New Challenge!
Not long ago, I had a chat with a trading psychologist. You may think a psychologist in trading is useful only to those who are in trouble, but the truth is, that's not the case. Everyone needs one, or the teaching of one to be precise, to be able to keep their emotions out of the game and handle gains and losses the right way.
However, this time it wasn't about trading, but about addictions, although trading can be highly addictive too. He asked me why I quit drinking coffee as it seemed really strange and incomprehensible to him as everyone drinks coffee these days. After enlightening him about the reasons behind my decision, he told me about his sugar challenge and his experience with it.
The truth is, the minute he mentioned his challenge, I knew I was going to do it myself as I've been abusing sugar lately and don't like where I am right now. We talked about the effects, which obviously is not a secret to anyone. Everyone with half a brain knows the damage you can do to your body with constant high sugar intake. So I decided to test my willpower and embark on a two week no sugar journey.
At the beginning of this year I had a post about what 2023 has taught me, in which I mentioned that previous experiences with positive results can help you in your next challenge and this is one of the cases where I could rely on previous experiences. I've managed to quit smoking and drinking coffee and those results are now fueling my willpower to do this one.
People usually choose Monday to start, or the 1st of the month. This is a psychological thing, to give themselves time to enjoy a little more, what they are about to quit. I'm not saying it's wrong (who am I to say that), but sometimes drastic decisions have better results. I also waited almost one week after the chat. Why? I guess I wasn't ready, mentally, for the challenge, but this morning I woke up and felt like it's the right time to start my challenge.
What Does Sugar Mean To Me?
This is the question I asked myself when I decided to quit drinking coffee. The first step towards your end goal is to be honest as otherwise you're just fooling yourself. So the answer was quite shocking, but it gave me a full picture of why I was doing what I was doing.
I did the same with sugar, to see where I stand. When someone says sugar, many think of sugar in a physical form, I mean the white, refined sugar you buy from the grocery store, but that's not the only sugar you can have. I don't consume much sugar in that form as I have my tea solely with lemon and the food I cook doesn't need sugar. However, I use sugar when I bake, but that is reduced to minimal.
The majority of my sugar intake is sweets I have. It's easy to look at sweets like a form of reward. It's a very dangerous path and that's why I am where I am now. I used to have something sweet after lunch and quite often after that as well.
How Do You Resist Temptation?
Some people need to isolate themselves from the products that can mean temptation to them, but I don't think that's an efficient way. In my opinion you need to learn to say no to things.
Right after I made my decision, I discovered a fruit yogurt in my fridge. My first reaction was like "I'm going to eat this and start after". But after 5 minutes of looking at the yogurt I decided against it and put it back in the fridge. The reason is my conscience. Trust me, I feel better knowing that I kept my promise to myself, did not give in with this fruit yogurt that is full of sugar.
This was only one of the many temptations I have at home. My pantry is full of jams and when I say full, I'm not saying 5 or 6 jams, more like 50 or 60, or even more. I make my own jams with home grown fruits, so I have plenty each year. There's also chocolate, pudding and so on. Am I going to throw them away? Nope! I have no intention to do that, but I'm not sure I'm going to eat them after my two week challenge ends either. Jams are not going to go out of warranty period and the chocolate still has 1 year. We'll see.
I'm pretty stubborn when it comes to challenges and I know I'm not going to break the pantry door down, or rush into the bakery, not even after my challenge ends.
At this point I think I need this exercise, to be able to adjust my sugar consumption in the future. Once I get used to living without sugar, it'll be easier to say no to those yummy temptations and have less.
For the sake of precision, I need to mention that I'm not going to look at labels with a magnifying glass as everything contains sugar these days, from mustard to pasta. I can't escape those unless I want to make my life really miserable. But I'm going to avoid sweets and products I know contain a lot of sugar. Fruits are also out of the question as those contain sugar as well.
Let's say how it goes. I'll be back after two weeks!
P.S. It's quite funny 😁. I opened my food photo folder to select a few photo with cakes I've baked and you can see eight yummy food photos in this post. How do I feel after looking at them? Perfectly fine, no temptation. So far so good I guess.
I wish you the best on this two week challenge. I got to thinking if I could do this challenge but your pictures took away the seriousness in my mind 😂 Its good it didn't tempt you doing so 😊 Yes a good step forward not be tempted by the pictures, now will your sense of smell hold up?
Thank you @coolmidwestguy, very nice of you! So far so good, don't worry about me, I'm going to do it till the end 😄
Dear Erika I have been trying to do this challenge to give up those delicious desserts and I love cakes, but lately I have had problems with carbohydrates and sugar in my body indeed you are right to think that to start the challenge has to be a Monday or the first of each month is something psychological because it can be any day what you have to be willing.
Seeing the pictures of your desserts makes my mouth water hahaha it is a real challenge but health comes first.
So many people are having health problems due to eating habits and not only. I thought it's better stop now and learn to look at sweets in a different way and moderate my consumption, but first I need to so this challenge.
I hope you can do it too :)
What an excellent contrast between text and images 😮. I wish you strength to withstand that challenge and sincerely hope you manage to keep it up beyond the set time, as that will be the success.
Those who have succeeded (not me) say that new flavors are discovered that we currently do not perceive because we are so saturated with sugar and salt.
I wanted a contrast between text and images as it's all about temptation and if you read the comments, many have said the images are tempting. My goal is to reduce sweets consumption and sugar in general, after the challenge ends.
This is interesting and I'm curious to see if I can experience that.
Thanks for the nice words. I'll let everyone know how it went.
Good luck to you on your journey. I am struggling with this, but more with my kid wanting sweets than with myself overindulging. While it’s up to the parent to teach the young ones and to control such things, our society in general right now is designed in a way where sugar is EVERYWHERE, and not only sugar, but a bunch of chemicals that are included in the so-called “sweets”. Most of them are literally slow-acting low dose poison. It’s a constant struggle to be able to go a different route (and be a stronger influence on your kid than the outside world is), and it’s not an accident that the situation with sugary foods in our society is the way it is.
I can understand you as it's much more difficult with kids. They don't understand why sweets are not healthy. Unfortunately sweets are everywhere and as you say, it's not just sugar, but all kinds of chemicals. Commercials are making your job even harder.
I wish you luck, I hope you can succeed.
50 or 60 jams?
Whoa that’s a lot and to be able to quit drinking coffee?I feel this sugar challenge will be more easier because even though I haven’t experienced it , I heard coffee is very addictive.
I wish you the best and I know you can do it.
Can’t wait for an update.
Thank you @abenad! Yesterday I'd have said I don't know, but I'm almost through day 2 and I can tell you, it's way easier than quitting coffee.
What a beautiful post! I immediately went looking for something sweet and baked to eat 😊 This is a great challenge. I bet you will find you don't miss all that sugar. Maybe a few things... but not all of it. I have done a version of a eat raw diet before without refined sugar. I loved it but its hard to stick with. We were making most of our food at home which is wonderful but can be hard to maintain.
I think raw diet is much harder, or at least it would be for me as I'm used to cooked meals regularly. I'm also cooking my own food.
Haha! This got me laughing and how you were able to overcome the temptation still got me in shock. Someone like me, I don't think I will resist that😂 Well, I must say you are really making good effort for you to resist that yogurt.
I wish you all the best on this challenge.
And, the photos, the look so tempting, I was shocked when you said no temptation😅
Resisting temptation is a must. What would my challenge be if I would give in at the first occasion, right? 🙂
You think that seeing all those sweets, anyone can resist. I don't think I can. Here in my country sugar is a must and if you listen to the doctors and read it is true that you have to limit yourself. In fact, when I don't have something sweet after eating I go straight to the sugar bowl and put a teaspoon of sugar in my mouth, either white or turbinado. Everything I cook savory I add a pinch of sugar to. I think I have to follow your advice, I'll be able to! Interesting your reflection.
Those sweets look very tasty. But keep your commitment to not eating sugar. Best regards.
Lol, I did, trust me.
That is not good at all as it suggests serious addiction. Adding sugar to everything, this is very strange. I barely use sugar.
I'll be back with an assessment, once the challenge is over and share my experiment.
I super agree with this! But with food, it seems impossibe especially with our favorites - sweets! Discipline is truly a must.
Well, I think there's no impossible, if you make an effort :) Try it out.
It's always a challenge to resist sweets. But I have learned those gradually, too. I never quit drinking coffee but I drink it without sugar, I still eat chocolates cakes but the darker flavored ones. It's all about moderation first before you could eradicate them in your system. Kinda hard for real, but you'll get used to it overtime. Good luck to your challenge! You can do it.
It's a challenge to resist sweets to 99.99% of the population I guess, it's just that not many are ready to admit it.
I don't want to quit eating sweets, but I want to be able to eat way less.
Thank you @ayane-chan.
That's a brave challenge that should be tried out by more people honestly. Maybe you should turn it into a challenge that should get from one to another by mentioning someone at the end of the post, lol. Would be a cool and healthy challenge for sure! Not to mention the life changing 🤯
Tagging people is easy, but only those will do it, who are really ready and trust me, there are not many, if any at all :) However, everyone is welcome to join, even you 😁
Indeed. Thank you for the invite 🤗
Hello @erikah, how are you?, I have not added sugar to drinks for more than a year, currently when they give me a juice or coffee with sugar I hardly tolerate it, but if I continue eating sugar in desserts hehehe, I think everything is a balance, right now I am on a keto diet, on it I cannot consume sugar in any form including flour, but I only intend to do it for 3 months, I think that depriving ourselves of cakes and desserts forever is something exaggerated, so we ourselves do not add sugar to things unnecessary is already a great advance, I hope you can achieve your goal, greetings
Hey Erikah, that's a fantastic challenge! Cutting down on sugar can have numerous health benefits. It's something I wanted to do for the longest time but haven't had the willpower or commitment to do. So for now, I'm going to live vicariously through you. Stay committed and focus on incorporating whole foods into your diet for a more balanced and sustainable lifestyle. You've got this!
Trust me, it's way easier than I thought or what I've been through when quitting smoking or coffee. You should try it out.
Thanks for the encouragement.
Good luck on your challenge, I hope you come out stronger after this, and get to the point where you get to take less of the sweets.
Lo primero para empezar es darse cuenta que a uno le hacel mal, todo en exceso es dañino asi que mis felicitaciones por la voluntad que le estas poniendo. Por suerte yo no tomo cafe, ni bebidas alcoholicas aunque si puede ser que consuma más azucar de lo que preferiria pero es complicado ya que cualquier producto que uno compra lo contiene. Asi que exitos con esto, al igual que pudiste dejar de fumar vas a poder con esto y con todo lo que se te presente.
Thank s Nitsu, I really appreciate it. Unfortunately almost everything contains sugar, so this is why I want to limit my sugar intake and so far it's going great.