I actually have been doing this “challenge” without even thinking about it.  The meal plan I am on calls for fresh clean foods, so for 4 weeks now I have gone without my processed snacks and sweet treats.  I still get some natural sugars in fruit and such but all the nasty stuff has been eliminated from my lifestyle.  I have been full of energy and feeling really great these 4 weeks.  After the first week, it gets easier.

Day 8 - oops… Had some stress going on today; even though the sugar is supposedly out of my system, I was suddenly craving something. I just had a spoonful of brown sugar (the only sweet in the house at the moment). Instead of having a second spoonful, I decided to come here and write about it instead, hoping to cut short the craving and binge. hmmm obviously more than just a physical craving needs to be watched for.

Good job at stopping with just one spoon! That stuff is wonderful. It happens, and we’ll make it through. Just think of how much sugar we would’ve ate if we weren’t doing this challenge. Scary.

I had bunco last night, there was so much food it was ridiculous, and 5 amazing desserts. I passed them all up, at the fruit, it was devine, and didn’t get that sugar crash half way through the night like usual. There were 16 of us, and I had to explain why I didn’t have the dessert several times. But they all understood, and told me how good it was. I told them how good the fruit was, and we all ate happily what we had. But those brownies looked so good. I love brownies. Mmmmmm brownies. Sorry, I think I went into a trance there. I may have to add time onto this.

Bree

So my new employee comes into my office with a big smile on her face and she hands me a blueberry scone. It’s a thank you for some time off on short notice (during her first week on the job). She’s a very kind hearted person, and I didn’t want to hurt her feelings so I accepted the scone...man, was that good. Oh well...back on the wagon for me :/

Malama Pono,
Fat Jeff

At least it was good. My slip wasn’t anything special, yummy, but not enough to be worth the slip.

I’m still doing good. Passed up popsicles, not difficult, last night. And since there’s no candy allowed at preschool, that place is a haven. Though afterwards I feel like I could use a sugary treat to keep going, but then the crash after is so bad. I ate a couple tiny plums. It was yummy, and hit the spot.

How are you doing today, Deb?

Bree

Yesterday I didn’t have any sugar, but made up for it in wheat, which affects me about the same way. But today I’m back sugar free and no cravings; just a carb hang over.

Bree - 30 August 2007 04:23 PM

I’m still doing good. Passed up popsicles, not difficult, last night.

Bree

Bree,

If you like Popsicles, there are lots of sugar free ones out there. Better for you and better for the kids too. We get ours in bulk from Sam’s Club. Nice treat when the temps are getting high, higher, highest!

Malama Pono,
Fat Jeff

I really don’t like popsicles, not sure why, but I love ice cream bars. I’m just staying away from all (even sugar-free) for now. What’s fun is that we went grocery shopping yesterday and all the candy didn’t even tempt me, but I spent a small fortune on fresh fruit. It was so yummy looking, and fresh! Hubby’s eaten most of the peaches already, but I can always get more. We had oatmeal and blueberries for breakfast, the kids were thrilled! And I’m down more weight today!

Bree

Good Job Bree!

Sunday brought up an old reaction in me. When I was a kid we would always pig out the day before we began our diet, just one of our rituals. Yesterday, I had a candy bar, and way too many calories in anticipation of kicking it back up today. But it’s OK because I got up this morning and immediately got back into “good” mode. I’m actually heartened that I didn’t continue on in binge mode, nor did I panic that I was “bad”; I just got back to normal...such a nice feeling…

That’s good, Deb. I think this challenge has really helped me to not eat all the crap daily like I was. This is the last day for me. But if I get even close to that again, I will definitely do this over. I have no worries about finishing today. Tomorrow is Hubby’s birthday, and he wants me to make him a pineapple upside down cake. I can do this, one piece and ignore the rest. One small piece, it’ll probably taste way too rich and sweet. I’ll let you know.

Bree

I think the main benefit of these mini challenges is discovery; it forces us take a closer look at our habits so we can see where we need to improve.

Just to update, I did make the pineapple upside down cake, and had a small piece. It was good, but very rich and sweet. I haven’t had any since, and it’s been sitting in the fridge for 2 days. My girls don’t ask for crap as much either. I hadn’t really thought a lot about the fact that they were going through this with me, they were still allowed fudge-sicles and the like, but they chose better things most of the time.

Thank you to all of you, especially you, Deb, for doing this with me. We so rock!

Bree

We do rock! Anytime you want to do it again, just let me know. 

It’s interesting that your kids reaped the benefit of the challenge as well, that’s pretty awesome! You did better than me during the challenge, but I’m doing much better now. It just took me a while to get into my groove. The challenge helped to focus my attention on the habits that needed changing, and in that, it served its purpose well.

Okay I’ve been watching myself moderately lately. But now I’m getting tough with the sugary goodness. I’m trying to ward off diabetes here! When I do eat it, I’ll try to stick to organic.

Be careful, organic food isn’t necessarily healthy food.  I’ve seen organic drinks that are loaded with sugar.  Labeling a food organic, doesn’t mean much nutritionally so make sure you check the contents - calories , sugars, carbs, and fats - before you decide if it is good for you.