Friday, February 20, 2009

No thanks I'm sweet enough

I feel like I've spent the last decade or so dodging the diabetes monster, and it must be sneaking up on me occasionally to bite me on the shoulder (that's a werewolf reference). Although I've had myself tested a couple of times and came out negative, I can't help feeling that if I'm not pre-diabetic, then I must be pre-pre-diabetic.

This is because if I go without food for 3 or 4 hours I suddenly feel physically weak and am consumed with thoughts of loaves of fresh buttered bread (wholegrain). And after a large meal, I'm always fatigued. It's also because I have a frighteningly sweet tooth and cannot turn down cake or biscuits (unless they are made with carrots or an unusually large number of eggs).

Three days ago I decided that I had to do something about this oppressive tiredness that comes upon me soon after dinner each evening, because this is valuable time for doing stuff and shouldn't be wasted blobbing out in front of the TV, bleary-eyed and listless. I decided to give up sweets - even if this doesn't fix the tiredness, it certainly wouldn't hurt.

On day one, the only sugar I consumed was in the form of fresh fruit and well-diluted fruit juice. On days two and three, I allowed myself some Nutella on one of my slices of toast. I've bypassed the sweet muffins, the birthday cake left over from a daycare party, and the slices left over from a work meeting. I gave the boy strict instructions not to bring home cake for me.

Not even a Dutch Ring (nope, still sounds like an exotic sex toy).

Do I feel better?
Physically, no. Psychologically, there's a hint of moral superiority in my demeanor but not enough for other people to notice.

Let's see how long I can do this for.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's really hard to get rid of the sugar cravings. When I've had to cut it out, the naturopath advised no sugar at all - no fruit, juice, sweet veg etc. It's hard initially (I was very, very cranky) but your palate really comes alive after awhile, so it's worth it.

Watson Woodworth said...

Is Dutch Ring what we would call a "Bunt Cake"?
A cake with a big hole in the middle. Unually tasty if lemmon flavored?

Lumpyheadsmom said...

You should shoot a note to my friend Auntly H, who has been living with diabetes for 18 years. I'm sure she would have some ideas for you.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm could you be hypo-glaecaemic (sp??!!) I don't know what the difference is between that and being diabetic but I had a friend diagnosed with that a few years ago and her symptoms sounded like yours. In terms of she was ploughing through 3-4 litres of ice cream a week and always felt tired etc.

Violet said...

Laura: I keep going to the fridge and looking for something to snack on, and once I've eyed the biscuits and M and M's, keep having to walk away unsatisfied.

nigel: not really, though it does have a hole in the middle. It's more like split eclair, with chocolate icing on top and a vanilla creme sorta thing in the middle. Mmm...

Lumpyheadsmom: My mum is diabetic, so I get a pretty good idea of what she shoulda been doing to avoid needing the needles.

donnasoowho: it sounds like the same thing to me! If I were getting through that much ice cream each week, I'd certainly have a reason to be tired - walking around with about 20 extra kilos around my middle!

Angela said...

good luck.

I would never be able to give up the chocolate. As long as that didn't count as sugar I could probably do it.

Violet said...

thanks Angela. I've allowed myself fatty stuff like savoury pastries, but they just don't do it for me.

Watson Woodworth said...

That does sound good.

Violet said...

nigel: it's damn good.