Several weeks ago JMac asked if I would make cupcakes. And not just any cupcakes. He specifically requested yellow cupcakes with homemade chocolate fudge frosting. Now for the reader who has not had (from scratch) yellow cupcakes with chocolate fudge frosting, these cupcakes are quite a treat. The cupcakes are light, moist and delicious on their own. But the frosting takes them to a new level. The frosting consists of dark chocolate, a little vanilla and milk, one stick of butter and a whole lot of sugar. The sugary, buttery, rich goodness of it is absolutely mind-boggling. I know more than one person who “doesn’t like chocolate,” JMac included, who can eat half a dozen of these tasty treats without blinking an eye. Regardless, this request put me in a bit of a quandary regarding my own recent stance against both wheat flour and sugar. But I agreed to make them for dessert when we had company over for dinner. After all, JMac has been an innocent victim in the No Sugar No Grains battle, losing his beloved bread, cereal and after dinner cookies in my war against processed foods.
So I made the cupcakes on a Friday night. I frosted the cupcakes Saturday morning. And while I could resist the lure of the golden sugar ball of gluten, I could not pass up the insanely delicious fudge frosting. After all of the cupcakes had been frosted, I had a small amount of frosting left over. I dipped my spoon in and had a bite. Instant rush. It was so good. I had another spoonful, this one bigger. I stopped before things got out of control. I wrapped up my work in the kitchen and got ready to go in to the office for a few hours.
While driving into the office, the effect of the frosting hit me in a full blown sugar crash. I could barely keep my eyes open. I used to have these sugar crashes all of the time, before NSNG, only at the time I thought they were the result of too much training, work, etc. and not enough sleep. Now I am convinced they were diet related as they have simply gone away since kicking sugar. In addition to the sugar crash, my stomach hurt. It rejected all that I had once thought was most awesome in the world.
Up to this point, I have been pretty diligent in avoiding processed sweets over the last several months. And herein lies the lesson. I think it is ok to go off the rails once in a while. It reinforces the track you are on. When I remember now how that frosting tasted, I also remember fighting through the sugar crash and the stomachache. But I would not remember those things if I had not been on a path before. If you are “cheating” every other day, your body does not get used to the new way. It is constantly craving the “bad” foods without learning to prefer the “good” ones.
I have heard that it takes about three weeks to make a new habit. Can you go three weeks without refined sugar? You might be surprised how your tastes adapt.
JMac and I are off for Hastings, Michigan and Barry Roubaix this weekend. Hopefully, I will have a race report next week. Have a great week. Treat yourself well. Eat real food.