I Purchased Pop Tarts

October 25, 2006

In anticipation of my upcoming sugar-ban lift, I purchased a package of Strawberry flavored Pop Tarts with Frosting to be eaten as breakfast. For the most part I can pretty much forget about them. But every once in a while—if I open the cabinet and notice them—the thought flashes through my mind that nobody would know if I ate them early. It’s just a week away and I’ve waited a whole year; I can wait a few more days.

Posted in Tips, Tricks, Info & News on 10/25/06

Scared to Not Eat Sugar?

October 23, 2006

What can you expect if you decide to quit sugar?

It will be difficult in the first month. Friends and family members will question and test you. They’ll wonder why you’re taking on such a crazy thing while secretly they’ll wish they had the willpower to stop as well. Wanting to see if it’s actually possible, they’ll tease and tempt you with your favorite desserts and snacks.

You see, they’ve told themselves it’s impossible to Stop Being Sweet. When you tell them you’re about to quit sugar, they think you are doing something impossible—something they have already become resigned about. Nobody likes to be wrong so they’re gonna try to see if you are full of sugar or full of bull.

Instead show them that you’re full of willpower!

During the first month you will experience the worst of the cravings. Your body will withdrawal and you’ll find yourself facing reality in new ways. You can’t sit in front of the television and polish off a bowl of ice cream as a way to relieve stress. No more eating cookies while surfing the web. You can’t sample from the snack table at work. It’s a tough adjustment, especially if you eat sugar when you’re under pressure!

23 days. That’s what it takes to start to feel the effects of quitting sugar.

After you make it through the first month will people grow comfortable with you not eating sweets. It will become normal. In fact, it will become you.

Good friends and family members will make unsweetened desserts (for everyone!) when you share dinners. People around you will start to re-evaluate how much they eat sugar based on your ability to not eat it. Suddenly you no longer need to explain anything to anyone…as if you ever did.

Once you have been off sugar for two or more months you’ll start to take hold of other areas of your life that you’ve been meaning to improve upon. You may find yourself full of natural energy, ready and willing to exercise more frequently and wanting to be active.

After four or more months it becomes easier to cut down on complex carbohydrates. I still eat pasta and will have a bagel here and there, but I don’t crave carbs like when I fist quit. You must take it one step at a time.

The first step is to see how long you can last without anything sweet. Anything includes soda, most flavored beverages, “healthy” energy bars, chocolate, and just about every food product that has a mascot/character associated with it.

If you have to ask if it’s okay to eat, it probably isn’t.

So, how long can you last? One year? One month? One week? One day?

Posted in Tips, Tricks, Info & News on 10/23/06

Suggestions Wanted!

October 21, 2006

In my next year of unsweetness I’m working to make this website into a place where you can also Stop Being Sweet.

What kinds of things would help you?

Recipes?

A step-by-step guide on how-to-quit?

Group support?

Please tell me and I’ll do my best to incorporate it into the Stop Being Sweet website.

Thanks!

Posted in Tips, Tricks, Info & News on 10/21/06

Preparing for Halloween

October 20, 2006 • Comments (0)

It’s just days away from Halloween now. For a while I didn’t care and didn’t want to eat sugar but as it approaches and I keep seeing candy everywhere (today at the bank they had buckets of candy on the counter for customers to take) and have begun to get a little bit excited about the idea of eating brownies, chocolate covered pretzels, cookies, cake, ice cream, Pop Tarts, and maybe even some Froot Loops or something.

For those of you who don’t know, I’m going to eat nothing but sweets (or close to it) from Halloween until November 3rd, then I’ll quit sugar for another year. I chose those days because Halloween is the holiday most associated with sugary sweets and my birthday is a few days later. I’m not one to make resolutions on New Year’s Eve, but have always done so on my birthday.

I’m a bit nervous, however, because I have to teach classes—fitness classes—during the four days in which I plan to eat nothing but sugar. Maybe something other than sugar will get eaten in those four days…

Posted in Tips, Tricks, Info & News on 10/20/06 • Comment

Sugar-Free Oreos

September 20, 2006 • Comments (3)

It’s been nearly a year since I’ve eaten anything chocolaty so, when I heard an advertisement for Sugar Free Oreo cookies playing over the loudspeaker at the supermarket, I decided to test them ONLY AS AN EXPERIMENT FOR THIS SITE. Rest assured knowing that I took no pleasure in eating those cookies and I did it just for you.
Sad thing is, it’s true. I didn’t enjoy them.

I ate one and it tasted just like I remember an Oreo to taste—as if I’d eaten them yesterday. I had another and it was noticeably not as good as the first. Then a I had third and it tasted like nothing. Eventually I finished the sleeve and began to feel sick! In fact I put the box down and went and got an apple because my body craved something natural.

The following day I finished the remaining cookies and was left with a weird chemical feeling. It was like impostor Oreo residue was pulsing through my veins. Gross. Still, three days later I somehow figured my research couldn’t be complete after only one box. So I got another.

That time, with the aid of my girlfriend Gwenn, we tested my experience to see if it was consistent. Gwenn ate one cookie and said it tasted just like a regular sugar-sweetened Oreo. I gave her another, which she didn’t want, and she said it, “tasted like nothing.” I forced a third on her and she said she was starting to feel sick!

And just to be sure, I secretly caved and got a third box about a week ago and ate them…all of them…pretty quickly. That’s an experience I’ll never repeat again. It’s sweetened with Maltitol.

Read the fine print: (“Excess consumption may have a laxative effect”).

Final opinion: Natural foods for me please.

Posted in Reviews & Recipes on 09/20/06 • Comment