Viewing Category: My Personal Journal

I Ate McDonalds Today…Again

December 02, 2005

First I want to thank everyone who has written to me. Your feedback and encouragement is inspiring and keeps me going. It is for you that I admit the following:

I’ve been eating at McDonalds. For the past three days I’ve eaten two cheeseburgers and a medium French fries. Why? I am not sure.

While eating there yesterday I recalled fond memories of eating at McDonalds with my father when I was a kid. He still stops there regularly and it occurred to me that I have an emotional connection with the golden arches. Oh how proud they must be in the McD’s marketing department!

Still, at the end of the day, today, I found myself floating into the restaurant and ordering up 2 burgers and fries. My theory was that, from a sugar standpoint, fast food was safe to eat. But while biting into my burger, thoughts of sugar content in the bun, ketchup, and fries began to make me feel as if it was all wrong. (Yet it felt so right!)

According to McD’s website, a cheeseburger holds 8 grams of sugar. I had two so that’s 16. A medium fries have no sugars. Hmmm…Is that just the meat? What about the bread and ketchup? How can this be true?

Posted on Dec 02, 2005

Time To Eat Less

December 01, 2005

At a small gathering the other day, I was invited to help myself to the snacks on the coffee table. There was an impressive array of gourmet cookies and six squares of super rich chocolate cake sat directly under my nose. I didn’t eat any of it.

The table which was covered with cookies, wine, cakes, and orange slices. Thank goodness for the orange slices and water, they became my snack.

I’ve made it through the seasonal holidays without sweets before and I know I can do it again. The thing that concerns me now is my overeating. The way I avoided eating sweets on Thanksgiving was to stuff myself so full that I couldn’t have eaten another bite.

Because of constant eating I’ve gained weight. Nothing extreme at this point, but I don’t go a day without feeling completely full. At times when my stomach is completely stuffed, my mouth still wants to taste something sweet and there seems to be only one way to satisfy it. Good thing I’m not listening to my mouth!

Posted on Dec 01, 2005

An Open Note To My Competition

November 30, 2005

Somebody considers me/this website competition! How do I know? I know because I’m being tracked by competitor-analysis.com.

How do I know that someone is paying their tracking service to spy on this website? Oh, I have my ways…

Dear Competitor,

Let’s be friends. Let’s work together! It’s flattering to be considered a competitor, but the purpose of my mission is to raise awareness about how sugar ruins people’s lives.

I made this site:

1. To keep off sweets by being accountable to more than just myself. In essence I created a group to virtually monitor my behavior—really quite selfish.

2. To show people a sweet free life can be done and be fun.

3. Influence others to live healthier.

Despite all that I would certainly like to:

A. Share my story about how and why I quit sugar.

B. Create a web cult for sugar addicts.

C. Go on Oprah and jump up and down on her couch.

Perhaps I’ve just set some new goals for myself.

Oprah here I come!

Posted on Nov 30, 2005

Energy Levels On The Rise

November 29, 2005

My energy levels have been stronger. No longer does my pillow seem so inviting at 6 PM each day. Sometimes I’m even hyper for no apparent reason, but in a good way. It’s like I’m energized and, well, happy with an upbeat feeling.

My next step is going to be to eat less. Eat less and live longer!

Posted on Nov 29, 2005

Can’t Get No Satisfaction

November 28, 2005

I’m often hungry for something and eat several different things to feed my growling belly. Although my stomach gets full, it doesn’t feel satisfied. My trash can is filled with glass jars because peanut butter seems to solve the problem.

What is the chemical reaction happening in my body that keeps me looking?

Posted on Nov 28, 2005

“Sugar Free” Is Unpackaged

November 27, 2005

I’d like to quit eating products (preserved packaged foods) and only eat natural foods. It’s a dream, I know.

You are reading my open thought process.

My food consumption has increased after going off the sweets. Sometimes fast food seems very appealing. So far I haven’t given in to the fast food lure, although it’s partially because I couldn’t find a fast food place, one day recently, when I was particularly hungry and weak.

I have been eating other types of food in lieu of sweets. Enjoying eating is going to be especially tricky do during Christmas week as my family gatherings are traditionally sweet infested. Eating something other than sweets, when I want sweets, works for me FOR NOW.

The replacement system that is my current coping mechanism is not permanent. Who wants to spend a year eating nothing but carbs only switch back to refined cakes, cookies, and candies in early 2007?

Take things one step at a time. First quit the hard stuff. Next reduce the intake. Cookies and snacks were the hardest for me to cut out and now that they are gone it’s all about eating more healthy food less often coupled with keeping fit.

So, I take it one step at a time. That means Cheerios will have to go soon. Oh how I’ll miss you my sweet, sweet Cheerios.

Posted on Nov 27, 2005

Life Is So Sweet

November 26, 2005

At the supermarket I took a look at the ingredients for a variety of foods. It seemed that nearly every single product has sugar in it. Cereal of course has sugar. Breads have sugar. Pickles have sugar. Mustard has sugar. Soup has sugar. Everything that comes in a cardboard box or plastic container seems to have added sugar in one form or another.

Is there anything sold at the store that’s not sweetened?

Posted on Nov 26, 2005

Strange Dreams

November 23, 2005

I’ve been unsweet for 20 days now. The first week my body was completely tired and run down. My energy levels were low and I’d conk out quickly. Some days a heavy nap half way through the afternoon was necessary.

The second week has been a little easier. I have been having strange dreams and some restless nights. The dreams are odd, colorful, and mostly enjoyable. Strange dreams are one of the benefits of quitting it would seem, although I had a nightmare!

While sitting in a café with a few girls, I touched my front, top teeth with my tongue. They felt crooked and one of them fell out. That started a chain reaction and a handful of teeth fell into my palm. A moment later, in the bathroom mirror, I could see that my teeth on top had broken in half all the way across my jaw.

The pieces in my hand had grown long and purple like a toothbrush with roots at one end and white caps at the other. My thoughts centered on not having a dental plan, not enough money to cover such bills, and how I’d look after surgery.

The dream is much longer but I’ll spare you the details of the strange McDonalds drive through that became an inescapable indoor garage cafe.

Posted on Nov 23, 2005