I quit...

I quit.

Sugar that is.  It has only been 4 days (on the 5^th now), but I realized something important.  Things are only difficult to do if you tell yourself they are difficult to do.  I made a decision to give it up.  I didn’t question it.  I didn’t go back and forth and wonder if it was a good decision, or if I could actually accomplish it, I just did.

Granted it has only been 4+ days, but I expected there to be more of a hunger/craving for sugar.  It’s like my body said “hey, he’s serious, let’s get on board.”

What I will tell you is something that you probably already know (because the majority of people that I know are pretty smart) is that sugar is in almost everything that comes in a box.  Even things that you don’t expect to have it, have it in one form or another.  It may not say “sugar,” but some hidden word on the box will translate to sugar.  Isomalt, erythritol, pentos, to name a few.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services there are almost 100 different words that mean sugar on a label.  If you are cautious about sugar you would help yourself greatly by learning those words.

For someone like myself, who wants to eradicate all sugar from my diet, boxed foods are pretty much out.  Fresh, home cooked meals are the surest way to do that.  Those who just want to limit the amount can be very choosy about processed foods.

Again, I may be preaching to the choir, but did you know that the position an ingredient falls within the label is in direct proportion to how much of it is in the recipe?  Of course you did.  But just to recap, the farther down the list something is, the less of it is in the box.  So again, refer to the HHS list of sugar names in determining how much you are eating.  And beware…there can be several sources of sugar in one box.

What it all comes down to though is just being picky.  As it is in every other decision in life, the more educated we are on a topic, the more likely we will make the right decision.  Unless of course you are one of those who likes to preach, but not practice.  I HAVE met a few people like that.