29 down, ONE to go!

Well, we're almost there. Just one more day left of our self-imposed 30-day sugar challenge. I'm feeling quite proud of myself for exercising some serious self-control these past weeks.

However, on my six day no flour, rice or bread thing... well, I failed. It seems giving up that sort of sugar, is, for me, much more challenging for me than the obvious sweets. And, I just didn't feel entirely committed to it. I kept justifying, telling myself I wasn't eating sweets, etc. I did complete a few successful days, but I was just much more willing to cave in when tempted with, say, pizza, homemade pasta, etc. I'm so grateful to not suffer from celiac disease, as I found it extremely difficult to eat wheat/gluten free when out of town (and eating out) this weekend.

So, one more day of no sugar. What have you learned about yourself, your eating habits, your will power, etc.? What will you take with you going forward? If you weighed yourself, have you lost weight during the challenge? How has having no sugar affected you?

Thanks for joining me along the way! I'll chime in about how this has been for me once day 30 is behind us!

jennifer

Upping the Ante

Hi All. So, we're in our last SIX days of our 30-day sugar challenge. I have decided to up the ante... at least on my end. If you feel like joining me, let me know. If not, no biggie. Your choice.

In addition to cutting out obvious sugar, I've decided to go the last six days with no pasta, bread or rice. I'm ready to drop a couple of pounds. Also, I want to give an anti-inflammation diet a try (no sugars) to see if it makes a difference for my occasionally achy knees.

Let me know if you're in. Regardless, good luck this final stretch!

jennifer

Only 1 Week to Go!

Well, the fact that I have posted an update in a while, is a sure sign that this no sugar thing is getting easier and easier for me. It's hardest when I see a "little something" sweet - something I could grab and pop in my mouth without anyone being the wiser for it. It's my sugar addicted reflex to just do it - grab that sugary treat and pop it in my mouth before anyone sees. Clearly, I'm not doing that now, but those are the times that are most tempting for me. Those are the times that my conscience goes out the window and I just want to get my immediate gratification.

Last week, I was really excited. I found a frozen yogurt place in San Francisco called "Fraiche." Per their website, they make their own organic yogurt, then freeze it to make their frozen yogurt. Their yogurt contains no additives and, most importantly for me, NO SUGAR! I read the website over and over to make sure I understood, and then headed to Fraiche on my way out of the city. I was really looking forward to getting a "treat" of sorts. At the fro yo counter, I asked the server, just to make sure, if the frozen yogurt had any sugar added. (Why do I always have to be such a damn rules follower?) In fact, yes it did have sugar, as they have to add a little bitty tiny bit in order for the yogurt to freeze correctly. The total was only 5g per serving. I debated and battled in my head. Only 5g of sugar total? And they have to add it - there's no choice! But then that damn conscience of mine stepped in... you'll have to post your f*ck up on the blog. You'll lose your $20. You won't have gone 30 days without sugar at the end. Argh. Conscience won. I'm sure the woman wondered what my problem was when I said "Damn. I'll be back" and left.

So, that's my story. What are yours? How are all of you hanging in there?

We only have one more week to go. February 9 is our last day. I originally posted that it would be February 10, but I had miscounted.

Hang in there! The hardest part is behind us!

Day 14!

I'm pretty blown away that it's been 14 days now that I haven't had any sugar. I'm certain that I've never gone that long in my adult life. Go me!

This is definitely getting easier. It's now more ingrained in my brain, so I don't have to think about it quite as much and the usual temptations aren't quite as tempting. I did have a talk with some Effie's Corncakes at work on Friday. We were giving out samples of them, and the little bowl of them looked SO delicious. I know they wanted me to devour them, so I just chatted with them (out loud - what a freak I am) about how much I would love to enjoying every delicious bite of them, but I just couldn't. Instead, I watched others snack on them... in a possessed, crack addict sort of way - because you cannot just eat one of these little guys. As much as I suffered, I felt good that I hadn't given in.

I'm fortunate to have a husband, who doesn't eat sweets, so we have no temptations around the house. Fruit continues to be my current love. I'm eating probably 3 -4 servings of fruit a day, which has to be good for me.

How are all of you doing? I hope all you football watchers are staying away from the evil sweets today!

Help! I'm trapped in a sugar factory and can't get out!

Just kidding. I've just been MIA. I'm sure you've all been worried about me - envisioning me keeled over next to a giant dune of powdery white stuff (I'm talking about SUGAR here! Geez.). Day 10 and I still haven't cracked.

Last night, we had some friends over for dinner. I made appetizers, salad, entree -the whole shebang - but for dessert... well, I didn't make dessert. I served oranges. Too bad for anyone expecting some fabulous sweet treat. That's right - I.Served.Oranges. One of our friends brought some petit-fours from the Fancy Food Show. I asked her to take what was left of them home with her. They were tempting me with their bright, sugary, shiny-ness catching my eye. So, I had to send them far away.

I just find that I resist over and over again. Today, I was offered some yummy smelling cookies. (Why do I torture myself by smelling the cookies anyway?) When I declined, I was told that organic cane juice was the fourth ingredient. There was hardly any sugar in them! Still, no, thank you.

I'm finding that naturally sweet things are tasting really sweet to me these days. Butternut squash, Larabars... all taste really sweet. Hmmm.... I'm hoping that I won't be able to stomach cookies once the 30 days is up.

Did you realize that we're on Day 10! 1/3 of the way there!

How are all of you doing? I'd love to know who's still at it. Keep telling that sugar to "F OFF!" :)

No No No!

I was talking to my friend, Lynn, last night about giving up sugar. She told me about the last time she did the same thing, and how often she had to say "no" to people. Saying "no" would pretty much sum up my weekend.

Saturday night, we had dinner at a great Italian restaurant in North Beach, SF. Saying "no" to wine isn't really that difficult for me, but boy did I want dessert. Tiramisu happens to be my favorite and I was bummed to not be ordering some.

We spent last night in the city with Geoff, Heather and Sophia. This morning, I ate oatmeal with almond butter for breakfast. Do you know how gross oatmeal is without sugar, honey, maple syrup, SOMETHING sweet added? Please don't waste any oatmeal to find out. Trust me. "It is so disgusting", as my brother said, "it just makes you mad." Got that right.

Kuba and I spent several hours at the Fancy Food Show today, walking the miles of aisles of all sorts of treats and munchies. I know I'm not going to buy a sweet treat, but walking around with little bits and tastes of free yummy sweets tempting me was a little bit of torture. Those vendors almost make you feel a tad guilty not sampling just a taste of their goods. Chocolate truffles, chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. I finally asked the people at Dagoba to give me a few small bars for "later." They indulged me.

This was funny - I asked one woman giving out tastes of natural fruit chews (think gum drop like things) if the chews had sugar. Her answer: "No, they have high fructose corn syrup but no added sugar." That one was easy to pass up on. Natural fruit chews, my arse!

All temptations aside, I made it through without cheating. Believe me, writing updates and knowing that at least a couple of humans read them, certainly keeps me honest.

More sneaky sugars discovered:
flour tortillas
Pasta sauce
Kim-Chi (what?! why??)

Fighting the urge... over and over again

Well, today was a bit rough. I walked into work, and found that a new health inspector had made us put all of our cheeses (say 100 different artisan cheeses) into refrigerated coolers. Plus, he had thrown away 45# of our cheese. He took some, broke them in two on the counter, peeled the rinds off of others, before tossing them in the trash. I will just say that, in the world of artisan cheeses, where we take so much pride in the way we treat our cheeses, this is devastating. I could go on and on about how melancholy my day was, but I'll skip ahead... this story actually does relate to the sugar challenge.

When I'm stressed, I WANT, CRAVE, NEED sugar. There, I said it. Today, I fought it all day. Those damn Effie's Oatcakes, that I adore so, just sat on the shelf taunting me. I wanted Chai with honey, chocolate covered almonds, anything sugary sweet to take the edge off. But, I resisted. I ate an orange and pulled myself together. Looks like another bonus to this challenge is that I will have the opportunity to find a healthy way of dealing with my stress! Imagine that!

My co-worker, Krysta, had a great idea I wanted to pass on. Instead of using jam with her english muffin in the morning, she's now using sliced up dried apricots. Yum! And, I was so proud of her today. Without thinking, she took a bite of membrillo (quince paste), and, when she remembered it had sugar, she spit it out! Way to go!

I just baked two flourless chocolate cakes and stayed out of them. So far, so good.

Day 5 is over!

The weekend will be more tempting, so keep yourself in check and remember that you can succeed. It's a choice.

jennifer