Sugar is My Gateway Drug

In my eternal quest for the perfect diet for me, I have made yet another change. I don't think there is necessarily a "perfect diet", but I do always strive to do better. And by diet I mean, the way I eat, not some restricted low carb, low fat, low food crazy thing. I use the word in the meaning of my daily food intake. Got it? :)

So, as of January first, 2011 (I still have a hard time writing 2011, anyone else?) I officially cut sugar out of my diet. Best thing I have ever done for me. I could easily become addicted to sugar and have in the past. Sugar is my gateway drug. When I have it I want more and I'll eat it until it makes me sick. For some reason "moderation" does not work for sugar and me. It makes me feel ill after I eat it and then I eat more crappy stuff, so I don't get my workouts in and basically sit around like a big slug. Ok, not really, I have two little kids that don't let me sit around, but you get the general idea. It makes me feel like crap, so why eat it?

What I have cut out is processed sugary treats, like cake, cookies, candy, doughnuts, ice cream. Things like that. I still eat fruit and love it. I don't eat a lot of processed foods so that's not a huge issue for me. After I go about a week without sugar it is a non-issue. I don't crave it or even think about it. I've never been all that big of a chocolate eater, so I don't really miss that. I used to love ice cream, but now I make myself a chocolate protein ice cream in the summer that I LOVE and tastes better to me than the sugar loaded one that gives me a sugar hangover in the morning. People are always surprised that I have cut this stuff out of my life, like I am depriving myself, but it doesn't feel that way to me. If it makes me feel ill, then isn't cutting it out then taking care of myself? Yes. That is how I look at it.

I just had a birthday and it wasn't a big deal that I didn't have a birthday cake. We took the kids to New Seasons for a treat so they could feel like they were celebrating with me in the traditional way. They still get to have cake for their own birthday, don't worry. :) I did have dark chocolate almond butter. I don't count that because it's dark chocolate, not milk chocolate, and the sugar content is fairly low. This is my thing and I make up my own rules. ;)

I've been doing the no sugar thing off and on for about 18 months now. I would go about a month then feel like I needed a treat, and have a treat for a couple days then go back off. This has worked great for me. 2011 has been my longest stretch, 46 days (if I don't count the chocolate almond butter). Feels good and I will probably keep it going for awhile.

When you make changes to your diet or lifestyle, you really don't need to do everything at once. That could be overwhelming. Make small changes such as:

1. Cut out fast food
2. Drink more water
3. Cut out sugar
4. Eat more veggies, best to be specific about this, as "eat more veggies" is so vague. How about "Eat 5 servings of veggies a day"
5. Eat more fiber
6 Workout 3 times a week
7. Walk 30 minutes everyday
8. Eat a healthy breakfast
9. Stop drinking soda
10. Walk to work

Can you imagine if you tried to do all of these things at once? I'd be looneytunes. One thing at a time is totally doable, not overwhelming at all. When you feel comfortable with that one thing, when it has become a part of your life that you don't even give a second thought to anymore, then it is time to add another thing. This has been my thought this week. Time to add something new. My goals are probably different than yours. I'll let you know tomorrow what I changed, as of Monday, and how it's been going.

So, what are you going to change?