No surprise

This week has been fairly horrendous, too. I have been doing some reading about elimination vs moderation this week. I have to say that probably the reason I am still struggling with this problem is that I resist indefinite elimination. But I like what this woman has to say about it. I know which sweet foods I can and cannot moderate and which situations do and do not trigger overconsumption. So if I can just eliminate my triggering foods and situations I can still have the occasional sweet. For example, I can eat a normal serving of pancakes and not go on eating them all day. I can eat a dessert at my in-laws' and stop when I am full. But I can't eat any chocolate at work or ice cream or baked goods with my family without wanting more. So maybe this is the next thing I try? Identifying my trigger situations and eliminating them but allowing in non-triggering situations? Or am I deluding myself?

Horrendous week

Well, my special occasions limitation didn't work. I had sugar every day last week, and a lot of it. The truth is that history has shown me that I can't moderate my intake well. The question then is, what do I do about it?

I want to be someone who can have the occasional sweet or who can turn it down because it's not exactly what I want. And then not obsess over it afterward. I used to be like this, or so I remember. I used to be able to make sane and rational choices about my sugar consumption. And then I was so good at making these choices that I became overly restrictive and then developed eating disorders. And things haven't been the same since. 

So how do I get back to being able to take or leave sweets? If I knew that answer, I wouldn't still be struggling today. I have been to therapists who have told me to not eliminate anything from my diet and then other therapists who have told me I can never eat sugar again. Whatever the answer, I know that my brain chemistry has permanently changed, and whatever I do must respect that. 

Watch a video about how sugar affects the brain here.

What have you found to be true in your experience? Moderate or eliminate? Please comment below. 

Special occasions

Yesterday was Labor Day, September 1st. As with previous sugar elimination attempts, I went back to eating sugar the day after a depletingly challenging sugar-free day. This time it was my sister's BBQ. There were easily 10 different types of desserts there. And about 9 of them were very tempting. I white-knuckled through it, and then had zucchini bread for breakfast the next day because it was September 1st. But it didn't stop with zucchini bread. I had a square of chocolate after lunch and some apple pie with ice cream at my in-laws' after dinner. 

So this morning I thought about how I can reincorporate sweets into my life so as not to feel deprived but also so that I don't quickly return to my old ways of daily overconsumption. And I came up with this: one day a week and  special occasions (not to exceed 2 days a week total). So yesterday was my special occasion. So I may have sweets one other day this week. "Special occasion" is admittedly subjective, but that's ok because I put an upper limit so I have to make choices about which days are special enough to justify. I anticipate deciding at the beginning of the week whether I foresee any special occasions so that I may plan accordingly. 

So that means today I am back to no sugar. And I feel really good about that but not at all deprived. Here's to the start of a new experiment, in moderation!