Surrounded by sugar! ... Suggestions?

[KBeck05]

Hello all! So I am seriously considering/wanting to give the Whole30 a try, I have the book "It Starts with Food" and I purchased the cookbook "Well Fed." Without getting into too much detail, I have been practicing yoga since the beginning of the year for some mental clarity (which has been AWESOME), and my studio is doing the program but it is WAY too expensive (like $200 too expensive... it includes yoga workshops too, thats why).

So that being said I want to try it on my own... My only issue is that as a student, I have a part time job at none other than a coffee shop. Yup, I'm a barista (and a darn good one at that!). I'm sure you can see where I'm going... chocolate, syrups, bakery, cream, sugar, the whole sha-bang! I don't know HOW I am going to complete this program working THERE!

So I'm reaching out to others. Anybody else been in this position, surrounded by sugar? Is there anything you did to curb the cravings? I haven't started the program, but I tried the other day to not eat anything there, I started off strong, but failed miserably by the end. I didn't really have a food "plan" for the day so that might help, but I thought any suggestions would be helpful!

[JJB]

Luckily I am not surrounded by sugar, but I just wanted to say that you shouldn't use your one-day test run as a possible gauge for your future success. When you start this eating plan, it could take several days or more for sugar cravings to subside. It's different for everyone. It might be best for you to start at the beginning of a weekend or vacation, so you have more time away from the temptations for the first several days. There are all kinds of things that could trigger hunger/sugar cravings that you still had in your system for that one day. Some people crave sugar when they eat dairy, or artificial sweeteners, or wheat, or drink alcohol. It may take some time for you to figure out what your triggers are. Don't let your "failure" discourage you. I could never stay away from sweets on my old diet. I realize now it was not my fault...it was my diet of wheat, wheat, candy, diet soda, oatmeal, oh and then some more diet soda, candy, and wheat. Once I got rid of all that crap, the cravings were gone. I do still miss sweets, but *most* of the time I can easily pass them up. It's a great feeling and I hope you get there too!

[Guest]

I think you have a lot of the tools that you will need. You have the book to help you understand why you will be making different choice for 30 days, you knwo that planning can help you succeed, and you have a cookbook that can help you with your planning.

I also wanted to add that the daily e-mails have been incredible for me. I found them to be really pertinent to my experiences. In the first days, I set goals and developed plans for handling cravings. The e-mails could help you with that, too.

Planning, eating enough at meals, telling yourself you will not snack or eat mindlessly at work or otherwise, and thinking of ways to distract yourself, like chatting up a coworker, cleaning a machine, restocking something, reciting a mantra in your head....Many of us have done it - from living with non-compliant food in the house, to dealing with children/family, and dealing with work. Maybe it is time for you to prep your pantry and give it a try.

[CaseyD]

Ouch! That sounds like a rough place to quit sugar.

Doing it with a group is a very strong motivation - especially a group local to you. I wonder if you could bargain with them to get the price down. I volunteered to help with the kick off and finishing pot luck of a 6 week paleo challenge locally once and was able to do it for free (I think they were charging $90). Maybe you could try seeing if there is any way you could help to reduce the price, or maybe see if they will cut the cost if you don't participate in all the workshops but can still do the dietary challenge to be a part of that. People who really care about other's health and well being will usually try to find a way to work with you. Tell them how much you want to do it and the challenge you are facing! I think having a local group to do this with would be a big motivator for you to stick out the sugar cravings at your job.

But, if that just cannot be an option, I'd try to line up the 3rd and 4th days with days off. Those tend to be the hardest for many people. Plan ahead EVERYTHING you are going to eat while you're at work (and make it really tasty stuff with enough fat) and if you have to pay for stuff you consume at work, just don't bring any money with you to work for the first week or two. Oh, and tell your coworkers you are quitting sugar for the next 30 days. Basically, set it up so it would be a big hassle to cave, if you can.

Good luck! It is worth it!

[CaseyD]

I also second signing up for the email daily. It is tremendously helpful.

[Fenderbender]

I am a chef.... Not just of a restaurant, but a very high end catering establishment where we make world class food that varies day to day...meal to meal... I get local and international ingredients daily that would make anyone drool....

That said.... Food is fuel.... You've tasted the gooey sweet stuff and and it isn't going to taste better again tomorrow ..... It will however make you less healthy.... So I see sugary/floury/stuff now like its a big box of rat poison..... Not going in my body!!!!

[annabel]

How long have you worked there for?

I found that after about eight months of working in a cafe all of those temptations just disappeared one day and I was utterly disgusted by all of the sugary syrups and pastries and rarely wanted to drink anything there besides an Americano. Just opening the pastry case and getting a whiff of everything in it was enough to turn my stomach.

Like CaseyD said, tell your coworkers what you're doing and they'll help to keep you accountable if drinks/food have to be processed through the tills.