This Christmas I did not make (or eat) fudge. I did not make (or eat) sugar cookies decorated in frosting, I did not make salted caramel to fill chocolate thumbprint cookies with. This Christmas was the first Christmas I can remember that I did not have a stocking full of chocolate.
It started, like so many things in my life, with a book. The Sugar Addict’s Total Recovery Program by Kathleen Desmaisons was first published in 2000 and likely acquired by me shortly thereafter. Which is to say, I’ve been working on getting off of sugar for a very long time.
It taught me the value of small steps that you can do every day. Of not needing to go cold turkey. Of being more aware of my body’s chemistry, my mood, and how food affected it. Her tone was kind and understanding. She had not only personal experience with sugar addiction, but lots of research backing her up.
The only thing she asked of us in order to start was to eat protein for breakfast, and do it within an hour of getting up. And so I did. For years.
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