I love a good contest.
And my favorite person to compete with is Jeff. Not so that I can kick his trash, but because I want us both to win. So that means no one can give up, therefore we both win. Make sense?
Probably not.
For example. Last night I convinced Jeff to do a contest with me for 1 month. In the one month time frame of the contest, neither of us will eat starch or sugar. Whoever loses, gets to put the kids to bed all by themselves for one week while the other person channels surfs all by themselves downstairs.
Now, before you say "how in the heck does a person not eat starch or sugar!!" Or "that is too extreme!!!", let me explain.
With Jeff's autoimmune disease, starch becomes an enemy that causes him physical pain. Yet, homemade bread and scones are hard to turn down and so he endures the pain from time to time.
For me sugar is the devil. Especially when combined with butter. Then it is the most dangerous thing on the planet to me. It makes my joints hurt, it makes me hold onto weight like you wouldn't believe, and it calls to me at night, begging me to eat one more cookie.
Some of my hangups are just mental, but some are truly physical. Between an eating disorder that plagued me for years, and now the resultant candida from that eating disorder, I crave carbs and sugars. A lot. The only way to really help myself is to cut it out for a good month or two, which will help get the candida under control as well as my cravings, and hopefully it will help me on my way to looking smokin' for the cameras.
So although I can eat starch, it's harder for Jeff when I do, and though he can have sugar, it's harder for me when he does. So that's why we're cutting both out. I'm still not sure this makes sense. But it will be fun, and we will do it together so no one will be eating ding dongs or Snickers in front of the other.
And though I wish I just had the plain old ability to do this without a contest, I don't. And in the past my contests with Jeff have lost me about 20 pounds. So it's worth it. And if he doesn't hurt at all, then it's worth it for him. I'm sure in 3 days I will be saying why in the heck did I do this. But one month from now, when my cravings and blood sugar are in control I'm sure I will be glad I did.
Plus, I can eat all the meat, cheese, fruit and vegetables and nuts that I want. And I like those things. I do. So if I can make it past the first week, then I will be just fine.
So does anyone want to share what their Achilles heel is? Butter, sugar, pasta, hamburgers? What is it that you can't live without? And how do you fit it into your life?
I have a hard time with moderation when it comes to baked goods. I'm not a one cookie and then I'm fine type of person. I tend to be all or nothing, and no amount of telling myself I can have it, or that moderation is key, helps me stop after one cookie.
So what are some ways to deal with this? How does a person learn to still have treats in their life without going overboard? Please!!!! Pass on your wisdom. Cuz after this contest that I'm going to win, I will need to have a plan in place to make moderation the key to staying in control.
Maybe one day a week I can eat all the cookies I want? I could maybe do that. Refrain for 6 days and then have fun for one?
Or only have treats before 10 am? I don't know. Help me out here!!!
I love a good Allen contest!! You can do it!! I say suck it up and eliminate the goodies from your HOUSE for two weeks. Buy stuff for your kids to snack on that you don't like. After the two weeks, you probably won't even want them anymore because you will feel so good about yourself that you won't want to sabotage it! As for the leeway, I seem to allow myself one week a month (yes, THAT week) to really do what I want. It makes me feel better and it's easy to justify and therefore get back on track for the other three weeks. Plus it gives me something to look forward to without feeling bad about myself for cheating with something small every day.
ReplyDeleteAs for my crutch...besides the Cadbury chocolate bar with almonds? It's my Walmart Great Value white corn and black bean salsa. ( A 26oz jar costs two bucks!) Not a bad indulgence you say....if I'm using a spoon to eat it. But of course the bag of tortilla chips that I eat along with it really does me in. The salsa is so worth it though...
Keep us posted on your success!
Hi, Amy. Your sister-in-law Delayna told me about your blog and of course I had to check it out.
ReplyDeleteI really relate to what you say about sugar. I've had a long and twisted relationship with it myself that goes back to when I was a kid of five or six and had to have a half-cup of sugar with every bowl of cereal. Gross, I know, but it had that much power over me, even then.
In the last year and a half I finally figured out what was up--I was finally able to put a name to it: addiction. Maybe that sounds extreme, but hear me out. I discovered Overeaters Anonymous. I recognized for the first time that the powerlessness I have over my relationship with sugar means that I'm an addict; I don't respond to sugar like a "normal" person because I can't control that response--once I start, I cannot stop.
The more research I did, the more I discovered that this was a chemical issue with my body; addiction to sugar and addiction to alcohol are almost identical in what they do to the body chemically. And when a person has a history of alcoholism in their family tree (like I do) they are quite often genetically predisposed to have sugar or alcohol addiction.
I don't know if that's the case with your family history, but it may be worth checking out. At any rate, I have found a lot of support in my involvement with OA. I go to weekly meetings and am working through the Twelve Steps, and it is really helping me through the emotion reasons behind my compulsive use of food and sugar.
I've been recovering for a year and a half now, and while that recovery has been far from perfect, I'm a lot happier. I feel more peace, more closeness to my Father in Heaven, more motivation to repent, and more acceptance of myself and other people.
All that feels really good, compared to the old insanity and physical bottoming out of when I was crashing out on sugar. Forgive me writing such a long comment, but maybe something will be useful to you. Good luck, and have fun with your contest!
Two days without my daily snickers bar or handful of chocolate chips. I'm dying. Just 28 more days! Hold on... a ... little.... longer....
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