This site, me . . . all that fun stuff!

Why Confessions of a Recovering Sugar Junkie?

For the majority of my life I’ve been overweight. Yeah I know . . . oh god, not another one! . . . but here’s the kicker – I’ve finally figured out why.  Not the . . . uh, duh! You eat way too much crap and sit on your butt all the time reason . . . the reason why I can’t stop eating the crap.

I was the typical skinny little kid, knobby little knees, the whole bit.  As happens when you’re in denial you constantly think well, I come from “big-boned” people, that’s why I became so large.  Here’s the problem . . . They weren’t always big-boned either!  Yes while I grew up my family were large folk, however, when I look back at old pictures, everyone was skinny.  Downright Skinny!  You can practically track the progression of how available the new “convenience” processed foods became through my family’s photos.  The bones keep getting bigger as the pictures get closer to the present.

My childhood pictures are basically the same.  You can track the progress of my independence and my access to junk food.  As I got older and started fending more for myself (aka had money of my own) . . . I also became “big-boned.”

Fortunately THIS happened to me.  My AHA!  Moment (Ugh!  I know, I hate that phrase.  I like Oprah but I’m not a “devotee” . . . alas, that phrase really is the best way to get the idea across – hence why she’s worth billions.  That woman knows things people).  Interestingly enough it’s also my rock bottom moment as an addict.  Something tells me they often go hand in hand.  They have to in order for you to survive the crash!

Yes I absolutely, positively know that I am addicted to sugar.  It might as well be alcohol, cocaine, heroine, etc.  It’s my poison.  That and caffeine – Damn you!  Incredibly good local organic, fair trade coffee shop only a 5 minute walk away (ok, you’ve got to imagine Charlton Heston while reading that one . . . and the Lincoln Memorial with an ape head).

Now that I know what the problem is I can actually pick out moments in my childhood where I was experiencing some serious withdrawal symptoms.  I can also see how it’s affected my health (obviously), my personality (I’ll wax poetic about that some day), my ability to concentrate, etc., etc.

I recently fell off the “wagon,” with a resounding THUD, and am once again, very quickly falling into my really bad habits.  I have to treat this like a flat-out addiction.  I have to stop eating sugar.  Period.  No exceptions.  Think of it this way – would you say to an alcoholic – but it’s just one drink?

So – instead of whining and complaining – I’m doing something about it.  I’m going to initiate a Real Food Challenge.  Eat real food, no sugar, no extra additives, nothing but the real deal for at least a year – 365 days (no leap year fortunately ).  I’m planning to do this for the rest of my life – but for fun I’d like you all to join me for a year!

******UPDATE******  IT’S ON PEOPLE!  IT’S SO  . . . ON! The Real Food Challenge. By the way, you may have had to watch Bring It On in order to truly “get” that statement.  Alas, my movie and tv addiction will also become more evident as we journey together

Check out the Real Food Challenge tab at the top of the page.  It has a list of the rules (what is processed food? etc.) and information on how to get started.  That is once I get some more of that info written out

Hi!  My name is Robin and I’m an addict . . .