Tried it: Sugar-Free for a month

I have virtually no sense of the phrase "in moderation," especially when it comes to sweets. I have this mindset that if I'm allowing myself to indulge, then, really, I should be able to do it all day long, whenever my fancy strikes, yes? This is where I was at the end of January - and had been since the holidays started back in October. I prided myself in my extremely high sugar-tolerance: I scoffed at anyone who said something was "too sweet," and ate their portion, too (not really...but kind of). I realized things were getting a little out of hand when I noticed that any meal - even breakfast! - didn't feel complete unless I wrapped it up with something sweet. So, I decided it was time to purge.

I used to do this frequently in high school - often asking my mom to join me. We would pick a time frame - say, a month, and challenge ourselves to No Sugar: cakes, candy, cookies, Nutella, etc. We would also choose a few splurge days scattered throughout the month to give ourselves a reward.

Well, the month of February was a No Sugar month for me and my mom once again, bringing back the old high school traditions. We were allowed to splurge on the 14th (Valentine's Day) and the 22nd (Adam's birthday). The first week was pretty tough, and I found myself eating way more graham crackers, granola bars, and animal crackers (which are acceptable) than I should, just to curb my cravings. I told myself I could have it all in just another week, and sometimes that worked. By the second week, I could often distract myself from a craving with a big drink of water.

When I first started out, I told myself that the 14th was going to be monumentally sweet. Cinnamon rolls for breakfast, heart-shaped cookies for lunch, and a box of chocolates for dinner. But by the time the 14th rolled around, I almost forgot that I was allowed to eat sugar! It was noon (!) before I remembered, and I made an immediate pit-stop at the nearest Dunkin' Donuts and got a cheap, disgusting Cinnamon Roll donut (not even close to the real thing) and I grudgingly ate not one, but two, round crappy things of sugar. I didn't even enjoy it - I just was stuffing my face because I "could." Afterwards, I felt disgusting, but was ready for more sugar after a few hours.

My sugar hangover the next day was the worst - it was the most I had craved sugar since the beginning. It was like I was starting all over again - and it didn't even seem worth it. My stomach was crampy and bloated, and my head felt like it was stuffed with a pillow. A pillow made of powdered sugar, probably. I learned my lesson and my next splurge day I ate a little less sugar, and was a lot pickier about what I actually ate. I did it for the enjoyment of the food, rather than just going psycho at the donut shop.

This was a really good challenge for me to stop and look at how much sweets I'd been eating - I used to bake every other day to make sure we'd have something for dessert after dinner. Now I never bake, and I don't feel the need to. My cravings for sugar have gone way down, though I have noticed that I crave more bread now, which makes sense since white bread just turns into sugar so it's like my body is trying to be sneaky. So that's the next thing I've got to cut down on. I'm going to continue my sugar-free months, because it makes sense to me that sweets should really only be for special occasions. And when I do indulge, it should be on something that's really worth it - like a real cinnamon roll instead of a fried frisbee of sugar. So, if you like to join me - please do! We can encourage each other, and I promise the beginning is the hardest. It gets easier (especially when you have a set splurge date in the future that you can look forward to!). This month my splurge days are the 6th (my birthday), the 17th (Patty's Day), and the 31st (Easter). You can have the same splurge days or have your own but don't have more than one a week or else it gets too hard in between!



And while we're on the subjects of challenges, how is everyone doing with the Artist Challenge? Have you been writing your morning pages? Have you had an Artist date yet? Have you noticed any increase in your creativity or inspiration? I have, and I'll be sharing with you soon!