I intended to write this post 10 days ago, April 9th, the day after Easter. My intent was to write a post and let you all know what I was doing and then update you on my journey. But obviously, that didn't happen. The post and the updates I mean, the journey...well that did happen!
I decided that I was going to attempt to go 10 days without eating sugar. I decided to do this to hopefully break my addiction to sugar. I hope you're not envisioning me as a shaky, sweaty mess if I don't get my fix, I'm not THAT kind of addict. Rather, I'm the kind of addict that is completely stuffed from dinner but I want to eat dessert anyway. The kind that once I start eating said dessert I won't stop eating it until it is completely gone, no matter how stuffed I am because it tastes so good. The kind of addict that sees a piece of chocolate and says to myself, "whatever" and eats it. And then eats another. And maybe 4 or 5 more after that.
I knew that going 10 days without sugar was going to be difficult. I suppose I should specify what I mean by sugar. I didn't give up sugar completely I gave up processed sugar, artificial sweeteners, and any item that contain a lot of sugar (some cereals as an example). So basically that left me with yogurt and fruit as the only sweet things I could eat and for beverages I had the choice of water or milk.
Day one was by far the hardest. Why? Mostly because it was the day after Easter and everywhere I looked there was chocolate staring back at me. My solution was to put all the Easter candy into a container and place it in a cabinet so I'd only have to see it when I opened that cabinet. I placed it in the cabinet where we keep our drinking glasses so it is still a cabinet that I use quite often but for whatever reason placing it there solved the problem.
My next biggest challenger was my after dinner sweet tooth. I don't know why but I always seem to want something sweet after dinner. That fix was fairly easy though! Granny Smith Apples, pineapple, strawberries and mangoes have been my lifesaver! All are amazingly sweet, juicy, and delicious and were able to curb even the worst craving for something sweet. The only time I really, came close to caving was the night that Y decided she wanted chocolate chip cookies for an after dinner treat. When I make cookie dough I always form the dough into balls and freeze them so that they can be easily and quickly baked. The smell of them baking in the oven was about all I could take. Enter in the mango to save the day! Tomorrow I will take dinner over to a friend from church who just had a baby. I just completed making the dessert I'll be taking over, Knock You Naked Brownies (the most incredible brownie you'll ever eat)! I was so proud of myself that I was able to make them without eating any of the caramels (I always manage to unwrap a few and eat them) and I also didn't pop a single chocolate chip into my mouth either (that's never happened either).
Ten days without sugar and I haven't even been moody about it. Miracles do happen!
All-in-all, when I look back over the past 10 days I am amazed by how easy it was for me to keep sugar out of my diet. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised because, for the most part, it's what I do when I'm pregnant. But it's always easier to do when I know that the health of some little life depends on my choices. It's been so easy that I've been toying with the idea of extending my 10 day "detox" into a full 30 days. I just decided about an hour ago that I'd extend it another 10 days for now and maybe after that's over I'll look into an additional 10 days which would put me at 30 days total.
Here's to 20 days! Wish me luck!
