Just a Spoonful of Sugar

I've been reading a lot about nutrition lately, as you do when you are still carrying an extra five kilos of baby weight (gah!), and have slowly become convinced that sugar is the root of all evil. Not entirely - that is, if you're going to shove a big spoonful of sugar in your gob, you're probably aware that it's a pretty ghastly thing to do, health wise. So you're privy to it and aware of what you're doing and the next day, you might have a light lunch with that spoon of sugar in mind. No, the evil thing about sugar is that it's hidden - EVERYWHERE.

Bread, yoghurt, the inside of my pillow case - it's all full of sugar and I didn't even know it! Okay, so maybe I sort of knew (I've had that cadbury chocolate stashed inside my pillow case for yonks), but I didn't really KNOW. And now I KNOW! And everything I serve up comes with a big side of guilt.

Okay, so, how does this relate to being a Mum? What Mum do you know who isn't wanting to be thinner, fitter, healthier, have more energy? If you know her, why are you friends with her? I would LOVE to be five or ten or hey, even a borderline anorexic 15 kilos lighter, and yet I'm eating processed sugar every day. That's, like, bad.

So, I'm trying to give up sugar. When I say trying I think you can already sense the failure behind it. I started out cold turkey - absolutely no sugar for seven days. And it was fabulous! Not only did I feel awesome about myself just for doing it, I lost two kilos in the first week! And it's not like I'm so fat that two kilos is a negligible amount (but also not like I weigh 45 kilos and it would take me a week of intense regurgitation to lose 500 grams of fluid). It was fairly impressive. But then, as I always do, I started to feel proud of myself. Accomplished. And slowly, sugar crept its way back into my life.

It started with a piece of dark chocolate that, while dark, was only 45% cocoa. Then I had a "day off" one weekend. I then decided that since I'd had a "day off" on the weekend anyway, I could eat a muffin during the week. And so it went.

But - I am determined. I noticed just by doing it for one week that I felt less sluggish, lighter (potentially because I was legitimately lighter) and could immediately notice an overwhelming sweetness the first time I ate anything remotely sugary. I've just kind of lost my mojo these last couple of weeks and resigned myself to the fact that I may simply look like this forever - until I have another child and look another five kilos heavier. SIGH!

Yet even the act of writing this post has convinced me that I'm going to stick with it. I will be sugar free! Right after I indulge this Easter weekend. Let's call it my last supper.

What have you given up lately?

Z xx