i’m a sugar whore

Yep. I love sugar. I’ve tried exercising and eating healthily before but I always had a tough time giving up sugar. To be sure, I switched to low sugar jelly, which I still eat and sugar substitute (I know there is research against it) but I STILL need something sweet.  Fruit satisfies my need for sweet. Although I have not previously been a big fruit eater, I am not averse to it. I just hadn’t made myself do it.  But through it all, I still needed sugar: a cookie here and there or a scone from Starbucks.  And of course, you can’t eat a piece of fruit with coffee. Its just not done.  I love donuts. I have been really great about eliminating donuts from my life. I have one once every six months, maybe (of course, I’ll eat three or more in one sitting, but that’s another blog post).

So having turned “vegan” and in doing lots of research the past few days I’ve discovered that there are, indeed substitutes for sugar.  The great and powerful MaryMac (http://www.pajamasandcoffee.com/) has been amazing at offering up sweet and helpful websites for my vegan research.  She led me to a site called Vegan Essentials, found here: http://www.veganessentials.com/ that has, in my humblest of opinions the holy grail of foods: DONUTS. And, they happen to be vegan, thank you very much! I’m thinking about ordering them.  Now when I say thinking that means, I drool over the website and put them in my cart but do not press the “buy” button.  Ok, so I’m a dork. Whatever. That’s how I roll.

I’ve also been looking up information on the connection between diet and mental health.  There are a lot of quacks out there and its difficult to know what information is good and what isn’t.  At this point in my research, my Library Science degree kicks in. yay! I found one site that said that eating sugar makes you produce too much insulin and that insulin is a depressant. This idea is not new to me. I had first heard about the connection between sugar and moods several years ago when I saw a nutritionist and I was working out. I also read a bit about Dr. Andrew Weil’s take on sugar. I know some people consider him a quack. But you can either take the advice or leave it right? But if it works for you, then that’s all that matters.

Another site said that there is a connection between blood sugar levels and mood. And you can ask ANYONE in my household (and prolly most of my friends) whether I am moody or not and they will answer yes.  It is my ONLY flaw. So, if blood sugar levels fluctuate, then moods are gonna fluctuate. Great.  I found a timely (always wanted to use that word, yay) blog post here: http://www.totallyher.com/are-caffeine-and-sugar-contributing-to-your-depression/ in which the author discusses more scientific evidence of sugar’s (and caffeine’s) effect on moods.  Anyone who knows me also knows that I am a total coffee addict. I need it.  I’ve blogged about coffee and my lack of sleep numerous times.

I confess: I went to Starbucks today and got my usual: grande bold red eye with soy (and splenda and cinnamon) and a blueberry scone.  But hey, “To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping”.

Right on.

Regarding Queen of Everything

Her highness is an educator librarian who is drawn to the little ones. In her purse you’ll find a cup of coffee, a book, and her iPhone. She loves social media, writing book reviews, and curating children’s literature. She is an information specialist, maven, connector. and still queen of planet blortnick

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