Sugar be gone: beyond day one.

One day in and I had preconceived ideas on how I will feel and the nightmare of not being able to sink my teeth into a bar of chocolate. I remember when my mum gave up smoking and was told the craving she experiences would last no more than four minutes so to focus on something else, by which time she’s forgotten about the initial craving. Well I reckon that technique, bizarre as it sounds, actually works; or have my days just got busier when I forget most things anyway? Either way I’m not doing too bad by my standards. So there sugar! I survived a whole day without you. In fact I’m 36 minutes into the next day and still I have no desire for you. I guess we’re over…
I wake up on day two expecting to feel different, but I still feel the same. I want the health benefits to suddenly kick in, for my body to congratulate me for depriving myself of the evil that is sugar when in reality it’s no doubt struggling to readjust to the sudden change in diet. I’m also aware that I didn’t plan properly…I didn’t plan at all to be honest. I did the same thing when I volunteered to do a 5k run for charity which I completed in 38 minutes, not bad for someone who counts running for the ice cream van in the 70’s as part of their training. So as day two ends and I stand peering into the fridge I can’t help but think my days are going to be like the Fatboy Slim tune ‘Eat, sleep, rave, repeat.’

Where’s the rave?

I had a sugar free chewing gum today, which I didn’t swallow, normally I would because it doesn’t stick your insides together like they tell you it will. Shortly after I had thoughts of going to confession. Growing up as a young catholic I remember some of the nuns would fast at certain times of the year. What a funny thing to do. My friends’ dad took it to the extreme of not allowing even the sputum in his mouth to take the short journey down his oesophagus to the stomach, instead he would use a spittoon. Why am I remembering this as day three draws to a close? Probably because I thought I’d broken the rules and while I didn’t ingest the chewing gum I felt as though I had to justify it. Dear Father, forgive me for I have sinned it’s been three days since I last had sugar…

Sugar be gone.

Here I am the night before I’m about to go ‘cold turkey’ and withdraw from all refined sugar, artificial sweeteners, carbs and gluten; I’m staying on dairy because I reckon as a veggie it might leave me with little option and for this to work I need to be fully committed and have a decent variety of food to choose from. The reason I’ve chosen to give up sugar, I’m concentrating on this as it’s the most harmful on my list and has been my nemesis since I was weaned on to solids, is due partly to my desire for optimum health and mostly because I need to finally kick the habit. The sugar habit. The added benefits are hopefully weight loss, better mood regulation (sugar interferes with hormones) and most importantly steering away from the roller coaster ride toward the usual health problems that can rear their head around my time of life. Fortunately I have good teeth and been blessed with decent skin, had I not maybe it would have been a different story. Maybe I would have been more disciplined from a young age and not taken it for granted, ‘it’ being relatively good health for all my life whilst playing roulette with Crème eggs.
My love affair with sugar must have started very early on because it’s always been there, from running for the ice cream van in the 70’s to dipping in boxes of chocolates grateful relatives leave on the wards. So why now?

One of the main reasons for going ‘cold turkey’ with sugar etc., is the knowledge of the effect it has on the body, how it affects the organs and their overall function. Besides I think I’ve put my pancreas through a gruelling regime for far too many years and it’s never let me down, day in day out maintaining that healthy blood sugar level. I’m blaming sugar for the joint aches I experience from time to time although in reality this is due to being a female of a certain age and most recently exacerbated by my inadvertent BASE jump down the stairs mid REM.

So today is the day before I quit and naturally I have scoffed like a Queen…and a King…and his court. I have devoured calories rich in sugar as fast as Richard Branson is buying up the NHS. Like a woman ready to meet her fate because the following morning I will be facing day one of 10 days eating only pure, natural food. How hard can it be? I last said those words when going on maternity leave mid way through a management course. With only one baby to look after I had time on my hands to leisurely write the assignments to complete the said course. I never did submit on time.