Even when you know that sugar-starch-artificial sweeteners are a problem, there are other issues to deal with. I went through the phase of trying to find low carb or paleo substitutes for the sweets and breads, and kept stalling in my weight loss. I finally realized that there are different problems with different levels of magnitude.

Food (meaning the SAD foods, the frankenfoods, the faux foods ) is a problem, we know we have to eliminate the foods we can’t control. After that there is the weight problem.

If you have a weight problem, which sadly most of us sugaraholics do, diets don’t work unless we see that we are changing to a new and healthy permanent way of eating; that a dessert now and then (preferably of our own making) is probably okay, but to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. That eating only at table, and not with other distractions is very important, and a bit of exercise makes us feel a lot better as we allow nature to do its work. I heard a South American doctor point out that we don’t have to weigh and measure water, we will drink enough water even if that enough is not what the government or some diet books says is enough. If we stick to healthy choices, our bodies will tell us when we have had enough.

So what is left is the eating problem. If we are eating from boredom, bad habits like in front of the television, or late night grazing, these have very little to do with hunger if we are eating a at least a couple decent meals every day. Eating becomes its own activity, to fill up time, to give us comfort, to procrastinate, to assuage boredom, sadness, loneliness, fear, or any other emotion.  If we are eating aside from meals, we have an eating problem.

Of course, there may be some occasional exceptions, but I have decided I don’t want any exceptions if at all possible. Eating doesn’t fix problems in life, eating that’s not health driven only adds to life’s problems.

So consider whether your sugaraholic days have created the concomitant problem of using eating for the wrong reasons.  My guess is that people who seem to give up the bad foods and drop all their weight fairly quickly didn’t have the eating problem.

Somehow, seeing that eating aside from planned meals is the main problem is really making a difference for me.  The best analogy I can think of is constantly washing if you are already clean; we call that an obsessive compulsive behavior. I think eating that doesn’t have anything to do with hunger is no different.

I know I’m feeling my clothes getting looser, and feeling much happier about not constantly logging food, getting on the scale, and being so diet focused. Eating need not control our lives, and we can enjoy the good foods we have learned to eat, enjoy good health, and be free of the “diet” mentality.

Yours in discovery,

Nan aka Sugarbaby