I’ve been in complete denial over my addiction to sugar. I thought my addiction to dairy products was bad (luckily I have overcome that) but me + sugar = bad news bears. In the past I always wondered what exactly was causing me to put on weight in the winter time. Seriously, I am not a bear I have no reason to put on weight, I have no intentions of hibernating. My appointment with my gyn and physician really opened my eyes to my weight. I was 135 pounds in February and though I felt fine, I wasn’t completely paying attention to myself.

I have made some drastic changes to my lifestyle as of late. It’s nearly 2 months since I have made the transition to a vegan lifestyle and I can honestly say I have never felt better. But then the fall inspired flavors at Starbucks came out, my aunt came to visit and wanted to do a “sweet tour” and then Halloween candy magically appeared at home. All three of these things came at the same time and hit me like a hurricane (no pun intended- even though Sandy showed up at the same time too).

I allowed myself a few treats here and there but then started to feel edgy, moody, frumpy and reactive. I immediately felt the desire to blame it on PMS. Come on, as women we have those moments when we want to blame our behaviors on mother nature. But this was no ordinary PMS, and I was no where near my beloved time of the month (please note the sarcasm). I pretty much had two weeks of intense sugar consumption. I felt lethargic, grumpy and overly emotional. I refused to admit it to myself at first but then it really struck me. I was obsessed with sugar. I looked back to the past years during the fall/winter seasons and realized I was drowning myself in comfort foods (cheese, cheese, more cheese, pumpkin spice lattes and pies).

This epiphany really allowed me to come to terms even more with my health and needs. I realized I can deal with one soy pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks (ONE!) a week and nibble a little bit of dark chocolate goji berries and I will be okay.

Even though I feel I am healthy, I have my moments of overindulging. I am, after all, human (and a woman…we have a thing for chocolate). I am currently 120 pounds and loving every second of this feeling. I refuse to over do it to the point that I compromise the progress I have made. But of course, I am not going to deny myself the pleasure of indulging in a decadent sweet every once in a while. After all, where’s the fun in that?

Peace, love and no beef!

Guramrit