5 Reasons I Don’t Play in Candyland.
Yesterday, I was walking while my kids were in taekwondo when I stopped in my tracks.
Scattered over the sidewalk in front of me were little pieces of my past.
PEZ!
When I was a kid I would buy the Pez multi-packs and not even bother putting them in the dispenser. Scandalous.
Oh how I loved PEZ especially the pink ones.
For a second I considered picking them up off the sidewalk and popping them into my mouth. I did. But instead, I took a picture because that’s what you do when you see one of your favorite candies lying on the sidewalk. Right?
Or maybe that is what sugar addicts do when they see candy.
5 reasons I Don’t Play in Candyland.
1. I don’t know what’s in it. Have you ever read the ingredients on the back of a PEZ? I haven’t either but only because I didn’t read labels when I was 16. Now I have Google. Here’s the ingredients: Sugar, Corn Syrup, Adipic Acid, Hydrog. Palm Kernel & Palm Oils and Soybean Oil, Mono and Diglycerides, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Artificial Colors, FD&C Red 3, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 2. Cola Also contains Sodium Bicarb.Color. Aside from the first ingredient 😉 nothing else looks appealing.
2. Candy triggers cravings for other foods I’m not keen on feeding my body. It’s not just the candy. The candy says chips. Then the chips say candy. It goes on and on and although my mind wants both my body wants neither.
3. Candy makes me it much harder for me to stay lean. (See reason #5)
4. I didn’t make the candy myself with unrefined sugar. I LOVE SWEETS. For two years I avoided all sweets but then last New Year’s I decided to have a taste of my mom’s peanut butter icing. A mistake. Two hours later, I was hiding in the pantry pounding my nieces’ Cinderella fruit snacks.
I learned two things. One, I LOVE like want to marry sweets. I missed sweets. Two, self-control is “difficult” at best when it comes to sweets. So I gave myself a “rule” to trick myself into moderation. This year, I started eating the occasional homemade sweet made with unrefined sugar. So far it’s working mostly because I’m lazy. I could (guiltily) finish off 12 boxes of Oreos from the store. However, I will not make 12 batches of cookies. Case in point, since I allowed myself this option I have made one batch of cookies using NuNaturals stevia. ONE batch in almost 8 months. In this instance, laziness is a strength.
Would this work for everyone? Probably not but it’s a solution that is working great for me.
5. None of the other reasons would matter if it weren’t for this: It’s easier for me to say no than it is for me to use moderation. I’m at the place where I could eat candy in moderation but I don’t want to. Simply put the instant gratification of candy is not worth the energy is takes for me to use “moderation” (Nor is it worth increasing my chances of developing insulin resistance, a suppressed immune system or other health related disorders). Moderation with candy (or store bought sweets) is harder than not eating it at all. I’d rather not eat M&Ms than try to talk myself out of eating 5 lbs of M&Ms because (for me) when it comes to candy one bite leads to another and another to a binge. There have been studies indicating that sugar can be as addictive as drugs and, at this point of my life, I have chosen to just say no. It’s easier and I’m happier.
Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn
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This is my (almost) sane quest for insane health. Let's 
I can handle moderation with candy–therefore, I go for it. But I do agree that too much sugar, and Im running for other junk.
Its good you know yourself and what works for you!
Amen to that!
Amen to that! There is no moderation with me and refined sugars either. I crack up at the image of hiding eating fruit snacks. I think I’ve done that too. My boyfriend likes them so I keep them around for him but I know I finished the last box and avoided eating them in front of him!
On occasions I can have just one bite. But its much easier not to! Thank you! I’m not alone!
Nope you are not alone for sure!
Girl, your reasons are dead on. Especially the last one. It’s such a trap – one bite does not exist in my world, especially when chocolate is involved! I know I could keep it to a reasonable portion, but I like not having the temptation there. I bake on occasion, but I prefer giving most of the goodies away and keeping only one or two cookie/cupcakes for myself…no whole cakes in the freezer here!
For sure! If it wasn’t for the last one I wouldn’t even need the first ones. Sounds like you have found something that works for you as well.
Now I know where my Pez went when they disappeared my infamous “Candy Drawer”
He he he!!!!! 😉
Oh wow. Number 5 is me. I can’t moderate certain foods. Bread, candy, cake… any of those things. It’s just not going to happen. It’s easier to just say no, I don’t want any than to try to have just one. Or even half of one. Or a bite. All of it will send me back for seconds, thirds, fifteenths. It’s not pretty.
Exactly for people like us it’s EASIER to say no. I think there are certain physiological tendencies in people like us that make is very difficult to stop. Like what Carbzilla say below.
Hahahah! You’re whole candy/chip one-upping is so true! I too am a victim to the whole sweet-salty-sweet-salty ladder. It’s best to just not start. What’s interesting to me is that before I started doing this whole Geneen Roth thing I would have done the same thing with the PB icing and fruit snacks. I too would have said it’s just easier to say no than to try and practice moderation. But now, while I still don’t eat many sweets, my reasoning is different (I tell myself I can eat them if I want to – I just have to make sure I’m eating what I REALLY want and I have to sit down with it and enjoy it). It’s freakin’ amazing how this has changed me. I’ve stopped feeling bitter when I “can’t” have dessert. And I’ve realized that eating a lot of sugar genuinely makes me feel icky. It’s so weird how my brain works. As soon as I tell it “You want that ice cream sandwich? Ok, go for it.” 8 times out of 10 my brain says, “Eh, never mind.” And the other two times I eat it and enjoy it:)
PS> I hope I don’t sound like I’m evangelizing. Not trying to be annoying. Just still amazed at how much my mentality has changed… Okay, I’m officially annoying now. Eek.
No you don’t sound like you are evangelizing and you know I am more than thrilled when you share you experience on here. I’m happy you have found an approach that is working. That is amazing that 8 out of 10 times your brain says “never mind”. Just amazing!
For me that sort of approach works well for anything but sugar. I tried and tried for years. Mentally, it’s easier and I’m happier when I say just say no and I don’t feel like I am missing out. My addiction is not as severe but I look at candy and sweets the way an alcoholic looks at a drink. Eating natural sweeteners is a slippery slope but apparently I’m even more of a lazy azz than addict. 😉
AWESOME, JEN!!! So true! I’m there with you, but you put into words so well about the moderation effort…better for me too, to just say no. THANKS!
You’re welcome. Thank you for reading. 😀
I am the same – no self control when it comes to sweets. I blame my children b/c I never wanted sweets until I was pregnant.
But I have TOTALLY had the boys’ Spongebob fruit snacks – and I may have also used them as fuel for my 2nd half marathon.
So like you, I try to avoid rather than indugle b/c I don’t have self control.
He he. Spongbob fruit snacks for fuel! I’m cracking up. I love you honesty Retta!
“It’s easier for me to say no than it is for me to use moderation. ” This is me. I do well just abstaining. But does sugar count in mochas?
No it doesn’t. It doesn’t count in green tea smoothies either. 😉
I really believe sugar is addictive and the inability to stop is physiological. Since reducing my sugars, I’ve had no problems stopping because I barely start. It’s not you, it’s your body.
Thank you Tiffany.
I can moderate nearly everything I eat…except sugary hard candies. I can pound half a bag of life savers no problem. It’s best to just not start, like you said.
1 batch of cookies in 8 months?!?! Man, I’d hate to count how many I’ve made in that time… 😀
And they were your recipe. Feel special. 😉
I completely understand! It’s crazy…have you read “The End of Overeating”? It’s a great book that explains how sugar, salt and fat affect our MINDS and why they are addicting…
No I haven’t read that book. It sounds fascinating though! Thanks for the recommendation.
You stated that better than almost anybody I’ve read–the paragraph about it easier to say no than to try to eat sugar in moderation. Good post, Jenn.
you’re so right! i know what you’re saying about it being easier to say no than to eat in moderation. that’s what people don’t understand when they read my blog! it’s not about calorie restricting, it’s about the fact that i have little to no willpower once i’ve had a taste! haha moderation is a grey area for me!
great post, jenn! i used to love pez too! 😀 yellow were my fave though. haha.
Great post!!!
It’s fabulous that you have discovered what works best for your body and mind-that’s the key! I might not have been tempted to pick up pez from the sidewalk, but it if was pretzel M&Ms I might have seriously considered it, muttering something like “just think of how this will strengthen my immune system”. 😉
i admire your strength…i love reading your blog!
i use to have this strength to resist it until my body revolted and was tired of being told NO! (and it was really my emotions crying out through food!! ) BUt like Charlotte I told myself I could eat whatever and rarely do I want sweets…and when I do eat them the “fear” is not there. I too used Roth to break free!! And you know what…i don’t want the sweet stuff most of the time. I can have cookies and cake in the house and leave it alone. That is amazing to me!