Hi my name is Kristen and I’m a sugar\/chocoholic. I love the stuff. If I were to have my dream day of eating it would consist of high quality hot chocolate and a chocolate filled croissant for breakfast and a little (well, not too little) box full of chocolate truffles for a mid-morning snack. Lunch would be a large, warm pazooki with chocolate ice cream and a large Dr Pepper. For an afternoon snack I would then have a bag of rollos and another large Dr Pepper.<\/p>\n
Hhhmmm…what to have for dinner? I’m feeling like a little “real food” about this time so I’ll have a steak and a baked potato with the works. For dessert I’ll have a molten lava chocolate cake. Oh, and a large Dr Pepper. Now all I have to worry about is my bedtime snack. It’s easy enough, a bag of peanut m&ms. Oh why not throw in some chocolate milk too?<\/p>\n
I don’t see a problem with that. Do you?<\/p>\n
Alright, I guess I might want to avoid type II diabetes and having a brain that actually works is a good thing. I might also want to avoid being one of those 700 pound ladies that has to have a wrecking ball bash her bedroom wall down in order for her to get out of her house. That doesn’t look so comfortable. I better change my sugary ways.<\/p>\n
In order to do this I’ve made a pact with two friends who have also wanted to lose weight and eat better. We’ve decided that May would be a sugar-free month for us. Our restrictions are; no products with sugar or white flour. You would be surprised out how much food is cut out with these two rules. <\/p>\n
We discussed what our penalties would be if we broke these rules during May. Monetary penalties were discussed and then discarded. It would be too easy for me in a moment of weakness to decide that this one candy bar was definitely worth $100. No, it wasn’t money. We came up with something even more painful than that. Babysitting! Anytime you break the rules you have to baby sit the other participant’s children for a 4 hour period. Now that’s motivating!<\/p>\n
I won’t lie. The first week of May has been difficult. Much more difficult than I thought it would be. I haven’t broken the rules yet but I have had moments where I’ve been close. If not for the specter of 12 unruly children running willy nilly around my house I would have given up on May 1st at 12:15 am.<\/p>\n
It’s now the end of the 8th day and I’m wondering when this whole craving thing is going to subside. My grandpa once told me that when he quit smoking he was very cranky for the first two years and finally stopped craving cigarettes after about 7 years. Is that what’s in store for me? Yikes!<\/p>\n
Even with all of the cravings and having sugary delicious goodies on every corner I must say that it’s been worth it so far. I really haven’t lost any weight yet but I feel better. I don’t have that blanket of fatigue wrapped around me all the time now. Sure I have a few moments where I’m tired but for the most part I feel pretty alert. I think I’m sleeping better too.<\/p>\n
So what’s your advice on maintaining a sugar free lifestyle? Does anyone have any tricks to keeping me on the right track?
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