So here I am 10 days into this no added sugar challenge. I’ve got to say, not so much of a challenge. I’ve read other people talking about their no sugar challenge, but they’re still making things that use some type of sweetener. I was under the impression that any added sweetener, whether it be honey, glucose, or malts of some grains, was a no-go. Maybe I’m just being too picky with it, but I actually like having all the sugars come just from fruits. It’s quite nice. So now that I’m 10 days in, here are a few more things I’ve noticed since starting this.
1) I’m not hungry anymore. Before I would always be hungry. It could be that I’m just not hungry right now, but I’m wondering if it’s because you don’t have that sweet taste, so you’re good with what you have. Sugar has been known to stimulate appetite, so eliminating the processed and sweeteners makes you only hungry when you really need something to eat.
2) People have been telling me, “Wow, you have willpower.” I don’t think that’s actually true. Instead of having the sweets, I just don’t now. I don’t feel like it’s a challenge and I’m not craving anything super sweet.
3) My work really does have a lot of candy. This is clearly where I was having more sweets than I probably should. So far at work, in the past 10 days, I’ve noticed how many candy baskets are around. They’ve also had chocolate cake, cheesecake, hard candy sweets, etc. It’s really interesting when I actually realized how much candy was around.
So, I’ve been wondering how much of a “challenge” is really necessary, or just being more aware of what is around you. We have a work meeting on Friday and we always bring an after lunch snack to share with people, so I may have a bit of whatever is there, but we’ll see. I also know that I’m going out with my girlfriends on Sunday and if dessert is part of our girls-night, then for sure I’m going to go along and not turn that down. So really it’s just about balancing out the amount of processed sugar – which of course we all know.
When Toasters Go Pyro 
You’re freaking amazing. Let me tell you (as I wipe sugar from yesterday’s cake away from my mouth…)
Ha, thank-you! I completely thought it was going to be a challenge to stay away from sweets. I was very pleasantly surprised. The craziest part is just noticing all the things that have sugar in it. Today we had a big work event and I did splurge a little. A girl wanted to share her carmel corn so I had a couple pieces. Then I got a snow-cone with one squirt of juice in it, but ended up throwing it away because it was too sweet. Then I had a PB&J sandwich as one of the lunch offerings, and I’m sure the jelly was not homemade. I just felt like that wheat bread based sandwich was better than a hot dog. 🙂 Did you know most hot dogs put HFCS in them? It’s so crazy.