I don’t have a sweet tooth: I have a head full of them. As a kid I could eat sweets until I made myself sick if left to my own devices. It isn’t about being hungry; it’s all about how good it tastes to me. The sweeter the food, the better.
As I’ve gotten older I’ve learned how to stop when I’ve had enough, and “enough” happens far sooner now than it did when I was in high school. Except for the occasional breakfast cereal I don’t keep sweets in the house, because I know on days when I don’t feel like doing food prep I’ll grab the sweets to assuage my hunger. My body has told me she doesn’t like when I eat that much sugar, and I have learned to listen to her. But sometimes I feel like this isn’t good enough. During those times I feel internal pressure to cut out all processed sugar from my diet. This usually happens when I am craving sugar. That part of my psyche reasons the craving is a sign I am unhealthily addicted and need to go cold turkey like someone who wants to quit smoking. Knowing people who turn their noses up at anything processed as not being “real food” adds to that inner pressure. My inner critic uses them to beat up on me. “See: they are avoiding it. Surely they are far more healthy and moral and self-controlled than you are. Shame on you!”
Since when is one’s choice to eat sweets a moral issue? My inner critic is ridiculous in her reasoning.
My rational brain is getting better at recognizing the difference between my inner critic shaming me and my body genuinely asking me to make a change for her health. Today’s desire to cut out sugar is not based in my body telling me to; it is all about assuaging my misplaced guilt. I need to ignore my inner critic and let my body do her own thing. I’ll find a way to satisfy that craving (with sugar, thank you, not with some so-called healthy alternative) and trust my body. She’ll tell me when she’s had enough.