I think it's sugar detox time

Last Friday I was thinking about how I eat too many treats.

Last Saturday I said to myself that I needed to try and go just one day without treats (I knew if I chose a longer time frame, I wasn't going to be successful). I blew it first thing. I had made a lemon cake the night before--and for a really stupid reason too...I had greased a pan to use for dinner and then went with a larger pan, so instead of washing the unused pan that was greased up, I made a cake to put in it-- and when I came into the kitchen, there it was. I literally only ate 1 crumb (while I was cutting a small piece), when I remembered my goal. So I left the small piece of cake in the pan and walked away.

My resolve lasted until 1:30 when I told myself my challenge was stupid and I had some hershey's kisses. A big handful of them.

Although I had debated telling my family about my problem, last night, I mentioned it to them. This morning, I found in my inbox an email from the Sparks People (a free online health group I had signed up with last year) with the subject line: A 4-Week Detox for Sugar Addicts. When I opened the email it actually had links to 10 different articles on different subjects, but they chose to put the only one in the subject line that I was interested in and that would have caused me to open the email.

I think it's a sign.

I just got a call yesterday about lab work I had done last week...my cholesterol is high again (and I'm assuming my triclycerides are too since they usually are when my cholesterol is high). My arthritis has been acting up and now I have bony spurs on the tops of my feet (which is sometimes linked to arthritis and sometimes to diabetes and sometimes to injuries).

A paragraph from the article says (link to full article http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=1663):

Well, aside from the increased bulge around the waistline, diets high in sugar are strongly linked to an increased risk for type 2 diabetes, elevated triglycerides, low HDL (good) cholesterol levels, and heart disease. Sugar intake has also been linked to depression, migraines, poor eyesight, autoimmune diseases (such as arthritis, and multiple sclerosis), gout and osteoporosis.

It's a 4-week plan with the first week having you find the hidden sugars in your foods and getting them out of your kitchen. I'm not going to do that--ketchup and a few things like that are staying in my home. They said that half our sugar intake is usually from sodas and juices, and since I drink less than 1 glass a month of those things, I figure I'm already half on-track (am I rationalizing?).

I need to see a podiatrist about my bony spurs, but I did look it up on the internet, of course. Losing weight might help. Eating right, exercising, and losing weight will help my cholesterol. When you can't stand long without your feet hurting makes exercising difficult. When I see the doctor, I'll get more info, of course, and will be able to overcome that, I hope.

So, I weighed in at 179.5 this morning...just over into the obese side of the BMI chart (I'm at 30.3 and 29.9 is the last "overweight" number before you hit "obese" at 30). I need to weigh 177 to be just "overweight" again. Small goals...one step at a time. I want to be overweight. (I need to be 147.5 to be "normal weight"...I don't think I'll ever be that. "Not with that attitude you won't," said whoever is reading this.)

Week 2 on the sugar detox plan is to properly stock your kitchen . Week 3 is where you finally try to avoid sugar. I think I'm going to start there. They say that first week is the hardest, and then your body adjusts.

If it weren't for my health problems, I don't think I could do it. But I have some motivation. So, here I go.