The biscuit tinHabits

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The biscuit tin

A short book about sugar as a reward, a pick-me-up and a comfort, and what it gives back

20 chapters12,501 wordsAbout 57 minFirst edition

What's inside

·Before you startThis is a short book and you can read it in two or three sittings. It's about one habit. Several times a day, between meals, you eat something sweet, and…2 min
1Thursday, five to elevenIt's five to eleven on a Thursday morning and you've just sent off the quarterly figures, which you'd been dreading since Monday. You're working from…3 min
2Why the tin is always fullIf you recognised that Thursday, you may have the familiar feeling that you're weak. I don't think so, and I'd like to start with how heavily the odds are…2 min
3"I'm addicted to sugar"Many people with a daily habit like this describe themselves as sugar addicts. Magazines and documentaries encourage it. You may have read that sugar…3 min
4"It gives me a lift"It does give you one. I want to be straight about this, because a book that told you the pleasure was imaginary would lose you at the first biscuit.…2 min
5"I need it to get through the afternoon"Of the three jobs, the pick-me-up seems the most scientific. Sugar is energy. Your blood sugar is low in the afternoon, so you top it up, and the machine…3 min
6"I've earned it"You sent off the quarterly figures and took two chocolate digestives from the tin. This is the job that feels most innocent. Rewarding yourself for hard…3 min
7"It helps when I'm upset"Comfort is the hardest of the three jobs to write about, because the feeling behind it is the most real. When you came off the phone to Claire you were…3 min
8"It's just what I do in the evening"The three jobs cover most of what the tin does, but if you kept the notes I suggested in chapter 1, you may have found some entries that fit none of them.…3 min
9"It's only a biscuit"Every individual use of the tin is small. Two digestives or a chocolate bar is nothing, and a slice of the cake someone brought in is nothing either.…2 min
10"The sugar you drink"So far I've talked as if the tin held only biscuits and chocolate. For many people a good part of the day's sugar arrives in a cup, a can or a glass, and…2 min
11"Life without it would be grey"If you've followed the argument so far, you may have started to feel uneasy. It's the unease people feel when something they rely on is under threat.…3 min
12"It would be rude to say no"Some of the sugar in your week doesn't come from your own tin at all. It's offered to you. There's the plate of biscuits that comes out with the tea at…2 min
13"I've got no willpower around it"At some point in most conversations about sugar, someone says that they simply have no willpower. If there are biscuits in the house, they'll eat them.…3 min
14What the tin costs youThe last few chapters took the jobs one at a time. This one adds up what the whole arrangement costs, leaving aside anything that needs a blood test to…3 min
15Doing the three jobs properlyIf the tin is going to stop doing the three jobs, something else has to do them, because the needs don't go away. This chapter takes each in turn. Apart…3 min
16The decisionHere's the rule I'm suggesting. I eat sweet things with a meal, because I like them. Between meals, the tin stays shut. It has six parts. With a meal…3 min
17Birthdays, hypos and other hard casesIf you have diabetes. I said it in the preface and I'll repeat it. If you treat low blood sugar with sugar, that's medicine, and it comes before any rule…3 min
18Thursday againIt's a Thursday some months on, and at five to eleven you press send on the quarterly figures. You lean back in the chair and look at the sent message for…2 min
·NotesThis book gives general information. It isn't medical or dietary advice, and it's no substitute for a professional who knows your situation. NHS guidance…5 min