Purging the evil from my body. (Or, giving up sugar... same diff)

The bad mood has passed (mostly.) The pity party has come to an end (mostly.) The weather is cooler (oh thank God!) and the sun is shining. And we went out for Mexican food last night. All of that equals one happy lady (mostly.)

Let me tell you about the little part that is keeping me from being in one of the best moods ever. It is called: no sugar. And Ha! it is the devil.

Um, seriously, yeah, the devil.

You see, last night after joyously eating a full plate of enchiladas, refried beans, and some of the best rice ever, I unknowingly made a deal that is eeevviill. (Cue ominous music.) I was speaking with my husband about how much sugar I have been consuming lately, and when he suggested I tried to go without, I said, yeah, maybe that's a good idea. Obviously, I was not in my right mind. Obviously he was taking advantage of a Mexican-food-high.

Now I'll give you a little background about my relationship with sugar. In 1998, (or maybe 1997, but heck, who can remember that far back) I was diagnosed as hypoglycemic. Basically, that's the opposite of Diabetic in that your pancreas makes too much insulin whereas the diabetic pancreas doesn't make enough. And in hypoglycemia this insulin production is directly related to how much sugar you consume. So the best way to control it is to not consume simple sugars (or things that convert easily to simple sugars, like my beloved white bread.)

Back when I was diagnosed, I went on a no-added-sugar diet. I started to eat more protein and fiber, and shunned anything with sugar added to it. Needless to say, I also lost a ton of weight. Not that I needed to lose any weight back then, but you know, it never goes when you want it to. But I digress. My diet was very wholesome, and I didn't mind much. I felt very good, in fact.

Then I became pregnant with my son. I found out something miraculous about my pregnancy. Yeah, I know, a pregnancy in itself is miraculous, blah, blah, blah. But what I found truly wonderful was that sugar didn't affect me the way it used to! I could eat things I couldn't eat before, and that was like a manna from heaven to my pregnant self.

So I ate. And ate. And ate. And, um, put on a little weight. The weight? Well, it really hasn't come off. And the eating habits? They haven't gone back to wholesome. In fact, they have proceeded to get worse. Hence, grumpy, tired me. Very grumpy, very tired me.

And so, I am not eating sugar today. I'm going cold turkey off of the white powder that has me so addicted. But I'm not going off of white bread just yet. With that, I am taking baby steps. (I am only so strong, people. I cannot conquer the world of refined foods all at once.) But the sugar addiction? Well, it is stronger than a caffeine addiction to my hypoglycemic body. I am going to have headaches, cravings and mood swings. (Full blown DT's by tonight.) But when I come out on the other side, I will feel good. At least, that's what I keep telling myself.

Consider yourself warned - this woman may be grumpy. But the end justifies the means. (Hopefully.)