again, maybe I’m not alone. No temptation seizes us but what is common (1 Corinthians 10:13), and sugar is one of the most common ingredients in our diets.
If sugar HAS become an issue for you, would you like to join me in trying to conquer its’ addictive grip on our lives? If not, would you just pray for me that I can get a grip myself?
Wishing you a Sweet 2010,
Shannon
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I’m with you. Sugar addiction and it’s consequences have robbed me of confidence and have hurt my relationship with my husband. I’m ready to be free. Lead the way! Please?!
Shannon,
Great stuff! I KNOW how you feel! Cutting down on sugar AND high fructose corn syrup has been a huge part of my return to “health” and a good weight!!!
I had gotten up to 200# and 36 waist and I knew I had to do SOMETHING about it. Quit soda pop cold turkey, then cut WAY DOWN on sugar. Now sitting in the mid 160s, fitting into 29s or 30s!
I heard one recommendation to keep sugar down to 15g per day… as a point of reference, one Reese’s King Size Peanut Butter Cup, which I LOVE, is 19g.
Great article. You are inspiring me to make some changes. Thanks.
Hi Shannon,
Ill join you!!
I went for a whole year without having sugar (becides the sugar that’s in fruit) a couple of years ago and never felt better and more incontroll of my life. I was so addicted to sugar at the time that I had to lock myself in my room or leave the house and go somewhere where there is no shops, just so I wouldn’t be tempted to eat sugar or buy something decident.
Over the last couple of years I’ve become really slack with my bad habbits creeping back and ive blamed my busy lifestyle but really I’m the only one to blame. Were the only ones who controll what we put in our mouths and a really good tip is to really look at what food you hold in your hands and ask yourself these questions…,how am I going to benefit from this food? What nutritional value does this food have? By eating this will I regrete eating this?
It’s going to be tough but we can do it with gods help and prayer!
Oh Shannon you hit the nail on the head sister! I am right exactly where you are. I am ready to tackle this head on with you!
Thank you so much for your blog and all your encouragement and God-given inspiration!
Shannon,
I also have a sugar addiction and would like to reduce my sugar intact. Most people can go straight to a sugar substitute to help but I’m not able to. The substitute makes me sick. Some days are better than others. My biggest downfall is Coke. But, if I use it as a reward, I tend to not crave it as much. I do the same with chocolate, another big problem for me. I haven’t noticed any of the problems you’ve mentioned other than the dry mouth but I haven’t been looking for them. Thanks for bringing this to my attention. With God’s help, I know He will see us through this!!
Nice article. Thanks for your candid sharing. I was wondering if this article may be helpful to you http://conceptnutrition.com.au/2008/12/how-to-stop-your-sugar-cravings/
I believe, cravings are symptoms of unmet underlying needs. Might be worthwhile to examine what these needs are. Use your emotions as guide along the way. All the best!
Loved your article and totally agree! My husband went sugarless last June and feels great and has lost about 25 lbs. I went sugarless the last week in December. It’s still hard…but I’m hanging in there. Asking the Lord everyday to give me the strength to endure. Reading His Word every morning instead of eating a muffin!
Thanks!
Oh yes! Sugar is my best friend…well, frenemy I should say. My doctor told me a couple of weeks ago that I am prediabetic and that I need to lose 25lbs and cut the sugar. He may as well have told me to go Vegan. I was angry, but i’ve realized that since I have cut back (and please note that when I say cut back I mean stopped putting sugar on my spaghetti..lol) I have lost weight and have a better attitude. I am with you, Shannon! Here’s to a sugar lite year!
WOW! What a challenge. I tell myself I want to be healthy, but never really stick to any of the ways for getting that way. I don’t have a choice any more. I am 90 lbs overweight, have a newborn and just found out that I only have 1 kidney that is really working overtime to compensate my habits. This should be great motivation to get it right, but since I learned this, I gained 10 lbs in rebellion. Now, I must take this challenge and embrace it for myself, my husband, my son and my witness. Thanks. I will pray for you and would love it if you guys would pray for me.
In mid-December, I gave up wheat and dairy due to a health condition. The same health condition says it would benefit me significantly to give up caffeine and sugar. Without those four food groups, I had no idea what I would eat. I’m halfway through January and have been able to do really well with no wheat or dairy but have really struggled to give up caffeine and sugar. The other night, after having my regular dessert, I had this massive headache and I decided then and there to be done with sugar and caffeine on a trial basis to see what it did to help me feel better. I’m really, really tired of feeling bad so hopefully this will help! I appreciated your timely post because I’m feeling out there on my own with anyone that hears of what I’m doing looking at me like I have three heads.
I’ve been diabetic since I was 11 (I’m 28 now) and I have to say your symptoms sound like diabetes – especially the waking up in the middle of the night dehydrated. If you haven’t already done so, you should have your doctor check your hemoglobin A1C to make sure you aren’t having a problem.
Interesting Shannon I have a real problem with sugar and eating emotionally will keep you in my prayers and am going to cut sugar out of my diet also trying this year to stick with eating healthy and living healthy not only physically but spiritually as well God bless and thanks Shannon.