September's Goal

Ah, I can't believe this month is already over!  You would think a month where I ate no sugar would drag on forever, but that hasn't been the case (most days!)

In starting to recap the month, I feel like a war veteran, like I'm changed now that I'm on the other side.  I see the world differently.  But I don't have PTSD, I don't think.

It was hard at first, my time between kids going to bed and my own bedtime was the hardest time of day.  This is when I usually have some sort of treat.  A cup of cocoa or ice cream that Adam bought when he ran to the store for milk and came home with $40 of groceries I would never buy (but love to eat!).  If we don't have anything good, I can usually count on sweet cereal to fill the void.

The first night without sugar I had ice water.  I just need something to snack on.  It wasn't the same, but it wasn't the worst either.  Later, my twitter friend Meredith recommended gum.  I had great success with the mint chocolate chip gum.

I also loved Bengal Spice herbal tea. This stuff is seriously the best.  A little honey, a splash of almond milk. . . heaven.  Oh yeah, honey doesn't count.  You might argue that the body responds to it in the same way it responds to sugar.  I don't care.  I have to draw the line somewhere.

This isn't to say I was perfect.  I allowed myself the occasional cheat day.  Because I love cake pops, but I find the opportunities to eat really good cake pops are few and far between.  My friend Brandy had them at her daughter's 1st birthday party, so you know, I had to.

Still, I lost 4lbs!

Here's why I think this worked for me.  Sugar is my biggest weakness.  Going vegetarian did nothing for me because I'm practically vegetarian already.  I cooked four vegetarian meals this week with out even trying.  And two of the other days I ate vegetarian leftovers.  So, it didn't really change my diet that much.

But sugar.

Like I said, I was eating a treat almost every night.  Those were all extra calories.

So my hope is, going forward, that I will continue to stop my eating after dinner.  I'll throw 7pm out there, but sometimes we eat diner at 5:30 so it might be even earlier.  I want to think about dessert like I think about soda.  I love Dr. Pepper, but I don't drink it every day.  I don't drink it every week.  Maybe one a month, but I try to have one every other month or so.  I don't feel sad about it because I know I can have some in the future.  And I feel good drinking water.  So I want to think about dessert like that.  I love it, but I don't have to have it all the time.

Tomorrow?  I'm making dessert.  I think I've earned it.