Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Blogging Lent 4: Kind of Sparkly

An interesting thing is happening. I was reading a friend's blog about her decision to give up sugar, and I became intrigued with this idea. Mind you. I've done it before, only to, well, stop doing it. The last time I did that my going back to sugar coincided with a fairly traumatic life event (a death). And since then I've been unable to sustain it for more than a day or two.

But at the end of last week I came to a place of... well, tiredness, I think. Tired of feeling unwell. Tired of straining to buckle a seat belt. Tired of being terrified to get on an airplane for fear of crowding some stranger unacceptably. Tired of being tired. And so, with great reluctance, and some sadness, because, you know, I love sugar... I decided to stop. Just stop for now.

And something interesting is happening. First of all, the physical craving is dying down (though there were a couple of tough days at first). And the fatigue is passing (I had a terrible day in front of the computer Tuesday, but that seems to have been the last of it). I am finding I have more energy. I am finding I feel more focused on my work. And yesterday, as the thought of a much-loved sweet treat passed through my mind, my firm thought was, "So not worth it."

Last night Beloved and I had dinner, and I tried something new on the menu of our favorite funky haunt. I never do that. I always have the same thing. Last night I tried something new. Beloved said, "What are you doing?" And so I told her about the sugar decision. (I hadn't before, because I didn't want to disappoint her when I failed. How about that confidence?). She smiled at me over her wine, and said, "I thought you looked kind of sparkly."

And the thing I complained about last time? Getting better. Lent. Getting better.

10 comments:

Jennifer said...

Cecilia, indeed you must be sparkly! How wonderful.... Given your inspiration, I posted on my blog a piece I wrote for our church e-newsletter about my Ash Wednesday fast and the sugar abstaining since then. Maybe we can be a supportive group in reminding one another how good it feels to be without it. I feel crystal clear, sharper, more able to attend to myself and others, and terrified that I'll forget all of this come Easter and dive right back in. Glad we're all in this "together!"

benefitofthedoubtwomen.blogspot.com

Jan said...

Cecilia, you obviously sound like you feel better--and to be telling Beloved about it! I am impressed. Maybe I'll try this, too. You're an inspiration.

more cows than people said...

yay! glad it is blessing you.

you know, i shared my decision to abstain for the purpose of overcoming addiction with someone at my new school and they said "has your brain function improved?" um... dunno. hadn't noticed that. but sounds like you're experiencing that. and i do think my fatigue has been less, but... stress has been high so it is hard to say.

are you being semi-flexible (still doing bread, allowing sugar as minor ingredient, etc.) as I am? Or super strict?

thanks for the call this morning.

Jane R said...

Congratulations! Wonderful. And one does feel better -- it's not just a weight thing. It's a mood and health thing too. Thank you for sharing this with us. Glad you are looking sparkly too :-).

Choralgrrl said...

(grin) You go, girl.

We share a lot of parallels, you and I. I'm on a weight-loss plan (down 20, with 40 to go)--and the help & encouragement of my Beloved.

Will keep you in my prayers as you explore your sparkliness!

LittleMary said...

kind of sparkly:) I love it. and you don't have to give it up forever. you don't have to fail if you don't set yourself up! love ya.

Unknown said...

I'm so happy for you. Last January I went on a very low-carb food plan because of scary-dangerous problems with insulin dosages. I haven't taken any insulin from the day I started.

I'd already been maintaining, and starting to improve, on a weight loss of 85-90 pounds or more, on a vegan plan. Started for Lent, and liked it better ... One of the things I noticed after a few weeks on the low-carb plan was how CLEAR I felt. More energy; losing weight; no daily injections; and things that used to be hidden or tolerable to me weren't any more. I pray a lot more, and I'm more direct with God, and my life is full of changes -- left (finally) a bad marriage, and yesterday a job that had turned bad. No fear about that.

I lost the last 60 pounds I had to lose in about six months, and have been maintaining. Happily. I like what I eat. And at Christmas Dinner, when I decided my maintenance plan for the month was to eat Christmas Dinner, I found that I don't care for mashed potatoes with butter, or stuffing with gravy any more. How peculiar!

Blessings to you!!

Barbara B. said...

sparkly -- I like that! :)

Diane M. Roth said...

wow, that is inspiring. what would it take...? I wonder.

daisy said...

I love it. I want to be sparkly, too. :) I think it's the right time for me to do this, too. Thanks for the great post about it!