Last week I came right out and admitted that “I AM/WAS/ALWAYS WILL BE(?) A SUGAR ADDICT.”
I’ll admit, I was tempted to hang my head a little. I mean, can I tell you what a big deal it is to come out of the SUGAR SHAME CLOSET?
(You can read “My Name Is Lin And I Am A Sugar Addict” here.)
What I couldn’t believe is how many women reached out to say, “Thank you, Lin. Because of you, I can finally come out, too.”
Are you someone who’s been hiding in the Sugar Shame Closet?
Don’t you just hate it in there? Like you’re some kind of “bad little girl” who needs to feel ashamed because she eats too much sugar?
Ok… screw that line of thinking, now and forever. If you want to eat sugar, own that decision! It’s yours, and only yours to make.
But if you truly want to beat it, then own that decision, too.
Either way… pick a side, and commit.
You don’t EVER have to feel ashamed about any part of you, no many how warted-up that part may be.
Do not apologize. It’s conduct unbecoming a gutsy-ass woman like you.
Listen UP, Girlfriend/Card-Carrying-Adult/Woman…
You can eat all the sugar you damn well please. It’s no one’s business but yours.
Do you get that? I mean, do you really get that?
I don’t care how flawed you think you are. The truth is this: you are entitled to your flaws, you are entitled to keep your flaws, and you are also entitled to turn your flaws into strengths, BUT ONLY IF YOU WANT TO. NEVER BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO.
It may be true that I am more powerful than a peanut butter cup, but I always have the choice as to whether I want to step into my power or… just keep things the way they are.
THAT IS ALWAYS A CHOICE YOU ARE ENTITLED TO MAKE. WITHOUT APOLOGY.
It’s so important for us, as women, to stop apologizing… for eating sugar, for saying no, for not “feeling it.”
Once you realize that? Whoa! The places you’ll go, just like Dr. Seuss said.
Now, let’s talk about shame for a moment, the black hole of emotions.
Shame can suck the very heart and soul out of you.
It can make you hide.
And lie.
And cheat.
And overeat.
And smoke.
And drink.
And yell at people you love.
And hate the people you love.
And hate your Self for all of the above.
Shame, like sugar, is a bitch.
But, you know what they say about shame, don’t you? If you want to get rid of shame, once and for all, if you want to kick it in the ass so hard it ends up breaking into a million pieces, all you really have to do is…
SHINE A LIGHT ON IT
Shame, and by extension, all our so-called “addictions,” can’t stand up to the light of day… at least not for long. When we bring things out in the open air, for all the world to see, they are no longer as powerful as when we keep them hidden where no one can see them; where we’re ashamed of them.
There’s been a lot of debate about whether you can actually be addicted to sugar, but unless you get a kick out of arguing with science, sugar is a drug, and not a whole not different than cocaine.
Cocaine?
Yep. Sugar triggers the brain’s Nucleus Accumbens (your body’s “Center For Addiction”). If you’re prone to addictive behaviors, blame it on your brain’s NA.
Hey, Nucleus Accumbens, you should maybe, like, um, [insert favorite saying here, something like…] suck a lemon!
My father, bless his dear and no-longer-troubled soul, was an alcoholic. Turns out he was also a raging sugar addict. He was always buying cakes and pastries (Boston cream pie was his favorite).
Roy Eleoff died of colon cancer at the way-too-soon age of 45. I was 17 and heartbroken. I vowed to never become addicted to alcohol or anything.
Little did I know I was already well on my way to being addicted to one of the most harmful “drugs” on the planet. Like I said, sugar is more addictive than cocaine.
GIMME SUGAR!
Although I was painfully aware of what alcohol could do to a human life — and a family — I had no idea how damaging sugar could be.
And yet, there I was, the very definition of an addict. If you’d asked me to describe what my food pyramid looked like when I was a kid, I would’ve shown you this picture:
Despite my “penchant” for sugary foods, I never had a weight problem. At least, not until after I turned 40 and had to have thyroid surgery.
Until then I would simply go on the “no food diet” if I had to “lose a few”… something I started doing when I was in college. I would go without eating all day until dinner time when I wouldn’t think twice about having a piece of cake. The next night I would serve myself a yogurt dinner to make up for “being bad” the night before.
What the fudge chocolate cake!
Looking back, I had no idea I was actually a raging sugar-holic, and I don’t say that lightly. I rarely drank alcohol, even in college, but sugar? Bring it, baby.
I’ve come to realize that sugar is one of my biggest AFGOs. It’s an AFGO (Another Freakin’ Growth Opportunity) that has appeared and disappeared then re-appeared many many times over the years but it wasn’t until my “thyroid scare” that I began to respect and honor my body.
Like I’ve said, sugar is a bitch.
It’s like a bad bad boyfriend you wish would just go away. (Sort of. Not really.)
As of today I have been sugar-free for exactly 17 days, 14 hours, and 23 minutes.
I will not lie to you. I saw a chocolate chip cookie today and I practically pounced on it from 20 feet away. It took everything I had in me (actually everything my husband had in him) to keep me away from that cookie. “Lovey. Remember? You don’t ‘do’ sugar anymore.”
There are times when I truly want to sock dear “Thurston Howell The Fourth” right in the kisser.
But alas, I didn’t eat the cookie. I held it together. No plates were broken. No blood was shed.
This is one tough AFGO that requires that I Woman UP like never before.
My Name Is Lin And I Am A Sugar Addict
NEXT WEEK: Breaking up with sugar. (A heart-breaking love story.)
WONDERING IF YOU’RE “ADDICTED” TO SUGAR?
Let’s talk about it HERE on my private Facebook group; It’s for gutsy women who are all stepping UP in order to “Woman UP” when it comes to living our “best life”… you know, like Oprah says. 😉
If you think you are (or may be) addicted to sugar, stick around. The “sugar chronicles” will continue.
