Breaking the Sugar Addiction

I just read a great article at Zen Habits about sugar and its detrimental effects. This part really jumped out at me:

Second Step – Realize You are in 100% Control of Your Actions
This could the most underrated yet the most important step, as we are the only person who controls what we put into our body. Everything starts in what we choose to put in our mouths. Some people may say they can’t control their sugar cravings, but that is already admitting defeat and giving up power to some “cosmic sugar
influence” out there. We can pass on dessert, we don’t need to buy a candy bar, we can drink water instead of soda, but the choice is ours to make.

Also many like to call it an “addiction”. This is just another way to give up your own personal power of choice. While sugar can have “addictive like” qualities, it’s not something that you own or is a part of you. Fight the battle and you will get over the addictive feelings, they will go away. But if you call it an addiction and make it part of you, then it is yours to keep forever. Be free from it, let go. Take back control and anything is possible.

I am going to try to cut out the sugar to hopefully even out my mood and energy levels. I’ve been in a pretty bad spiral lately: I make poor eating decisions and feel crappy (not only emotionally, but physically) only to sooth myself with eating more sugary/carby food which perpetuates the not-so-good feelings. Rinse and repeat. It has got to stop.

My plan is to draw down in a couple stages. For the remainder of this week I’m going to stay away from actual sugar and cut down but not totally eliminate processed carbs (I’ll still eat my whole wheat English muffins). Starting next week, I’ll weeds those out as well and stick with only whole foods with carbs like sweet potatoes, oatmeal, fruit, and veggies. I’m also going to cut back on caffeine since it is also only exacerbating my mood swings. I haven’t decided if I’m shooting for completely eliminating it or not. I’m going to try Stevia as a sweetener since it apparently doesn’t spike blood sugar and isn’t as nasty as other “fake” sugars.

I’m hoping that a break from this sugar cycle with help me get back on track. I’m just feeling so low energy right now and that is bad news for my exercise routine and overall mood. This should help.