January: The Sugarless Month

I've realized that, slowly but surely, I am becoming addicted to sugar. One of my chief addictions in life is hot caffeinated beverages, and the very best thing to do with one of those is dip a sugar encrusted treat into the scalding liquid and letting it combine the flavors. It does not get better than that.

Like many of you out there, I love everything and anything sweet (although I've never been much of a candy person; I can't stand fake fruity flavors! And why both anyway when chocolate is so delicious and abundant?). I love cookies, cake, pie and all other tasty method of sugar delivery. It was in December, when I realized I began to crave sugar in a strange way I never had before. I'm not a smoker and never have been, but I am a total coffee addict. I miss the coffee if I don't have it, and get testy without it. The craving was like that, vicious and snarling and ready to snap off the chain at any moment.

Of course, the Christmas/holiday season is the worst time of the year to  try and kick sugar. Everywhere you go, there are cookies, cakes, desserts, parties, liquor, wine, and beer. Sugar is literally all around you at all times.

So I just rode out the month, continuing to snack and dip merrily away, knowing the futility of trying to do otherwise. January would be the perfect month to try and go sugarless. And here we are, January in full swing.

I decided to make it simpler for myself by creating a few rules.

1. Nothing I eat OR drink can contain sugar.
This includes trace amounts of sugar in things like pasta sauces and where sugar is used as a preservative. I am allowed to use sugar substitutes such as aspartame and sucralose if I so choose, but I find them gross so that probably won't happen. Natural sugars from raw fruits or vegetables are also fine.

2. This goes for liquor as well.
Staying true to the intention and the letter of rule 1, I have decided that the no sugar rule will include liquor as well, including beer, wine, and syrupy liqueurs.

3. If I'm not sure if something contains sugar, I am must err on the side of caution and cannot eat or drink it.
This will mean a lot of label checking and question asking at restaurants and at the supermarket!

So those are the rules. As I write this, I have already been on the no-sugar kick for a number of days. In the interest of fairness, I am going to document this as well, starting with the next post. Wish me luck!