After having announced publicly not only
once but
twice that I quit sweet treats, I feel pretty silly to say it a third time; I'm quitting sweet treats, again.
The last two rounds taught me a couple of lessons though. I'm an emotional eater. I already knew this, but the intense busyness of the last months reminded me of it again and again. Chocolate, ice cream and pastries kept me motivated for yet another long evening of work, yet another weekend of work, yet another task to overcome. Which leads me to the second important thing that I learnt; banning a motivating factor in mid stream is totally fruitless, obviously.
The coming school year will be just as busy as the last; I'm still in a full time position as a middle school teacher in addition to being a part time student. I need that my motivation for work comes from something other than sugar, sugar and sugar. I need the help of a well fuelled, energetic body that craves vegetables and vitamins.
My first round of quitting sweet treats was the most successful. It lasted three months, with the result of my sweets cravings being gone and my body feeling so much better than it had for ages. The key to the success was that I started the project during my summer vacation. Like I mentioned in
this post, I find that it's easier to start a project like this when I'm in a situation that is not everyday life at home. Hence it's the perfect time to embark on yet another round of project sweet treats.
Those things that I wrote in t
he first post about the project still applies:
I don't do this to diet. I do it to feel good.
I have a huge sweet thooth and close to zero self-control. I suck at doing the sweets only on Saturdays thing. For me it works better to go cold turkey. I do allow sweet spreads like honey and jam, and all kinds of fruit, of course. And the occational piece of birthday cake or other kind of treat in extra special occations. I'm not a complete fanatic!
It's not about quitting sugar completely; it's about quitting the massive amounts of chocolate, ice cream and pastries that I stuff myself with. It's about trying to keep my blood sugar level more balanced and that way trying to avoid the sugar hangover headaches, plus the grumpiness and short-temperedness that too much sugar give me.
It's about appreciating the sweet taste of cherry tomatoes, a juicy orange and (almost too) sweet dates instead of constantly longing for the next bar of chocolate or box of Mövenpick chocolate ice cream. It's about drinking a cup of chamomile tea before bedtime instead of diving into the candy bowl once the kids are in bed.
In short; it's about cutting back on the things that make my body feel bad and adding things that make my body feel glad. Less sweets, more vegetables!
Hands up if you are ready to join me (again)!
