Taming the Beast Within

I know I have talked many times before about my struggles with eating and, specifically, about my struggle to not eat everything in my sight. Well, I want you to know that I am working hard to tame the eating beast inside of me, and I think I may be beginning to see some success! What is my secret, you ask? Well, I have pretty much had to cut out two whole food groups from my life. Unfortunately, the two food groups I have had to ban from my plate are my two favorite food groups in the whole world: desserts and starchy snacks.

I could probably suck out this entire bag of sugar
through a straw.

I love desserts and carb-laden snack foods as much as I love some family members. When I am craving sugar, there is nothing I love more than down an icing-rich Gigi's cupcake, followed by some Cadbury Cream Eggs, and a Butterfinger Blizzard chaser. And, when I am hungry, particularly in the late afternoon, I love to eat pretzels, crackers, and even potato chips, if I'm in a daring mood. However, there is a giant unfortunate downside to my consumption of these sugary, carby foods: they make me crave more sugar and carbs, and they make me really hungry.

Although I cannot provide any evidence of this, I am pretty sure that carbs and sugar are addictive, and I think sugar is actually the more addictive of the two. If I ever eat any dessert, I just can't control myself, and I have a desire to ravenously ingest any manner of sugary delights within a five-foot radius of me. Plus, in addition to wanting to scarf down sugary treats, desserts also give me a major hankering for carbs of any kind-the unhealthier the better! Now,starchy snacks have a similar effect on me, although their influence is not nearly as damaging to my waistline. When I eat things like pretzels, Cheetos, or chips, I tend to crave more of the same.

As a result, I have given up sweets and desserts entirely. I have not had any sugary delights since two weeks ago Saturday, when that one forbidden Gigi's cupcake started the landslide sugar binge. For the first three or four days I felt like I wanted to gnaw my arm off, but now it is getting to the point where I crave sweets much less often than I used to. I eat starchy snacks in great moderation, and eating them rarely prevents terrible cravings and bingeing. Last week was the first week where most of my snacks were fruit, and I actually lost six pounds!

I might just be as preserved as Lenin's body!

I have also attempted to limit my consumption of diet drinks. Even though they contain sugar substitutes instead of real sugar, they also make me crave sweets, and they make me very hungry. I have started by replacing the super-sweet Fanta Zeros I used to drink like they were water with the less sweet diet ginger ale. I have also reduced the number of diet soft drinks I consume in a day, and I try to have only one Diet Snapple a day. It is hard, but, as is the case with the sugar and carbs, it is getting easier. Pretty soon I may actually be drinking mostly water.

Because of all the desserts and diet drinks I have ingested in my lifetime, I am pretty sure that my body contains enough preservatives to keep Lenin's body fresh for the next 53 years. Perhaps this means that I won't age, and that my face will not develop any wrinkles,or, at the very least, maybe the preservatives will act on my brain, preserving my thoughts and causing me not to forget to take my vitamins at lunchtime. In any case, a girl can dream!

Sugar image courtesy of http://m.dominosugar.com/sugar/granulated-sugar
Lenin image courtesy of http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jun/15/lenin-body-moscow-burying-news