Katy Perry may have thought that she liked kissing a girl because of her soft lips (or because it got her attention from men who like to watch two girls kiss thereby relinquishing the power of her sexuality for the voyeuristic enjoyment of others) but it turns out there may have been another reason the Teenage Dream star enjoyed the smooch: Cherry Chapstick has sugar in it. How do I know this when their website only lists the vague “flavor/scent” ingredient?
Because I’ve been there. Hot Chocolate Bonne Bell Lip Smackers was my gateway drug. My friend Liz and I each ate a tube one day while we were on a ski trip in middle school. Why? I don’t know, middle schoolers are weird. At any rate, it was delicious. A little waxy but no more so than a Hershey bar (reason #210 why I refuse to eat Hershey’s). Ever since that magical day I’ve been pretty loyal to my Lip Smackers. Yes I’m a grown woman with three different flavors of lip gloss in my purse (Skittles – the yummiest, Dr. Pepper – gives such a nice hint of color, and Burt’s Bees regular flavor – my nod to adulthood although I gotta say it’s pretty tasty too.).
One day, curious about my decades long addiction, I googled every chemically sounding ingredient on the tube and underneath some of those fancy names I found, yes, sugar. The White Satan lives in inauspicious tubes of beeswax masquerading as a health product. And who doesn’t love Chapstick?
I am a life-long sugar addict. And when I say addict, I mean addict. Several recent studies have found that sugar operates on the same neural pathways in the brain that opiates do. In one study, rats hooked on cocaine were given a choice between sugar and cocaine and do you know which drug they picked? The sugar. Moreover, when the rats were denied their little rat soft drinks, they experienced typical withdrawal behaviors like the shakes and altered brain chemistry. From sugar! And not only is it highly addictive but unlike crack it’s found literally everywhere making it nearly unavoidable. Unless you have a much more entertaining lifestyle than I do (I hear toilets in LA are rife with the stuff) then you can go about your daily life without seeing a mention of cocaine. The same cannot be said of sugar.
So I realize that it’s a little hard to take advice about quitting sugar from someone who used to routinely strap on a 12-ounce bag of jelly beans like a nose bag as I wandered about my house performing my various duties. (True story: I used to bribe myself to get up with my babies in the middle of the night with jelly beans. As in, “If you go and nurse the baby again you can grab a handful of sour-ized sugar pellets!”) But it turns out that all of this struggle with sugar means I’ve learned a few things. Plus we’re coming up on the High Sugar Holidays and I figure I can use all the help I can get so I hope you guys will chime in with your tips in the comments!
Tip #1: Get Educated. Sugar is in friggin’ lip gloss! That’s the main problem with sugar: it’s everywhere. Even in places you don’t expect, like Katy Perry’s boobs (she shoots whip cream from her knockers in her California Gurls video which is inexplicably set on a life-size Candyland board.) We all know we should eat less sugar but it’s hard when it’s almost unavoidable. This is why you need to get into reading labels. You don’t have to go over the ingredient list with a fine-tooth comb unless you’re a science nerd like me but just look at the “sugars” line of the nutrition label. Experts recommend looking for something with 5g per serving or less. It’s not perfect but it’s a pretty good gauge.
Tip #2: Avoid Sauces. This is more of a shortcut for tip #1 as sauces are a major source of hidden sugars. Spaghetti sauce, salad dressings, ketchup, relish, barbecue sauce, marinades, gravies and even flavored rice vinegars are all loaded with sugar. If you have the time, make your own – it’ll taste better anyhow – or just limit your use of them. I don’t know about you but if I’m going to eat 8 teaspoons of sugar, it sure as heck better be in a piece of peanut butter fudge and not my marinara.
Tip #3: Eat enough protein. I’m stealing this one from both Rachel Cosgrove and Geneen Roth (two smart ladies whom I routinely worship on this site). She says – and I’ve found this to be true in my own life – that intense sugar cravings are really your body craving protein. I know it sounds counterintuitive (hee!) but if you eat a yummy piece of salmon or steak you will probably discover you’re not craving those chocolate-covered cinnamon bears anymore. I find it helps to prepare ahead for this one. I cook extra servings of meat and beans and keep them in single serving packages in the fridge so all I have to do is microwave one rather than fight off the talking cinnamon bears for 20 minutes while it cooks. Also, those little cans of sardines are perfect for this! Just eat the bones. I’m serious. You will get used to it.
Tip #4: Get Enough Rest. How many times have I tried to compensate for a lack of sleep by going for the quick hit of ice cream eaten off a fork standing in front of the freezer (that’s so I can pretend I’m not really eating it, see)? Too many to count. Just remember when you’re tempted by the quick lift, that it will inevitably be followed by a quick crash leaving you feeling worse than when you started. You’ll feel much more energetic if you can squeeze in a quick nap. (I have one friend who used to take naps on the bathroom floor at her work – 20 minutes or so can totally be explained by intestinal distress and who is going to question that? Gotta admire her ingenuity!)
Tip #5: Alcohol is all sugar. But you knew that already right?
Tip #6: Eat What You Want. Fact: I have a bag of Halloween candy sitting in my cabinet right now and I haven’t eaten any of it. As a person who used to throw bags of candy in the garbage because I couldn’t handle them calling to me 24/7, I am beyond shocked. And this is where the magic of Intuitive Eating comes in: teaching myself that if I really want a treat, I can eat it. Guilt free. The only rules are that it has to be exactly what I want and I stop when I’m sated. So every time I’ve gone and pawed through the bag of candy swiftly growing stale, I find that it doesn’t really appeal to me. If I’m going to eat chocolate I want the real deal – these days I’ve been really into making my own Almond Joys (from Heather Eats Almond Butter). They’re not health food but they are delicious and they are exactly what I want. I know this sounds crazy. Two years ago I would have rolled my eyes (and then blogged about it) when someone said “Eh, I don’t really like candy.” But if I can get to this point of relative peace with sugar then you can too.
Tip #7: Know Your Limits. Now that I’ve just told you to eat what you want, I’m going to tell you that successfully doing #6 requires you to really know yourself. I don’t keep ice cream in the house anymore. If I want some, that’s fine but I’m going to have to go get it. It’s too easy for me to go into mindless eating mode with it. Other things like Halloween candy don’t have the same effect on me but you need to find out what your triggers are and then set yourself up for success.
Tip #8: Don’t Use Artificial Sweeteners. The experts go back and forth about whether or not a packet of Splenda will do you any long-term damage but research has shown that our bodies are not fooled by these chemical sweeteners. They may be calorie free but they’re not consequence free. Dieters who were given artificially sweetened yogurt ate more calories over the course of a day than those who ate regular sugary yogurt. Our bodies are smart! Plus, others have pointed out that part of reducing sugar cravings is learning to enjoy less sweetness. Processed foods and artificial sweeteners especially are designed to be “hyper palatable” meaning that they taste so much more than regular food and you need to eat more and more of them to get the same high. The only way to break that cycle is to break yourself of needing everything to be crazy sweet. The upside is that all the flavors of real foods will be much more enhanced once you’ve retrained your palate. You know those people who rave about how sweet almonds are? I used to want to punch them too. And now I am one…
Tip #9: It Gets Easier… But it Never Gets Easy. Remember, Intuitive Eating is eating mindfully in a way that makes your body feel good – not eating whatever you think you want until you’re sick. It’s a fine line but it gets easier to discern with practice! For some people total abstinence works best. For me that’s a recipe for a binge. Five years ago I managed to go 6 months without any sugar other than naturally occurring kinds like in fruit (or chapstick…). The cravings never went entirely away like some people said they would. But they didn’t decrease significantly. And I learned I feel better when I don’t eat half a bag of chocolate chips while I’m making dinner.
Tip #10: This is Not About Weight Loss! Sure cutting out added sugars can help you lose weight but for me the real benefit is in how much clearer I think, how much I love not having that post-sugar afternoon crash, how much better food tastes when it isn’t overwhelmed with cloying sweetness and, yes, even how much more control I have over my food. It used to feel like sugar was controlling me. Now it’s the other way around. Mostly. Usually. Okay, I’m a work in progress but the progress is the important part, right??
So, now that we’re in Sugar Season – what’s your strategy? Do you abstain completely? Do you have just a little of the really good stuff? Do you have a sugar trigger? What kind of lip balm do you use?
*By golly I love a good alliteration.
I also have decreased sugar cravings since doing IE-took a while to stop eating candy ‘just because’ though. I totally agree on the protein advice. The more i eat the less i crave-the more i eat the day before the less i crave the following day too. Lately I have been emotionally craving sugar at night but have been eating peanut butter instead. Although more calories, it taste better and satisfies quicker( i LUVVVV peanut butter). Tonight i am going to try and sit with my hunger and ask why I am craving the sweets in the first place….would rather eat PB but need to figure out the emotions and just acknowledge them. ugh. 🙂
My favorite sweets are rice crispy treats, milk chocolate, and crystal light. Although i have been craving rice cakes(i am gluten-sensitive) a lot and i wonder if that is a portion of my sugar cravings as well.
I love your blog. You always seem to speak directly to me when i need it! I too am a sugar addict & i try to limit it periodically. If I can make it 2 weeks with “no added” sugar, then I”m golden for quite some time. UNTIL that first wonderful TOO sweet bite of something. It’s usually something alcoholic – tastes like drinking pure sugar, then I’m done. It’s a crazy spiral. I’m currently allowing myself 1/8 cup of dark chocolate chips – but it has to be with something “healthy” – i’ve been mixing it in with plain FF greek yogurt & 1 cup of frozen unsweetened dark cherries. AMAZING!
thank you!!
This is speaking directly to me!
Every once in awhile, I crave bubble gum Lipsmackers! My mom got me one of the giant-sized ones when I was in middle school. The benefit- it lasted forever. The downside- it lasted forever. My memories of middle school will always smell of bubble gum.
As for sugar- before I really changed my diet, I “allowed” myself a sweet every day. Chocolate, cookies, ice cream. Not a lot- it still fit in my calories. I lived my day for that treat!
After I changed my diet, it didn’t really fit anymore (I don’t think cookies are found in nature). I still missed the sweets constantly. Then, a week out from my -60-pound photo shoot, my trainer recommended that I eat only protein sources for that week. My cravings disappeared. It was awesome!
Mmmmmm…chocolate covered cinnamon bears. Definitely a sugar trigger for me! Every year, on my birthday, a friend sends me some from Utah (they are really hard to find in Colorado but not Utah for some reason..). And I eat them . And it is glorious. And then I try to avoid them until next October when my bday rolls around again.
I love sugar, however, as I love to bake, I try to limit my sugar intake to homemade treats. I eat slowly, so a little bit goes a long way for me.
Oh my gosh I used to have a serious Lip Smacker addiction in college. No really, like I had to have it on my lips at all time. I had tubes stashed everywhere in my apartment, my car, my backpack and always one in my pocket. I remember pineapple was a favorite one summer. And now I want to run to the store and buy some in every flavor!!
Sugar and I have a love/hate relationship: I love the taste, I hate the extra weight on my hips. 🙁
Number 6, oh I love number 6!! Can’t agree more, we should eat what we want and love every moment of what we eat. This is why I don’t eat oatmeal. Everyone talks about how healthy it is, and filling. I hate it with a passion. I leave room almost every day for a little something, whether it’s a bit of ice cream, a cupcake, or some chocolate. I work in an office building that has sweet treats everywhere, and it always makes it easier to say no when I know that I can have something I really want instead. My rule is always to determine whether or not it’s really “worth it” for me. A bland sugar cookie with commercial frosting? No. A delicious homemade brownie? Mmm. Gimmie.
The holidays are rough for me since baked goods (pretty much all of them – cake, cookies, pie, brownies, etc) are my triggers. Ice cream I’m good with these days, even candy shockingly. Those I can have a serving for dessert and be happy and done. But baked goods, ugh! I crave them but once I have some I can’t stop and then sometimes it spreads to wanting to eat everything in sight, not just baked goods. My solution is to not have them in the house. I basically don’t bake unless it’s to take somewhere. My downfall is when they’re served somewhere else. Mostly if it’s boring grocery store stuff I can remind myself it never tastes as good as it looks but if it’s homemade I’m screwed. Just 1 cookie does not exist in my brain. So yeah holidays are hard when there’s homemade stuff everywhere! It’s probably bad that I’m slightly grateful we’re not going home at all in December so I can avoid all the family baked goods.
I just want you to know that I started reading healthy living blogs about two years ago. Yours is the ONLY one I still read and whenever it pops into my google reader, I get super excited! Thanks for always entertaining posts!
Totally agree!
We did a Paleo (primal/caveman) challenge at our CrossFit box and I went off all non-fruit sugar for a month. I was cranky and miserable but I tied my husband for first place. And when it was over, I ate doughnuts and pizza and went to crazy town for a couple days.
I now have at least one square of 70%+ dark chocolate (my fave is the 88%) per day, and I have part of a maple bar (split it with the hubby) or a killer small cocktail (un-healthified) at least once a week. It keeps me happy and not crazy!
I thought I didn’t have a sweet tooth… until I got to KNOW what I was eating/craving. Not a girl for candy, desserts and such I thought I was more of a salt/fat fiend… but the stuff salt and fat are coating up is… SUGAR. Poutine = sugar potato fries + sugar gravy + fatty cheese curds. And I love my beer, and my wine, and onion rings and, and and…
I’m a sugar addict.
I’m FINALLY putting all that together. Years ago I did a master cleanse and was amazed at the clarity and calm I acheived by day 5… no obsessive thoughts, no mood swings and a laissez-faire attitude about food and people enjoying it in front of me (i did however obsessively read and page through gorgeous recipe books as food porn to satistfy my need for variety and passion for food).
Fast forward to now, no master cleanse, but consistenly eating primally save for when I intuitively eat something that I really really really want (no substitutes) and I’ve recaptured that feeling once again. Granted, it’s only been a month but the mental health benefits alone are making it relatively easy to stick with.
I am definitely an addict. And abstinence works for me.
Such a great post. One of the things I find most interesting these days is the demonizing of suger but the warm reception of “natural ” sweeteners like agave, brown rice syrup, etc. I mean, isn’t it all really sugar? I love point #8 for this reason. All this talk of natural sweetners seems like a cop out to me. It is crazy that really tasting your food is a revolutionary act!
I’m in an ED recovery program and re-learning how to eat in a balanced way, including sugar.
To be honest, I feel a heck-ton better when I do eat some sugar now and again. It wasn’t that I was craving it (my main cravings are for more fat-containing things–sugar on its own isn’t as palatable to me as, say, rich chocolate–I was never a gummy-bears/sour patch lover). No, it was literally that it made me feel physically better. It’s easy to digest, an excellent source of quick energy, and especially handy five minutes before a workout.
There is no reason to fear sugar if you eat a balanced diet with ENOUGH FOOD. I think many people just think sugar is addictive because they’re not eating enough other food so they overeat it. But if they are more other stuff, they could have sugar, too. It’s like our moms [should] have always said: eat your dinner first. Then have dessert.
I read a story/saw a photo last year that gave me a whole new perspective: the photo was of a boy my son’s age carting a bag of cocoa beans that weighed nearly as much as he did. The story talked about mass-produced candy and where it comes from, which is basically child slave labor in Africa, and this is where every major brand of chocolate sol in the U.S. comes from. Fair trade chocolate is NOT produced using slave labor. However it’s also more expensive, so it cuts own on the amount I can buy and, therefore, eat.
It doesn’t help, however, with my love of candy corn, so I try to avoid that.
And I wrote about sugar alcohols today! 😉 Great tips Charlotte!!!! I always do fine during this crazy season cause I just live life like I do every day – as I mentioned to you with my grandma tip… I plan ahead for my weekend treat cookies. If I need to during this season, I plan ahead for something but I never go crazy & overboard & I keep my exercise routine. 🙂
Thank you for mentioning “this is not about weight loss”. In April 2005 I gave up eating candy. For 30 years my sugar habit had gotten progressively worse and by then I was eating at least 1 lb. of candy per day. I had tried over and over to cut back but ultimately realized I was going to have to give it up completely (well actually I promised myself I could resume my candy habit at age 80, I was 45 at that time). It was He**. I had read so many accounts of people who said they didn’t miss it after a few days/weeks. For me I fought this devil on a nearly daily basis and only “won” by allowing myself to eat many other sugary treats and salty snacks. So despite giving up 1 lb. of daily candy, I did not lose anything except the habit of daily candy binges (most often jelly beans). However 4 years later I was able to lose 100 lbs which I have kept off for more than 2 years now. I simply would not have been able to lose that weight had I been fighting the candy demons.
I now continue to work on decreasing sugar from my eating, but don’t think I’ll ever be sugar free.
Awesome post! I love me some sugar too! I definitely agree if I want 8 tbs of sugar, it ain’t in bloody dinner! Eat what you want is a huge one for me, sure I went over the top at first..now I have less straight out sugar items than I use to when doing the cheat meal thing and restricting, AND I can still indulge in a few choc chips in a creation whenever I please. Win, win.
Sugar is one of the topics I like to use to ruffle feathers. I’ve written about how it’s one of the healthiest things we can eat, and why it’s the nectar of the Gods. It’s a little tongue -in-cheek but not really.
I used to be a sugar “addict” myself but now see it as any other food. I’m still figuring out how I did it, but I do know that denial and fighting against cravings only made things worse.
I did find out that eating enough protein helped, like you mentioned. I also found that keeping fruit in the diet was helpful as well. In time I found fruit salad to be the perfect sweet treat.
I also find that drinking tea helps. Dunno why, maybe it’s the heat from the tea that makes my mouth feel satisfied.
When eaten with a fork, ice-cream totally does not count…at least that’s what I like to tell myself. 🙂
Great post!! Thanks for these excellent tips.
As for the lip stuff, try lanolin. Remember using it on your nipples to heal during breastfeeding? Yes? No? In any event, the stuff is great for lips, makes them shiny and super soft and it’s sticky so it doesn’t wipe off easily. No sugar there! Give it a try, just use a teeny, tiny dab! Plus, I could swear there is something in Chapstick that made my lips more chapped…
Another great blog.
I’ve used the idea behind your #6 tip for myself and clients. More to the point I’ll say “if you’re going to treat yourself, make it something that has value. The treats that have value make the crap less appealing.”
For example, instead of that highly processed, nutrition-less Hershey’s plastic bar, bake a nice fluffy pavlova or some creme brulee or even some quadruple decker nutty brownies… the effort itself will in the least burn a few extra calories:)
Another good tip is to think vainly. We love to spend buckets of cash trying look younger or slow aging. Think of the fact that sugar ages you in a number of ways and is particularly bad for your skin!
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Sugar is so my drug. If I don’t eat it, I’m ok, but as soon as it hits my mouth I want it all day in bigger and bigger servings.
I have never smoked, but I wonder if sugar is more addictive than nicotine.
I’m definitely addicted! It is hard to break free and like you cold turkey for me just means a binge is coming up. My big sister always had amazing lip balms and woukd never let me borrow them. One day when she was out I got into her room and ate them! Glad I’m not the only one who has eaten them… 🙂
Love this! Super practical and informative. I (try) to do the clean eating thing but I give myself a cheat day (sundays), which I find really good. I (again… try my hardest) to eat completely clean all week and treat myself to a pumkin spiced latte with pizza and ice cream on sunday, then start over! gives me something to look forward to! Also drinking lots of water helps!
Nice advice for diabetics. Good list of tips listed there. Thanks!! I agree with tip # 8, actually artificial sweetners do more harm than good.
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