Thirty-one years ago on this day, I stopped eating all forms of refined sugar and stopped drinking alcohol because every time I ingested refined sugar or drank alcohol, I could not stop eating it until I felt ill and then I would throw up all that I had eaten and find that I still craved more sugary foods. It was not unusual for me to begin eating sugary foods immediately after throwing up due to the fact that the craving continued. I would proceed to repeat this futile process several times until I was exhausted and would fall asleep (pass out) from consuming massive amounts of sugar.
It was impossible for me to eat one cookie or one serving of ice cream or one piece of candy or one donut or one brownie or one piece of cake or one piece of pie. I ate whole boxes of cookies, pints of ice cream, boxes of candy, a dozen donuts at a time, entire batches of brownies, entire cakes, and entire pies. I spent much of my childhood, my teenage years, and adult years trying to control how much food I ate.
The solution for me was to completely refrain from eating refined sugar and drinking alcohol. Not long after that, I also stopped ingesting artificial sweeteners.
What I found, after a few weeks of extremely difficult withdrawal, was that the food cravings that had eclipsed my entire life until age 37 had vanished! I had been on a diet continually since I was 10 years old. I have not been on a diet since the morning of September 26, 1987. My weight stabilized and has remained stable.
What I also found was that the wide variety of delicious foods that I could still eat tasted so much better, even sweet. I remember noticing, for the first time, how sweet lettuce tasted. As time passed, I no longer experienced chronic depression, chronic headaches or frequent colds.
I am grateful to have found this simple solution to physical and emotional problems that I thought I would have to live with for my entire life.
I love food. I love to eat. For thirty-one years now, I have been able to enjoy food and eating. I'm still astonished.
