Quitting Sugar Day 5

Wow, to be honest I am impressed that we have made it to day 5. In the grand scheme of things 5 days isn't a long time, but it's a great start for us! I knew this was going to be tough, and it has been. There are so many moments where I feel like my body is calling for something sweet. I'm trying to recognize however, that my body is just fine. It's my mind that is so desperately missing its sweet fix. I know many people who say they don't really care for sweets. They can take 'em or leave 'em. I am definitely not one of those people....oh, how I wish I was.

Sugar is my drug of choice. Somehow everything just feels better when sugar is involved. I can sense that my relationship to sugar is profoundly unhealthy because rarely do I have something sweet and feel satisfied when it is gone. I always want more. In one sense, it's almost easier to not have any sugar at all because I don't have to face the obsessive want for more after it's gone. (or at least I keep telling myself it's easier!) I've replaced my daily sweet treats with an excessive amount of nuts. I know filling my sugar void with nuts isn't really a good idea, but for now I'm taking it one step at a time.

So here we are on day 5. This is hard. But we haven't given up yet. Let the no sugar experiment continue!

Quitting Sugar Day One

Since beginning our new way of eating a few months ago, we seen our ups and downs. At times we feel like we are eating pretty well, and other times everything seems to just go out the window. Throughout this journey there is one thing we seem to just keep coming back to...our old friend sugar. We tend to trick ourselves into believing consuming sugar is ok by using honey, maple syrup, or other natural sweeteners (even the calorie free kind like stevia). After taking an honest look at what we eat and how we think, we've realized we're addicted to the sweet stuff.  The thought of taking the sweetness out our food, feels like taking the sweetness out of our lives! In light of this realization, we read I Quit Sugar by Sarah Wilson. Her story gave us the inspiration to give quitting sugar a TRY.

In her book, Sarah Wilson suggests giving up all sugar for 8 weeks. This 8 week period is suggested in order to break the sugar addiction that many people (including us!) have. After the 8 weeks are over, she says some sweetness can be added back into the diet in small amounts.

Because of who we are and our track record with sugar, the everything in moderation idea isn't a good fit for us....so here's to quitting sugar day one!

(...did I mention we went out for extra large ice cream sundaes last night?)