"No Sugar" - Week 2 & Beyond.

[neelu]

I failed at going sugar free. During the summer, as I've mentioned before, I managed to drastically cut down my sugar intake so much that I only ate sugar which was an ingredient in a painkiller remedy and occasionally had a teaspoon of ketchup on my food once or twice a week and that was it. My throat was getting better after years and I felt proud.

I was doing so well for a couple of months but as soon as the cold weather started, my routine changed. My sleep times changed and physically I became much weaker probably cos of the weather which meant I felt the need to drink tea to help me get up and I always have honey with my tea and occasionally dark chocolate- then bit by bit I fell into some bad habits and now my routine is the same as it was pre-COVID back in the spring and early summer. Also as some of you know, October was an horrific month for me so I felt more of a need for comfort foods and that sort of thing. It's hard to know how to go about retraining myself to be better disciplined about how I eat and rectify this but I'm not ready to even try yet.

[Ya'sin]

Sisters Ya'sin and neelu, yes.. heard this from quite a significant amount of people. I know of both emotional eaters and emotional non-eaters (when stressed or upset, they don't eat/don't feel like eating, and almost force themselves to eat only because they know they need to).

Allah grant ease and management to all.

That happens too,eating one meal but very rare

[Rahma.]

Sisters Ya'sin and neelu, yes.. heard this from quite a significant amount of people. I know of both emotional eaters and emotional non-eaters (when stressed or upset, they don't eat/don't feel like eating, and almost force themselves to eat only because they know they need to).

Allah grant ease and management to all.

[neelu]

Rahma.


It's a little bit of damage too, stuck in the past, craving the protection and safety
the nostalgia of that shelter, the innocence and simplicity of being a docile child in their own bubble

no actual direct human love, no touch of warmth, just the sweetness of chocolate after school, the entertainment of TV, the satisfaction of a good meal, the cosyness of one's home, the reminder of the rain specifically in November acting as an everlasting memory of childhood

hiding indoors

Again I think a lot of that is very relatable. You're right that mental health conditions often aren't treated with the seriousness and consideration they deserve on this forum, but I still think everyone can relate to stuff such as emotional eating as that's far more prevalent and doesn't necessary fall under the mental health category (though mental health conditions can exacerbate addictive behaviours such as over eating etc).

As for your point about nostalgia. I definitely feel my comfort zone is living in the past. I don't like the way this society is going. I mean even if you set aside the kufr side of things, even the media dramas and comedies are nowhere near as good as they used to be. I don't like the increased intrusiveness of technology, the fact that if you call a supermarket or bank, you're put through to a machine and often can't talk to an actual person, people being more glued to their phones and devices so they lose personal in person connections. If I say more I'll sound too much like an old person but it's true.

Even though I've made serious efforts to improve my diet to one that better suits my health, I've had slip ups and I totally relate to why a person would crave comfort foods in times of stress or even just for other reasons (sometimes the reason could be the meal doesn't feel satisfying until you've had something sweet at the end and a lot of people feel that way).

[Ya'sin]

Rahma.


It's a little bit of damage too, stuck in the past, craving the protection and safety
the nostalgia of that shelter, the innocence and simplicity of being a docile child in their own bubble

no actual direct human love, no touch of warmth, just the sweetness of chocolate after school, the entertainment of TV, the satisfaction of a good meal, the cosyness of one's home, the reminder of the rain specifically in November acting as an everlasting memory of childhood

hiding indoors

[notEVOLVED]

What's British for sugar?

[Rahma.]

Ya'sin

As-salamu 'alaikum, 😊
I agree that it's very common. Emotions and food. For some it might be sweet stuff, for some it's savoury.

For example, I think a lot of people seek tastes they tasted as a child... maybe it's an attachment to 'mother' - a comfort - whose food we grew up with and love. Or reminders of carefree childhood days.

It's reminded me of this:

"... it's not the places [of Madina] that believers love, it's the reminder of the beloved..." sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam.

To some, it's just a food item / place, but to someone else, it's a reminder of good / happy times.

Also food / feeding people can/does bring people together. Easily, food has the quality of emotion being attached to it.

Anas [ra] said: A tailor invited the Prophet ﷺ to a meal which he had prepared and I went along with the Prophet. He presented barley bread and soup containing pumpkin and dried sliced meat, and I saw the Prophet going after the pumpkin round the dish, so I have always liked pumpkin since that day. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

It's not the pumpkin... it's the beloved. ﷺ

:)

[Ya'sin]

I think a lot of people would relate to that. Comfort eating is very common- loads of people do it, especially during times of stress, grief or depression. I'm sure a lot of people put on weight during the pandemic cos of that (as well as having fewer opportunities to be active due to lockdown).

I haven't seen people on here talk about it and find that generally mental issues or mocked on the forum
I know Abisali can relate and non Muslims

[neelu]

Having trouble with emotional eating

Relied on sugar for comfort

I know people that can't relate to this will find it absurd but anyway, I had more sugar than I normally do and I want some more

Just to help with managing my negative emotions

I think a lot of people would relate to that. Comfort eating is very common- loads of people do it, especially during times of stress, grief or depression. I'm sure a lot of people put on weight during the pandemic cos of that (as well as having fewer opportunities to be active due to lockdown).

[Ya'sin]

Having trouble with emotional eating

Relied on sugar for comfort

I know people that can't relate to this will find it absurd but anyway, I had more sugar than I normally do and I want some more

Just to help with managing my negative emotions

[neelu]

If I'm honest, this morning I ended up eating most of the things I'd been avoiding for a couple of months, but it's cos I had a severe headache and often when I get a bad headache or migraine, then I tend to need strong caffeine and something sweet so I had coffee and put about half a teaspoon of maple syrup on my gluten free pancakes. I get these headaches around 2-3 days a month on average but the rest of the time, it's much easier to stick to the dietary precautions.

As-salamu 'alaikum

Well done ^ sis neelu. 😊 Ma sha Allah, that is excellent. Allah bless your efforts. :)

By the way, someone mentioned a place (forgot details, was first time ever heard of them) to me that seek Muslimah writers to write on specific different topics... you interested? You share some interesting things on here, ma sha' Allah. Let me know and I'll try and get the link and PM it to you, in sha Allah. You could have a read of the details and see if it's something you'd like to partake in... ?

____

Still need to make a proper start again on the no sugar; had frozen cakes and things that need/ed finishing. I have to help out you see. 🤭 :p

Walaykum salam,

Depends on the type of publication, what they'd want me to write about and what their parameters are (in terms of what I can't write about), but yeah I am interested in finding out what would be involved, thanks.

[Rahma.]

As-salamu 'alaikum

Well done ^ sis neelu. 😊 Ma sha Allah, that is excellent. Allah bless your efforts. :)

By the way, someone mentioned a place (forgot details, was first time ever heard of them) to me that seek Muslimah writers to write on specific different topics... you interested? You share some interesting things on here, ma sha' Allah. Let me know and I'll try and get the link and PM it to you, in sha Allah. You could have a read of the details and see if it's something you'd like to partake in... ?

____

Still need to make a proper start again on the no sugar; had frozen cakes and things that need/ed finishing. I have to help out you see. 🤭 :p

[neelu]

I've managed to cut my sugar intake further over the past two months alhamdullilah and hope I can keep that up. Earlier in the year I was consuming roughly 1-1.5 teaspoons of sugar a day. Now it's more like 0.5-1 teaspoon and most of that sugar comes from the natural pain relief powder I eat (which tastes too bitter without the sugar). I've even cut down on the amount of honey in my tea and cut down on the amount of tea I drink.

I've cut my intake of dairy and processed foods so haven't had pizza in a couple of months either. So far my throat has benefitted from this so this seems like it's worth it. My dad bought me a bottle of maple syrup from his trip though so I wasn't sure what to do about that, but I think I might use it sparingly maybe one teaspoon per fortnight or per month or something so that I can tell him I'm using it but not go overboard. Also maple syrup is meant to be good for lyme disease (might not be best for the prediabetes though).

[Rahma.]

Need to get back into the no-sugar, in sha Allah.
In the last couple of months there's been quite a lot of family visits, gatherings, occasions - lots of sweets, chocolates, cakes, cookies, etc, etc, ETC. 😬

[Fakhri-bin-Ali]

33* of 40. Alhamdulillaah.