No substitutions! (and a poem) on days 23 to 25 of 210 days no sweets.
When researching what others suggest might work to help ease the suffering in giving up sweets, I found what I believe is some bad advice: substituting fake sweets, those made with any kind of fake sugar or even honey. To soften the blow in this way I think keeps me from winning the battle.
What is victory without a bit of suffering?
Sweet victory I think comes from the addiction being broken. Then we will see after my 210 days of giving up sweets if adding them back in moderation can occur.
I am shying away from all sweet foods and drinks. I am even careful of dried fruits and fruit itself though I do still eat fruit but am careful to eat it with a meal so as to balance the sugars with protein.
As I am writing this I realized that I am still now and again drinking diet soda. It’s not a big thing… but I will give that up too.
My sweets addiction that led me to unhealthy consumption amounts is being broken in my “self experiment” of the eating no sweets for 210 days so I’m not substituting those other things.
Here’s my list, so far, of don’ts I am adhering to:
1. No sweets and no sweet substitutes, no sweet beverages, no diet soda.
2. No foods high in sugar though not thought of as a sweet like some canned spaghetti sauces or even ketchup.
3. Not eating too much fruit especially in smoothies. Yes fruit is high in fiber which does offset the sugar so I add some to a meal but don’t eat as a snack.
4. Speaking of snacking, I don’t. I eat 3 meals a day, no snacking.
Here’s my working hypothesis:
A sweet addiction is in the heart, mind, and body, leading to an out of balance need for, desire for and over consumption of sweets. It can be cured by abstaining for a period of time, 210 days or less, from outright sweets such as cookies cakes and candy and also things like muffins or pancakes and waffles, but also syrups, honey, jelly, and high sugar content foods and desserts made with sugar substitutes, and drinks with sugar or fruit or sugar substitutes and then by adding them back in the diet in reasonable portions.
If I am right I will have beat the sweet addiction! If I am wrong I will be right back where I was – a sugar cravingaholic stuck in my ways.
…
Sweet Scene
…
Look up to see the silvery moon
To think it’s the beach’s blanket
Tucking it in with its tide every night
Dishing out a sparkling delight
…
How the artist dips his brush
To collect the scene
Onto his canvas, quickly translating
Adding foam like thick whipped cream
…
And in the gallery window now it hangs
Rich in beauty a value it brings
A swell of heart, its waves arouse
Something sweet it lifts the brows
…
More than paint strokes on the canvas,
A gift of heart there’s in that scene
Just a glimpse of Creator’s perfection
Rendered by an artist, so affected.
…
~Julie Robinson
