David Vanadia

Girl Scout Cookies Are Deadly

March 02, 2006

While walking out of the supermarket I was “assaulted” by a group of Girl Scouts.

Dressed in the usual fatigues, they were waiting for me behind a bunker of cookie boxes. As I came through the door, a scout looked directly at me and stepped forward to ask, “Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies?”

Despite the fact that my thoughts said, “YES! Of course I’d like to buy some Girl Scout Cookies,” I just plowed through them football-style and burst into a sprint. They tore off after me while hurling Shortbread, Peanut Butter Sandwich, and Thin Mint cookies at my back.

I made it to the bus just in time and dove through the closing doors. As I rode off the scouts palmed and pounded on the bus windows where I sat.

I caught my breath and rubbed my aching head. Something was on my neck. A single Thin Mint had stuck to the back of my sweater.

I didn’t eat it. I swear.

Dealing With Stress

I’ve been a little stressed in the past few days and it hit me that I’m not dealing with stress the way I used to. Just a few months ago I’d have taken a trip to the store, purchased a box of cookies and disappeared from the world to eat them.

That was how I dealt with stress.

Today it’s different. These days I don’t binge. When I fist quit I’d still binge on something, but not anymore. Truth is I’m not quite sure how I’m dealing with stress—beyond practicing Tai Chi.

I’m teaching Tai Chi quite a bit and have a 65 year old woman in a class who said today that it’s much better to start being active at a young age to keep yourself healthy. She said that she sat at a desk her whole life working as a manager in a company. She went on to say that so many young people these days are sitting in a chair and looking at a computer screen all day and that it’s gonna take its toll on people.

She’s right. We’re making choices every moment of everyday that will add up to be our future state of being.

So what steps are you taking to ensure your future health?

Posted in My Personal Journal on 03/02/06

Sugar Free For 112 Days!

February 23, 2006

They say it takes 23 days to make something a habit. I do want chocolate quite often but not enough to blow this whole deal. I’ve decided that I’ll eat ANYTHING I want between Halloween and my birthday. That’s 3-4 days so it’s not like I’ll never eat sugar again. But it’s possible I won’t want to eat sweets by then.

At this point I’m tempted from time to time to eat sweet substitutes. However, I know where that will lead so I have avoided doing so.

Thanks for the advice about proteins and carbs. My energy levels are better. Overall I feel more centered, more productive, and like I’m getting better at being in touch with my true dreams and goals. I’m eating an apple as I write this.

As for fitness and health, so far it’s been much easier to cut something out rather than add something. In other words, it’s easier to quit sweets and increase health than it is to add a workout regiment to our weekly schedule.

One step at a time. For some of you the removal of coffee is the first step. Then refined sugars. Eventually getting out and exercising is something you’ll not only want to do, but you’ll have the energy and it will feel good when you move!

I URGE you to try something now. Even if it’s not sweets that plagues you, reduce some negative thing in your life. Let go of cigarettes, drinking (both sugar based) or plain old s-u-g-a-r.

Do it! You know you can. You know you want to. If you can imagine it, you can do it. So start by imagining…

Posted in Tips, Tricks, Info & News on 02/23/06

I’m Eating Sugar!

February 13, 2006

I’ve been eating sugar but I haven’t been eating sweets.

It turns out all the “good” food I’ve been consuming is really turning into sugar.

Carbohydrates = sugar. We all know that, right?

And lately I’ve been eating what I thought was well until this past week. My energy levels have been shot.

I’m feeling lethargic, depressed, and can’t make it through the day without puttering out of energy.

I don’t like it. I’ve got to cut out bread, pasta, orange juice, etc. But what the heck will I eat?

More vegetables I guess…

Posted in My Personal Journal on 02/13/06

M&M Story

February 08, 2006

My friend is a photographer and he told me this story.

He was shooting a swimming tournament where there was only about ten minutes in between each race. When he could slip away (about once an hour) he’d run to the hospitality tent for food. He’s currently on a special restrictive diet to monitor a health condition and cannot eat all kinds of stuff. The positive result of his diet is that he’s been eating much less sugar (if at all) and he’s seeing and feeling the effects. The negative thing was that he couldn’t eat anything they were serving in the tent.

One time he ran into the hospitality tent and there was nothing but big bowls of M&Ms candy. He said he took a handful and then found himself compulsively eating handful after handful, then ran back to the pool to work.

A half hour later and he felt awful—completely drained.

When he told me this story all I could do was smile. It was as if I had quit a job with an abusive employee and someone I cared about who still worked there had finally had enough.

Hopefully he’ll quit as well.

Posted in My Personal Journal on 02/08/06

Sugar Free Cookies

February 01, 2006

Don’t shop while hungry! For some reason I went down the cookie aisle and spotted Murray brand sugar free cookies. The chocolate covered crisps looked especially tempting and I found myself reasoning, “They don’t have sugar. It’s not real chocolate.”

Eating them wouldn’t be like eating sweets since they are sweetened with NutraSweet brand sweetener. I was hungry and came that close to getting them—but experience won out.

I’ve eaten many packages of Murray chocolate whatever cookies in the past and always felt terrible afterwards. I knew that if I left the store without them and ate my pistachios instead, I’d forget all about the Murray cookies. And that’s just what happened.

Posted in Tips, Tricks, Info & News on 02/01/06

About David

I realized I had a sugar problem back in 2003 after a weekend-long binge on raw chocolate chip cookie dough and chocolate covered pretzels. As a result, I began trying to quit sugar but kept failing. Finally, I figured out a way to stay off sweet junk food for good. Read more.