No sugar with my honey

I guess I should rename the blog Erin's sugar free therapy blog, at least for now. But I'm not going to, because that would be too much trouble.

So last night, Stephen and I went out on a date. We left the house at 7:30 (!!). I don't think we've done that since pre-children, maybe since college. I'm most definitely not a night owl, and I prefer to be home by 8:00. It's nice to have the children's bedtime for an excuse, but last night both the boys spent the night with my parents. Yay for grandparent time! But with Stephen working late (7:00), and without my usual excuse, we went wild...well, wild for us. After some discussion, we chose Olive Garden and headed out. I don't think we started eating until at least 8:00. I ate chicken and gnocchi soup, two and a half breadsticks (I suspect there's tons of sugar in them, but sometimes ignorance is bliss), and about three bites of my favorite Olive Garden entree ever: braised beef tortellini. I was too full of soup and breadsticks to eat any more than that. Never fear, I ate the rest today--for breakfast. Yum.

So at the start of the meal, I spent about three minutes trying to turn the standing flyer in the right direction so I wouldn't have to look at pictures of the desserts. (Remember my last blog about the see food diet.) I finally got the drink side facing out after much trouble, only to discover later in the dinner that it folded flat quite nicely and easily. Problem solved!

Actually, by the end of our meal, I turned dessert down quite easily. I was way too full to be tempted by anything. Even when our waiter plopped an Andes mint right in front of me, I slid it over to Stephen right away.

We wrapped the night up with a couple of rounds of bowling. I won one, Stephen won one. (Not that anyone's keeping score...) I decided I really need to work on my grip strength. The quality of my bowling game went downhill fast as my forearm got tired during the second game. (Because, you know, I'm such an insanely awesome bowler...)

Anyways, we had so much fun, and I probably enjoyed it more without the sugar fog that usually accompanies consuming a huge, rich restaurant dessert. I didn't need dessert, because my honey's plenty sweet already!

Beware, it's everywhere

And it's dangerous. Check out this article about how simply looking at a picture of a treat is enough to make you crave something sweet. Be forewarned that they put a piece of tasty looking chocolate cake right at the top of the article.
http://bodyodd.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/26/12421650-photos-of-sugary-treats-may-spark-cravings-study-finds?lite

 But I didn't need an article to tell me that when I see sweet, I want sweet. I just have to think about what happens every time I see the York peppermint patty commercial. Yep, you got it. "Stephen, you wanna go to the gas station and get me a York?" Or when I see those pictures of Chick-fil-A's peach milkshake...mmm...gotta have one. That's one of the major reasons getting off--and more importantly, staying off--sugar is so difficult. It's everywhere, tantalizing me to just have one bite. It's like the garden of Eden all over again. It's sweet, it's delicious, one bite won't hurt, but the next thing you know you've eaten a whole pan of chocolate chip cookies and ruined your day.

So with temptation everywhere, why bother trying to kick the sugar habit at all? Well, aside from the fact that it makes me feel miserable, I am convicted that sugar has mastered me. When I find myself thinking things like, "I can't live without it," I know that it has become a sweet idol in my life.

1 Corinthians 6:12 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.

I do not feel like there is anything sinful about eating sugar. In fact, the promised land that the Lord gave the Israelites was a placed described as being full of sweetness.

Deuteronomy 26:9 And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

The problem is when sugar has become my master. I want it, I depend on it, I use it to cope. Sounds like a false god to me. It's time for a sugar fast, both to let my body heal and to let my spirit taste the sweetness of the Lord.

And my frenemy is...

Sugar is my frenemy. I love it, yet is sure isn't good to me. I don't really want to associate sugar, but I just can't seem to kick it to the curb. For one thing, my frenemy sugar shows up everywhere. It goes to all the same parties I do, it calls me incessantly, and it even intrudes on my most private moments when I am all alone. It's so sweet when we're best buddies, but it seems like the minute it's out of my sight, it stabs me in the gut.

Sugar, you've been a bad friend to me. It's time for me to detox from this poisonous relationship. I need some space. Hope you don't show up to ruin my day. Buh-bye.