Hello friends!

I thought I would give you a little update on my quest to give up sugar.  The verdict is pretty darn good!  Since I last wrote about it (five weeks ago tomorrow), I have had a bite of chocolate, a bite of peanut brittle, and in a far weaker moment, a slice of peach pie.  However, as karma and my conscience would have it, the pie was not so good.  The peaches were hard and the crust not up to snuff.  Even as I ordered it, I thought, “What are you doing?”  Life teaches us the way.

I think I told you that I had given up sugar before, even going for eight weeks once.  Those times, however, it was with a particular end date or goal in sight, then I could have more.  This time, I hope to just let it go.  I am actually quite surprised at how easy it feels.  It used to be that I would get a craving and fight, fight, fight it.  Then I would set a time limit.  Okay, Colleen, you think you want it now, so why not wait an hour or two and see what happens?  I’ll tell ya – when the inner timer went off, I scrambled to the kitchen to make cookies, a cake, a pie, or sometimes, when we were out of the usual ingredients, a weird concoction only an addict would enjoy.

I wish I could say exactly what button has been pressed to make me lose the obsessive feeling, but I can’t.  Now, I am enjoying fruit – fresh or dried, and when I feel a little more desperate, which thankfully isn’t that often, a glass of chocolate hemp milk (I’m also consuming very little dairy) sweetened with agave nectar or brown rice syrup.  Just in case you are wondering, I haven’t replaced the sugar with artificial sweeteners either.  For one, the ingredients terrify me – chlorinated sugar?  Um, no thanks.  Two, I’ve never liked the taste, so in the foods where I used to sprinkle sugar, like my morning bowl of grains, I use a little agave and some sort of fruit – my current favorite is dried blueberry.  Yum.

I really like the ripple effect of this change.  I know I’m doing something good for my body.  I’ve lost weight, feel stronger, have more energy, and feel that my usual effervescence and love for creation is heightened.  I sleep less without feeling groggy or crabby.  The best part, however, is not having the feeling that I am missing something.  I have all I need, and that includes you, my blog friends.  Thanks for sharing the journey.

XO –

Colleen