Well, I did it – I only had two small slips in 31 days (Both
equaling less than 2 grams of sugar.) Well there was one more technical slip; at
10:30 pm on the 31st day I ate not one but two Dark Chocolate Hersey Kisses. They were great!
I have to admit, I was a skeptic and didn’t really think that not eating sugar would make a difference. I was wrong! I have to say I really do feel better! I am never tired in the afternoon and I wake up feeling more rested than ever. Two friends also did this with me and had similar results. One found that when she was driving home after work she wasn’t tired any longer. My other friend used to get migraines and didn’t have one all month!
The first week was the most difficult. Being shocked again and again by all of the products with added sugar and then trying to deal with all of those sugar cravings. I finally found a cure for the cravings; I would eat a few golden raisins. They have lots of natural sugar and taste nice and sweet. It was just enough to cut the cravings.
By week two we had it down to a system! We knew what to eat, what not to eat and had some good recipes. We learned to substitute the sugar in some recipes with honey or molasses. We actually talked about trying make margaritas with honey or maple syrup but decide not to go that far.
The hardest part of not eating added sugar is trying to go out to eat. It’s next to impossible. You have to figure almost every condiment, bread, cracker, sauce etc. has added sugar. There was literally NOTHING on the McDonald’s menu I could eat. COSI had 2 items on their menu. I spent a few hours on the internet trying to find food I could eat. Most of the times we just chose to stay home.
I am going to try and continue to eat less sugar – but no sugar is just too difficult for the long haul. What is funny is now that I have been “allowed” to eat sugar for two days I don’t really care if I have it or not. I haven’t had a single sugar craving. Mind you, I did eat 3 cookies yesterday but only because I could!
