Good-bye, Sugar...ILYSM

I feel like I need to kick my sugar habit.  

I have a great big sweet tooth. All of them are sweet tooths...sweet teeth? Yeah, all of them. I love sweet stuff. I'm the person who doesn't understand when people say stuff like, "This cake is too sweet." or "This brownie is too rich." For real? What does that even mean? 

There was a time, earlier this year, when I decided to try a new fitness/wellness program. It was an eating plan and an exercise plan. I lost a total of 15lb on the plan, and felt great too, so I'd definitely say it works. The hard part, for me, was the eating. The idea was to fill up on lean proteins and veggies and a bit of starches here and there, while removing a lot of processed and sugary foods from your diet. 

On this plan, I'd have egg & veggie casserole for breakfast, a big salad with chicken for lunch, and something like tilapia with rice and green beans for dinner. Very basic stuff. I allowed myself two 8oz cups of coffee with creamer per day, because I can't stomach coffee without creamer and I can't stomach interacting with human beings without coffee. I'd do a couple of short but intense work outs per week and lots of walking. I let myself have a cheat meal now and then but for the most part I stopped eating desserts. I came to love Greek yogurt with strawberries or granola in it rather than ice cream or cookies. I felt great when I followed this plan. I had lots of energy and I could feel myself getting stronger and leaner. I got to purchase medium shirts instead of larges. It was great. 

The problem I encountered first was that I was getting bored with my dinner options. I ate the same things over and over until I burnt out on them. It was challenging to find new meals that fit the plan and were low cost, not too difficult to prepare, and kid friendly. That's a lot of variables. I'm no chef, and I'm kind of picky too. Weekly meal planning brought me to tears more than once because NOTHING sounded good and I dreaded going to the store. I started to lose momentum. 

The second problem started sometime late in the summer. It was my birthday! Hurray! I ate whatever I wanted because I'm old and that sucks! We had several family birthdays all in a row and I ate whatever I wanted, including and especially desserts, until I got to the point where started craving them again. That's the trouble with sugar. The more you eat, the more you crave it.

I am at a point now where I have gained back about 5lb and I'm tired all the time. I'm eating a bunch of sugar because I am craving a bunch of sugar and I'm not eating very nutritiously. I haven't been doing the work outs and I can feel my jeans getting tighter. I know I need to make a change instead of making more cake. 

I am going to start small by cutting out desserts. I think I'll allow one each week but leave it at that. I'm going to try to go back to eating salads for lunch, and try to find some healthier dinner options to rotate in. I tend to be picky so trying new things can be a challenge. 

I'll allow myself to have my coffee creamer so that I don't kill anyone. That seems like the best choice for now. I should probably start walking again, but that is hard now that it's getting darker earlier. I can try it, at least a few times per week. I guess a few steps at a time are plenty of changes at once anyhow.

To review, and to hold myself accountable, I present you with my goals:

• Walk three days per week
• One dessert per week
• More nutritious meals most days

Farewell, delicious treats and tooth-coating sugary goodness. I miss you already.