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Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Sugar...or not?

Hi.
My name is Chrissie
and I am addicted to
sugar.
(And no, I'm not kidding)

While we've been at the beach our eating habits have gone from okay to worse. My children have been eating fortified sugar cereals almost every morning for 2-3 weeks. I know, I know, bad mommy. When I woke up this morning and made them eggs and toast they threw a fit!
I won't even go into some of the snacks they've been enjoying. Let's just say they weren't top quality. I made them this chart and hung it on the fridge today. So far it's gone over pretty well. Feel free to print one out if you need or would like to.

I bought this book last weekend for 50 cents. I was surprized at much I liked it and learned from it. We are a family that is addicted to sugar. We have to change it!
Here is an excerpt from the book:
"Sugar has been blamed for hyperactivity, diabetes, hypoglycemia, severe mood swings, decreased brain function, serious digestion problems, yeast infections, obesity, and tooth decay. It depletes your body of all the B vitamins. It leaches calcium from your hair, bones, blood, and teeth, and interferes with the absorption of calcium, protein, and other important minerals in the body, and retards the growth of valuable intestinal bacteria."

Awesome.

Anyone have any advice for me? Should I try to quit cold turkey? Try limiting it? My husband and I are ready for a change and want to be good eating role models for our kids.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!
xo
Chrissie

9 comments:

Renee said...

I went cold turkey for 7 months about 2 years ago. I never felt better and lost all cravings for sugar. The hardest part was trying to decrease my childrens intake. My downfall was when my sister made some homemade sugar cookies and I had just one and then another and another and........

Adrienne said...

i love sugar too (way tooooo much)! this is very inspiring!... and thank you for the snack menu! it's sensible aND adorable :)

lori vliegen said...

hi chrissie....i thought that was you i saw sitting on the third row at our last SA (sugar anonymous) meeting! hee hee. i love your new snack poster....i might hang one of these on my fridge, and i don't even have kids at home any more! it's hard to believe that something that makes everything taste so good can be so bad for you. i've given it up before and felt really really great. it's difficult though, because it's in just about everything we buy! the trick is not buying pre-made things and eating "whole foods". good luck! :)

sara said...

Oh my word- we are SO with you!

NEED to QUIT sugar!!!!!

Paul and Cheri said...

Use honey for a sweetener, except for JAX, he's too young. IT helps with the "weaning process". It's pretty high in calories, but it's natural if you buy raw honey, and it works its way through the body properly, without all the complications of anything processed and white (flour, sugar etc.) Raw sugar is not so bad either. xoxo

Patti Erickson said...

Sounds like our situation. I cut out sugar for 2 months at the beginning of the year and felt great (slept well, better mood, more energy...), but now it's back. It's easier to control the sugar intake with kids when school starts...eggs for bfast and healthy packed lunches. I am planning on my entire family going cold turkey when school starts. Great snack sheet!

Sharon said...

As painful as it is...I suggest going cold turkey. I do that about 3-4x a year and yes, it makes you feel SO SO SO much better!! None of that dragged down, full, yuck kind of feeling (pretty descriptive, eh?!). As for your kids...keep working on them. Try to get as much refined sugar out of the house so there is no option but those wonderful snacks you've mentioned. Be careful of sugary yogurts...they can be terrible! I have to have sugar or something sweet in my coffee so I use agave nectar and it is fantastic!! You can find it at your local health food stores. Good Luck!

Ruth said...

Thanks for the excerpt and the chart. We are a family who is addicted to sugar to and I have been trying to change that. It is so difficult to break those old bad habits.

Ruth

A Little Of A Lot said...

I didn't go cold turkey but I did change some eating habits that have left me no longer craving sugar, I did the same w/ my kids and now they no longer crave it.
Cut out caffeine as much as possible, start the day off w/ a high protein breakfast (promise the kids a sugary snack later, they won't want it ;-)) don't eat fruit until the afternoon, my chocolate / sugar craving would happen at about 3pm every day, I now have 'Popsicle time" w/ the kids, fudgisicles are made w/ no added sugar yet taste wonderful, my kids don't think twice about them, all they know is that they're getting a sweet snack.
Eat a high protein lunch w/ lots of veges, a BLT salad is a good choice.
Up your protein and lower your caffeine and you'll be surprised at how much you won't want sugar