If you are reading this, you know me well and know that last summer I changed my lifestyle as it relates to food consumption. I've been pretty good except for the last four weeks. I have come to the realization that I am a sugar addict. It all started with one chai tea latte on a crisp fall morning. This program that I've been following with great success -- goodbye 35 pounds of flab -- calls for no refined sugar. That means fruit sugar is okay... as long as it's still in the fruit when you eat it.
My chai tea lattes were my gateway drug. I wasn't happy with just a cuppa cuppa in the morning. It led to biscotti at break, peanut clusters to pummel PMS, mochas in the market. It was out of control. I planned my driving routes based on where the nearest fix was. I even went so far as to get a supplier in Bend, Oregon, that would set me up with wholesale prices. Now, that, my friend, is a serious addiction.
Though I haven't gained any weight as a result of my "problem," I know that it's contributing to the aging process, the aches in my muscles and the overall sluggishness that I sometimes feel.
No matter how hard I tried to cut down -- I came up with a schedule to imbibe only on certain days of the week -- I was continually drawn to the latte hut near the bus station, the SBC RedBox at the grocery store or <gasp!> the coffee cart in my building. I won't mention my Sunday morning coffee dates that I've been taking for about nine years with my husband. I think Starbucks puts crack in their coffee (or milk for those of us who do not drink coffee). I really know that it's the sugar that keeps me coming back. Sugar is highly addictive. It's toxic for our bodies and yet we consume it. I wouldn't put crack or methamphetamine or any other elicit drug in my body because I know it's bad for me -- and probably would land me in the Gray Bar Motel -- so why do I consume sugar at such an alarming rate? Perhaps because it's legal and accepted. But I digress...
Enter... LENT! What a fine time to break the cycle! Today, Ash Wednesday, is Day 1 with no sugar. Yesterday was Fat Tuesday. I celebrated with... no, not pancakes, but by having my final chai on my bus ride to work. I finished off the day with a box of Junior Mints that were screaming at me from those little racks near the checkout. They scream loud, I tell you.
So what does it mean to "give something up" for Lent? For me I see this as a struggle, as a huge sacrifice. Oh, wait... isn't that what Lent is all about? We are to acknowledge the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the Cross. Think of the struggle Mary had when she handed over her son for us. I can give up my sugar. I know I can. I expect it to be a daily pull to enter the dark side, but through prayer and remembering why I'm doing this, I know I will make it. I don't intend to go back to my old sugary ways come Easter, but it's too early to tell. Six and a half weeks should be enough time to cleanse my entire system of the sweet stickiness that currently swims in my veins.
Will you join me on my journey? I won't, however, give up my Sunday dates. The order may be just orange tea, but you will still catch me sitting in the big leather chairs of our local Starbucks catching up with my hubby on the week's details.
No comments:
Post a Comment