Self Examination

I am 31 years of age as of this post. For as long as I can remember I have struggled with a desire to eat desserts for comfort and for fun. Let's face it, food is a huge part of life and culture. At about age 12 I became more interested in physical fitness and began to discover that I had a difficult time leaving sweets alone. For nearly 20 years now I have battled with myself, attempting to eradicate the desire for sweets from my life. If you are not sure if you are addicted to refined sugar (desserts, candy, soda, etc.) I suggest asking yourself a question: Can I walk away from dessert forever and not care? What do you feel? Does it create anxiety? How is your body reacting? What thoughts are coming to your mind? For me, I got to the point that when I asked myself that question I nearly puked with fear and felt very depressed.

Now I'm not saying that eating dessert is an evil, sinful thing. DON'T misunderstand my intention here. What I am saying is that if you 'can't live without it' then refined sugar is destroying your health and retarding your capacity to feel and experience life. We are talking about addiction to refined sugar, not the act of eating it. After all, sugar in and of itself has no intention, is neither evil or good, it just is. It's what we do with it that can create negativity in our lives. I want to explore why it is bad for health in a future post.

So, do you have a problem with refined sugar? I do. It was difficult to admit addiction and even more unpleasant to accept that I have a problem. But, you know, it wont go away on it's own. And I speak from experience that the longer you ignore it and push it away, the worse it will get, especially if life gets stressful for long periods of time.

As part of a self examination here are several other questions to ask yourself:
1. Do you get a small, euphoric high when you eat something packed with refined sugar?
2. Do you eat excessive amounts of refined sugar or salty snacks when you are stressed?
3. What do you do in down time? What are the first thoughts you have when relaxing? Is it 'go to the kitchen or fridge'?
4. Do you make desserts or drink soda to relax or have fun?
5. Have you tried to live without refined sugar (desserts, candy, soda, etc.) without success?
6. Does your body feel awful after eating sugar? (It should whether you're addicted or not! :)
7. Do you have an affinity for sweets?
8. Do you buy lots of sweets? Eat lots of sweets?
9. Can you live without desserts, drinks, etc.?
10. Do you have a problem with yeast infections (candidiasis) of any kind?

I have a problem with sweets and I'm going to beat the problem. Because I want to feel better and have the satisfaction of knowing that I am the captain of my own ship.