Some would say I do a great job with what I put in my body. And compared to many, I do. However, I have recently started eating a lot more of something not-so-great: candy.
Sour Patch Kids, I love you. Your sour flavor wakes up my taste buds while your empty calories amp me up for a good 20 minutes. Your artificially dyed colors are bright and shiny, like a summer day. I could eat you every day. I have been eating you several times a week, along with your friends Peanut M&Ms.
I could come up with numerous problems with this candy obsession, but here are a few:
- I am thrifty, proudly so. I make good food for my family on a budget. And yet, I spend money every week on CANDY. That's just wasteful, because what purpose does it serve besides temporarily filling my belly with something devoid of nutritional value? At least ice cream has dairy and fat, that soupçon of health.
- When you eat empty, sugary crap, your blood sugar spikes and then plummets, making you grumpy, tired, and hungry again! Cruel, isn't it? I should be eating an apple, a cheese stick, mixed nuts, berries, baby carrots... the list goes on.
- Whatever I eat, Alfie eats. I can't be proud of my caffeine-free, natural peanut butter eating self if I'm gorging myself on candy. She's eating that crap, too. She's eating preservatives, artificial colors and flavors, and sheer sugar.
- I have sensitive teeth, so eating chewy candy exacerbates the issue. Why make myself hurt?
- Bambino is impressionable, and sometime's I'm not sneaky enough. We don't live junk-free by any means, but we tend to live by Cookie Monster's "Cookies are a sometimes food" rule, expanding it to candy, ice cream, and other treats as well. If he sees me eating candy, he wants some. Do I say no and feel like a hypocrite or say yes and make him think it's okay to eat junk all the time?
Having said all of that, I am conducting a week-long experiment wherein I do not eat candy. I was going to make it no refined sugar at all, but a student offered me a cookie today, so...
I used to be a candy fiend when I was overly tired and working night shifts. Like I would buy a huge bag of hot tamales (just typing that word makes my mouth water) or sour patch kids or sour peaches and I would devour them in a 12-hour shift. And I generally would NOT share them. I was a candy hoarder.
ReplyDeleteNow? I am over it. When I got pregnant with Alice (and also stopped working so many night shifts) I tried eating less of it as it was empty calories I knew that my body didn't need and hers certainly didn't either. Over time, I just lost the taste for all that sugary goodness. The true test was when my sister came for a visit this summer and offered me a handful of sour patch kids and I was like "Meh. No thanks." She almost passed out from shock as she knows my history with that stuff.
But I am no saint as I am currently on the one-baked-good-a-day train right now.
Sorry for the essay. And good luck with your experiment! Be sure to post how it goes!
It's good to hear from someone who's been through it! Whe nI was pregnant this time, I had gestational diabetes (which is hilarious, because I wasn't eating a lot of candy, I eat very well, etc.). So, I packed a bag of Sour Patch Kids in my hospital bag as a reward to myself for being good for so long, and it's been a downward spiral ever since.
ReplyDeleteI will definitely keep you posted on the experiment!