One of my 52 in 52 items this year was to give up chocolates and sweets containing processed sugar for the entire year, exceptions being “events” like birthdays, weddings etc.
Amazingly, it's been easier than I thought.
The point of this exercise was to quit my sugar addiction in a way that's sustainable. I mean, let's be real here, when it comes to cooking and nutrition I'm lazy. Really lazy. I needed to give up sugar in a way that I could still be lazy and yet still change my habit in a way for the better. If I tried to jump in the deep end of the pool like I did when I quit sugar a few years back, I know that I would eventually cave in and the addiction would rear it's ugly head once more.
At the start of this year, the extent of my addiction was back to the point that I could easily smash an entire container of m & m's (the big bags) and a pack of tim tams in a matter of minutes, and yet still want something else. It was not uncommon for me to visit the local grocer in the afternoon and buy a bag of glucose lollies and a bar/block of chocolate. I would finish it all by myself in my office, not tell anyone what I was eating, and hope that no one would ask questions. No wonder that despite all the exercise I did I still found myself with a Kim Kardashian butt, and clearly not because of genetics.