I'm Sugar Free!

I probably should have mentioned this in yesterday's post about non-candy items for Easter baskets, but I'm not eating sugar for the month of March.  It's not a Lent thing, it's purely a health thing.  I've been exercising a lot lately and I'm still not really seeing any real results.  I *thought* I ate pretty well, but I know I have a weakness for sugar and sugary foods.  Soo, I decided to see what happened if I went without sugar.  I had to make it long enough to be able to see if I there was any change and I didn't think I'd be able to stick to it if I made it indefinite so the arbitrary selection of the month of March it was.  I still plan to eat my coffee-and-donuts donut on Sundays with the family.  That's a family tradition and I know that by allowing myself one "bad" thing a week I'll be able to fend off the urges to eat bad things throughout the week.  I'm also
allowing myself to eat honey. Not a ton, but I'm using it as a sweeter in tea.  This, I reason, isn't processed sugar and it's a way for me to still enjoy my cups of tea that I use as a snack in the evening.  I'm torn on maple syrup because it's a sugary food, but it's also natural, like honey.  I had a dab on my (pumpkin) pancakes last night for dinner, but I'm not going to use it as a sweeter.  Two "cheats" is too much. (I will say that I added a little to warm milk along with nutmeg and cinnamon for the kids as an evening snack and it went over really well!) So that's what I'm doing.  For some people, this may seem silly and really easy but for me, this is a REAL struggle.  I've read that once you break your body of the craving for sweets you're good to go, but I'm not there yet.  Plus, sugar is in EVERYTHING!  Granola bars, the almonds I LOVE from the Y's vending machine, graham crackers, it seems like everything I try to grab as a snack contains sugar.  (Which is probably why I love it all so much!)  So along with the no sugar, I'm really decreasing my snacking, which is good too.  I'll be honest, I'm kind of hoping not to see much of a change, but I think I'm already feeling better. DARN! I feel better about my diet in general without the sugar.  I don't ever think back on the day and think, "WOW!  I really ate a TON of junk!"  It's also easier to just say no than to stop.  If I think "I can't eat that cookie" it's a lot easier for me that if I think "I can only eat one cookie."  And I pick up Girl Scout cookies tomorrow!  NO COOKIES!!!  Ohh, this is going to be a tough month! I'll keep you posted. (By this I mean I will continue to whine about by sugar fast.)