Sugar. Sugar is my love. SWEET sweet tea. Crunchy coffee. Bottle Caps. Pasta. Brownie dough. Frosting.

Two years ago I read this blog post by The Sequinist about how she gave up sugar. I was intrigued. Of course it’s no secret that Sugar is the Devil, but I had never really considered trying to give it up. But she sounded as addicted to it as I guess am. I’d never thought of it as an “addiction,” but just a harmless “sweet tooth.” But the post made me think.

I thought about it for Two YEARS. Last year I did give up sweet tea for a month. I expected Big Results. But…I saw no change so I allowed it back in. Happily. But…the tea is just the tip of the iceberg (re-read first paragraph). And it wouldn’t hurt to try something that’s “good for me” every once in a while. I’m interested to see if I’ll feel better. If the inflammation in my heels and edema in my feet and ankles will reduce. If I have more energy. If my face stops breaking out. If I grow 5″ and my IQ goes up 50 points.

So I’m going to say farewell to sugar for two weeks. Then I will assess. Going in, I’m concerned about my hypoglycemia, even though everything I read tells me that if I’m not eating any sugar, then I can’t have sugar crashes. I should just feel level all the time. And I’m worried about being a cranky B as I go through what the internet is calling withdrawal (which sounds a little melodramatic to me).

I’m not doing the Bright Line eating that Lisa did. That seems way beyond just “no sugar.” But as I said, I’ll do two weeks then assess.

I’ll stock up on Good Options like steak, chicken, fish, hard-boiled eggs, frozen and fresh vegetables, hard cheeses and crackers, yogurt and berries, melon, apples and peanut butter (with no added sugar), avocados and rice cakes, and cashews, almonds and pistachios.

Bread seems to be a controversial item in the sugar detox world. One method says ABSOLUTELY NOT to any kind of bread, others say as long as it’s not refined white bread. I found this site that says “swap wheat bread for fiber-rich breads that are 100% whole wheat. Other breads like multigrain and sprouted are good options too, as long as those are the first ingredients on the package” and I’m going with that. I really don’t eat much bread – I’ve had a loaf of low-carb 7-grain bread in my cupboard for at least two months (low-carb breads last so much longer than other breads). But on the weekend I can do a bacon/egg/cheese on a slice of toast, or an avocado toast on a work morning for some good “feel full” fat to help me over the morning tea or coffee hump. And the morning tea/coffee, for me, is REALLY just about the sugar and cream.

And I’ll be drinking a lot of stupid water. ha. I am just not a fan of water. Not sparkling, not with lemon or cucumber slices or berries, not flavored. Sugary iced tea will be The Most Missed Item. “They” say to drink half your body weight in ounces of water each day. Well, for me, that’s almost 150 ozs of water! That’s 8 of these normal-sized 16.9 oz bottles. I will be peeing non-stop!  I have also read recently (if you look long enough, you can find research to agree with almost anything you want!) that too much water is not useful. That if you’re peeing all day then the water is probably just running right through you and not doing anything useful anyway. I will try drinking four of those bottles every day. That will be challenge enough.

So! That is my challenge! I will giving up sugar from Monday, September 16 until Sunday, September 29. I know some of you said you’re already doing some sugar restricting…would love to hear how you’re feeling, what you’re eating, etc. And if anyone wants to do it along with me I could set up a private Facebook group (or an email group if you’re not Facebooky) just for us to compare notes, complain, etc.  🙂

Wish me luck!