So, last Sunday our Church started a church-wide fast. For three weeks we give up something that we want in order to become better versions of ourselves, or something like that. It is a lot like giving up something for Lent in the Catholic religion.
Considering my recent bouts with colitis, and metformin causing me to heave my guts out for hours on end, this lead me to the decision to cut out all extraneous sugar. I went off the metformin and my doctor has put me on a different prescription to help get my blood sugar under control. (I went to pick it up at the pharmacy and it was over $300! But that’s another tale for another time.)
I realize I’ve been lack in my eating discipline and have been eating more things that are bad for me that I shouldn’t be eating. So, I’m cutting out all those things – brownies, chocolate chip cookies, candy, hot chocolate, and Dr. Pepper. The hot chocolate and Dr. Pepper are once a week things but still, they don’t do my blood sugar levels any favors.
We’re one week into the fast. I’m actually into week two because the previous week before we started I was recovering from my most recent colitis attack and had cut out all the bad things for me.
I’ve been struggling some with this. Chocolate is one of the very few coping mechanisms I have for dealing with the world. If I get stressed I want a bit of chocolate. Apparently it releases some chemical into your brain that leads to emotional satisfaction. That, and I just like chocolate. I tried to be good and just have a small piece every day. Nothing bigger than a mini snack-size bar, or a single Hershey kiss. Not necessarily good for my blood sugar but nowhere near as bad as my one weekly Dr. Pepper.
Since Christmas 2024 when the wife got me a ton of candy I thought I was doing well. It took me ten months and about three weeks to finally get through all of it, having a small piece everyday as outlined above. But starting last summer, after we moved, I was having other things as well, like chocolate chip cookies, or brownies, even the occasional chocolate doughnut. That was when the wife entered the ICU and then rehab for her blood infection. It was certainly stressful at the time.
Yesterday was the first weekly Dr. Pepper I had to skip. Water just isn’t a good substitute when you’re craving bouncy bubbly beverage. There have been times in the last year where I’d really crave Dr. Pepper. Like, wanting to chug a 2 liter bottle non-stop. Maybe two in a row. I used to crave chocolate the same way, until I found out that it is a signal from your body that you need more magnesium. Once I started taking magnesium supplements, the chocolate cravings virtually disappeared. I wonder if there is something similar that craving Dr. Pepper indicates your body needs? If so, I need to find out what it is and take it.
Sundays I have my weekly hot chocolate. Considering the weather we’ve had recently, and the forecast that it is going to continue being cold and nasty, now is NOT the time to be giving up hot chocolate. I don’t drink tea or coffee, so being able to have at least one hot drink a week, especially when it is cold out, is a comfort.
Overall, about all I’m getting from this fast is being cranky and more curmudgeonly. This is supposed to be spiritually good for me somehow, I’m just not sure how. My blood sugars have gone down some so at least that is beneficial. I haven’t started taking the new prescription yet because I want to see how well cutting out all the bad stuff for me changes my levels. They should go down over all. I’m logging all the data of course to see the overall effect.
Do you fast, my Hordeling, and do you find any benefit to it? If so, hit reply and let me know.
If you’d like to support my efforts, why not buy me a chocolate chip cookie through my Ko-Fi page? https://ko-fi.com/jhusum