Skip to main content

The No Diet Challenge: Step 5 Stop the Sugar Addiction

"Sugar In Glass" by audfriday13 via freedigitalphotos.net




If you don't think sugar is addicting, listen to a story from my house:

Just prior to Christmas, my youngest child began acting out of the ordinary. I considered it Christmas excitement. No big deal right? He'll straighten out and get back to normal on the 26th.

Unbeknownst to me, my son was confiscating candy canes off the Christmas Tree (lesson learned- don't decorate with candy canes). He was caught with one in his room. I don't tolerate theft or lying (of course he had a great story for why his breath smelled minty), so I banned him from candy for a month.The punishment extended to school candy rewards, no ice cream, no chocolate milk, no gum, no anything- which I could rightfully confirm had sugar in.

Fast forward a few weeks later.

A normally talkative kid, but one with a decent ability to sit still and focus on a variety of things, for a variety of reasons, at any given time, he was off.

Off-the-wall was more like it.

The holiday's were over and I was still trying to figure it out. As I went down the list of things history proved could make him like this, there were only three that would:

  1. Lack of sleep
  2. Medication: steroids in his asthma inhalant
  3. Sugar

Something was up and I just couldn't put my finger on it.
He'd been grounded, so he was getting to bed early.
He had not been sick in such a long time, so wasn't currently taking any medication.

The last thing on the list was sugar...

Well, knowing what it did to him I'd always kept it to a minimum. Now he was grounded and couldn't have any at all, so what gives?

His attitude was horrible, his energy level was up and then down, and he was zooming  through everything. His homework and his behavior were stuck in a ditch somewhere.

One day after school mom hit pay-dirt.
In his backpack I found the stash. It was chock full of empty wrappers, and was clear he was consuming more sugar daily than he ever had in any given month!

My candy ban bombed… and he was addicted...

He was taking anything he could get his hands on that had sugar in it (or that he thought might).
I was thinking, 'this is like an addict trying to score drugs, he was going against everything he stood for just to get another high:
  • Candy from our reward bowl (which was high up in a cabinet)
  • A pack of gum
  • Mints
  • Caramels
  • Mom's breakfast bars that had a little icing on the top of them (he'd never even had one before)
  • He'd also made a connection at school: a little girl who felt bad for him because he was grounded and banned from having candy was bringing him candy daily
I can't even recall all the different kinds of wrappers I found in there.

I've only seen this type of behavior out of him once before…and it revolved around a hand held video game he was too young to have, but received as a gift. He became addicted to using it and his behavior tanked, his attitude was terrible, and he didn't focus on anything but lying and stealing to get that thing back.

As young as he was then, he would admit to you it was a problem and that he was better off without it. He actually one day made a wish that it would disappear (and it did because we accidentally lost it for a year). I think it was meant to be, because without it his behavior improved and disposition was pleasant.

Through that experiences, he began to realize the reason for technology limits...

And now, he has learned the same about sugar.

Here is Step 5 of the No Diet Challenge: Throw Out Your Junk Food.

The more you have of it, the more you'll want (and the more problems it leads to).

If you've been with us since Step 1, you might have already thought about doing this because you realized that when your food/mood log had sugar AND crankiness (plus exhaustion) in common, it had to do with the junk food - and you might have decided that you're better off without it.

If you're just joining us, click here to here to get on board; it's never too late, to do anything.

Will I throw out my own sugar canister? No way. 
I love it too much- it's cobalt blue glass and matches my blue willow motif in my kitchen. And, I won't throw out my sugar either.

Why? Because I don't add sugar (or salt) to everything and I admit that it's addicting and practice balance. Knowledge is power.

So, this week, if you can, cut back or ditch the truly unnecessary things that you know have sugar:
  • Desserts after dinner
  • Fancy cookies/cakes in your lunch box-don't pack 'em.
  • Soda, dump it out-Don't buy it.
  • Candy drawer- Empty it.
Figure out what you can cut out of that junk food cabinet or fridge.

But, don't get crazy. I wouldn't recommend ditching your ice-cream, or the sugar in your coffee, unless of course you sit down with Haggan Daas every night with tub and spoon, or your coffee is more sugar than java. (Only you know what your excess is… but when you admit it could be a problem, that's the key).

Remember the No Diet Challenge is all about balance and NOT about deprivation.

Take some time to find out why you should care about what you eat and what you feed your family.

Popular posts from this blog

Green Punch Buggy....!!!!

Green Punch Buggy...No Punch Back! As I was writing this blog post, my son came to me showing off his Lego creation. And don't you know I got hit at least five times since on my computer screen was displaying at least five different punch buggies, of five different colors thanks to Google Images. (Bad timing I'm thinking...) How can we possibly have world peace with these silly cars in the world!? ;) Don't the owners of these cute-but-obnoxious-cars understand that driving these things around town promotes violence!? ;) Anyhow.... The original purpose of this blog was to ask parents everywhere this question: Do you find yourself saying 'PUNCH BUGGY *BLANK-COLOR*! '  to yourself, even when the kids are not in the car??? I do! Isn't it funny how those games we used to play as a child are still around? I bet our parents say the same thing.... HAPPY FRIIIIIIDAAAAYYYY! P.S. I got hit at least ten more times, since as my son stood beside

Back to School Anxiety: Bullying

Download “School Boy Being Stressed” by David Castillo Dominici via freedigitalphotos.net I recently wrote about how to help your child if they’re struggling with going back to school because they were bullied. My biggest most important tip was to listen, because I honestly could not write a ‘How-to-make-them-not-afraid’ column. Frankly I thought that was absurd. Fear is sometimes real. Anxiety is sometimes truly there, and for a good reason. Our job as parents isn’t to try to make it go away, it’s to try to find out the true source of those worrisome feelings. If you’d like to read more, click here. And if you’re child is struggling to find excitement about the new school year, don’t deny it, just accept it and move forward gently. Here’s some more on bullying: Family Matters Links: A Touching Story/Song Bullying: A thing of the past A Peace Poem By My Teenage Daughter A Deeper Insight into My Thoughts on People Who Bring Harm to Others Other Links: Stop Bul

Good Customer Service At Home

Over the years, my careers have mainly been customer service based. I started in a family business and then moved on up through the rungs from waitress, to hostess, to sales associate, manager and eventually the GM of a hotel. In all my years, my training taught me that you should always do your best to take your customer all the way to what they need, make them happy, and never leave them until they are done with you. I pride myself on my customer service abilities. Though the other day, I think I failed at customer service in my own home! I was getting ready to cut my daughter's hair and because of how long it had gotten (she's been growing it out for a year!) I felt this time it would be best  if instead of me spritzing it with water, she could wash and condition it real quick. She was fully clothed so I just suggested she run into the bathroom and wash her hair in the tub. She’s fourteen. I suppose I just assumed that she knew how to kneel over the tub and do it.