Giving up sugar is NOT easy…but it’s after 8:00pm on day one for me and so far, so good. I’ve had cravings today but haven’t caved to them. After I eat my dinner every night I usually seek out sugar like I have some sort of microchip in my body that can sense where to find it in my house. I am not thinking or if I do become self-aware in the moment I brush it off and convince myself that I deserve it or it is no big deal, I’ll try again tomorrow. Sometimes it is very easy for me to find the sugar – cupcakes or cookies easily at hand on the counter – or sometimes it is harder and I eat something like graham crackers or the leftover Valentines candy that the kids brought home from school back in February (seriously, they got a LOT of candy from their classmates, ugh!). Sometimes I treat myself to a handful or two of Enjoy Life! vegan chocolate chips (I love them). But tonight when the sugar cravings hit I reached for a juicy plump ORANGE. It was actually really satisfying and while let’s face it not as sugary-sweet as a cupcake or a cookie it was worth it because I had NO guilt AT ALL over eating it.
I feel good about my food choices for today. I’m happy that I can say that, because those are not words I would have said yesterday or the day before that or really in I don’t know how long.
At least for today, I found that the best way for me to look at this was as an exercise in training my mind and my body. I persevered through the hard parts, moments when I felt like putting it off another day, and I kept my focus. You see, I am a FIRM believer that we can train ourselves to create healthy habits. Whether it is eating better or exercising more or whatever, our minds are powerful and the relationship between our minds and our bodies is not to be doubted or underestimated. If you are a runner, you KNOW this. When your mind is telling you to quit, your body WILL listen. When your mind is telling you to keep going, your body WILL listen. This does not just pertain to running!
One day at a time, I am going to train my mind until my body gets the message and bad habits become distant memories. Who knows, maybe I will start craving fresh fruit every night. That is the idea, anyway.
