What I need is to come up with a plan that will assist me in handling my cravings the best way possible. In my experience, making small changes over time is easier to adopt and is more effective than trying to change everything in one fell swoop. I'm also sure that as I learn more, my battle plan may change. In the days to come I'll focus on these changes that I feel work best for me. The one I will focus on today is:

A Quality Breakfast: The first step to battling junk food cravings

Why breakfast? Breakfast gives the body fuel and keeps blood sugar levels steadier. I know that if I skip breakfast my blood sugar will crash about mid morning, and then I'll stuff myself silly come lunchtime. Steady blood sugar levels means I'll avoid "crashing" and subsequant overeating. It also means I'll feel a lot more alert and energetic, and I need this as I'm not a morning person!

Not all breakfasts are the same, though. A mocha latte with whipped cream sounds like a tasty breakfast, but it's not particularly healthy, nor would it hold me all morning! When I say a "quality" breakfast, I'm refering to a breakfast with some protein and complex carbohydrates.

• Complex carbs have fiber and more nutrients than the refined stuff. Again, my blood sugar will be a lot steadier, and that means I avoid the sugar crash.
• Protein will hold my hunger at bay for a longer period of time.

Now the hard part: Incorporating all of this into a breakfast I will actually eat!

Here are some breakfast options I've come up with that I know I would enjoy:

• High fiber, protein whole grain cereal with skim milk or soy milk
• Whole wheat toast with scrambled eggs (made with mostly egg whites)
• Oatmeal with a bit of protein powder, walnuts, and skim milk added to it (add don't forget chopped apples and cinnamon!)
• Breakfast burrito - scrambled eggs, onions, peppers, low fat cheese in a whole grain tortilla
• Pancakes and sausage!!! (OK, only if the pancakes are made with something other than refined flour and the sausages are made from turkey or soy beans!!)

(I was really only kidding about the pancakes and sausage part... sort of!)

I think these are realistic and palatable options, and I'm going to give them a try in the days to come. I'll let you know what happens. Feel free to voice your suggestions or share what breakfasts work for you.

Originally posted 2008-01-25 08:30:32. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Coworkers bring in their child's cookie order sheet to work and encourage you to, "Just buy 8 boxes, and Jenny will get her badge!" Bubbly girls in green bombard you as you enter and exit the grocery store by displaying the most tempting cookie (and they just happen to know what your most tempting cookie is too, by the way) right in your line of view and sweetly ask, "Would you like to by a box of Girl Scout cookies, please?" I believe it's a premeditated, strategic move. I also believe they've taken over the Wal-Mart entrance, as well.

Girl Scout cookies are hard to resist. And you can never eat just one, can you? (I'm a Caramel deLites (original name, "Samoas") and a right-from-the-freezer Thin Mints fan.) I think it's humanly impossible. I also think the strategy expands to the packaging. Notice how the cookies are packaged in sleeves. You open one, and immediately you have access to 15 cookies! Oh, the cleverness! (And you thought Girl Scouts were just sweet - Oh, no! They've got keen minds!)

What to do? What to do? Well, if you're one who can't pass up boxes of this annual treats, we can at least try to figure out which cookies would be the least damaging to our waistlines. Here are some of the more popular Girl Scout cookies and their nutritional content :

Shortbread, 4 cookies

Calories: 120

Fat: 4.5 gms

Saturated fat: 2 gms

Sugar: 4 gms

Do-si-dos, 2 cookies

Calories: 110

Fat: 5 gms

Saturated fat: 1.5 gms

Sugar: 8 gms

Lemon Chalet Cremes, 2 cookies

Calories: 160

Fat: 6 gms

Saturated fat: 2 gms

Sugar: 12 gms

Trefoils, 5 cookies

Calories: 150

Fat: 7 gms

Saturated fat: 2 gms

Sugar: 6 gms

Thin Mints, 4 cookies (made by Little Brownie Bakers)

Calories: 150

Fat: 7 gms

Saturated fat: 4.5 gms

Sugar: 10 gms

Thin Mints, 4 cookies (made by ABC Bakers)

Calories: 160

Fat: 8 gms

Saturated fat: 6 gms

Sugar: 11 gms

Caramel deLites, 2 cookies

Calories: 140

Fat: 7 gms

Saturated fat: 6 gms

Sugar: 13 gms (Of course my favorite would have the most sugar!)

Tagalongs, 2 cookies

Calories: 150

Fat: 10 gms

Saturated fat: 4 gms

Sugar: 8 gms

Watch out for trans-fat. The box may say "no trans fat," but if you read the ingredients, quite a few cookies list partially hydrogenated oil as an ingredient. Eating one cookie may equate to what the FDA deems as no trans fat, but if you eat 2, 3, or more, you're probably getting some trans fat.

Conclusion - If you're able to eat Girl Scout cookies (or any cookies) in moderation, I'd say good for you and go ahead and buy your favorite kind. Ration them, savor them, and make them last.

I fit into the other group that would end up eating half a sleeve in one sitting. My choice of action in this case is to walk, avert my eyes and walk straight past the sweet Girl Scouts; walk past their table of tempting cookies; continue walking as I politely respond, "No thank you" to the cookie purchasing appeals; and keep on walking until I'm safely inside my car where I can sing along with one of my CDs and forget about Girl Scout cookies, at least until next week when I have to visit the grocery store again.

Originally posted 2008-03-11 10:00:15. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Severely restricting calories and certain kinds of foods for the next few days isn't the answer. In fact, that can just set you up for a binge later in the week! We can get back on the healthy eating track in a much gentler way:

1. Eat! Seems almost contradictory to eat after a day of eating! The point here is to feed the body with healthy foods, prevent blood sugar crashes, avoid binges. Focus on eating at regular intervals throughout the day instead of just grazing. Eat light and healthy, but don't drastically cut calories. Make an effort to take your time and pay attention to what you're eating too.

2. Include protein. Ah, here's my new found friend again. Good ol' protein will help keep you satisfied for a longer period of time, dull sugar cravings, and help your body repair. Good protein sources that will feel good to a bloated tummy are: eggs, tofu, baked or poached chicken breast or turkey breast, or lean fish - all without any added grease, of course! I wouldn't call a bacon double cheeseburger the best protein option after a day of splurging!

3. Hide the salt shaker. The meals at my family celebrations tend to be a lot higher in sodium than what I eat on a regular basis. The higher sodium consumption is a major factor in sporting the bloated look the next day too. I personally don't favor this look, not very fashionable for spring. So, the next few days after the splurge, really focus on not using salt in your meals. There are so many other herbs and spices that can flavor your meals extremely well, and even make them tastier than by using salt alone!

4. Fill up - with Water. Big, family dinners are oftentimes accompanied by carbonated, sugary beverages,wine, beer, and coffee. Then there's the salt your body has to deal with, as well (see #3). Chances are you may be dehydrated from your big meal. My Easter dinner was spent at my cousin's house where the drink options included about 10 different pops! uh... sodas! Cokes! (Pick your geographic term for carbonated beverage.) I chose ginger ale and only had a little. Of course, I could have discretely filled my plastic blue cup with tap water from the kitchen! But perhaps that's a lesson learned for next year?

Suffice it to say, water is your best friend after a day of splurging. The next couple of days after the big party, focus on drinking lots of water! Flush your system, stay hydrated, and keep cravings at bay!

5. Eat your veggies and fruits too. Vegetables and fruits are low in calories and high in nutrients and fiber. They will fill you up without filling you out. You will get needed nutrients and be able to feel good about what you're eating. That's very important after a day of overeating! You don't want to linger on feeling guilty! Fruit might also help if you're craving something sweet too. (I'm still working towards achieving this!)

6. Exercise, lightly. I know I personally want to exercise - a lot - the day after a big holiday meal, but sometimes I just physically don't feel up to it. My get up and go got up and left once I put a lot of rich foods in my body! But, instead of forgoing any kind of exercise, just decrease the intensity or duration for day. Take a walk. Practice a few yoga positions. Go to the park with your kids and swing on the swings. Get on the treadmill for 20 minutes instead of 40. Or, just do an easy exercise DVD.

And don't go to the other extreme of beating yourself up and overdoing it on the exercise! You could burnout, or worse, get injured. Just get back to your normal exercise routine as soon as you can without making too much of a fuss over it.

This leads me to my final point...

7. Be kind to yourself. OK, so we ate more than we should have. What's done is done. Don't beat yourself up over it because that won't help you get back on track! It will just continue those feelings of guilt and negativity towards yourself. I tend to be hard on myself if I "mess up." I'm learning to ease up. I'm learning that beating myself up doesn't really help at all but instead leads to bad habits (restricting, binges, over exercising, obsessing about weight etc. etc. etc. and so forth).

Now I try to look at splurges and learn from them. Why did I eat the way I did? How could I have done it differently? What will I do the next time? This is helpful. This keeps me mindful of what I eat. This is what will keep me on track at future celebratory meals.

These are just a few tips to get you back on track after a splurge. You probably have ideas of your own, so feel free to share them in the comments section!

OK, now you may have been wondering, "So exactly how did Ms. Susan do this past Easter weekend?" The answer: Not bad! I'm very very pleased to say that! I did try samples of ham, cheesy potato casserole, corn, a roll, a strawberry, whipped cream salad, one chocolate chip cookie (how was that possible?), and one chocolate egg... plus my ginger ale. I didn't pile the food on my plate, and I even avoided the big Easter cake surrounded by yellow Peeps and the bowl of pastel M&Ms set out for munching as we discussed the latest happenings in our lives. Oh, I was quite pleased with myself.

Yet, when my husband and I returned home from our fun weekend, I noticed 1 Cadbury creme egg sitting in my little Easter chick bowl, it's red, blue, and yellow wrapper shining in the kitchen light. Yes, I am guilty of liking those hideous Cadbury creme eggs. Yes, I am guilty of eating a few of them this Easter season. But I am happy to announce that this one still sits in it's little bowl uneaten... at least until later this week!

Here's the little 'stinker'...

Originally posted 2008-03-24 13:59:49. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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I've been in a fog of sorts for quite some time, a sugar fog.  Only recently has this dense, gray world begun to disappear.

I've finally come to a place where I feel confident I can stand up to and prevail against the Sugar Monster.  I honestly didn't think it possible, but now I feel like sugar is finally losing its hold on me.  And I'm grateful, relieved... and humbled.

Where I Was

This is a 180-degree turn from the moody, desperate, foggy, sugar saturated person I once was... and have been for, years! Scary that it took me this long to figure out the connection, but better late than never, right?

And once I DID put 2 and 2 together, I wasn't ready to try to battle the Sugar Monster for probably yet another year.  Too fearful - fearful that I would fail. I had to get to a point where I wanted to put health as my focus and wanted it badly enough.

I also needed more stability in my life before I could work on stabilizing my diet.  For the past 10 years my work environment was continually mounting stress on my body.  I worked long hours, crazy shifts, and often experienced a lot of adrenaline-producing events while on the job.  Those crazy shifts - working nights then switching to days and back again - were what got to me.

I've learned that my body doesn't like change.  Unfortunate maybe, but it's the truth. My body likes to be on a schedule, and if that schedule changes, it affects me as a person.  Throwing off my circadian rhythm by working various hours of the day and night, getting little sleep, and eating poorly was like adding fuel to the Sugar Monster.

Sugar was my go-to substance to keep me going when my head was screaming to lie down. It was my comforter when I felt stressed and rundown.  The more processed junk I ate the more I wanted, and the cycle continued until I felt stuck in it.  I then began to crave sugar ALL the time!

Where I Was Heading

Well, obviously things have changed for the better - oh, not that my previous job was horrible or anything!  It just wasn't ideal for my body.  Now I work more "normal" hours.  I get weekends and holidays off.  I get a lunch break for the first time!  This job is not at all stressful.  My body is on a schedule.  I exercise regularly, and I've cleaned up my diet considerably (and having a blog actually does help in meeting those nutrition and fitness goals)!

After mulling around the idea after starting this blog last fall, I decided in Feb that I was ready to face the Sugar Monster and defeat it once and for all. I was at last making a commitment to changing my focus on improving my health.  I was tired of... well, being tired!  I didn't enjoy living in the sugar fog.  I was fed up with being preoccupied with sweets all day long!  I was disgusted with eating junk when I really didn't even enjoy the taste.  Hey, if I'm ever going to eat dessert, it had better be darn high quality!  Yes, I'll be high maintenance when it comes to desserts thank you very much!

I was also scared of the toll sugar might be taking on my health. I wanted to get healthy, in body and mind!  It was time, and I was finally ready. Thus began the deliberate and slow battle between me and the Sugar Monster, and this time I had a plan and was committed to winning.

Where I Am Now

That brings us to the present and back to what I wrote at the beginning of this post. Now by virtue of my being very sensitive to sugar, I'll always need to pay attention to what I feed my body, how it feels, and what it needs.  But it's absolutely worth the extra effort. And working on improving and maintaining health is supposed to be a lifelong journey, is it not?

Life sure is a lot more beautiful and interesting outside of the fog.

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I've been jotting down breakfast and lunch, but that's as far as I get.

I take my journal (which is just an inexpensive notebook) with me to work and keep it at my desk. It's within easy access, so journaling what I eat and how I feel during work hours is pretty effortless.

Once at home, however, I stop with the journaling. I get busy with taking care of things at home and spending time with my husband. And, quite simply, I just don't make my food journal a priority.

This week I want to work on journaling dinner. Who would have thought recording food and how I feel at the time to be difficult, but it's more of a challenge than it seems!

Photo credit: ppreacher

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You may be thinking, "So what?"  But this for me was a big deal!  The afternoon is usually when I get snack attacks for something horribly sweet, fatty, and unhealthy.  I'll grab a few mini candy bars from a coworker's candy dish or go on the hunt for chewy, chocolate chip cookies.  An orange would be simply unheard of!

The other day I brought an orange to work to eat as my afternoon snack.  When 3 o'clock rolled around, and I felt the blood sugar on the verge of dropping, I reached for my orange instead of hunting for chocolates.  The orange was bright in color.  As soon as I peeled away the skin, the sweet, aromatic smell filled my little office.  Each orange segment was juicy and sweet.

Beside this being a healthier snack, the best part was I felt satisfied after eating it - full even!  I didn't think about chocolates, candies, or cookies!  I was content; imagine that!  That's what surprised me, albeit quite delightfully! 

Will this continue?  I don't know.  I'm inclined to believe I'll still crave the ooey-gooey sweets at some point in the future.  However, at least this is a step in the right direction.  At least I know it's possible for me to enjoy something healthier and not crave the junk foods.  I did it once; I know it's possible for me do it again.

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Despite all these great alternatives, I still wanted the real deal. Visions of sweet bread danced in my head - sweet, chewy, light, soft sweet bread - no matter I tried to do!

So, finally I gave in to the urge, got out the baking supplies, and baked up some sweet bread. I had a piece and was finally satisfied. My sweet tooth was quiet.

I really wish I didn't have to go through all of that. It would have been so much easier if I just forgot about my craving when I kept myself busy or felt satisfied with a piece of fruit. Where this intense sugar craving came from, I'm not sure. I wasn't stressed or bored or even hungry.

I probably just needed a sugar fix.

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Well, so far I've been keeping this goal.

My breakfasts this past week consisted of:

• scrambled eggs (egg whites/egg yolk/finely chopped onions and peppers/low fat shredded cheese) and whole wheat toast (bread machine-made whole wheat bread/heart healthy butter spread)
• whole grain cereal (muesli-type cereal or my latest favorite!) and skim milk (with a bit of protein powder mixed in to boost protein content).

This has been a whole lot better for me than just grabbing a banana or drinking a chai tea latte!

I've noticed that I don't get hungry or feel a drop in my blood sugar come mid-morning. I eat at around 6:15 AM, and I can wait until 11:30 or noon before I start feeling hunger pangs. Coworkers' candy dishes don't tempt me. I don't feel the need to munch - at least not during the morning hours! Now I gotta work on the rest of the day!

But for now, I want to continue concentrating on eating healthy breakfast. I figure it's a good starting point! After all, is not breakfast the "most important meal of the day?"

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• Breakfast - The First Step to Breaking a Sugar Addiction If you're a sugar sensitive individual, you're more prone to becoming addicted to the white stuff (sugar and refined foods). If you know you're physically dependent on sugar and you truly want to end the addiction, there is hope. I'm reading Potatoes, Not Prozac, and in it, seven steps to breaking......
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• Plan for Handling Cravings - Start with Breakfast Cravings happen. Sometimes they seem to pop out of nowhere. Sometimes they’re emotional. And sometimes they exist simply because I’m getting hungry! My feelings towards cravings have always been the same, regardless of the situation: I don’t like them! What I need is to come up with a plan that......

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A large basket of candy sits on a table right next to my boss’s door. This attractive looking basket (Longaberger, no doubt) is joined by a glass candy dish filled with shiny, colored plain M&Ms.

The M&Ms taunt me.

Every time I walk past my boss’s office (which I have to in order to get to the end of the hallway), I can hear the M&Ms, “Oh, look at us! We’re so pretty and chocolaty! Don’t you want to eat some?” I don’t like to be taunted, so I take a dark chocolate Hershey’s Kiss from the basket instead. Take that M&Ms! (But maybe that was their plan the entire time.)

Temptation at work is ever present, at least where junk food is concerned. Usually someone brings in doughnuts, bagels, or homemade cookies. And don’t forget the sheet cakes with 2-inch thick frosting to celebrate the monthly birthdays!

It’s hard. Sometimes I can withstand the temptation, and other days I give in. I wish I didn't have an affinity for chocolate and other sweets, as my boss doesn't seem to. (Either that or she has super human powers enabling her to withstand a mound of chocolate sitting constantly within view and reach!)

But the reality is I will probably always have to deal with temptation for sweets more often than not. The trick is learning healthy ways to deal with the temptation rather than thinking, "Ah, forget it!" and then overdoing it on the chocolate.

One way I find I can minimize temptation is by avoiding certain habits, such as keeping the hands out of the candy basket and feet from walking into the cake laden staff break room. I know there are other things I can do.

Over the next week or so I plan on taking a closer look at what I can do when temptation and cravings strike. I know I can improve a lot in this area! In the meantime, I refuse to let bright, little candies bully me around!

• Day After A Binge Holidays are prime times to eat way more than is necessary with meals that are extremely rich and loaded with calories! It's fun to visit with family and feast on foods we normally would not allow past our lips, but it's not fun afterwards when we're in a food coma......
• Can You Really Be Addicted to Sugar? I love sugar. You probably already know that! :) I'm also trying to overcome my sweet tooth. Why? Because I eat way too many sweets, it's not what I'd call a healthy diet, it messes with my emotions, and it sure makes keeping a fit and lean figure a big......
• Beating the Sugar Addiction - Steps 4-7 The steps I summarize here are discussed in more detail in Potatoes, Not Prozac.  If you feel you have a strong attachment to sugar that is keeping you from living freely and healthy, you may want to give this book a read. Click on the following links if you wish to......
• Healthier Sweet Snacks If you’ve got a sweet tooth the size of Texas and know that you’ve got to have a treat on a regular basis, try these sweet snacks (see below) instead of the usual candy bar or donut. They'll help quiet those sugar cravings, as well keep your diet on the......
• Noticing Habits - Discoveries From My Food Journal Since I've been keeping a food journal I've noticed a couple of things. First, I seem to crave something sweet after I eat, but it can't be just any sweet. If I try to eat what I'm not craving - say a banana when I really want a big, chewy......

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