Sugar Lust

It seems I have been on a diet since I was 12.  I know I have been exercising to lose since that age  because I remember coming home from school to do aerobics in Jr. High.  My neighbor had warned me to never hit 100 pounds because I would never be able to lose it as I aged.  I believed her and at 103 I ate less and began exercising.  Diets, calorie counting, and obsession ensued.

At 38, I realized the universal truth that all men know.  Muscle weighs a lot and burns a lot of calories.  I didn't need to lose weight.  I needed to trim the fat off.  Long story short, I quit eating sugar/empty carbs, started lifting weights, and drastically reduced my cardio (makes me hungry).

Bakeries are to Kassel as Starbucks are to Houston.  They are everywhere and often have lines out the door.  Children around the age of 5 line up (on their own!) and wait in these lines to purchase an after school treats.  When I walk out my door, two bakeries are a few steps away and within a three block radius I count five bakeries/candy stores off the top of my head.  It's unreal!  I thought only Americans ate this much trash. Most people are a healthy weight here, children included. I'm not judging, but I was shocked.  At a play date, I watched a mom feed her 3 year old son cake, gummy bears, ice cream and a candy bar within 45 minutes.  WFT?  The poor kid doesn't have a chance. The ice cream and candy bar were very tiny versions, but still. Colt chose to play outside and had no afternoon snack.  He even gave her the ice cream cone back saying no thank you.

This all sounds frightening to an ex sugar addict but the truth is I don't have much of a taste for sugar any more.  It makes me physically sick after and most of the time I just don't want it.  We do wander in bakeries for coffee or tea (usually after a run or walk) and I do let Colt get a treat which I sometimes make him save for afternoon snack. Some things in life are worth waiting for and so I try to teach him that early on in life. If I treat myself, I get a croissant (trashy white bread and butter, but only 3 grams of sugar).  Compromise at it's best.

My difficulty with sugar filled Germany isn't the bakeries.  Sugar is loaded into all of their products.  It was hard enough in the US finding products low in sugar or without added sugar.  Here it is almost impossible.  I have been to three shops looking for zero carb protein and everyone looks at me like I am loo-loo!  You want no carbohydrates?  Hmmm.  Together we look at every package.  Zis does not exist.  I am told.  No shit, I think to myself.  I wonder if the girls at the gym know that snicker bars would be just as healthy. Seriously.

All that said....I can't wait until Christmas!  I am going to fill my stocking with the best chocolates and candies in the world and eat them all in one morning with a glass of champagne.    Special occasions always deserve over-indulgence!

only the beginning...

 

How we work it off!