Today marks the first day of the 30 Day No Sugar Challenge!  If you have decided to bite the bullet and take the challenge, congratulations! You have just made a decision that will make you healthier in so many ways.

If you have not yet taken the challenge, watch this video and read this post.

Daily Recap (how my day went with no sugar)

• Got through the first day with NO SWEETS!  Yay!!!!
• Avoided a piece of birthday cake at work that everyone was talking about and saying was “so good”
• Realized what times of the day I really crave something sweet.  I mean really crave it!
• Felt so good that I withstood the strong temptation!

Sugar Rehab

One fundamental of cutting out sugar is knowing how to look at labels to tell if a food has sugar.

You’d think it would be simple: it would just say “sugar” in the ingredients list, right?

Wrong!!!  The food industry uses many different forms of added sugar:

• Corn sweetener
• Corn syrup
• Brown sugar
• Maltose
• Molasses
• Raw sugar
• Sucrose
• Fructose
• Fruit juice concentrate
• High fructose corn syrup
• Invert sugar
• Raw sugar
• Syrup
• Table sugar

Try to avoid foods that have one of these forms of sugar as one of their top ingredients.  Always keep in mind that ingredients are listed by weight, in descending order.

I’ll admit that I’m not getting as extreme as avoiding anything that has one of these ingredients.  For example, I use protein bars for breakfast on the days I work quite often.  Some of these bars do contain some sugar, but these are a very calorie-controlled meal that I do not “overeat.”

You know your own weaknesses.  Maybe it’s chocolate chip cookies.  Maybe it’s grabbing handfuls of your kid’s chocolate teddy grahams when you’re starving in the afternoon.

Remember that this 30 Day No Sugar Challenge is designed to get you (and me!) out of bad habits and starting new healthier habits!

Hang in there through the next few days — they are the hardest!  You can do it!

Share and Enjoy

Sugar can be an addiction for some.

Why?  Well, for one, it is just plain good.  I mean, who doesn’t like sugar?

Also, it is just so readily available for us these days.  You go to the gas station and there’s everything imaginable.  You check out at the grocery store and there is….sugar.  You go to a social event, and most likely there is something sweet.  Now you can’t even go to Starbucks without being tempted by there little “petite” desserts (which, by the way, are delicious but also close to 200 calories!).

We are bombarded with sugar.  If you pay real close attention to those food labels, you may see ingredients such as “corn sweetener, dextrose, maltose”, etc.  These ingredients are sugar!!!

Join me in the 30 Day No Sugar Challenge, and you will benefit in so many ways:

• Cut out a lot of excess empty calories
• Increased energy in the long run
• Gain control over cravings
• Learn new recipes that satisfy the desire for something sweet without eating sugar
• Possible weight loss

How to do the 30 Day No Sugar Challenge:

• Cut out any beverages with sugar
• Do not add sugar to anything
• Avoid pies, cookies, cakes, brownies, ice cream, etc. (you know, the sweet desserts and snack foods)
• Replace high sugar cereals, cereal bars, oatmeal, etc with low sugar versions (for example, replace Frosted Flakes with plain or multi-grain Cheerios
• Read food labels’ ingredients lists: if a food has sugar (or some form of sugar) listed as a top ingredient, then you know it’s got too much in it
• Eat fruit in place of a dessert or sweet snack

During this challenge, I will share tips and recipes, along with occasional lamenting over how much I miss sugar!  But I have cut sugar out before, and I know firsthand the positive effects it has on your health and energy level.  Stick with it and you will be so glad you did!

Share and Enjoy

30 days doesn’t seem like a long time, does it?

That’s the beauty of trying to do something for 30 days, and hopefully making a life change.

When I ran across this video, I immediately started making plans for myself:

What I love about this concept is that by doing something for 30 days, you can accomplish things you never thought possible. Somehow the impossible seems possible when your goal is to only do it for 30 days.

Also, making a change related to your health for 30 days can change your lifestyle!  Small, sustainable changes in your lifestyle are ones that can stick!

Isn’t that what we all want?  Whether you  have weight to lose, muscle to gain, or just simply want to make better choices for your health, I’m sure you want it to stick.

I knew immediately, when I saw this video, what my first 30 day challenge would be: no sugar!

If sugar is something that you love as much as I do, and you’d like to decrease the amount of sugar and high-sugar foods in your diet, take the 30 day no sugar challenge!

Each day I will post something about the journey of cutting out sugar — motivation, nutrition information, or recipes.

Join me on this challenge and you will feel better, have more energy, and get healthier!

Share and Enjoy