"When a woman stays at home and cooks with good judgment and understanding, peace and happiness result. She thus controls the family's health and destiny, also her husband's mood, disposition and feeling, and assures the futures of her children." - Jaques DeLangre

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Tara's 12 Step Program

It's True, I'm Addicted!
Have I confessed here that I am a sugar addict? It's true! I've spent most of my life moving from one sugar fix to the next. As a teen I would spend my lunch money on candy and soda. (Sorry Mom! I'll pay you back!) As an adult I pigged out on sugary cold cereals, deserts and candy. I always bought myself a candy bar at the end of each shopping trip. After all, I had just done the hard work of grocery shopping, I deserved a treat! I usually had a bowl (or two) of cereal at the end of each day. I had just spent a day caring for little ones, I deserved a treat. I often mixed up a little bowl of powdered sugar frosting, because I deserved a treat! Two months after Halloween I would usually find myself combing the cupboards for any leftover candy. So sad! Sugar had me in her grasp and did not want to let me go! I finally started suffering from severe hypoglycemia and knew I had to make changes. I just didn't know where to start.

Thankfully the Lord led me down a path to recovery. That might sound a little silly, (does the Lord care if we eat white sugar?)but it's true. The path started with education! I learned why white sugar was so bad for me. Here are 146 reasons! Don't read any further until you've clicked the link and scanned the list. Even brands that claim to be "pure" and "natural" are not good for you! Don't fall for it!

Good Advice
"The average American now consumes 175 pounds of sugar per year! That's 46 teaspoons a day! If we pretend that sugar actually had some benefits, eating one-half pound every day would not seem like such a bad idea. But the truth is that sugar has absolutely no nutritional value whatsoever. Not only does it totally lack nutrients, but when you eat sugar it actually robs your body of nutrients-- vitamins, minerals and even enzymes.

Sure sugar may be temporarily pleasing to the taste buds, but the rest of the body suffers for it. The sad thing is that most people are not aware of the devastating effects that excess sugar consumption has on the body."

(CLICK ON THAT LINK ABOVE IF HAVEN'T YET!)

"Get in the habit of reading labels and avoid products made with white sugar, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, dextrose, fructose, and ALL artificial sweeteners. Instead use natural sweeteners, including pure maple syrup, molasses, stevia, Rapadura (dehydrated cane sugar juice - Sucanat) or raw unfiltered honey. Many health food stores offer products made with natural sweeteners, like cookies and ice cream, and even licorice, although it is better to make your own."

Read the entire article at the Weston A. Price Foundation website.

It's Still a Battle!
I love sweets! I think I always will. White sugar no longer controls me though. I can go through the check-out line at the store without my palms breaking into a sweat over the sight of all the candy bars! The trick is to learn how to make tasty treats at home. I have several recipes you can try. Click here for cookies and here for a delicious cake!

Tara's 12 Step Sugar Addiction Recovery Program
Step 1. Go buy some Sucanat or honey at your local health food store.
Step 2. Read and try my cookie recipe.
Step 3. Read and try my cake recipe.
Step 4. Read through the "Desserts" section of Nourishing Traditions.
(If you don't own a copy of NT go to Amazon.com and order one right now! That's step 4 and a 1/2!)
Step 5. Try one of the ice cream recipes from NT. I like the berry one!

The next steps are hard, but you can do it!

Step 6. Open your pantry and toss the bag of white sugar into the trash.
Step 7. Take a deep breath and toss all the food CONTAINING white sugar.
Step 8. Stop thinking about all the money you just wasted!
Step 9. Start thinking about the health you will be building!
Step 10. Put on your prettiest apron and make my cookies again.
Step 11. Don't buy any more white sugar or products with sugar in them.
Step 12. ENJOY YOUR FREEDOM!

5 comments:

  1. I know what a strong hold sugar can have on a person and I'm so glad you're talking about this. When you introduced sucanat and honey as substitutions in cooking and baking I was skeptical but pleasantly surprised at how tasty AND satisfying these subs can be. I use them more and more now.

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  2. You're not the only recovering sugar addict out there. I also had to kick the sugar habit and found it quite easy by changing to natural sweeteners. I learned about the benefits of natural sugars from this site: http://www.sweetsavvy.com/. It's got recipes for many different types of natural sweeteners.

    I think one of the main reasons why more people don't switch to natural sweeteners (besides the fact that they don't know how good they are for them) is that they are so much more expensive. However, I'm SAVING money since I switched because I no longer run to the convenience store for snacks and sweets. That's BOTH SNACKS and sweets. I just don't get food cravings like I did so I'm not buying the potato chip type of snacks anymore either.

    I haven't thrown out my almost 30 pounds of white sugar, though. I've found it makes excellent long term food storage. The mold and bugs that get into my "real" food won't touch the stuff. I figure it will still be there for me in an emergency. That's about the only time I would touch it.

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  3. That's so funny! I have about 40 pounds of white sugar in my basement. I'm saving it to barter with if there ever is an emergency!

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  4. Now that's an idea. I'm sure those who are mystified over using their whole wheat will be glad to trade.

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  5. Thanks for this great post! I'm a mom of three very small children who gave up sugar a couple years ago, and it's still a battle sometimes for me! I grew up eating all the junk food I wanted, and was always skinny so I felt no need to watch my intake of treats. Now I'm so happy with real food, but now and then when I see cinnamon rolls at the farmer's market or brownies at a potluck it's more than my willpower can stand. :) My kids, though, have been used to honey and whole wheat treats since the oldest was 2, so they don't mind seeing other kids eat Oreos or candy. I'm learning from them that people can live without white sugar and not miss out at all!

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