Getting the balance right

After 2 months, Ben and I are STILL eating a sugar free diet.  Well, I should be honest and tell you we DID eat a little, small teeny tiny bit on two separate occasions recently. But it wasn't our fault.  Our friends made us do it! Yes that's right people....we were forced against our will, we begged for mercy, pleaded for our lives! Alright, so maybe I'm prone to exaggeration. So here's the real story.

You may recall that some months back I blogged about our participation in a regularly held Iron Chef competition. It's a every-few-months-or-so event that we've been part of for almost 2 years.  It's always a rollicking good fun night, filled with heckling and laughs, plus...we didn't want to let our friends down. So, despite our decision to be sugar-free, we didn't pull out of the cooking game! Which obviously meant we couldn't judge the other contestants culinary genius without trying all their dishes, and that entailed.......eating dessert.  But here's the interesting part, when those decadent eye-popping desserts were placed in front of us, we didn't have much desire to dive in. Seriously. And in fact, that very first mouthful was a shock.  Yes truthfully, the sweetness almost knocked me off my feet. Ben couldn't even manage half of his dessert, and I barely managed a few mouthfuls.  Can you believe that! It's was like our desire for sugar filled morsels had completely faded. 

Oh who am I kidding! Desire for sugar non existent?! Just call me Pinocchio. Ben and I have experienced some cravings over the past two months!!!!!! I have salivated over chocolate cake placed tantalizingly on the staffroom table at work. I've ogled the lollies in the sweets aisle at Foodies. I've drooled over recipes in magazines. I've been close to giving up. But giving up is too easy and this time I'm not going to be a quitter. All I have to do to keep my feet firmly planted in the non-sugar camp is remind myself how sugar actually makes me feel. And you may be interested to know just how I felt the next day after Iron Chef (on both occasions), after ingesting food containing this white refined drug we call sugar....

Flat.

Tired.

Moody.

Unmotivated.

Queasy.

Just plain yuck in the guts and with a big fat headache to match!

It's these feelings that spur me on and give me encouragement to keep going. I owe it to my body (even if my brain doesn't always fully agree), because my body IS reaping the benefits of a sugar-free diet. I really feel good these days; healthier, more energetic and focused.  I am also becoming very in-tune with how my body reacts to other different foods. I'm finally listening properly to what my body tells me.

I saw a naturopath twelve months ago who impressed upon me how sugar is OK, if it accounts for less than 10 percent of your total diet.  At the time I thought I was already pretty much adhering to her advice.  I realise now that I wasn't even close.  Before undergoing this huge dietary experiment, eating sugar meant a daily slice of cake, a 3pm sugary pick-me-up, treats after dinner, smarties hidden in a drawer at work, a hot Milo with sugar AND marshmallows added, dark chocolate hidden in the fridge etc etc (you get the idea)! After going sugar free I feel confident I now have a better idea of what 10 percent really is.  Now when I hear people use the phrase "all in moderation", I have a handle on what that really means.

SO.... I will introduce sugar into my diet again one day, when I'm ready (I'm in no hurry by the way).  But I'm certain my newly acquired self control will help me to consume to an absolute minimum.  Sugar will be something I associate with birthdays, parties, meals at restaurants, and family celebrations. And that seems like a balance worth aiming for.  Don't you think?

NB. I wrote this blog post yesterday (Nov 30). Today (Dec 1) is my birthday and I DID eat cake. Oh and here's what my beautiful family gave me this afternoon...