Getting this sugar monkey off my back is not easy. I slipped a bit during the holiday season, which is OK as per my own rules, but I’ve had a lot of trouble getting back to my old (mostly) sugar-free routine.
Food is so tied to emotions. Every Christmas while I was growing up, we always ate loads of cookies, candy, petit fours, cakes, pies and other sweet treats. I’m programmed to expect chocolates and wonderful desserts every Christmas. I give chocolates to my children for Christmas. I make dozens of Christmas cookies every year.
I’ve tried to cut back eating sugar at Christmas, but it doesn’t seem like Christmas (to me) without of chocolate Santas, decorated cookies, scrumptious cakes and gooey, whipped-cream-topped pies.
On the positive side, I did not gain any weight over the holidays. On the negative side, I ate a lot of sugar, far more than is good for me or for anyone. I’m having trouble stopping myself from eating sugar every day.
I kept to my rules, however, writing down every single thing I ate, which has curtailed my eating-from-boredom habit. And I’ve been keeping to my eat-only-when-hungry and stop-eating-when-full rules, which means that even though I’ve been eating sugary foods, I don’t eat a huge amount of food overall. I’ve also been doing “intermittent fasting,” meaning I try to eat only during an eight-hour window each day. I keep to this eating schedule most days, and that’s likely a large part of why I have not gained any weight.
But as to sugar. I keep eating it, even though it’s so unhealthy! It tastes great but doesn’t make me feel good. But I keep craving it. Trader Joe’s had its mousse cakes in stock for the entire holiday season. Then, in mid-January, Trader Joe’s started selling raspberry mousse cakes (correlating to no holiday!), and they aren’t going away! Normally those delectable mousse cakes appear only four times a year: Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter and Halloween. I’ve been buying a package every time I stop into Trader Joe’s which means I’ve been eating a sugary snack almost every day. That’s not good, but it’s hard to resist.
I’m going to have start again. No more refined sugar. Nada. And if I want something sweet, it has to be sweetened with fruit or stevia. And my rules have to change – again! No more mousse cakes allowed if they’re in stock at Trader Joe’s year-round
I’m starting to admit that sugar addiction is more like alcohol addiction than I’d wanted to believe, since eating a bit of sugar seems to trigger the urge to eat more, and pretty soon, I’m craving sugar and eating it every single day! Since I have to eat food to survive, and sugar is always around, kicking it out of my life is an ongoing, probably never-ending challenge. I’ll be a “recovering” sugar addict forever.
I’m not suggesting I have an answer to this dilemma, because I don’t. I’ve bought my last mousse cake at Trader Joe’s, so that’s a start, but it’s no fun. I love sugary sweets! Those mousse cakes are amazing! I’ve eaten all the leftover Christmas chocolates (they hang around for a long time in my house). What’s left in my kitchen are healthy foods: fruits (not many in winter, sadly) and vegetables, lean meats, nuts, seeds, “good” fats like avocados and olive oil. I’ll have to make do, even though it feels like quite a disappointment after that sugar rush of the holiday season!
I’ve tried making sugar-free desserts in the past with mixed results. I’m going to grad school now, so don’t have a lot of time to experiment with various (healthy) non-sugar sweeteners. Even protein powders are mostly off-limits because Consumer Reports tested them and found most (including the brand I used to buy) contain lead!
In the meantime, I’m drinking more smoothies. I. make them with egg white powder and white northern beans. The egg white powder adds protein and is supposed to help restore creaky cartilage in joints, and the beans add fiber, which we all need to eat a lot more of. The smoothies taste great, and since they are sweet, they partly assuage my sugar cravings.
Sigh. Kicking sugar out of my life is hard.
Chocolate Hazelnut Avocado Smoothie
This smoothie is an oxymoron. It tastes sweet and chocolatey, but it's good for you. How can that be? It blends avocado, frozen mango, stevia, great northern beans and egg white powder with cocoa powder, a bit of cocoa butter, and hazelnuts. (I sometimes include a touch of maca powder, which adds nutrients and gives it a slight butterscotch flavor.) The result is a smoothie so thick, rich and chocolatey that you'll forget it's healthy too. It feels like an indulgence!
Ingredients
- 1 avocado
- 1/4 cup egg white powder
- 1 1/2 cups frozen mango
- 1 banana
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon melted cocoa butter
- 1/2 cup cooked great northern beans, drained
- 1 cup oat milk
- 5 ice cubes
- 1 cup hazelnuts
- 1/4 teaspoon stevia powder
- 1 tablespoon maca powder (optional)
Instructions
Blend all ingredients together in a high-speed blender.
Pour into a cup, spritz the top with a dash of cocoa powder and enjoy!
No Comments