Sugar. She loved it. I loved it.
I remember staying at home, feinting sickness, so I could watch a favorite movie. My mom joined me and even once we powered through a box of candy while watching the movie.
There were ice cream bars (my favorite!) in the basement freezer. Of course my mom didn’t force me to eat them, but I did sneak down and ate more than I ever should.
There of course was the famous (at least in my mind) incident of my mom baking chocolate chip cookies for my brother’s skating party, of which I ate the all in the weeks leading up to the party. She vowed never to bake them again and she kept that vow.
Recently I went on a sugar binge, eating pastries. My last pastry was an apple fritter that was so full of oil and sugar that I could barely finish it. My stomach rebelled for 24 hours. I swore off sugar for the umpteenth time in my life.
Why do some people not even like sweets? My young friend Lipton in Sri Lanka (who lived and worked with me for 14years) doesn’t like them. In fact a German friend brought both him and me German chocolates as a gift. I ate mine pretty quickly. Lipton didn’t. They sat in the refrigerator until I finally said, “To hell with that, I’m eating them!”
How was it that my granddaughter loved sweets and my grandson loved vegetables?
Research showed that “a sugar addiction in children develops when their natural preference for sweet tastes, combined with readily available sugary foods and the rewarding effect of sugar on the brain, leads to a cycle of craving and overconsumption, often fueled by positive associations with sugary treats like celebrations and rewards, which can create an emotional dependence on sugar.”
Mabel said, “Cereal!” when I told her about the sugary foods.
I don’t remember rewarding my daughter or my grandkids with sweets. Mostly I kept sweets for myself. One Halloween I raided their candy stash and did they ever scold me!
I’m not sure I fed them sugary cereal either. Special K comes to mind for breakfast.
I don’t remember what my mom made for breakfast but I do remember that lunch was usually peanut butter and jelly sandwich and an apple. My favorite after school snack was a glass of buttermilk with a whole ton of salt in it. My mom bought fig newton cookies for my brother; they were safe from me. I hated them!
At some point I learned to cook Chinese food and for several years that’s what we ate. My daughter was happy when she finally had the “forbidden” donut. So happy that when she had her own children, they went for donuts every Sunday.
My battle with sugar has been lifelong and I always thought that at some age, I’d be over it.
Not true.
Instacart has really heighten the problem for me. After almost four years without sugar, I started ordering yummies via Instacart. Order after order! Does anyone else do this? How do you curb your sugar urges?
Mabel says she only eats three spoonfuls of ice cream at a time. “I like to savor it.”
How is she my friend?
Several nutritionists suggest having dried fruit or a fizzy probiotic-filled Kombucha. I used to drink one Kombucha a day and that helped with my sugar addiction, until I couldn’t afford it anymore. Costco sells dried mango and that also helps as long as I don’t eat too much.
There’s a blender and smoothie maker I’m looking at buying that I can play around with. Once my garden is planted and producing I can make all sorts of healthy items; soups, veggie drinks (seriously?), fruit smoothies. It’ll be like an adventure like my Chinese cooking adventure.
What’s a girl to do?…continue my fifth year ban on ice cream and have fun in the kitchen.
Lucy Llewellyn Byard welcomes comments and shares. To contact her, email lucywgtd@gmail.com
