The New Deal- Day 6
I have a confession to make, one that will surprise absolutely no one who knows me even a little bit. I love Diet Coke. I love it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I love it from McDonalds best of all (they seem to have the perfect balance of carbonation and syrup, and almost always put in just enough ice), but I'm not picky-I'll take it from wherever it comes. I will, and have, happily consumed a six pack or more in the course of a single day.
I have a second, equally unsurprising, confession to make. If there is one thing that I like better than Diet Coke, it is sugar. Yummy, yummy refined sugar, especially sugar found in the candy or cookie form. I am, frankly, a bit of a whore when it comes to sugar. I like really good expensive chocolate just as much as I love cheap 99cent a bag Mellocream pumpkins (mmm, let's pause to reflect on the glories of seasonal candy: candy corn at Halloween, candy hearts at Valentines, Cadbury eggs at Easter...these are the ways that I choose to mark the seasons). When left to my own devices, I have the self-restraint of a toddler. I will happily eat m&m's for breakfast, washed down with, of course, Diet Coke.
Clearly then it is no small thing when, exactly a week ago, I decided that I needed to explore this concept of "self control" that I've been hearing so much about and maybe, just maybe, get myself out of the habit of consuming close to 100 ounces of Diet Coke and about, roughly, a million grams of sugar a day. There were and are lots of good reasons for deciding to do this and maybe I'll post about them soon, but let me first bring you up to speed on the new deal I made with myself. I am on Day 6 of the following plan:
1. Limit self to 1 drink with caffeine per day. Said drink can not be purchased in, say, a bucket. Must be less than 32oz.
2. Drink 2 water bottles (32oz size) per day. My kidneys better brace themselves.
3. Limit self to one sweet per day. One pan of brownies does not equal one sweet, so I'm going to pay attention to those pesky serving sizes.
4. Eat one fruit and/or vegetable at each meal. Fruit doesn't count as a sweet, even though it does have sugar. I can't handle the thought of giving up pineapple and grapes and strawberries at a time like this.
5. Write down everything I eat. Just trying to keep myself honest here.
There are other parts to this plan, but you'll have to tune in later to find out about those.
So, how's it going? Well, my husband still seems to find me delightful and friends are still returning my phone calls, so I guess I'm not as grumpy as I thought I might be. I am finding that the caffeine is much, much easier to give up than the sugar.
I actively miss, yearn and ache for the sugar, especially in the afternoon. The other day someone brought in the world's best doughnuts to work and I thought about them, dreamed about them and longed for them all day.
The doughnuts, that is, not the person that brought them in.
It was distracting and maddening how much I wanted them. I had one and I instantly wanted more, more, more.
I've heard that once you get your body out of the sugar habit, your desire for sugar decreases. I don't think I believe this yet, but I'll keep you posted.
I have a second, equally unsurprising, confession to make. If there is one thing that I like better than Diet Coke, it is sugar. Yummy, yummy refined sugar, especially sugar found in the candy or cookie form. I am, frankly, a bit of a whore when it comes to sugar. I like really good expensive chocolate just as much as I love cheap 99cent a bag Mellocream pumpkins (mmm, let's pause to reflect on the glories of seasonal candy: candy corn at Halloween, candy hearts at Valentines, Cadbury eggs at Easter...these are the ways that I choose to mark the seasons). When left to my own devices, I have the self-restraint of a toddler. I will happily eat m&m's for breakfast, washed down with, of course, Diet Coke.
Clearly then it is no small thing when, exactly a week ago, I decided that I needed to explore this concept of "self control" that I've been hearing so much about and maybe, just maybe, get myself out of the habit of consuming close to 100 ounces of Diet Coke and about, roughly, a million grams of sugar a day. There were and are lots of good reasons for deciding to do this and maybe I'll post about them soon, but let me first bring you up to speed on the new deal I made with myself. I am on Day 6 of the following plan:
1. Limit self to 1 drink with caffeine per day. Said drink can not be purchased in, say, a bucket. Must be less than 32oz.
2. Drink 2 water bottles (32oz size) per day. My kidneys better brace themselves.
3. Limit self to one sweet per day. One pan of brownies does not equal one sweet, so I'm going to pay attention to those pesky serving sizes.
4. Eat one fruit and/or vegetable at each meal. Fruit doesn't count as a sweet, even though it does have sugar. I can't handle the thought of giving up pineapple and grapes and strawberries at a time like this.
5. Write down everything I eat. Just trying to keep myself honest here.
There are other parts to this plan, but you'll have to tune in later to find out about those.
So, how's it going? Well, my husband still seems to find me delightful and friends are still returning my phone calls, so I guess I'm not as grumpy as I thought I might be. I am finding that the caffeine is much, much easier to give up than the sugar.
I actively miss, yearn and ache for the sugar, especially in the afternoon. The other day someone brought in the world's best doughnuts to work and I thought about them, dreamed about them and longed for them all day.
The doughnuts, that is, not the person that brought them in.
It was distracting and maddening how much I wanted them. I had one and I instantly wanted more, more, more.
I've heard that once you get your body out of the sugar habit, your desire for sugar decreases. I don't think I believe this yet, but I'll keep you posted.
posted by Mrs.Robinson at
10:16 AM
1 Comments:
Hello, fellow sugar whore. I work that street corner on a regular basis, myself. I know it doesnt' seem like it, but if you can stick to your good plan you will most likely find your sugar cravings to be not quite so intense. Dare I say that I actually have experiences now where something is "too sweet." Who knew! Good luck and keep writing.
By
Kerri, at 10:21 AM
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