Bye-bye, Sugar!

DAY ONE OF NO SUGAR

It's been twelve hours without sugar. Thank goodness I was asleep for about six of those hours, or I would have thought of nothing else.

It all started yesterday afternoon when Bridger said, "I need your help getting healthier." My son is tall, lean, and handsome. He was pretty proud of his developing four-pack last summer. He wants it back, and more, I'm guessing. He wants to adopt a healthy lifestyle...working out each day, and eating lean protein, whole grains, and... no sugar.

No sugar? Was he serious? Is this my child? Bridger is my one who makes special requests at the grocery store: Pop Tarts, Smucker's Uncrustable Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches, Kit Kat candy bars...

In Bridger's high school health class, they recently watched Supersize Me. That movie impacted me, too, when I saw it. It documents a man's thirty day experience eating every meal for a month at McDonald's. It sickened me to watch his health deteriorate so rapidly, and his weight to climb so steadily. 

Typically, when we go out to eat, Bridger orders the fries, and shares a few with me. After Supersize Me, I saw several documentaries about the food industry and diet. My conscience is disturbed when I think about eating meat now. I experience guilt when I don't eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables, which has been going on for days on end lately. That's a lot of guilt to carry around every day. I also realize that I am a sugar addict.

We started walking yesterday afternoon, and we will walk today when he gets home from school. Tonight, he wants to start getting to bed earlier so he can wake up earlier, and go for a walk with me before breakfast. Life is about to get interesting for us, I believe. He is like his sister; they can sleep forever when they get the chance. All three of my children are goal-oriented, though, and once they set their mind to something, they go after it with determination.

When we went to the grocery store, we stocked up on salad, carrots, celery, apples and bananas, whole grain tortillas and pasta, turkey sausage, and some Greek yogurt (to make a healthier dip for veggies). I wish Bridge had told me before we were back home (30 miles from town) that he wanted to pack a lunch now that we're eating healthier, but he decided he can have peanut butter and honey sandwiches for these first couple of days until we get back to town.

For my 40 Bags in 40 Days De-cluttering Project today, I boxed up all of the good stuff, and put it in the storage room for our move in two weeks. We've committed to 30 days of sugar-free eating, and I didn't think it was a good idea to leave the Nutella and chocolate chips in the kitchen, taunting me every time I opened a cabinet door.

Just to help me "ease into" the transition, I made my BREAKFAST COOKIES in the afternoon. It about killed me to eliminate the stevia, coconut, brown sugar, and chocolate chips from the recipe. I added more protein powder, and eliminated everything unnecessary. Nothing but health in these cookies, I tell ya! They will definitely help curb cravings because the fruit in them makes them SLIGHTLY sweet, and they're not irresistible, which will help me not devour them. We both found that we ate more yesterday, trying to quell our bodies' search for sugar, and assume once we've broken the addictive eating pattern, things will balance out. 

DAY TWO: WISH US LUCK!

No headache to report here, which makes me happy! Maybe there's something to Master Lu's Tea, or the L-glutamine that was suggested for helping with sugar cravings. Utilizing the buckshot approach is my specialty. I will do whatever it takes to help myself get through these first few days of sugar-free eating with as little trauma as possible. I drank more water, drank the tea, took the L-glutamine on an empty stomach, went for a walk, and made myself accountable by posting our intention on Facebook. 

Kind of dreading today and tomorrow, but I have always believed that the first three days are the hardest. We can do this. It's so much easier with a partner. My son has a great attitude, and it's helping me try to have a better attitude for him.

If you have any tips for kicking the sugar habit, I would love to hear from you. And if you have any great ideas for snacks to help us ease into this, that would be great! We have bananas and apples, and realize we need to get a bigger variety of fruit, but what else do you recommend? 

So begins day two. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go rustle up a teenager for our early morning walk. This should be fun; that boy loves his beauty rest. (The sleep AND his mattress!) HERE WE GO!