After my last post about the fuel you put in your body, I started a 30 Day Sugar Free Challenge. Decided to include alcohol in it as well. Then inadvertently it included caffeine as all my caffeine comes from sugary Starbucks lattes or sodas. So anyway, here I am 14 days into the challenge. Doing good, no knowingly cheats. Have been very careful checking nutrition menus, ingredient lists and labels. And I feel so much better.
Day 4 was probably the hardest for any cravings, but the challenge I took includes coaching and journaling homework. Going back through it I realized that most of the cravings are mental. It sounds good, smells good, I remember the taste, but when I ask myself, "Will eating/drinking this enhance or hurt my life?" it doesn't match up. And I've learned what foods to substitute and with the re-calibration of my taste buds, I'm truly enjoying the sweetness of things like fruit. Frozen bananas, frozen strawberries, with a splash of almond milk and unsweetened Greek yogurt all blended together actually makes a pretty good ice cream substitute!
The other thing I've learned so far is that I often turn to mindless food because of boredom or comfort measures (also learning that most mindless junk food and comfort food is some of the most sugar filled foods). So on my journey to eat more unprocessed foods and find real foods, I'm also learning more about the real and unprocessed me. Who knew a 30 day sugar free challenge could turn into an opportunity to learn so much about myself? Believe me, suddenly and drastically remove all sugars, alcohol and caffeine from your diet and you will quickly see your real, often irritable, whiny self, surface as it is detoxed from your body. But here on past the worst of that, here at the half-way point, I'm excited not just about finishing a challenge (and it has been one! sugar is in almost every single thing) but taking the opportunity to do some deeper soul searching and finding the whys behind some of the whats.
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