Breaking my addiction
One of the things that we’re asked to do as students at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition is to look at our own eating habits under a light of open honesty. And while I’ve always known myself as a person with a sweet tooth, what I discovered is that my sweet tooth is much more than a sweet tooth – it’s an addiction.
And how do I know it’s an addiction? Well…on Tuesday I stopped eating chocolate and drinking any kind of soda and had HUGE cravings for both, along with a headache and low energy – to the point that on Wednesday I spent an entire day lounging around doing nothing but laying poolside, watching television, and bumming out. My mood was poor and I was getting down on myself – feeling anxious about life. How crazy is it that food can have THAT much power over a person? Over me? Talk about a wake-up call.
Now that I’ve recognized that I do have an addiction to sugar – especially chocolate – here’s what I’m going to do about it:
- First, I will no longer be buying chocolate-covered almonds (or for that matter any kind of chocolate) in bulk while grocery shopping
- Second, I will no longer drink ANY kind of soda at work (I’ve already given up drinking soda at home)
- Third, I will continue to stock-up on fruits and sweet veggies to crowd-out the foods I’m eliminating from my daily life
- Finally, I will continue to educate myself on better food choices that make sense to me and that I can easily add into my every day life
Here’s a great article I found on breaking sugar addictions. It has some intriguing suggestions – some of which I plan on testing out – particularly the wheatgrass juice with pineapple juice. I’ve never tried wheatgrass juice, but combined with pineapple, I’d be willing to give it a try!
How about you? Do you have any food addictions? Have you broke them? If so, how’d you do it? What worked for you? What didn’t?
About Sara
Sara Hefty (B.B.A. and H.H.C.) teaches workaholic women how to have it all and flourish without burning out, binging or being spiteful. As an expert in transformational health coaching, she holds women accountable for letting go of unwanted weight, being brilliantly nourished, grounded in truth and feeling confident, happy and playful every single day.
As a woman with her own weight loss story, wide-ranging family heritage of cancer, and a graduate of the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, Sara’s appreciation for convenient nutrient-dense food, personal growth, inspiring design, financial responsibility, and social entrepreneurship led to her “Pursuit of Ownership: Health, Home, and Legacy” model of heart-on-fire-hot empowered living.
Sara is the founder of PROJECT LUX and SaraHefty.com. She currently lives in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, with her husband Brian and hound-dog Raja.
I’ve been seeing a nutritionist for over a year to overcome my addiction to food. It’s been a very difficult process, and having spent 10 years+ of my life dieting and restricting food or using exercise in some way or another to control my body or weight, it leaves a deep question of: well, how do I actually use food for it’s intended purpose, to nourish my body?
That comes with the heavy task of letting go of the power I have given to food over the years, and coming to the understanding that there is no such thing as a “bad” food. For a long time I would consider dessert bad, limit myself to one a week, and inevitably watch as all things went to pot as I gave so much control to that piece of dessert, like I could never have it again. It usually ended with me indulging in dessert several times a week and waking up with a food coma. This is also common when people start new diets — “oh I’ll have my last big meal now because tomorrow I’ll be on a diet and never get to have these foods again.” Now dessert, or any other type of food, is not a tool of reward or punishment – it’s simply food.
The book “Intuitive Eating” is also a remarkable read for anyone on this journey.
I totally know how you feel!! I’m trying so hard to stop drinking soda! I’ve only had 2 this week! It does help when I no longer buy it for at home & I have my water jug sitting on my desk @ work!
Some success tonight! After work instead of ordering the (AMAZING!) Oktoberfest burger, I opted for a bowl of chili. And later on in the evening – when I was definitely CRAVING sugar – I went with an organic plum. Baby steps in a better direction…baby steps!
@Shelly: THANK YOU for sharing lady!!! The question of how to use food to nourish your body is a deep one. Over the past four years or so, I’d joke around with people that I just want to learn to eat like a normal person should. Only I wasn’t joking. It was simply easier to hide behind the humor than really, truly admit that I had NO idea of how to begin that process. Thankfully, I’ve made some progress – eating meals at home, etc. I have a long ways to go, but I feel like I’m going about it in a much healthier, life-style-chaning-way. In the past I’ve definitely been guilty of indulging in a “last meal” before launching into a health kick! Now, it’s more a matter of listening to what my body is truly craving. I’ll definitely add the book to my reading list!
@Heather: Soda is a tough one!!! Water at your desk and no soda in the house is DEFINITELY helpful!!! Keep it up lady!!!