How I Said Goodbye to Sugar, Part 2

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snow

Yesterday I began sharing how I said goodbye to sugar.

It didn’t take me long to realize that I didn’t want to live without chocolate. Viewing it as medicine, I replaced milk chocolate with dark chocolate. If it’s the only chocolate you allow yourself, you will come to love it. Obviously, even this is to be eaten in moderation. For me that means getting a small custard bowl and mixing dark chocolate chips (cheaper than the name brand, foil-wrapped smooches) with unsalted peanuts. It’s a not-too-bad-for-you treat, and the small bowl is great portion control.

To help stave off cravings, I upped my Vitamin B-12 and flax oil intake, something I’d learned while working in a weight-loss clinic. (I also learned that Guggul Raj and Triphala, both Ayurvedic, East Indian herbs, taken in combination, help curb salt and carb cravings.)

In just a couple of weeks, my cravings for sweets subsided and I began to feel different. My vision was clearer. I slept better. My wide-awake quiet times were more restful. Even my attention was more focused, which is a big deal for a hyper person like me. My body became more “regular” and I could even breathe better! With all these wonderful side effects of not eating sugar, I had the added bonus of losing five pounds!

While initially I had less energy, after just two weeks I was revitalized. The very thought of eating candy, cookies, cake, donuts or pie made me cringe. Not because I didn’t still love them but because I didn’t want to go back to the way I had been feeling before. I found that there are healthier substitute snacks for nearly all of my old favorites.

The story doesn’t end there. Like so many addicts, after about a year, I fell off the sugar wagon and my sugar tolerance was low. I went to a popular pancake house for the advertised special. “It’s dinner,” I told myself. “It’s not really a sweet – it’s a meal!” As I was just halfway through the tasty treat, everything began to get eerily quiet. My peripheral vision started to close in again. It was like looking through the wrong end of binoculars. Oh my gosh, I thought. I’m going to pass out right here at the restaurant!

Again, vanity saved me. I grabbed a tall glass of ice water and gulped it down. I breathed deeply and tried to focus on something across the room. I surely didn’t want to fall on a well-trodden restaurant carpet and have people stare down at my drooling face!

I quickly left the restaurant and for the next few hours sat in limp-armed lethargy, experiencing the sensation of my blood coursing through my veins. Yep. I remembered the feeling, and I hated it.

I need to stay on the sugar wagon this time. If for no other reason than to save face, I will not put myself at risk of crumbling in a heap on some disgusting public floor.

If we can avoid the certain results of sugar – a suppressed immune system, anxiety, depression, kidney damage, gum disease, cholesterol upsets, and the development of food allergies or over-stress to our organs, wouldn’t we be silly not to?

@full strength in Christ

January: Begin @ full strength in Christ

Emily-Beths-Bible logo / PhoAnchoring Deep in God’s Word Schedule today, 01/21/14: Genesis 42-43  and Job 31.

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