Sorry for my delay on getting this written….lots of stress
and work the last couple of weeks, so things have not been going as I had
planned. In fact, this is teaching me
that I need a more intentional and measured strategy to continue being really
healthy even during the most difficult moments of life.
What has been going well?
OK, so I’ve continued yoga and exercise in general…running outside in
the spring air too. I have been eating
my greens and taking care of myself, but I have let fall some of my meditative
practice and my well-being journal.
Starting it again today actually.
So, it’s been a hit and miss couple of weeks. The first blow hit me when my show got so
busy that I just didn’t have time to keep on top of eating healthy. I succumbed to a few meals with sugar in them
just because they were quick. I also
ended up indulging in some chocolate and even some ice cream late at night
because I was tired and in need of some comfort.
It strikes me that I want to take more of a personal
approach to this blog now because I’ve been writing more generally, and not
telling the stories of what I am going through.
For me, the hardest thing about living a healthy life is all the added
sugar in everything. I was just trying
to buy bread at the store because I did not have any time to make any during my
busy semester when I had A Midsummer
Night’s Dream opening plus I had two Festival of Faith and Writing sessions
that I was a part of…one of them the first reading of a new script. Eating healthy, it strikes me, takes a ton of
time and also enough money to buy all the fresh, good ingredients.
I’ve just finished reading The Year of No Sugar: A Memoir
and what I was most struck by in the narrative written by Eve Schaub, is that
she spent the entire year writing about not eating sugar and then developing
great food in her kitchen, but this is all she did. She did not have lots of other jobs to
do. Yes yes, she was caring for her two
daughters and teaching a writing course, but the rest of the time she could
spend taking an entire day to make a meal of homemade spaghetti and meatballs
or a homemade meal of gnocchi. I would
LOVE to do that, but the time is just not a possibility for me six months of
the year.
So…as I am now going to truly enter a year of no sugar
added….and I mean it…I am going to scour the food labels and make sure I am
eating nothing with added sugar, my journey is going to look quite different
from Eve’s. The wake up call for me came
this past week when I went in to the doctor with a ton of inflammation. Some of this is from stress from my job, but
some is from the chronic fatigue syndrome flaring up. My doctor asked me if I had seriously given
up sugar or if I was still using it as a coping mechanism. I confessed to her that yes, I was still
using it to get by in stressful situations.
It was like confessing that I was using drugs…well…I guess I am. I mean, I love the sugar high and then I even
love the crash because it often lulls me into a nap for 90 minutes. No joke.
OK OK…I am going to seriously give it up now. In fact, I am making Easter Dinner and it
will be a no sugar affair, except for the carrot cake but even there I am
cutting it way back for the sake of my guests.
And yes yes, I am going to have to learn to cook with no sugar and I am
going to have to learn how to make myself healthy even during times of intense
stress when I want to turn to this drug the most for help.
Just a funny anecdote, I told my daughter Julia that come
Sunday all sugar and sugar-added foods would be out of the house but I told her
she could pick an exception, be it ketchup or what have you. She picked her favorite barbecue chips, but I
actually suggested that she pick jam or something so she could continue to have
peanut butter and jelly. She is
thinking. And then she asked, can I pick
sugar…like just sugar sugar? Funny. Me: “No….you
cannot.” Sigh.
If you are looking for an interesting read, take a look at
Eve’s memoir. I am going to read a new
book or blog every month during my year.
Here are the rules I am following:
1) Get
rid of all products in house that contain added sugar, in all its forms,
including honey and maple syrup.
Gulp. My pantry might look bare. I am giving it to our church food pantry.
2) Stock
up on bananas, figs, and dates to make sure you have the natural sweetening
agents available for smoothies, etc.
3) No
artificial sweeteners allowed in any form at all – be it splenda, stevia,
etc. Stevia is my favorite. That will be difficult.
4) Only
buy products that contain no added sugars.
5) Pick
one exception to the rule that you can have.
Mine is red wine. Julia has not
picked yet.
6) Once
a month we get a treat and I will make it from scratch and we (me and Julia)
decide what it is together….unless it’s someone’s birthday…then they get to
decide and that will be our treat for the month.
I am worried about holidays and family gatherings. I am worried about whether or not I can do
this. That’s why I am writing about it
so openly. But I cannot take the kind of
inflammation I am dealing with now in the form of headaches and intense joint
swelling. What I have is a pre-arthritic
condition and cutting sugars entirely can really help to end this. So here I go.
The year of total health just took a step up!
No comments:
Post a Comment