Put Down The M&Ms: 30 Day 'Cut Sugar' Trial

[Matt Willard]

Okay, it's time to get back on my original aspirations to improve my health, because judging by how stressed my current goals can make me, feeling healthier and more energetic would be great. The last time I tried a new 30 day trial, I held it in my current journal thread, but it bombed. This time, it's back to basics with an individual thread for public accountability.

Now, I've quit most forms of candy and soda, but sugar has crept back into my life via lemonade or other junk. Time to cut it out and replace it with better stuff. Thus, from August 19th, 2009 to September 17th, 2009, I will be cutting as much sugar as possible from my diet. This means keeping up with my previous no candy and soda rule, but also cutting lemonade, ice cream (which is how some candy snuck back into my mouth) and juices.

Now, I very much doubt I can cut ALL the sources of unneeded sugar from my life right now. I don't have a lot of control of what goes into the cupboard. So, whenever I can, I'll be looking for low-sugar substitutes, though I'll definitely go for natural food however possible.

Like before, I'll be updating this daily along with my normal goal report, along with a overall conclusion at the end.

[Lohengrin]

Great stuff. Keep us updated how it works out for yeah. 30 days of getting rid of something to my experience isent actually that bad. Quiting caffein when real smooth for me. Good luck.

[Remiel]

So no fruit?

[padawan in training]

Good 30-day trial man. Are you allowing fruit? That's make it easier I think. Plus, fruits are far from being "empty calories" as most sodas and candy are.

[Sami]

Good luck Matt! I've done a similar thing myself in the past and found the health benefits to be worth the initial "withdrawals". I had a lot more energy, was less tired, lost weight and ended up craving fruit instead of chocolate.

[Andrew Brunelle]

Best of luck to you. Don't get rid of fruit in its whole form alltogether because it has vitamins and enzymes in it that make the sugar from fruits less damaging and even beneficial in some circumstances.

I can completely understand the need for cutting refined sugar from your diet. That is some horrible stuff. And HFCS as well. Yuck. Best of luck to you.

[Matt Willard]

Worry not, guys-fruit is definitely in the equation, which I frequently request when Mom goes shopping. Though the grapes in the fridge aren't looking that good :V They've been there a while...


Day 1!

There's still a few (kinda soggy) bananas lying around, so I had one of those. Peanut butter sandwich as usual, a pack of cheese-peanut butter crackers (which I don't intend to eat a lot), and...pizza :V Sorry, guys, greasy food will have to die another day.

So far, so good, but I expect some major jumps to come.

[Talkofthatown919]

Congrats on making a effort to put down the sugar

[Matt Willard]

Day 2!

What I'm anticipating is when Mom inevitably buys something I'm not going to touch anymore, like the abovementioned juice. To be fair, I don't tell her when I start these things, so it's not like she's to blame. (Though she shops pretty poorly to begin with, but that's neither here nor there.) Still, the next time she shops without me, she'll get some fruit. Until then I've got to do what I can to eat good stuff and not junk.

[Matt Willard]

Day 3!

Got a chance to hit the store, so I made sure to pick up some good fruit and healthy cereal. (Forgot what it was, but it's got less sugar than the raisin bran I normally get.) And I know I can do better than Healthy Choice microwave food, but with limited resources and even less interest in cooking, I'll take what I can get.

[Matt Willard]

Day 4!

I made a good cereal choice-it reminds me of Golden Crisp, but it's filling. With fruit and sandwich backup, I anticipate a fairly easy trial.

[Matt Willard]

Day 5!

I do crave sweet things every so often, so that needs to be battled with fruit, although maybe something healthy with honey would also work. That might be the way to go for my more chocolate-y desires.

[Matt Willard]

Day 6!

Even on this sugar-cutting binge, I have to remember not to eat when I just can't think of another way to pass the time. This might be a seperate problem to deal with, however.

[Brando]

Just wanted to say best of luck to you. It can be tough and like you said there may be a few bumps along the way, but once you get a week or two in, it's not too bad.

[Matt Willard]

That's definitely true!

Day 7!

Yep, as expected, Mom jumped the gun and bought juice. I told her about what I was doing, and she was disappointed, but seemed genuinely interested when I mentioned how eating fruit was a better alternative to juice. Still, if she bothered to make a list and ask questions, she wouldn't have this problem...

[Matt Willard]

Day 8!

Not much incident here-I still find water very refreshing after a hard day at work :V

[aggie]

good for you....i have enjoyed sweets from time to time...but mostly artificially sweetened...not sure how good the chemicals are

but i have always preferred food food to sweets given the choice.

something like kaski cereal with blueberries is great.

all fruit on whole wheat toast with sunflower butter. yum

grapes...nature's candy

you can get really into it after awhile...keep up the good work!

[Matt Willard]

I'm a pretty big grape fiend, as long as they're sweet. I hate tart grapes. I also love bananas and crunchy apples. Soft apples just aren't satisfying to me. So far, that's practically the only fruit I'll eat. I really should expand.

Actually, that cereal I mentioned earlier was Kashi cereal. I'd buy it again.

Day 9!

Speaking of that cereal, I wish I had some more...fruit's good and all, but I like me some diverse sweets. Maybe I should pick up some low-sugar, natural honey bars?

[aggie]

i have seen in the grocery some sesame and almond brittle...i think it is stuck together with some kind of honey concoction....but don't know how low in sugar it is.

kashi now makes all kinds of sweeter cereals and bars and crackers and things for when you need a carb crunch fix...veggies and fruits are crunchy, but sometimes you need something else to satisfy.

the whole problem is unless you can really break the need for something sweet...do you do the artificially sweetened stuff and take a shot with the chemicals...of course truvia, stevia...natural, but 3 times as much as something like sweet n low.

if you strictly shop in a healthfood store you can find whole grain cookies sweetened with fruit juice...but how much do you have to pay for 6 healthy cookies as opposed to a huge bag of the garbagey ones.

it is sometimes more expensive to eat healthy...or you have to do from scratch yourself...and i know right now, i don't have the time.

[Matt Willard]

Yeah, it really does suck that the junk is cheap. Guess it's another excuse to become fabulously wealthy, then!

Day 10!

That juice is really tempting, as was the chocolate-crunch-whatever someone told me about when I ordered pizza not too long ago. The soda is still drained pretty fast ever since I quit, you'd think the juice would follow the same way.

[Matt Willard]

Day 11!

Avoided temptation quite a few times during awful mall expo trip today. And I was ready to get ice cream, too-things weren't going well.

[Matt Willard]

Day 12!

Picked up some good cereal and some peanut butter. Man, I REALLY want that juice. Maybe I can handle a lack of ice cream, but I'll be damned if I'm not lusting after that juice. Starting to think I'll allow it back in my diet-I don't drink it ALL the time, after all.

[Matt Willard]

Day 13!

That new cereal I got is a bit funky, but eatable. Also, I need to eat something after this...didn't really have lunch or anything today.

[Matt Willard]

Day 14!

Oh, I am so having some juice when this is over. Had the last banana, some grapes, and Taco Bell. FASCINATING COMMENTARY!

[Matt Willard]

Day 15!

Halfway done. Man, we are totally having a juice-splosion when this is over.

[Matt Willard]

Day 16!

SHE BOUGHT MORE JUICE D:

Oh, I hope some is left over when this is done! In any case, I really need to diversify my fruit-folio...cereal is nice, but I think eating fruit for breakfast makes me feel better. Now gonna get applesauce :V (Worry not, it's naturally sweetened by SPLENDA)

[Matt Willard]

Day 17!

More fruit! Also tossed out the egg in my bacon-egg-cheese bagel today. It's not like I had a choice-I watched that video Steve put on Facebook where they grind up male chicks. What am I gonna do after that? "Yeah, I'd like the omelet with extra Hitler, please"?

[Matt Willard]

Day 18!

Yeah, even after the egg thing, I still went ahead and had pizza. Look, I want to try being a vegetarian, but I'm not ready to commit to that yet. Be patient-I'll eventually come around, eh? Anyway, need to eat more fruit. I imagine a hearty banana breakfast tomorrow.

[Lauxa]

If you have a blender, try some smoothies.

[Matt Willard]

Originally Posted by Lauxa

If you have a blender, try some smoothies.

Unfortunately, I don't have a blender, but when I get one, I definitely plan to experiment with smoothies.

Day 19!

I've pretty much accepted that I'm a grazer. That's just how I usually do it-I work for two hours or so, then I get a snack. Rinse, repeat. With fruit and water, that shouldn't be so bad. Still, maybe I should eat more...or less often.