Pocket PMF
Quitting Sugar
6 years ago by
This week Garance is chatting all things sugar with Emily, Caitlin and Carie. They talk about sugar crashes, their ever evolving dietary journeys and what they’d like for their last dying meals. What do you want your last meal to be??
[podcast_episode episode=”261012″ ]
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When I had a baby, I decided I would give her the gift of not falling into the sugar trap. We would eat fruit and maybe a treat now and then, but even that would be rare, so as not to associate sweets with treats. Society blew it all away. Well-meaning family and friends offered candy as rewards/bribes, gigantic chocolate St. Nicolases, the sacred quatre-heure with some kind of cake, sleepovers at friends’ homes where breakfast was Nutella on toast. My daughter doesn’t drink sweet beverages, even juice, but she definitely has a weakness for baked, chocolatey goods.
Eliminating most refined sugar has made me feel better, but the psychological shadow is hard to shake.
I’d love to hear a critical podcast about body image, ridiculous standards of beauty for women, how the healthy food culture really lets itself to hide dieting, food restriction and disciplining of women’s bodies, and how important it is not to work hard on things that will leave you empty.
I love your comment, Maria. Why are we doing this to ourselves.
^Maria, yes yes yes. Thank you. I feel like this whole detox/cleansing/fasting thing is really just coded eating disorder behavior.
OK, I know this does not apply to everyone, and yes there are lots of people who could stand to eat healthier, but what about those of us who are using this as a socially acceptable replacement for the word “diet”? Why can’t we admit that we’re cutting sugar because actually we want to lose weight? Because we think being thinner will make us happier?
I buy into it all most of the time myself, wanting more energy, wanting to feel lighter, to have that “glow”, to live forever, to avoid cancer, but I often wonder why those of us who already do pretty well can’t just admit to ourselves we aren’t perfect and to stop making ourselves feel so shitty for eating the goddamn cookie. I’m the first one to admit that when I try one of those detox plans I secretly hope I’ll end up five pounds lighter, and then when I feel like crap, get mad at myself for feeling so foolish. There must be a middle road, here, right?
Sorry to rant but I don’t feel like anyone is talking about the dark side of this stuff.
I so agree with you! Why are we so obsessed in the West with women’s bodies? We are our own worst enemies, women. Be thankful we’re not really starving and can actually have a choice of what to eat every day – so many people don’t. It would be very good to have a discussion about how us privileged women waste so much brain space thinking about controlling ourselves through what we eat – and admit it to ourselves. Maybe if we stopped wasting our time using food to signal our worth (and sent men the message too) we would get more done in the world?
Garance, thank you so much for sharing. Could you please share names of books, documentaries, talks that guided you quitting sugar? Thank you!
Thanks for sharing your take. I don’t think I’d ever be able to cut sugar, nor do I really want to cut it ALL out, but definitely more power to those who do and find relief in it.
What about exploring and understanding ways the intensive agriculture works ? Knowing that Trader’s Joe (for example)does not carry only organic food ,but the “raise in America” or “no hormones ever ” green tags create the confusion . You can go to a local farmer who is using tonnes of pesticides.there is no guarantee .my point is that ,no food is evil , the way we grow them and the fact we dont respect nature’s cycle is .no one here is taking time for lunch .food is processed to the max ,loaded with sugar ,salt, fat.think about who sponsored Michelle Obama campain against obesity:the companies that have lead people to becoming fat and addicted to sugar .maybe the best way to manage this is getting back to basics :Everything good in moderation, exercise a bit,cook yourself,respect seasons and enjoy life. .
Garance, do you eat any fruits? Would you tell us more which are the foods you avoid?
Thanks so much for talking about that, girls!
Can you or anyone else share some good materials, books on sugar or portals worth researching? I’d love to read more, but the internet is full of low-quality portals with no medical evidence, writing texts for clicks.
I haven’t read it, but Gary Taubes’ book Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It keeps coming up in conversations. Hope this helps!
I also enjoyed the talk. It’s so reassuring to hear my body isn’t the only one that is evolving with age and will continue to evolve. When I was a teenager my family urged me to develop healthy exercise habits without telling me why. Now I know why and it honestly sucks.
“listening to your own body” is a hard thing to do… I’m gong to come back to this, but first let me tell you: I’m a M.D., 30yo surgeon in training and I thought I’m conducting a very healthy life: Juicing every other month, no refined sugars (not even added sugars), nothing processed, nothing in a panade, cutbacks on starchy stuff expect sweet potatoes, pasta and pizza only every second or third week. Thing is: It didn’t really help with brain food, bloating, headaches and general fatigue I kept struggling with all of it, it was so frustrating. And this is why: all that time, I didn’t know I was intolerant to Ananas, vanilla, ginger, grapes and cane sugar. And only the latter was left out by my so-called healthy diet. What I want to say is: get tested instead of just “listening to your body”, because eating what’s healthy ‘in general’ doesn’t have to be healthy for you, too! Which brings me back to the first sentence: intolerances are a tricky thing, because you don’t sense the reaction right away as you do in allergies, but hours to days delayed, which makes it difficult to diagnose all by yourself. So what about figuring out what really is good for you instead of blindly panicking about stuff that healthnuts consider being bad for you? It sure helped me :)
I agree with Laura. It worked for me..once i knew what foods were causing discomfort I eliminsted them and had a new lease on life.
Interesting topic but loved the last meal discussion at the end! Mine would be parsnip purée, potato gratin and langoustines with roe stuffed between the legs and scissors from the grill, with some very good rosé
The first thing we need to remember in order to remain young and beautiful is to simply reduce the consumption of useless or harmful products. And sugar is one of them. And it’s not about the ridiculous standards of beauty for women, but about the long-term welfare strategy. So, it’s up to you, restrict yourself and live a long and healthy life or eat whatever you want, and die in your 50s, if you’re lucky. Take a look at interesting article about how to detox your body from sugar it could be a solution for somebody.
Dear Atelier Dore Team, thanks a lot for this interesting PMF subject!
I was wondering if a PMF where you talk about dealing with eating disorders sounds interesting to you?
Thanks a lot!
I’ve been working hard to maintain my own wellness for about 10 years. For me, that means eating whole grains, chicken, fish, beans, nuts & seeds, and fresh fruits & veggies. I never eat red meat, refined flour or sugars, processed foods, unhealthy oils, fried foods, or baked goods (unless I bake them). After years of trying to clean up my act, I finally stuck to this plan when I hit menopause and found myself low in energy, plump, and lacking self-confidence. So this is not about beauty for me, this is about being lean and flexible, positive and energetic. Throughout the years, I’ve had to deal with lots of folks who feel threatened by my healthy eating habits. They call me dogmatic, inflexible, and a party pooper. But at age 63, I take no meds, easily maintain a proper body weight, have no aches and pains, and feel stronger than ever. The notion that cakes & burgers are life’s great joys is simply an advertisement for the companies that rake in huge profits producing unwholesome foods. I didn’t know who I really was and what I was capable of until I fueled and maintained my body in the way nature intended.