Day 18: Sing it, Sistah!

Date: 2010.03.17 | Category: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

From the Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Michelle Obama is urging the nation’s largest food companies to speed up efforts to make healthier foods and reduce marketing of unhealthy foods to children.

Mrs. Obama asked the companies, gathered at a meeting of the Grocery Manufacturers Association on Tuesday, to “step it up” and put less fat, salt and sugar in foods.

“We need you not to just tweak around the edges but entirely rethink the products you are offering, the information that you provide about these products, and how you market those products to our children,” she said.

The first lady has talked to schools and nutrition groups across the country in her effort to reduce childhood obesity. This is the first time she has confronted the food companies that make the snacks and junk food that stuff grocery aisles and school vending machines.

Read more here at the Huffington Post:

Day 18: Wicked Wednesday!

Date: 2010.03.17 | Category: Scary Motivation! | 5 Comments »

No, I haven’t slipped… yet.

But I’m surprised at the moments that attack out of the blue and make me want some sweet sustenance.

Just before noon today, on an already appointment-packed day, I was just getting off the bus on a street called the Hotel de Postes in Nice. I stepped down on the curb and it hit me – I was just a block away from one of my favored chocolatiers. It’s a little place run by a lovely little, white-haired French woman who always smiles at me so kindly when I walk in.

“Alors?” she’ll ask, knowing full well I order the same thing each time – ten of the thin, exquisite milk chocolate galets and ten of the caramel. She moves slowly, there’s no rush in a little store selling chocolate in the south of France.

She carefully places the chocolates in a lovely little bag and ties it with a gold ribbon. She assumes that, like the French, I am buying the candy in order to savor it later, during a formal time period like after dinner. No, I gobble it up as I leave the store, like a normal American. But I never tell her not to wrap the whole thing up because it’s part of pleasure. Even the most obscurely-located chocolate shop in France will often have the most beautiful and delicate candies, presented, decorated and later wrapped as if they were to be a gift to Marie-Antoinette herself.

That’s why it’s France.

Anyway, all this went through my head as I got off the bus. How much I’d like to drop in for a sweet treat and to see the kindly old woman. But no, I’m not eating sweets. I turned away from the direction of the shop toward home.

But before going home, I decided to satisfy another craving that I rarely get: I wanted a hamburger. I like hamburgers well enough but I don’t eat them much. They’re not a staple in France. I’m also very aware of how bad red meat is for you – although I am not at the point of becoming a vegetarian – yet.

If you really look into how bad red meat is for you – especially antibiotic and hormone-riddled American red meat – you’d never touch it again. But investigating meat is a bit like looking deeply at the sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church. It all becomes so overwhelmingly bad – and it all stems from people in charge lying to us and encouraging us to turn a blind eye – that you almost don’t want to deal at all. Taking right action just seems almost impossible.

Turning a blind eye, going with the flow, is so much easier, isn’t it?

I’ve read books like John Robbins’ Diet for a New America and I’m dying to read Jonathan Foer’s Eating Animals.

I know what eating meat means. And it’s not pretty. And I usually happily hew to a very healthy diet. But today I went to McDonald’s anyway. I ordered a Big Mac, fries and Diet Coke. I used to think a little McDonald’s was fine. Now I don’t really think so. Then again, my goal is not to be a food militant, save the world or be perfect.

However, I also know the worst thing about eating McDonald’s is how all that overly salted, sugar-riddled food triggers cravings for candy.

It’s only 3 p.m. Pray for me!

Ta,

Day 17: Candy Not So Pretty!

Date: 2010.03.16 | Category: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

A Year Without Candy patron Claire Joliecoeur sends along a link to this great site, ugly food, with pictures of bleeding Gummis and brain cupcakes. She wants to keep my sugar cravings at bay!

Day 16: But I'd Rather Be a Bad Girl!

Date: 2010.03.15 | Category: Uncategorized | 5 Comments »

As I said in my piece in the Huffington Post that kicked off this blog:

Is there a less-sexy addiction than being a sugar freak?

Have you ever seen a film noir with the possibly-murderous icy blonde reclining on a sofa and waiting for the next sucker to lure into her evil web – while pulling on a Twix bar?

Or have you ever gone a hot date with a cool guy and after dinner, leaned back seductively, locked eyes with him, reached into your purse and said, “Do you mind if I… toss down a few Gummi bears?”

How wholesome. How very not treacherous femme fatale.

Let’s face it, it’s not just men who love bitches. As far as I can tell, nice girls/guys everywhere need to be careful lest they finish last.

But hey, you play the card you’re dealt. Which is why I enjoyed joining Connie Bennett’s ongoing weekly coaching session for sweetfreaks like me. Connie is the empress of the Stop Sugar Shock! empire and invited me to join in on her telephone conference call.

It’s always great to be with those who roll as you do – even if I detected over the phone that all of us may share some of the same dreaded good girl characteristics. By that I mean – conscientiousness, thoughtfulness, being over-responsible, a desire for self-improvement…

One of the my fellow participants, for example, mentioned how much she enjoys eating Ezekiel English muffins in part because they help cut sugar cravings. I love the Ezekiel Food for Life products too!

According to the website, the Ezekiel products were inspired “by the Holy Scripture verse Ezekiel 4:9., “Take also unto thee Wheat, and Barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and Spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make bread of it…”

Two weeks successfully off sugar. Biblically-inspired food products. Ugh.

I’m feeling so virtuous I can’t stand it! Is it so wrong every now and then to want to be all bad?

Ta from my evil twin,

Day 15: How Much Weight Have I Lost?

Date: 2010.03.14 | Category: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Should that be for me to know and for you to find out?

Of course I’ll tell!

It hasn’t been something sensational like 15 pounds lost in 15 days but I have lost THREE pounds, which is pretty good for me.

I mentioned when I began this blog two weeks ago that I had gone off sweets for almost two years a few years ago. Not long after I went back to eating candy and desserts, I gained 15 pounds seemingly overnight.

I’d never had a weight problem before. I could always eat pretty much what I wanted. It was almost as if my body was telling me – see we want you off sweets – and if you go back on we’ll add a layer of lard.

Even though I want to lose weight as much as anybody, it oddly wasn’t my focus when I decided to try to do a year without candy. I’ve been more concerned about staying the course and keeping my cravings at bay.

As I result, I haven’t been watching what I eat – since I don’t overeat anything except sweets. Make sense?

But enough about you,

Day 14: Sugar = Criminal Behavior and Violence!

Date: 2010.03.13 | Category: Scary Motivation! | 2 Comments »

Amazing – two weeks off sugar! I’ve been very busy with work recently which helps keep my mind off sugar cravings. In fact the only sweet thing I’ve had in the past 14 days has been raspberry jam.

Yes, the feeling that my diet is boring is still there. Tonight I had Thai food just to give my taste buds a treat. Expect a longer post tomorrow – possibly more whining – when I get off deadline

In the meantime, more scary motivation! Well, it works for me. “Nutrition and Behavior” is a more-entertaining-than-it-sounds filmed lecture by Dr. Russell Blaylock in which he talks about how sugar can cause one to be criminally violent.

I’m still looking for the scholarly lecture on how lack of sugar makes you criminally violent. Now, where’s that Uzi of mine…

See the whole film here or check out the preview below first:

Day 13: "1 out of 3 Children Born After 2000 Will Get Diabetes"

Date: 2010.03.12 | Category: Scary Motivation! | 1 Comment »

Scary statistic? It’s true, according to this fascinating new documentary. You don’t have to be a diabetic to get inspired by seeing the radical change that took place in six diabetics when they gave up all the bad stuff – sugary, processed food, even cooked food – and went raw. I’d love to try going raw myself – even for just a month. But that’s another blog…

“Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days” is an independent documentary film that chronicles six Americans with diabetes who switch to a diet consisting entirely of vegan, organic, uncooked food in order to reverse disease without pharmaceutical medication. The six are challenged to give up meat, dairy, sugar, alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, soda, junk food, fast food, processed food, packaged food, and even cooked food for 30 days. The film follows each participant’s remarkable journey and captures the medical, physical, and emotional transformations brought on by this radical diet and lifestyle change. We witness moments of struggle, support, and hope as what is revealed, with startling clarity, is that diet can reverse disease and change lives.

The film highlights each of the six before they begin the program and we first meet them in their home environment with their families. Each participant speaks candidly about their struggle to manage their diabetes and how it has affected every aspect of their life, from work to home to their relationships.

See the entire film here and watch below for a sneak preview:

Day 12: Having a Weak Moment, Am Sure it Will Pass.

Date: 2010.03.11 | Category: Uncategorized | 9 Comments »

My weak moment stemmed from me not eating lunch yet and seeing one simple word flash by harmlessly on the Internet.

The word? Fudge.

Only one of nature’s Satan’s perfect foods.

Fudge made me think of my favorite (and oh so easy) fudge recipe:

Million Dollar Fudge.

Let’s review it here, shall we, or look below. FYI, I am leaving in the chopped nuts but am against them. I am a purist when it comes to candy. No, I don’t want nuts or fruit or liqueur in my candy, thank you very much

INGREDIENTS
12 oz Semisweet chocolate
1 c Marshmallow cream
2 c White sugar
1 ts Vanilla
2 tb Butter
3/4 c Evaporated (not sweetened
1 c Chopped nuts

PREPARATION
Fanny Farmer Oil jelly roll or 9×9 inch pan. Put chocolate and marshmallow in large bowl and set aside. Mix sugar, milk, and corn syrup in 3 qt heavy pan, stir to blend. Put over low heat and bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Wash down sides with pastry brush dipped in cold water. Continue to boil stirring constantly without touching sides or pan for 5 minutes. Pour mixture over the chocolate/marshmallow mix, add salt and vanilla. Stir until chocolate melts and fudge is smooth. Stir in nuts. Spread into oiled pan and mark into squares. When firm cut into pieces and store airtight.

<Check out those ingredients! Marshmallow cream and corn syrup: Satan's breakfast!

Back where I come from in Massachusetts, we only used trademarked Marshmallow fluff for all our marshmallow needs – including for the popular Fluffernutters! Satan eats Fluffernutters for lunch when he’s in the mood, which is often.

I am suddenly so homesick for home and eating fluffernutters for lunch and playing field hockey after school. If this were then, there might be a bake sale at school tomorrow and what do I love more than American bake sales? Not much!

Well, I’m eating some pumpkin soup and croutons now; the crisis seems to have passed. I actually enjoy looking at and remembering some of my favorite sweets. So be warned, this blog may contain many flashbacks depending on my mood.

I thought just now spooning down my soup. What if one of Satan’s handsome, be-horned assistants showed up right now, bearing a fresh plate of Million Dollar fudge on the end of his diamond-encrusted pitchfork?

Would I be able to resist? Would I sneak one piece and make a deal with the devil and not tell anyone?

I don’t think so. But only because of this silly journal, which is the only thing keeping me on the side of the angels.

For today at least.

And try not to focus on my cloven hoof in my photo…

Ta,

Day 11: Is My Life Sweeter without Sweets?

Date: 2010.03.10 | Category: Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

NOT YET!

Day 11: Is Everyone Addicted to Something?

Date: 2010.03.10 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

From today’s Huffington Post:

President Obama is addicted to nicotine. Rush Limbaugh got hooked on OxyContin. Glenn Beck is a recovering alcoholic, as is Elton John, Eric Clapton, Anthony Hopkins, Robin Williams, Judy Collins, Mel Gibson, and many more. Tiger Woods is a sex addict – it’s likely that Warren Beatty and Wilt Chamberlain were, too. William Bennett’s gambling habit was all over the news. Oprah acknowledges she’s a carbohydrate addict. Julia Cameron was hooked on alcohol and drugs, as were McKenzie Phillips and Carrie Fisher. The list of famous addicts grows ever-longer and we begin to wonder: Do the pressures of fame and fortune drive people to addictive substances and activities … or is everyone an addict?

In her book, When Society Becomes an Addict, Anne Wilson Schaef asserts that life in the U.S. is so stressful that it is impossible not to become addicted to something. She says that we live in a society that not only encourages addiction, but almost demands it. Schaef points out that some addictions, such as workaholism, are actually applauded in our culture – while others, such as nicotine, TV, internet porn, gambling, and sex addiction, are simply tolerated. But nobody grows up in our country without becoming addicted to something.

Read more here