Archive for March, 2010

• Day 30: Need Motivation? If You Live Where I Live…

  Date: 2010.03.29 | Category: Uncategorized | Response: 0

  If you live where I live, on the Mediterranean, this is what summers look like. So kill the sugar, cue the sun!

• Day 30: Breaking News: Carrie Underwood & Cupcakes

  Date: 2010.03.29 | Category: Uncategorized | Response: 1

  

  Do I really need to catch sight of this important news bulletin breaking across the Internet that Carrie Underwood will be having cupcakes at her wedding rather than a cake?

  Especially when’s it’s around 5 p.m. my time – otherwise known as the perfect time for high tea and cupcakes. For lucky people who allow themselves to eat sweets.

  Carrie says she is ordering her wedding cupcakes from IveyCake In Franklin, Tenn. See photo at left. Which is about as close as I may get to a cupcake during this long year.

  Bitterly yours,
  

• Day 30: Learn the Ancient Secret of Kicking Candy

  Date: 2010.03.29 | Category: Uncategorized | Response: 3

  

  Here’s what I wrote for the Huffington Post to celebrate a month off candy:

  I hope I don’t sound smug when I tell you that this candy addict has managed to last a month so far without candy and sweets. Amazed is how I really feel.

  Maybe blessed is a better word. Yes, blessed, for what has been revealed to me and what I am about to reveal to you.

  Four weeks ago, I announced my not widely-anticipated plan to kick all the sugary things I love for a year. I called it Mission 2010: A Year Without Candy and it coincided with my new blog, A Year Without Candy, in which I chronicle my efforts.

  Big news: While racking up one month candy-free, I stumbled onto a long-hidden secret, passed down through the centuries, usually by albino monks, about a universal law that can help everyone who wants to kick sweets.

  The Ancient Secret to Kicking the Candy Habit – or Da Candy Code for short – reveals the most powerful law in the universe. The knowledge of this law has run like a golden thread through the lives and the teachings of all the prophets, seers, sages and saviors in the world’s history who jonesed for Junior Mints, and through the lives of all truly great men and women – at least the ones with a sweet tooth. All that they have ever accomplished or attained has been done in full accordance with this most powerful law.

  Before I get to the Ancient Secret, let’s look at what we’re up against this week. These are the dangerous days leading up to Easter and I don’t mean just for the Pope.

  I don’t know about you, but enormous, enticing milk chocolate bunnies seem to perch seductively everywhere I look, winking at me and whispering my name as I rush by, covering my ears with my hands so as to resist their siren call.

  Continue reading more here at the Huffington Post

• Day 30: “Cake” Responds to Meg!

  Date: 2010.03.29 | Category: Uncategorized | Response: 0

  After Megan Bozman wrote her “Letter to Cake,” her husband, Kevin Bozman, read it. Coincidentally, not long after that Meg received this response from “Cake” itself…

  

  Dear Meg,
  I appreciate your honesty and admire your sincerity. Let me just start off by letting you know that I do cherish our relationship. Throughout the years we have had countless wonderful experiences together. The feeling of having you fight over me makes me smile. I love how I cause you such anger and turmoil. I am so simple. Just a few ingredients are all I am. I am but made of flour, sugar, eggs, salt, and butter. I mean you no harm at all. It is not my fault that you’re bickering over me. All I want is attention from you. I want you to drool over me. I want you to be thinking about me while you drive in your car. I want my cousins (cookie crumbs in your car) to remind you of me also. Please don’t throw away all we have had together. Our relationship is NOT one way. I give you a quick fix and I receive enjoyment through attention. Attention is what I crave from you.
  I have been missing you these last 2 weeks or so. I am lonely without you. Please come back to me so we can be bad together. Sure you will be mad and upset a few minutes after we reunite but it will be so good. Come eat me!

  Hungrily,
  Cake

• Day 29: Meg’s Love Letter to “Cake”

  Date: 2010.03.28 | Category: Uncategorized | Response: 0

  

  Megan Bozman, fellow candy and sweetfreak, is part of a great little group coached by anti-sugar queen Connie Bennett every Wednesday night. She’s a lot like me in that she doesn’t eat a ton of candy or binge on it – she just craves it a lot and finds it hard to be moderate.

  Connie, who celebrates her 12th year off sugar next month, suggested that all of us write a letter to one favorite dessert or candy and letting it know how we feel. Meg took that assignment and ran with it!

  This is Meg’s letter to Cake.

  Dear Cake,

  It’s not you; it’s me. I am aware this is cliched, but it is the truth in this case. You are not an evil entity. While you are a nutritional wasteland, you are not evil in moderation. I still plan to welcome you into my home to celebrate my son’s birthdays and other such occasions.

  Again, it’s not you; it’s me. Something in me doesn’t react well to you & I realize this. You are fantastic during the too-brief time I get to enjoy you. Ecstatic & wonderful. But too often, before I even finish swallowing the last bite, I just want more! Then, I still want more and more and more. That is where the evil comes into play… it is in large quantities that you become evil.

  And I won’t waste time elaborating on why large quantities of you are bad. That doesn’t bear repeating.

  When I get ensnared by your addictive properties, I feel terrible; both physically & emotionally. The feeling of being hooked is dreadful. For one thing, it’s just simply embarrassing! It also has a negative effect on my self-esteem (really, I can’t “just say no” & only eat a moderate amount?! What is wrong with me?) I don’t have some of the negative effects some experience such as stomach pains, yeast infections, skin problems, & blood sugar crashes causing a rapid decline in both energy & mood. However, I feel bloated, fat, and, well, gross. Feeling fat & gross makes me feel ugly. It’s just bad; just all around bad.

  So there you sit in the conference room. I’m sure others will enjoy you, don’t fret. Cake rarely goes uneaten in any office. But for now, I’m 10 days sweets-free & intend to go another 11 days for a round 3 weeks. At that point, I’m thinking I’ll stick to a serving of dessert or sweets once every 3 weeks.

  Ta ta,
  Meg

• Day 26: Oh no, Gwyneth Paltrow Talks Ice Cream Sundaes…

  Date: 2010.03.25 | Category: Celebrities | Response: 0

  

  Does anyone read Gwyneth Paltrow’s much-mocked Goop? Me neither but I read about her filming in Nashville and scoring some chocolate sundae with toffee no less and had to check out the item in Goop. See below.

  P.S. I wanted to post an image of a fantastic hot fudge sundae and I saw some pictures and nearly fainted because I want to remind you I am on Day 26 of no sweets. So I’m not posting a picture but next time I might. I’m weak today and not so sure about this whole damn plan.

  NOW I WANT A SUNDAE!

  From Goop:

  Mike’s Ice Cream
  208 Broadway
  +615 742 MIKE
  www.mikesicecream.com

  We indulged one afternoon with a remarkably delectable Sundae here at this old-fashioned Ice Cream Shop. It has murals on the wall that remind you of a soda fountain and tall bar chairs with coiled backs. The Sundae was perfect, not too large, made with good vanilla ice cream, drenched in chocolate and peanuts, and with just the right amount of toffee.

• Day 26: Dreaming of Red Twizzlers & Relapses

  Date: 2010.03.25 | Category: Uncategorized | Response: 1

  

  I had a dream last night that I slipped and ate a bunch of red Twizzlers and, I think, some miniature Reese’s peanut butter cups. In the dream I thought, oh I’ll have to confess this in the blog.

  I don’t remember who I was with specifically but I do know it was in some sort of small supermarket and at one key point in the dream I found myself near little display cases of cheap candies.

  My favorite!

  What’s annoying, though, is that I chose to bite into the Twizzlers. They’re okay but I can take them or leave them. They are not even in the top 50 of candies that I like.

  If I am going to lucid-dream about eating cheap candy, I’d rather it be Junior Mints, banana taffy (the kind you can only buy in bodegas on Ninth Avenue in New York City), York peppermint patties, milk chocolate Dove bar bites etc.

  I was talking to someone else last night who was once a Twizzler freak so that must be why I dreamed of them. But I was also talking to a cupcake freak last night.

  Why couldn’t I have dreamed of vanilla cupcakes with fudge icing?

  Life – and dreams – are so unfair.

  Ta for now,
  

• Day 25: The Swimming Piglet Interview!

  Date: 2010.03.24 | Category: Uncategorized | Response: 0

  A Year Without Candy is officially Sleeping with the Enemy.

  The Swimming Piglet has granted her first official interview. No doubt Vanity Fair will be calling next.

  Read the interview here at ToDoCandy.Com – a fabulous candy lovers’ site – with the Swimming Piglet.

  Thanks very much to Sylita and our friends at TodoCandy!

• Day 24: Do I Eat Sugar-less Candy? No!

  Date: 2010.03.23 | Category: Uncategorized | Response: 1

  Here’s why: (see entire page at Livestrong here)

  Side Effects of Sugar-less Candy

  Bloating and Diarrhea
  Sugar alcohols such as xylitol, lactitol,isomalt and maltitol serve as a bulking agent in many sugar-free sweets. They can cause bloating and diarrhea for some, particularly when consumed in large quantities. Most individuals fare well when consuming modest amounts of candy that contain the product, according to Yale-New Haven Hospital. The nutrition label can serve as a reference in determining an appropriate singular serving size.

  Spiked Blood Sugar
  Some people who suffer from diabetes experience a spike in blood sugar when sugar alcohols are eaten in excess. It is believed that this occurs because the ingredient is similar to sugar in some ways, particularly in its sweet flavor. For this reason, people with diabetes should take note of how the ingredient affects them personally and practice moderate consumption overall, says the American Diabetes Association.

  Laxative Effect
  Some individuals experience a laxative or related gastrous effects from sugar alcohol consumption. Small children tend to be particularly sensitive to this side effect, so it may be wise to limit their intake. This adverse effect can range from increased or loosened bowel movements to gas and uncomfortable stomach cramping and is generally associated with excessive intake, says the ADA.

  Drug Interaction
  Many sugar-free candies contain phenylalanine, an essential amino acid. Though it is safe for most people to consume, those who are taking anti-psychotic medication for conditions such as schizophrenia are not encouraged to consume this ingredient. If you are taking any medication, the University of Maryland Medical Center recommends getting a doctor’s guidance regarding intake of phenylalanine.”>here

  Many people depend on sugarless candies for sweets without the adverse caloric or blood sugar consequences sugar-laden candies may pose. Many of these sugar-free sweets contain ingredients that carry potentially burdensome side effects. Though the candies are generally safe when consumed in moderation, an understanding of the potential risks can help you make wise decisions as to whether to consume them and, if you do, when to call call it quits.

  File under “There’s Never Any Free Lunch and it Sucks.”

• Day 23: Don’t be Coca Cola’s Puppet!

  Date: 2010.03.22 | Category: Uncategorized | Response: 1

  I’ve heard from a lot of you out there trying to quit Diet Coke. For me it wasn’t so hard, but probably because I’ve got the bigger candy monkey on my back. But I hope those of you who do want to kick Diet Coke, give it a try. It’s nothing but bad chemicals and carbonate that would rot a carburetor if it were left to soak a few hours…

  Think outside the can and don’t feed the Coca Cola corporate monster.

  Pull your own strings!