Hello .... my name is Heidi and I am addicted to sugar.
It seems that over and over and over again I fight this war but never seem to get anywhere. I try to kick at it from different angles but never seem to knock it down.
I've challenged myself from certain things (sweet coffee, licorice, bulk candy), and succeeded for the short term, but never the long term. I've learned to enjoy things like tea without any added sugar, but still crave sugar. I've even given things like the South Beach Diet an attempt. This does help, but that sugar monster always comes creeping back in.
Sweet treats have been removed from my grocery lists ... but I'm far from the only sugar addict in my house and even if I don't buy it, it still ends up in my house. Not having it around is not a solution. Somehow I have to tame this on my own and with my own control.
About a week ago I spent some time going over my old journals ... from years and years ago until now. I've kept journals for the majority of the last 10 or so years, so finding patterns is not too hard. Almost EVERY day I have a little somethin' somethin' and some days I have A LOT o' somethin' somethin'. It is my biggest weakness.
Last night was another bad episode. Of course yesterday the hunger monster raged it's ugly head and I just could not feel satisfied, even with a good amount of protein and veggies throughout the day. After dinner my MIL brought over some blueberry cake and somehow I ate 3 pieces. Then in the office there was a box of Toffifee and four pieces of that called my name until my stomach hurt and I wanted to hurl the box across the room.
Of course I was tired yesterday, and I hadn't drank enough water. After consuming the above I had a half hour nap then woke up with incredible thirst and drank 4 glasses of water (definitely thirsty!). I should know the signs. I can give the advice. If this were anyone else I'd recommend having the nap and the water BEFORE consuming the junk. Somehow that doesn't compute in the moment and I don't know why. Very frustrating!
The Easy Stuff
Tonight begins the first run of my training plan. It's 1/11/11 ... somehow that's fitting for a new beginning, isn't it?
The plan calls for some speed intervals and I'm very much looking forward to it.
- .75 miles @ 8:46 pace (6.8 mph)
- .25 miles recovery
- .50 miles @ 8:12 pace (7.3 mph)
- .12 miles recovery
- .50 miles @ 8:12 pace (7.3 mph)
- .12 miles recovery
- .12 miles @ 8:00 pace (7.5 mph)
- .12 miles recovery
- repeat steps 7 & 8 four times total
I'm going to add in a 1 mile warm-up and possibly a 1 (or half) mile cool-down at a steady, easy pace.
The running & training is the easy part. If I could do only that and have success in losing weight it would be a snap. Exercise is a very important key in loosing and maintaining weight, but you gotta have the diet on board as well. I know this all too well from experience ... sigh.
Keep Active!
Heidi
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10 comments:
Wow, what a speed work out. I did one today (1200, 1000, 800, 600, 400) and I'm happy to be done for today! Keep at the weight loss journey. It takes a lot of work to lose weight.
You and me both, sister. I can nail the running/training day in and day out, but I struggle SOOOOO much with diet. As I've mentioned in some posts, I have major issues with depravation and bingeing and I just can't seem to get a handle on this "moderation" thing. Grrr.. never ending battle.
Good for you to confront your demons! It's a step.
Watching my food is much more difficult than working out, I agree. It's good we are working out otherwise we would grow and grow. I have no solution for you as I'm not there yet concerning the sugar things.
Have fun at today's run. As I said to Syl on her blog, I'm so excited she and you have signed up for a Spring half marathon just like me. Knowing the both of you are training for it too will give me the push I'm sure going to need on some days.
Ah sugar addiction, I know it well. TOO well! I was thinking that the sugar made you have the nap and made you thirsty (that's what happens to me when I eat a lot of sugar).
I wonder if all the running is linked into your carb cravings?
For me, eating sugar is a snowball effect - after the first unplanned bite, it all goes downhill real fast. (Oddly, a planned indulgence doesn't have the same effect.) Usually, if I can by-pass the impulse to take the first bite, I'm ok (usually!).
You're a fast runner, Heidi!
Have you ever thought about a full marathon, or is that already in your master plan?
Why is it so much easier to give advice than to take it. I guess the upside is that if you know what to say to others to help them, then you know deep down you have the answers for you too. It's just that having the answers for yourself is only one small piece of a much more complicated puzzle.
I wish I could help you. Because i do understand you. Although I could cut sugar out of my diet in a second, I get real feelings of deprivation when I think that I should only be eating "an handful of potato chips" F that. I want the whole bag!
PS: super excited about your half!
Heidi I bet sweets would taste less sweet if you coated them in hot sauce first ...just sayin'
I know how you feel I had the same thing with Potato chips, i had to completly remove them from my house and not allow them in. At first I felt sorry for the kids, but then I thought, it's not doing them any good either and now if they want them they can have them at other peoples houses or a small bag as a snack, as long as they don't come home.
It was hard at first, but i definately kicked that habit and now it doesn't even bother me and I will even buy them for special occasions, and I either take it in small doses or leave it.
So excited about your half!
Hello Heidi...My Name is Ginny and I'm an addict too. Could have written the exact thing myself. Good days, bad days, but never seem to conquer it. So frustrating! I will keep trying.
I'm a carb nut, too, but my weakness is potatoes - in any form. What can I say? They are delicious, but you aren't going to lose much weight if you eat them every day, in all of their lovely forms... :)
I'm a salty snack addict. Sweets, I could take 'em or leave 'em....but put a bag of potato chips near me, and watch out!!!! Crackers, chips, pretzels, popcorn.......argh!!!
Every once and a while I really crave something sweet, and I usually give in. (sigh)
Starting a plan on 01/11/11 is perfect!!!
I struggle with a little sweet tooth too. I wonder if certain foods set off certain cravings. I get mine bad around lunch time. It's so weird and I hate it. But I'm like you - I don't activitely buy stuff. It just shows up at work and is so tempting. I think the journal is good idea. Mabye you can see if there are any trends when you get sugar cravings? And yay for 1/11/11 - it was a great day!
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