Nutritional Heretic

When I tell people I don't eat sugar, I get a mixture of reactions. Some people are astounded that I have that kind of self control. (Anyone could do it, if they really wanted to do it.)  Some people are incredulous, saying that I really am eating sugar if I'm eating fruit. Some people just downright think I'm crazy, like I'm a nutritional heretic or some sort of puritanical food snob.

Deep down, I think, most people I talk to about my decision understand why I want to avoid processed sugar. Sugar is addictive, it wreaks havoc on your body's metabolism, immune system, and appetite. Those who can't control themselves around a plate of brownies, frothy root beer float, bowl of icecream, bag of chocolate covered almonds, or a display of pretty little cream-filled donuts/cupcakes know the feeling. Those things, while indulgent and sinfully delicious will never fill you up, at least not completely. Sure you could eat them until you feel full (done that), but you always feel bad after you eat them. Right?

A recipe I wrote in fourth grade (I think) — sugar was my life!

I got to the point where I'd eat sugary stuff until I felt bloated and sick. (Like the time I polished off a whole dish of brownies. Myself.) Then, I'd feel guilty. Then, I'd want to go to the gym and work it all off. Which never really helped, because I'd always manage to wander over to the scale and feel even worse that the scale's numbers were going the wrong direction. Or, all that sugar had given me a headache, which made me not want to work out in the first place. If I actually got to the gym, my workout would be both sluggish and pointless.

So, sue me. Call me a food snob. Look down on me while you savor your sweets. Mock me if you must. I have to do this for my own sanity, health, and waistline. I can't go back to how I felt when sugar was a part of my life. I was a beast on the stuff...and I'm beastly enough without the help of sugar's weird control over me.