Sugar Addiction

"Hi, my name is Jen and I am a sugar addict."

That is probably how I should start my day...every day. Lately I have been having a conversation with several of my friends about sugar addiction. It seems that we all struggle with the same problem and have been struggling with it for a long time and haven't known what to do about it. I have had some real incites in the last month so in order to start healing, I want to put it out there for everyone to see. This way I am accountable and this is "real", not just in my head.

I go CRAZY for sugar. When I need sugar, I NEED SUGAR. and you'd better not get in my way. And if there is none around I am a crazy lunatic. No exaggeration! I can't just eat one of something...I have to eat ALL of it...and don't even think of asking me to share because there is no way I am going to. I take my treat and hide in my room so the kids don't know and won't ask me to share. And then after eating all of that sugar, I feel rotten the rest of the day while I "detox" and that is NOT pleasant. I hate feeling like a slave to sugar, but the thought of doing w/o it seems so impossible.

This is how I have lived my life, at least my married life when I have been the one in control of what I eat and buying the groceries. And the worst part is that now I am seeing these same tendencies in my kids. So it's not bad enough that mom is a raging lunatic, but now the kids are too! And I feel so guilty passing this on to the next generation to deal with when I can't even deal with it. I was telling my mother in law about this a month or so ago, I was telling her how my 2 year old, Kensi, will go totally BALLISTIC over a Popsicle and she handed me a book that is in the process of changing my life. It is "Little Sugar Addicts" by Kathleen DesMaisons. She also has a book for adults called "Potatoes not Prozac". In her books she talks about "sugar sensitivity". In people who are sugar sensitive, their bodies chemically process sugar totally different than "regular" people. It literally affects the body like an addictive substance, like drugs or alcohol. She actually started this food program for alcoholics (alcohol is sugar) and found that alcoholics who stuck with the food program didn't relapse back into their alcoholism. Her way of combating the sugar sensitivity works for all sugar addictions. (for some people it isn't even sweets that are the problem, but breads & pasta) In the end, the goal is to be totally off sugar. But in her 7 step process, getting off sugar is #6. And the steps are doable. She reiterates over and over again that it's not our fault we are like this - it is chemistry - but there is something that we can do about it and the key to successfully overcoming it is to take it really slow.

In "Little Sugar Addicts" (LSA), the steps for children are different than the steps for adults in "Potatoes not Prozac" (PNP).

In LSA the steps are:

1 - Eat breakfast w/ protein

2- Make connections between food & mood

3 - Change snacks & drinks

4 - Eat protein lunches

5 - Shift to whole grain foods

6 - Take out the sugar

7 - Take care of life

In PNP the steps are:

1 - Keep a food journal

2 - Eat 3 meals a day at regular intervals

3 - Take vitamins

4 - Eat the right amount of protein at each meal

5 - Switch to brown carbs (brown rice, whole grains, etc.)

6 - Reducing & eliminating sugars

7 - Create a plan for maintenance

She suggests that if you are putting children through "the program" that mom (&/or dad) do the kids steps w/ them instead of trying to do something totally separate for themselves. So far all I have been able to do is just add more protein into our lives. Give protein snacks instead of sugary snacks and I can already tell a difference in behavior (mine & the kids) around here.

I have been struggling with this for years and am finally ready to put my foot down and make some changes and I finally feel like I have the tools to make the changes instead of running around blindly. I definitely think that sugar addiction is a tool that Satan uses against me. I am a horrible mom sometimes and I can generally link those times back to sugar. And when I am being a horrible mom, I am doing exactly what Satan wants me to do. He doesn't want me to feel good so that I can be a good mom. He wants me to feel as horrible as possible so that I won't be the strong, loving mom's that I need to be. And I'm not going to let him anymore.

I am trying to formulate a plan to change our lives, and you all get to come along for the ride! Lucky you! :) Several of my friends have a goal to declare their "independence from sugar" and go without it from July 4th - August 4th. I don't know that I am ready to commit to that. I literally want to cry when I think of never having cookie dough or lemon bars again. So that is a good indicator that I'm not ready yet. I have one more day to decide...I will keep you posted.