January 10th, 2025
It gets easier! I think I am getting a bit strong and the sugar cravings are going away! It doesn’t mean I don’t think about it though! Today, we had a leadership retreat and I knew there would be lots of good food! This was today’s menu:
- Chicken and sausage gumbo
- Seafood Etouffee with rice
- Creole okra and tomatoes
- Corn maque choux
- Cornbread muffins
- Bread pudding
- Sweet Tea/Lemonade
- Veggie/Vegan: Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Green Chilis, Scallions, Celery, Red Peppers, and Fresh Cilantro tossed in spicy Caribbean Jerk Seasoning
On a typical day, I would have dabbled in the sweet potato salad, had a solid helping or two of the etouffee and/or gumbo with the cornbread on the side, and indulged in at least two full helpings of bread pudding all to be washed down with either or both the sweet tea and lemonade.
I prepared by bringing my water bottle knowing neither drink option would work and I decided to stay away from the cornbread, just to be safe. Cornbread can truly range from sweet and moist almost cakelike consistency (my favorite) rather than a dry tasteless texture so I decided in advance to stay away from it, just to be safe. Odds are in New Orleans, it had some sugar. I took a bit of the sweet potato salad and opted for the etouffee today in a truly modest-sized bowl. I did go back for seconds of the etouffee but that was the extent of my greed. During the last retreat in December, I ended up gorging on some Mexican cookies so much so that the lovely food service staff was trying to send me home with more. Today, I avoided eye contact with the bread pudding. Okay, I glanced but I definitely didn’t stare or walk away in disappointment as if I were being punished by not being able to delight in it. So that’s real progress.
What I also noticed today, and am noticing more and more, is that food is taking on different flavors. The sweet potato salad was a delightful explosion of flavors in my mouth and the ettouffee had a lovely rich texture to be savored. I have decided that sugar is a taste bud killer. The more you eat it food eventually falls into two categories. 1. Sugar 2. Everything else. Well, I believe my suspicions have been confirmed. I just did a quick search and found this on the Fitness 1440 Website.
“Over consumption of sugar can change your taste buds and if things no longer taste like how you remember them, sweets may be a reason for that. Your taste buds might be damaged from eating too much sugar when you eat other foods the lack of the sweetness causes them to taste bad. Your tongue will develop a tolerance and you will need more to satisfy your cravings, resulting in other foods tasting bad.”
While not a medical website, I would venture to guess that I am scientific validation enough to prove their theory true. The other thing the site mentions is our propensity to eat more as we ingest more sugar. This we know to be true. Our bodies simply crave the appropriate nutrients to help them function well and properly. When the foods we eat don’t contain enough of the proper minerals and vitamins, a signal is sent to our brain telling us to consume more in hopes that we might actually ingest something it needs.
While I certainly have not mastered the art of eating less– I did buy and consume two small bags of SmartFood popcorn after swinging by the grocery store today for some black beans and salsa- I am hopeful that discipline will come in time and each day I resist the temptation of a glorious bread pudding, I am a step closer to living a fuller and more disciplined life in all areas. I can’t wait to see where this journey takes me!