Yesterday, I was getting my Starbuck's
and the barista described to the lady behind me what it was and was
in it...I'm thinking "oh a little coffee and milk with syrup"
No...it was vanilla syrup and 3 Tbs of Caramel and about 12 ounces of
whole milk. Candybar in a cup for breakfast... "only people don't give you a nasty look when you're drinking it out of a cup instead of chewing on a wrapper"
Yes, that is what I said. We all laughed but as I was walking away, I thought, "that's kind of wrong..."
I've always known it was akin to a milkshake and didn't think much of it, especially since I don't get one often - once every couple weeks, as a treat. But, it did set me to thinking about all the sugar I eat, again.
I've been thinking about sugar a lot the last few weeks.
Ok, so here's the scoop. I've never had problem skin, but recently I've found myself getting really bad breakouts. So, I was thinking about the things that have changed to cause it. I'm using Clinique facial stuff now...that might be irritating, although unlikely since they pride themselves on being the skin gurus. And my cupboards are starting to see an increased amount of sugar.
If you have heard of Kris Carr or Suzanne Somers, they will pretty much tell you sugar is the devil when it comes to our hormones (second only to artificial sweeteners and dyes) and can really wreak havoc on our health. But ooooh it tastes so good! and it gives a nice little high when you're feeling dumpy. And it's super duper addictive!!
And, here's my point. I've become addicted.
For the last week I've been meticulously tracking my food on Spark People and noticing trends...sugar. Mostly in drinks.
This troubles me because there was a point in my life, about a year ago when I rarely had any sugar. Of course, I was addicted to Diet soft drinks instead.
But this week...every day I was having 2 cans of Pepsi Throwback (150 cal each), handfuls of mini marshmallows after lunch, rice Krispie treats for breakfast, 3 times I stopped at starbuck's for my Macchiato, and then came the quarts of grape Koolaid I love, and Bailey's on coffee cubes every night. Believe me, Bailey's has SUGAR!
The moral of the story? I'm coming up with a sugar reduction plan. I tried cold-turkey this morning but for 5 hours all I could think about was rice krispie treats and Bailey's and got kind of shaky and seriously mean. I did a little research and because of it's addictive nature, most people have severe withdrawal, akin to heroin withdrawals...so my best bet is probably a replace/reduce action plan.
If you have any experience or suggestion - PLEASE leave me a comment. Being gluten free and staying off the artificial sweeteners rules out a lot of the "usual" options like chewing gum and sugar free candies or filling up on whole grains for a slow carb energy spike.
In case you're curious here are the nutrition facts on my Caramel treat, from Starbucks.com:
Caramel Macchiato
Freshly steamed milk with vanilla-flavored syrup, marked with espresso and finished with caramel sauce.
| Calories 240 | Calories from Fat 60 |
| % Daily Value* | |
|---|---|
| Total Fat 7g | 11% |
| Saturated Fat 3.5g | 18% |
| Trans Fat 0g | |
| Cholesterol 25mg | 8% |
| Sodium 0mg | 0% |
| Total Carbohydrate34g | 12% |
| Dietary Fiber 0g | 0% |
| Sugars 32g | |
| Protein 10g | |
| |
| Caffeine 150mg** | |
| *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. | |
| **Each caffeine value is an approximate value. | |
