Day Zero

I  was recently inspired by my colleague/acquaintance/friend +Emma Magenta and her blog, and thought it would be fun to chronicle my own attempt to once again break my sugar addiction.  It really is an addiction, of that I have no doubt.  I've never really done drugs, or had drinking issues, but I do believe I have an addictive personality:  I'm totally addicted to the computer, to yoga (at least that's a healthy addiction!) and to sugar.  My body and mind crave these things, for comfort, for familiarity, for happiness, and for pleasure.

I try to be health conscious.  I've been a vegetarian for at least 11 years, maybe 12.  I've bounced back and forth with veganism a bunch during that time.  (My longest run at being vegan was 5-6 years.)  I practice and teach yoga, I don't smoke, use drugs, and rarely drink alcohol, so basically I'm in pretty good shape.  But, I don't always feel great.  I feel tired a lot of the time, and while you couldn't say I was overweight, I know that I feel much better when I'm down about 5-10 pounds from my "setpoint."  I'm 43 years old, and I feel like I should be feeling at the top of my game at this point in my life and lifestyle.

I've had a lot of success in the past in feeling optimally awesome when I cut all sugar from my diet.  That includes all sources of sugar, including sweet fruits, maple syrup, honey, agave, etc.  It takes a lot of willpower.  I know I'm outta control sugar-wise at the moment, a couple of weeks ago, I ate a whole package of oreo cookies (they actually are vegan!) by myself over the course of a few days.  i want to get back to that feeling of vibrancy, rather than looking for my next sugar fix.

So, I'm going to start right now.  No sugar for the next 21 days.  That's supposedly how long it takes to establish a habit.  I read on Facebook today that Starbucks has just brought back its pumpkin lattes for Fall, and I was thinking that I would get one tomorrow morning and put off my sugar fast until the next day, but NO!  Enough is enough already.  That pumpkin latte will still be in town in a month or so, and by then I won't really even want it anyway.  (Plus, I make a tasty sugar-free pumpkin latte with coffee, unsweetened almond milk, and pumpkin pie spices on top.)

For me, the sugar detox means no artificial sweeteners, either, since I never use them anyway.  I don't care for Stevia, so that's not a temptation either.  (My understanding is that even the sweet taste of non-caloric sweeteners is enough to send your body into sugar cravings.)  I do have a couple of date/apricot/oatmeal squares in my refrigerator that I made last week, but hopefully my hubby will finish them off. 

So, if you want to follow along my 21 day journey, that would be fun.  You'll keep me accountable.  I enjoy using a website called "Habit Forge" that my friend +Lorraine Hultman turned me on to, which helps you track your progress on a habit for 21 days.  I'll post my blogs to my Facebook page, and feel free to comment, cheer me on, or heck, even join me.  It's really fun to support each other in an endeavor such as this.  I might not post every day, but I'll try, and even hope to post some recipes for you.  I just stepped on the scale and got my baseline weight, and yup, there's that setpoint again, so I am ready to do this!!!