No Sugar, No Cravings, No Kidding!

I began my personal ‘no sugar crusade’ on Monday, April 19th, 2010. And I have been sabotaged on three occasions by sugar. Once while using carrot sticks to dig out hummus out of its container, I noticed that sugar was an added ingredient. Once, while at a lunch meeting I opted for baked beans instead of potato salad or coleslaw, realizing later that sugar is what makes baked beans so good. And then the ultimate, but really unmasked sugar drink, a margarita at the baseball game!

As I have done many times in the past I made a declaration to myself that this day would be the day that I stop the sugar cycle. Breaking bad habits can be very difficult and sometimes you just have to keep starting over until you finally get it. That particular Monday afternoon, with my ‘no more sugar’ banner flying high in my mind, I was handling peanut M&M’s and cookies for a new student orientation. I still recall the sweet smell and sound the M&M’s made as I poured them into little plastic serving cups. Suddenly, it happened. That craving began to creep up inside me and for a brief moment I thought about throwing down my ‘no more sugar’ banner and throwing up my white flag, surrender now and start again tomorrow.

Just as quickly as the thought of surrender surfaced, a new thought stood ground and suggested, “Why not just try not giving into the craving for now, as an experiment, and see what happens.” To my surprise the crusade survived that battle and I have not touched or craved sugar or M&M’s since that day.

That is not to say that I don’t think about M&M’s or cookies or scones. A box of Godiva Dark Truffles has been sitting in the office all week and sometimes I peek inside the box to admire the beautiful chocolate balls but I don't have one. The experiment has to be long enough for me to have measurable results. Yes, there are many variables that come into play, but with each passing day I am further away from sugar and its destructive path.

There’s no nutrition in sugar, yet it is found in so many of the foods we eat. Why does my store-bought hummus need to have sugar in it?

My nutrition today:

Pre-Breakfast: Coffee, (another nutrition-less food), with 1% milk.
Breakfast: Greek yogurt, blueberries, sunflower seeds/walnuts

Snack: Slice of Cheese (I was out of the zone on that one)

Lunch: Chicken and curried green beans sautéed in coconut milk with a
teaspoon of raisons.
Unsweetened iced tea

Dinner: Roasted Chicken thigh with raw snap peas and cherry tomatoes
Decaf tea

Snack: Leftover Greek yogurt from breakfast (1/2 cup)

PS. I did not workout today, but my core and shoulders are extremely sore from yesterday’s Fran and core training.