No sugar 30-day challenge - Day 1

I am starting a 30-day challenge.  No sugar.  I should say no added sugar. 

Why am I trying this?  The first reason is that I have been binging with no fix.  And what do I binge on?  Sweets.  I know I am not tasting them going in, but I get full and bloated afterward and I hate myself.  Loath myself for yet again doing what I shouldn’t be doing.  Is this how an alcoholic feels the day  after?  Is sugar addiction real?  Am I taking the family history of alcoholism and just turning it to sugar?  I’m pretty sure that I have mild depression, some days are better than others.  Is sugar contributing to this? The binging is, but there is a lot of sugar everywhere.  What if I stopped eating it?  Would some of my mood swings diminish?  Would I finally lose some weight?

There are other reasons as well.  There is some anecdotal evidence that Alzheimer’s may be a form of diabetes.  Our culture is fed hundreds of pounds of sugar each year in all kinds of foods that we eat. The incidence of diabetes is increasing.  I want off that roller coaster.  Away from the corporate foods.  I want to age with all of my wits.  I want to be like Jack Lalane who didn’t eat sugar and died at 96 still in fabulous shape.

Okay, now for the rules and guidelines for this challenge.  I’ve met people that claim not to eat white sugar but substitute brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, agave nectar, etc.  Those are all simple carbohydrates and all are seen by the body as the same thing.  So, for me, those are out as well. Also, I don’t want to use sugar substitutes to make my body think I am eating or drinking the real stuff.  I won’t buy “sugar-free” products because that is just replacing the sugar with a substitute. I do occasionally like the sugar substitutes in my drinks.  I will continue to do that in moderation since that is what I do now. However substitutes of fruit juices are fine.

I will continue to drink.  I don’t drink much, but I will stay away from my beloved margaritas and stick with beer and wine and the 1-2 servings I consume a week.

On my first day, I had a little bit of a hard time.  I am going to have to replace my processed peanut butter with natural.  I will have to find a substitute for jelly on my sandwiches.  I love craisins, but those are sweetened before drying so those are out, but there are a number of good dried fruit alternatives.  I ate dry roasted peanuts and discovered that they are coated with maltodextrin  which is a form of sugar.  Raw peanuts now.  Fritos and saltines have no sugar, but some pretzels  do. Most bread products do as well.  French bread doesn’t.  I will try to find a wheat bread without sugar.  Also, flour tortillas do too.

What this comes down to is that I am going to have to cook more to be sure of what I am eating.  I will probably ramp up the amount of dried fruit and nuts that I eat since that is a simple way to get satisfying snacks.   Thirty days is going to be tough, especially in November when Thanksgiving occurs.  I am going to have to find workarounds for my favorites: pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, and sweet potato casserole.