The Sugar Free Club

Thank you ladies! I have a club. I think we are at least 50 strong and I am sure that some of the emails or comments didn't go through because I am just sure there are more of you out there , right SIL'S? Anyways, congratulations to all of you who are joining me on this noble challenge. I am 5 days into it and I feel wonderful. I don't crave it at all. Not a bit. My energy is great and my belly is even a bit flatter. Super.

I have many of you asking for sugar free treat recipes. Here is the deal: The whole idea of going sugar free is to lessen our desire for sweets and purge the body of the toxins created from sugars. If you then replace your sweet treats with something else sweet, the cravings of sweets isn't going to be lessened much. Even using honey and Stevia should be used sparingly for now. We are retraining our taste buds that fruit is the perfect snack and a handful of nuts will satisfy the palate. In the last 5 days of my challenge (I started a bit early), I have come to realize that sugar is in everything. I thought I didn't eat much but when I think of the things I have passed up the last 5 days, I realize how much I do consume unsuspectingly. The Altoids I eat constantly, the little bit that goes in my pancakes and muffins, little nibbles of cookies and chocolates, etc. My daughter made cookies on Sunday and if I wasn't on this challenge, I am sure I would have eaten 4. I try so hard to eat so well and then I spoil it on the hidden, and not so hidden sugar. I have been making my breakfast with a little coconut sugar or honey, which is usually only 2 T. per recipe and eating the pancakes with fruit or applesauce only. It tastes great. Nuts and raisins are a great snack or my favorite, a banana with natural peanut butter. Arizona oranges are about the closest thing to sugar as it gets so those are a regular as well. I have found that if I see a treat, I don't let the idea of how it tastes enter my mind, I simply replace it with the way an orange tastes or something else. It has worked wonderfully. I am training my mouth to not want the sweets at all. It is another mind over matter exercise, just like running. It is the same concept.

Why do we need to practice this concept? Why is challenging ourselves so important? Is it really life changing or life healing to go without sugar for 30 days out of our entire lifetime? Like running, the goal itself may not be the real reward. The real reward is in showing ourselves that we have self control. In learning to control our minds and our appetites, we learn that we can control anything. We can control how we think, how we act and how we respond to the world around us. Self mastery is the reason we are here on this earth. We must practice this skill by taking on daily challenges. We need to learn to tell ourselves "no" and not give in to our temptations whether that be food, gossiping, wasting our time on unimportant things or bad habits. When we come to the realization that WE can control our lives, nothing is impossible. We can overcome depression, anxiety, weight issues, health issues and so much more. No one can tell us how to act. It is up to us. It is powerful when you realize this. It is liberating.

If any of you were on the fence about this goal, I give you permission to still join in. Start right now. No excuses. I promise that you will see the magnitude of this challenge at the end of the month. You will feel stronger, more in control and maybe even a little lighter!

Thanks again for supporting me. I have such great friends! I hope someday to meet you all! Maybe an Enlightened Homemaker Mexican Cruise????

Also a little disturbing news I heard today; Aspartame is being sold under the new name Aminosweet to trick those who know Aspartame is bad. As always, stick to what we know is real. Raw sugar, honey and stevia really should be the sweetners of choice. Stay away from anything artificial. Don't believe what THEY stay. If it was made in a laboratory, you don't want it in your body.