A few years ago, my husband decided to cut refined sugar out of his diet. And I’ve got to be honest with you, when he did it, I was mad. And I don’t mean just a little bit annoyed. I mean MAD. Big, angry, cranky, wanted to kick and scream, MAD. Now, I realize that an appropriate response would have been to be impressed, supportive, proud or inspired, but I felt none of those things. It’s not like he was even trying to pressure me into joining him, he just quietly started reading labels and stopped eating any of the desserts I baked and didn’t order treats when we were out. It was all very reasonable, but it didn’t feel that way to me. It took a few months for me to understand my own reactions, but it came down to a feeling of jealousy. He has discipline and will power that I never believed I could possess. Because I doubted my own ability for restraint, I resented that it came so easily to him.
And come on, have you seen this blog? Do you know me at all? Then you probably get how important sweets are in my life, and how a good cookie or cake brings me sheer happiness, and a chewy brownie brings me comfort when all else fails. So the idea of giving that up scared the daylights out of me. Scared maybe isn’t the word…..I was worried that I would feel deprived, and that isn’t something I was willing to entertain. But truth be told, his sugar-free period lasted around 6 months, and he then went back to his normal ways.
But jump ahead to this past spring, and the sugar-free plan resurfaced. But this time, I was finally open to thinking about it. What changed? Me. I changed….