When There’s No Such Thing as Moderation

You wouldn’t give a child cocaine. Don’t give them sugar.
They’re both physically addictive, they have similar effects, side effects, and withdrawal symptoms.

One is legal, because it makes certain “powers that be” very wealthy
One is illegal, for the same reason

Neither is good for the body, especially a young developing one

Growing up, there was constantly soda in my house. It was pretty much all my mom bought. Once I moved out, I never drank it again. I still only drink carbonated beverages on rare/special occasions (it’s frustrating when I get thirsty at the grocery store, and my only choices are soda and energy drinks!). However, when I diet, I do find it’s much easier to just cut something out, like Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, or cheese (I really do drop a lot of weight when I stop eating cheese. I don’t regularly eat that much, either). However, I have a mild addiction to caffeine, and I can’t live without a pot of coffee a day.

Thanks for this post, Anne. I’m actually contemplating eliminating sugar in our house, too. I’ve struggled with the decision though: 1) My husband is not on board at all (this is the man who, before he left for college, thought he had to have ice cream before he could sleep, and 2) I’ve heard so many tales of kids gorging themselves on sugar when they are always kept from it. On that note, a funny story. My oldest boys were visiting my in-laws one weekend, and when I went to pick them up, my father-in-law said, “I had a bowl of M&Ms on the counter, but I finally had to put them away because the boys just wouldn’t stop eating them.” The response in my head was, “Duh!” What I actually said, “Well, I just don’t have that kind of stuff in the house.”

I don’t have kids, but I know there is no such thing as moderation for me either. People say “Oh, it won’t ruin your diet to have a couple hersheys kisses here and there if you need a chocolate/sugar fix” But it does ruin your diet if you eat the WHOLE BAG in one, maybe two nights, which is what always ends up happening to me. I have found though that the higher the sugar content of an item, the harder it is for me to “just have one or two”. If I get a really good dark chocolate (such as Theo) then I can moderate myself alot easier. I bought a theo chocolate bar the other day, broke it up into 6 portions and put each portion in a plastic baggie. I’ve been pretty good only having one per day, and I break the portion into even smaller pieces and slowly melt them in my mouth, rather than just crunch, crunch, swallow like I do with every other candy.

I grew up with junk food all around me. Chips, Little Debbies, soda… with no limits or restrictions. Oh how I wish that was different! I am now 40 years old and still working hard to reverse this thinking and the havic it placed on my body. I have no “off” switch when it comes to junk food. I’ve been doing GREAT with a clean eating life style for about 6 mths now and feel the best ever. I allowed myself to splurge around Christmas, and it was a mistake. I got completely out of control. And we’re all three sick from compromised immune systems. Ugh! Now, I’m taking your challenge to get back on track and I’m so ready to feel great again! We’re trying to raise our son with a few treats here and there, but he too does not have an off switch. It’s so hard to know what’s best, but we just take it day-by-day, and situation-by-situation.

my daughter is the same way. Santa put some chocolate and other treats in her stocking and she tried to eat the entire contents in one sitting –at 6 o’clock in the morning. she has no off switch and she’s like that for TV too. i try to do things in moderation but it’s better if i keep sugar completely out of the house (she’s ok with foods sweetened with honey) and limit TV to the weekends. But it’s the strangers who are the worst and who are constantly derailing my efforts! Teachers, grocery store workers, other parents, playdates, birthday parties, Santa in the mall, taxi drivers, relatives, farmer’s at the Saturday market…!!! And if I tell them no she doesn’t need it she and the person offering both have a fit. So difficult!

I understand where you’re coming from but as a child, we NEVER had sweets in the house, not because my mom was necessarily against it, more so just because we were poor. Now as an adult, it’s an act of God to control myself from over-indulging. Based on my own experiences, I would prefer my son to learn how to control his self and consume sweets in moderation, rather than lead him to failure when he becomes an adult and he can make his own choices but has no experience in making them responsibly. It’s kind of like the way I was with money too. I never had any, so when I started making my own, I blew it as fast as I got it. But maybe I’m just an exception and have extremely weak will power.