Breaking the Sugar (or any other) Habit

Friday, May 1 at 10:00 p.m. I decided to give up sugar. I had just raided my son's gallon Ziploc bag and downed a few Smarties and some Hershey's kisses. There may have been more but I stopped paying attention to the wrappers. And the fact that I was doing that very thing at that time of the night was the reason I decided I had to lay off the stuff. Partially for health reasons and partially just to see if I can.

So it's been 10 days and I haven't stumbled once. Not even an Atomic Fireball. I think I know why it's working and I believe that these same ideas can help a person work on changing other habits.

• Set a time limit. Mine is 30 days. Then, if I want to, I can go back to eating whatever I want. Saying that this is a forever decision is too daunting. I'm just doing it for now.

• Take one challenge at a time. Yesterday at my mom's celebrating Mother's Day she had an ice cream sundae bar. I REALLY wanted some ice cream with caramel sauce. But I took it one minute at a time. I got a really good cup of coffee and savored it. Just one minute at a time the decision was made not to have the ice cream. Pretty soon it was being put away and the temptation was gone. When you're challenged, break temptation down into the smallest possible successes and build on it.

• Make it reasonable. In this case giving up sugar means cookies, candy, cake, pie, cinnamon bread, ice cream and the like. Fake sugar is also banned for the time being. However I have consumed food where sugar is an ingredient -- like in prepared spaghetti sauce. I had a couple of margaritas at a party and I'm sure there is sugar in that mix. The list of things I'm giving up is easy to manage and do-able, it's not over the top. Striving for perfection can lead to an all or nothing way of thinking. "I had a margarita so I may as well eat that sleeve of Thin Mints." Start small and manageable.

• Tell someone about your effort. People who believe in you will help you succeed. People who don't believe you can do it will inspire you to prove them wrong!

These strategies also work if you're trying to create a new habit, like starting to exercise program, or getting better organized. If you try them, I'd like to hear how these strategies work for you. And if you have others post them here.