I've mentioned before about my sugar addiction. From the earliest days I can remember I have eaten loads of candy all the time. Through my first two pregnancies I ate even more than usual. It was awful, but I turned out some super sweet kids because of it.
About a year after David was born I got sick of being the frumpiest woman in all of Poland, and possibly the world. I'd lost my pregnancy weight, but I still had all my old late nineties baggy clothes. I did some shopping, got a haircut and wore a tad more make up than before. I was feeling great. For some reason at this point I decided to go off of chocolate. I had already decided that candy wasn't worth the calories, but I was still gorging on all things chocolate. I decided not to eat it, unless it was in something baked (I knew I could never give up brownies and cookies). I went more than two years without eating much chocolate. (And I don't think it was related, but I was at my thinnest ever, too. Okay, maybe it was related)
Then I got pregnant with Aaron and one day decided I wanted a bar of chocolate. Milk chocolate with bits of toffee, just like in Andes Toffee Crunch. Oh, it was yummy! I didn't stop after that. I realized with a sense of pride in my forethought, how unfair it would have been to this poor little fetus, to not give him the same chance at sweetness that I'd given his siblings.
I totally believe it the "moderation in all things" thing. I recently realized (maybe had some inkling before, too) that eating 2 candy bars and 15 cookies in a 24 hour period isn't really all that moderate. So I decided to go back to my no chocolate/candy that hasn't been baked into something. I also decided that I could only eat those somethings after dinner. So no eating cookies all day every day, either. It's been like a week and a half and I'm still totally alive. I'm shocked about that.
Some of you know that Greg took on a kiosk that sold primarily media, cleaning/personal hygiene supplies, school supplies and candy. It was a great (cough cough) experience for him. No, actually it really was. He learned a ton and also I'm so glad I can say "was" because that means he doesn't have the kiosk anymore and that the wackiness that was our lives has decreased slightly as a result. (He did it for almost a year and then decided to call it quits, and handed it back to the chain)
Another result, though is that we have suitcases full of stuff. Things like:
Toilet paper, soap, deodorant, laundry detergent, etc. all in brands I would never choose.
20 little paintbrushes, 15 pencil sharpeners, 10 glue sticks, 7 black permanent markers, etc.
AND LOTS OF CANDY! By lots I mean maybe 75 candy bars, plus little individually wrapped chocolates and fizzy candies. (oh, and 50 little boxes of extra strong tic tacs. bleh.)
So, if I hadn't started my "diet of moderation" 2 days before this stuff arrived at our house, I can guarantee (mostly because there is no way to prove it, so I'm safe here) that I would have eaten and eaten without ceasing and ended up in a sugar coma. As it is, though, I've eaten none of it.
My "diet" saved my life!! I'm sort of sure of it.
Also, my moderation motto is keeping me from going all house cleaning crazy or craft crazy with the other takings. Yes, I practice a great deal of moderation in cleaning and crafting. I'm really very good about those things.
26 comments:
Sugar is the Mormon vice. I've heard many times and from many people that Utahns eat more ice cream per capita than any other state, and what's a ward social without a bunch of treats?
I think for many of our generation, once we married and no longer had Mom and Dad telling us we couldn't have ice cream every night, we simply decided we would. I know many of my LDS peers who, like us, put our kids to bed and then rush to eat some ice cream, or graham crackers and milk, or cereal. As for church, Every Young Woman in Excellence ceremony, ward party, or primary activity is chock full of sugary dope. We recently had a ward party to celebrate world culture and the spread of the gospel across the globe. And what kind of food did we have? Why desserts, of course!
I am definitely a sugar addict and admire your resolve. Keep it up and let me know how it goes. I can't join you just yet. Erin baked Brownies last night. . .
I SO admire you for having a suitcase full of candy bars and NOT eating them. I know I would be..
You are an inspiration!!
Too bad you can't give away all that candy at Halloween. Maybe you will just have to have a little American style Halloween party complete with candy and crafts.
And you have never been frumpy, but I totally know the feeling being in that post pregnancy stage myself.
Thanks for reminding me about the brownies, Nathan. I will go have some for breakfast. Why wait until after dinner Lisa? Then you have less time to burn them off throughout the day. :)
Hi, my name is Sharon, and I'm a sugarholic. I have been addicted to all things sugary for 30 years.
But I have gotten much better. I only eat chocolate in baked form and eat candy one piece at a time, you know, as opposed to ripping open the package and pouring it's entire contents directly into my mouth.
Thanks for providing inspiration that it is possible to get over this addiction. Even if I don't really want to give it up. ;)
LOL. Well done. I love the idea that your candy eating contributed to your kids' sweetness. And I am glad to know that you do house cleaning in moderation. Are we related?
I have two months, two weeks, and two days before I can allow myself to savor the taste of chocolate again. If I had known you had done this, I would have pestered you with tips back in February, when I went through withdrawls! Still, it has been a great exercise in self-denial, and I did lose some weight (not as much as I would like, of course) and I'm actually kind of afraid of what's going to happen New Years Day when I reward myself for a good year's work.
I am a sugar addict! I have such a sweet tooth. I can give up lots of other things, but I just can't do the sugar.
You have a lot of willpower, woman!
"...my moderation motto is keeping me from going all house cleaning crazy..."
If I didn't know better, I'd think you were having a go at my post from yesterday. :)
Yeah, I'm not a moderation kind of gal, but I'm working on it. And as you probably know, it is hard work.
I was debating never calling you again until you shape up and eat those candy bars, but then I realized I really better just learn a lesson and think hard about the fact that I've somehow gone up 4 pounds in the last week of having chocolate-loving company here! (I say as I finish up the last of this after-lunch Overloaded ice cream dessert!) Maybe tomorrow I'll think hard about it...
I am in awe of your self control. No joke. The whole reason I run is so I won't feel guilty when I eat loads of chocolate... :)
I went a couple years in high school without eating chocolate at all. I lived through it. I'm actually not a huge chocoholic. I like it and there's a time and a place when it's necessary but I can have it in the house and not gorge myself. Sometimes.
I'm so glad your resolve saved your life!
Dude, you should TOTALLY HAVE A GIVEAWAY!!!! :)
I see you are a girl after my own heart.....SUGAR. Except that now that you have given up sugar I really don't know where your heart is. Somewhere candy-less and evil, obviously. I would totally be in that coma right now.
I guess I can still like you though, even if we can't have a binge eating candy fest together. (Which would have been kind of hard in the first place, since I live in Idaho.)
What Sue said.
And I want to win!!!
I totally would have eaten candy bars by now. GOOD JOB.
I realize you can't do a giveaway because we would be able to hop a plane and visit you for the cost of mailing that stuff to us from Poland, because I'm your real friend.
Plus, I don't crave chocolate or sugar. I get cravings for things like jalapeno potato chips or french fries.
Oh, wait, sometimes I want those waxy chocolate covered Hostess mini-donuts so I guess I have issues, too.
I totally admire your self-discipline! I wish I can be that way. I mostly stay away from chocolate because of my allergies, but even then I eat some around the time I take my allergy pills each day just in case. Imagine if I didn't have milk allergies. Oink! Oink! That would be me. It's awesome that you take to heart the admonition for moderation in our lives.
My daughter and I each have a horrible sweet tooth!! Mom's here with me, and she said her favorite candy as a kid was taffy; they had taffy pulls at parties. Sounds like heaven, doesn't it?!
You and I could be sisters when it comes to the sugar thing, particularly the chocolate and the needing of it during pregnancy (my kids all turned out pretty sweet, too). I am here to say, tho, that you can, if desired, give up the cookies and cake. I did it for six months (almost) and wish I had never started back up. It is sad to think I can never eat those things again (because I just can't have just one--no I must have it allllll!!!!) but I do feel so much better when I don't. But, hey, you are much younger than I and no doubt have years of sugar tolerance left in you so make hay while the sun shines!
Way to inspire us all! I am addict to the degree I actually experience severe withdrawal symptoms when I cut back. If it weren't for sugar I wouldn't be overweight. I admire your will power hugely! Good for you!
Umm...if you need a place to store those 75 candy bars...well I can't exactly promise you would get them back, but I could definitely help you out! I'm very much like you, only I haven't sworn off candy. I have a terrible sweet tooth (in fact I just started in on my 2nd Milky Way of the day and had cookies for breakfast). I admire your strength in resisting these temptations. Keep it up, it will be worth it.
If you're not going to eat all that candy, could you send all the chocolate to me? I'm 7 months pregnant, and having the worst chocolate cravings of my life! This little baby boy really wants chocolate!
I've limited my general eating of sugar/chocolate to prepared (usually baked) treats. I think it's helped, but then sometimes I go grocery shopping, and they have pumpkin spice donuts, and I'm going to go have one right now....
One is moderation, right? How about two?
Your mini children are so cute. You could call her Thumbelina instead of Ewelina.
I'm so jealous of how much feedback you get back. *sigh* Anyway, you should send me those tic-tacs you don't like!!! I have a friend who will literally do anything for a tic-tac, it's hilarious. At my friends birthday party she (the tic-tac crazy person) was on the lawn and we threw tic-tacs at her and she would try to catch them in her mouth and if she didn't she would pick them up off the ground. Most people now call her tic-tac now.
Wow. Good for you! I think/KNOW I could be 5-10 pounds lighter if I would stop eating chocolate and icecream whenever the heck I feel like it. (Which happens to be a lot) I usually say that "I exercise so I can eat whatever I want." Which is still largely (believe me) true, BUT, I had an epiphany when I was gorging on more icecream/cake than my husband the other night...maybe I should try to cut at least SOME of it out of my life. You know, save it for later. :)
I fight my sugar addiction on a daily basis. The longest I've ever gone without any form of sugar is about 30 days. But sometimes it's excruciating to go 30 minutes!
I like your "no chocolate unless it's baked into something" rule. (I add to that the wonderful chocolate-covered edamame and chocolate-covered bing cherries from Trader Joe's.) That's my version of moderation. :)
Fun post! You're strengthening my resolve.
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