Is there a sugar fairy?

Haha. Okay, seriously. I've been reading several diet/health books lately (I think I'll put up a list on the sidebar there), and I've decided it's time to make a change. I'm going to cut out sugar from my diet. I think know I am a sugar addict. This is apparent to me in my struggles with quitting soda. (I say this as a non-smoker) It is harder than quitting cigarettes (in my defense, how many people do you see trying to give up sugar? not many, eh? Only those diagnosed with diabetes or hypoglycemia?... I think this is case in point). I have tried to give up soda many, many times. At least five times that I have given it up, even for months at a time, only to start drinking it again. I know all the good reasons to give it up (sugar content, HFCS, phosphoric acid, artificial colors, depletion of calcium stores; just to name a few). But it is SO HARD to stay away. It's every where! I know there are many who are moving to the "pure cane" sodas now becoming available here in the US: Mexican manufactured Cokes, Jones Soda, and Thomas Kemper. But this only addresses one of my concerns. Anyway. I am a mother of young children, who I want off sugar, so I know the best place to begin is my own diet.

Kathleen DeMaison's book Little Sugar addicts has been highly inspiring for me and one of the main catalysts for this journey. Oh, her website is radiantrecovery.com if you are interested in checking her out. She originally started working in an alcohol rehabilitation center, but found herself interested in sugar addiction and her research interest lead her on a trail through medical school in this very subject. So it's not quackery, if that is what you are thinking. Americans ate an average of 10lbs of refined sugar a year in the 1820s, now it is an average of 170lbs! (Nourishing Traditions... I'll look up the page number later, I left it at my mom's house). Yikes! So I was reading this book, because I am the mother of a 2.5 year old who has typical 2.5 year old behavior, I am/was looking for the magic bullet that will make my child sleep better, listen to me when I talk, etc. Yeah, that's not going to happen, I know, but I do think this can make our lives better! Maybe at least it will make me have more patience with my children! Who could say that they don't need more patience?

Also, I've been wanting to make changes in our diet, but as we are living on a very limited means right now, I need something I can do that won't cost us a ton and cause us to go over our strict $300/month food budget. Reducing sugar is doable. Making the switch raw-milk dairy or (back to) to all organics is not. And baby steps. I've decided reducing our sugar intake is the most important thing we need to change.

So like many rehabilitation programs, there are steps to this process. I'm going to share the steps for adults first, and then the steps for children.

(I was going to post them one by one, but I decided to pull all of this from Radiant Recovery, since it is good to consider the points)
Seven Steps to Feeling Great


Here are the seven steps that will free you from the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde Syndrome of sugar sensitivity.

Don't try to do all seven steps all at once!

Do one step at time. Do not proceed to the next step until you have mastered the one before it. Each step builds on the last. If you try to do this program without following the seven-step sequence, it won't work. You will feel worse instead of better and you will give up.

If you do the steps in the order I recommend, you will stabilize each of the biochemical functions involved in your sugar sensitivity. There is plenty of room in the plan for you to exercise your own judgment and make your own choices. Don't tinker with the big plan.

Trust that there is a method to this madness.

You will get dramatic results if you follow the plan as it's outlined. The food plan I will show you is designed to change your blood chemistry and improve your neurotransmitter function. Even though it may seem obvious and simple, the foods in this plan actually create profound physical and emotional change. Don't be deceived by the simplicity. This is powerful medicine.

The Seven Steps of Potatoes Not Prozac

1. Eat breakfast with protein
2. Journal what you eat and how you feel
3. Eat three meals a day with protein
4. Take the recommended vitamins and have a potato before bed
5. Shift from white foods to brown foods
6. Reduce or eliminate sugars
7. Create a new life

from 7 steps

I feel that I have masted the first step, so I'm moving on to the second at the first stage of my journey. Actually, reading the list makes me feel strongly that I am doing the right thing. I have suspected hypoglycemia in myself for sometime - which has become exacerbated with pregnancy and nursing. I get sudden plummets in blood sugar which result in moodiness, shaking, muscle weakness, and exhaustion. I have known for sometime that I do much better with protein than with carbs alone, and I do better with whole grains than with more refined. So I have made a point of eating eggs or a handful of nuts or seeds with my breakfast in order to get me through the morning. So on to step number 2, the journaling. I suck royally at journaling in this sort of way, but I'm going to make an effort. I will simultaneously do it for the Leila too.

I'm wondering if I'm crazy for doing this now... I mean, the holidays are almost upon us, I LOVE holiday baking. I guess I will have to limit myself. Normally this wouldn't be a huge issue, I'm not really a dessert person, so I don't have that hurdle to jump. I'm drinking my tea without sugar now. But christmas cookies... can I convince my mom that she needs to use less refined sugars for her cookies? Bring my own for us and the kids? This is going to be challenging.

I'll bbl with the 7 steps for kids, since the book is in the room with the sleeping tots!