I’m one of those people for whom eating sweets and sugar doesn’t satisfy a craving, but actually creates one. I know I’m not alone. Many other women deal with the same issues. The problem is that if you have a sweet treat one day, you’re more likely to have one the next day, and the next day, and…well, you get the idea. And it’s confession time: it’s been happening to me! My daughter had her birthday, and we had an ice cream cake. I ate some of that. Then my husband made some chocolate chip cookies. I ate one on two separate days. Then my daughter baked a cake with her babysitter on her afternoon off from school. I broke off a small piece today and ate it…and that’s when I realized I needed to come clean. You see, I don’t even LIKE cake!
As embarrassing as it is for me, one of the reasons I wanted to come clean with you, my readers, is because I want you to know that I’m not perfect. I don’t eat clean every day. The good news is that I’ve met my goals, my body still looks great, and a few days of poor eating are easily undone with regular workouts and many more days of healthy eating. But it’s the habits that count, and I think it’s time to admit that I’m creating a habit of eating sweets — even ones I don’t really enjoy that much. And if I’m having a sweet, it should be infrequent and one of my favorite things to eat. If I don’t stop this cycle soon, I’ll backslide and my body will start changing to the negative.
So if you, like me, are not perfect, and have been “cheating” or maintaining unhealthy habits, I want you to know that you can make it stop. Just decide, today, to go on a one-week treat strike. I’m starting mine right now. No cookies, cake, ice cream, chocolate, or any other kinds of sweets until next Friday. Did I mention I’ll be at a birthday party tonight? Guess who WON’T be eating birthday treats! (Yep, it’s me.)
I’ve talked before about how to break out of a cycle of unhealthy eating. Now it’s time to turn those strategies on myself. I’m going to be using the mental outlook I’ve gained from my Eat Stop Eat fasts, and make sure I plan for alternative healthy snacks to eat when I get the sugar cravings I know will come – at least the first few days These include dried apples, toasted pita with hummus, and raw almonds. I can’t do anything about the cookies (those are for my son’s lunch), but I am going to make sure the two cakes are gone (thrown away or eaten by the family) by the end of the weekend. I don’t need another week of temptation!
How are you doing? Have you been cheating? It’s cookie time – have the girl scout cookies called your name a few times too many? Please share your own struggles and let’s get through this together!
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Guilty. I’m still quite new to the idea of avoiding sweets (though thankfully I figured out I needed to before I hit twenty), so I’ll quite often go a few days without anything… then fold and have some chocolate. Or a cookie. And I’m craving ice cream more than I can possibly describe
For the next week I’ll be taking your advice and avoiding it all. Thanks for the post
I can absolutely relate to this. We are celebrating my husband’s birthday for the 3rd time with my parents. Where I would normally bake a homemade cake or cupcakes, I decided to get a small cake from a local Italian bakery. Cuts down on the leftovers, saves me some time, and it’s delicious. Here’s to us getting back on track!
Julie
Great post, great ideas and I also really enjoyed reading the links to your other posts, which I had not read before. Thanks!
Aw, thanks, Cindy! Glad to hear you’re enjoying my other posts too. Hi to your hubby from me!
That’s a great strategy, Julie. I love it. Hope you are back on track now. I think I’m getting there.
Hi Heather! If you figured out how sweets affect your body before hitting twenty, you’re way ahead of most of us! Hope your week went well.
I did pretty well for a couple of days… then it slid big-style!
Plan for this week coming is to have veg around to snack on instead of junk; doesn’t seem to matter what I’m munching (while I’m thinking etc, terrible for that) so long as I have something to nibble…
How’d your week go?
Pretty well, actually. I did sneak some chocolate chips out of DS’s bowl when he got some for a treat late in the week, but otherwise was treat free. That was a big improvement from the previous week where I was wandering my office building hoping to find someone with chocolate on their desk for me to eat. It hasn’t been long enough for my cravings to go away, but I am managing through them much better than before.
Just for the record, though, I still want a warm brownie sundae with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge, and someone to share it with. But that’s no different than any other day! I am such a sucker for a good brownie.
Well done Liz
My main craving is for Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream… Ben and Jerrys. Evil things.
I cured some of my sugar cravings with ESE. Now my husband can slurp his Hagen Daaz ice cream shake with heavy cream and I can just roll my eyes.
I’m still not fully weaned on sugary treats though. I mean, who is? On days I really have cravings, I buy dark chocolate. It cuts out the stress (and stress can make us fat, ha!) then I’ll just have to workout a little bit more…