Thursday, December 8, 2011

Pour some sugar on me...

On a playdate at a park, I watched a two year old happily sipping on soda. Mountain Dew to be exact. YIKES. And YIKES for about 100 reasons. Here is an awesome beverage for a baby...one laden with caffeine AND sugar. YUM. I heard another Mom say, "that is crazy." And the Dad responded, "True. But I am sure we used to drink worse when we were kids." Right. You know what else we did when we were kids? We wore colored sweat pants with our name down in the side in iron-on letters and braces large enough to land a cargo plane. Doesn't mean these are great ideas for today or values by which we should shape our current choices. The good news is I only have one child to worry about...my own. The bigger issue is Holy Cheezus, why are we all so addicted to sugar. I read this blog that listed the top sugar drinks. Did you know a 20 oz bottle of Sunkist has 85.8 grams of sugar? EGADS. Did you teeth just snap? One more reason I am glad I don't drink soda. On the contrary, most red wine has little to no sugar. One more reason I am glad I LOVE red wine.

I loved sugar when I was a kid. That lasted for a long, long time. The reality is, I would take sweet over salty most of the time but I simply had to break up with sugar. Everytime we eat sugar, our body floods itself with insulin. Your blood sugar spikes and then your body tries to turn that sugar into fat. That's why the Twinkie doesnt build your bicep! But this is information many of us already know.

And back in the day I used to thoroughly enjoy boxes and boxes of cereal. Bright pink berry Cap'N Crunch and rainbow colored Trix. My mom did not allow sugar cereals when we kids. But I totally confess to gobbling this crap up when I was in college AND graduate school. More Yikes. Sugar laden cereal is so bad for you, you would be better off nibbling a diaper. And then I saw this today:

One more reason I am glad I broke up with cereal.

But here and there I could still go for a nibbly sweet. Maybe a small handful of m&ms, or a few bites of the baked goods I so lovingly prepare in this house. But I wanted to get off sugar as much as possible.  But I needed a plan.

If you really want to break up with sugar for good, I read a book called Body Confidence by Mark MacDonald. I made the slightest modifications to what I was eating and frequency. Even being what I consider a very healthy eater to start, I could tell a significant difference in about a week. Oh, and he is also Chelsea Handler's nutritionist. That girl is a serious vodka-loving party-pants. And she looks incredible.

With the access to crap food and seeing a baby actually drinking a soda (and that day was not the first time) it is sad but not surprising that childhood obesity is a crazy epidemic. 

Pour some sugar on me? Only if its Def Leppard style.

14 comments:

Kerry Ann @Vinobaby's Voice said...

Seriously. But I know parents who put soda in baby bottles and sippy cup; who set babies in their cribs with juice to swig all night and then wondered why their 3-yr-old had a mouth full of cavities; who think a 2-yr-old should eat candy all day long. I've given up on them.

I tried to give my child Mountain Dew once, when he was 6 and falling asleep at a Paul McCartney concert. He wouldn't drink it.

That being said, I'm now going to spend the day baking cookies.

Simply Suthern said...

Honey Smacks were called Sugar Smacks back in my day.

vanilla said...

Bad stuff. Just for fun, you might like to look at the vintage ads I posted a few weeks ago.
http://vanilla-ststt.blogspot.com/2011/11/fortunately.html

Unknown said...

I was relieved to see that my cinnamon Cheerios were not on the list!

Cathy Feaster said...

wow! Thanks for the book referral...going to go read it now (or soon anyway), ...and my sister is probably one of those with the sugar laden two year old in the park...except now her kids are 7 and 10 (still sugar laden) and she doesn't ever take them to the park...

Kristina P. said...

I have the worst sweet tooth. I literally just had a chocolate fudgecicle for breakfast this morning.

Anonymous said...

Jennymac, thank you so much for this post. I am going to find that book you suggested asap. I've long suspected that I am addicted to sugar and want to cut off my ties with it -- but it's a strong adversary. (btw, I'm typing this as I eat an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie -- oatmeal is good, right?!)

Colleen

Urban Earthworm said...

Ugh! I was JUST thinking about this! The sugar thing in our society is just OUT OF HAND. We are so desensitized to it that people don't even blink at (or understand, for that matter) the amount of sugars in EVERYTHING. I would have a heart attack if someone tried to give my baby pop!

My sweet downfall was always beverages. I love(d) coffee with syrupy creamers and pop. All day. Then I decided to have a baby.

I'm very, very happy to have converted to unsweetened tea and seltzer. And I can't believe the amazing health benefits! And the fact that I now have so little guilt when I DO indulge because it's just that, an indulgence!

brokenteepee said...

I am a child of my generation (I'm 52) and sugar is my god.

Fortunately I'm 5'7" and 120lbs NOW. It wasn't always that was. But I can't lives without me sugar. Tried...didn't work. But I eat a healthy diet - we grow 95% of our food and that includes meat so I think I'm OK.

Unknown said...

I'm bummed. I love Cap N Crunch but in spite of the sugar content, every now and then just might be okay.

ipenka said...

Sad state.

There's a flowchart on Digg about how to pick the cereal though. It's pretty funny, definitely worth checking out!

Unknown said...

Great post :)

2 yr olds and fizzy drinks, yikes! Crazy!!

The "hidden" sugars in food are definitely something to think about.

Love your description of Chelsea Handler....I think I've missed the boat on being a vodka-loving party pants ;) X

Jaime said...

i just can't completely break up with sugar. i try. i do really well for a time and then i come crawling back...

Anonymous said...

Yes! Very good post and points well made.

However, I do think it's also worth mentioning that, back in the day (my day at least), we maybe got a sugar rush, but it didn't turn to fat because we burnt it off first by running around morning to night playing/working/whatever and didn't spend all day playing computer games or watching TV.