Paying for Accountability UPDATED
From Unthinkable to Identity
Unthinkable: Sugar Free Christmas!!!
For the holidays we made the return journey. The 900 kilometer, 11ish hour, drive to see family through the snow on icy winter roads.
In my family, over the holidays, sugar is a food group. There are desserts that have been served my entire life. For example, my mom makes the most amazing mini-cheesecakes. Eating them is like eating my childhood* (Update Below).
This year, after committing to it, I did not eat sugar. At all.
Seems minor after the fact, however this broke a multi-decade struggle.
With the proper support, I was able to shift this from unthinkable to part of my identity.
The Value of Accountability
As the week went by, with larger and more amazing desserts on offer, my capacity to say “no, thank you” increased. I grew in my resolve and my satisfaction with holding my posture increased.
I slept better while away (always tricky). My body was happier.
This was made possible by having an agreement in place. By being in accountability with another person.
I paid someone else, my coach, to hold me accountable.
And it worked…really well. It was easier than I expected.
Going Forward
As we head into 2026, this has me thinking about what I really want and how to get that. The catalyst of this intention was an ongoing sugar addiction and finding some space from that.
I can see what’s possible again. I am reminded of how it feels (good) to keep things a bit cleaner. My brain actually feels better, my body less inflamed. I can feel my relationship with food shifting. So grateful.
What else is “unthinkable” that I can shift in my identity?
What about for you?
Offer: Let me know if there is anything you might want some accountability with.
*I Struggle With Food
I recognize for many, no sugar over the holidays may not be a big deal. For me, food is one of the toughest challenges I face. Sugar in particular.
I am adding this part after me wife reminded why this was such a big deal: I was very overweight as a kid.
For you 80’s kids, I was Chunk from the Goonies.
A few fond memories from many years ago:
Pee Wee Football Weigh-in (Grade 5, so about 11 years old).
The scene: shabby Junior High gymnasium, a couple hundred kids waiting to be weighed, me on a scale up on stage. The cutoff is 125 pounds.
The guy working the scale calls for “QUIET!” and then “We may have a cut here!”
The gym falls silent, you can hear a pin drop except the clicking of the metal scale weights (I actually had no idea what was happening) as he calibrated how heavy I was.
Gratefully??! I weighed 122.5 pounds, just under the line.
I was the heaviest kid in the league.
I have cried in change rooms while the pant sizes kept getting larger and larger.
I have dreaded change rooms and swimming pools and dressing rooms.
Food is how I salved myself. I could eat my way to some kind of peace. Rows of Chips Ahoy cookies dipped in milk...
So it’s a big deal. Proud of successfully navigating a sugar free Christmas.
Kris