my 60 day challenge

I've recently decided that there were some bad habits in my life that I needed to cut out. For me, it's always been easier to go "cold turkey" rather than to try and use moderation. Of course I feel it's true "all things in moderation" but it's harder to put in to practice and I really felt like my body needed a jump start.

So, what have I decided to cut out for 60 days? Sugar, caffeine, and alcohol. Honestly, I thought the alcohol was going to be the hardest because I love a great glass of vino with a fine meal. However, it turns out, that sugar has been my hardest hurdle. Sugar is EVERYWHERE. It's in your breakfast cereal, it's in those supposedly "healthy" snacks that you find in the organic aisle at the grocery, it's in tomato paste, and many other unexpected places. I've discovered that you can have a diet that does not include hidden sugars. I'm making my own cereal and have stopped eating sugary granola bars. All of these measures have virtually eliminated my sugar intake.

The caffeine part has only been hard on occasion because I view it as a social thing that I like to do on the weekends. I do miss walking to the local coffee shop on a Saturday or Sunday morning for a cappuccino or making my own home brewed espresso. My husband was sipping a frothy cup the other morning and I'm pretty sure I was drooling.

The absence of alcohol speaks for itself. At 7 calories per gram it packs a pretty hefty calorie punch. In the end alcohol is really just a bunch of empty calories and it impairs your fat metabolism. This is obviously not a good thing.

I think people wonder why I'm doing this. It's mostly a personal health decision but it's also in the hopes that I'll break the addictions. Yes, sugar is an addiction. The first week I had extreme headaches and I couldn't figure out why but now I think it was from the lack of sugar. I'm on about day 25 right now and I feel great. I'm a lot less bloated and I'm much more satisfied in between meals because I'm not creating the huge glucose and insulin spikes followed by extreme hypoglycemia. I'm not doing this for some sort of crash dieting reason but I am hoping that my changes will develop into a habit and I'll find myself with a lot less cravings for these items as I slowly add them back in to my healthy diet.

Will you join me in my challenge? Can you do it for 60 days? How about 30? 2 weeks? Let me know if you're in on it and we can encourage one another along the way. Your body will thank you for it.