Sugar-free update; so far, not too bad.

Counting today, I have nine days left to go in Sugar-Free February.

So far, it hasn't been as bad as I feared, although there have been some setbacks.

First, I tried so, so, so, so, so, so hard to resist the cupcakes I made for Clair's birthday. But in the end, I decided to take one bite to see if the cake part was moist (it was!) and that one bite sent me down the evil sugar spiral. I devoured the entire cupcake.

And then, the next day was President's Day, so Lester and I had the day off. After spending a few hours getting some work done in my office, I went on an afternoon date with my husband! We went to a movie ("American Hustle" -- very good acting!) and then grabbed a late lunch of tacos and margaritas.

Four or five long, satisfying sips into my margarita, I realized: OH SNAP! Margaritas have SUGAR! And lots of it! I might or might not have cursed a good bit and then I promptly gave the rest to Lester, but dang! The damage was done. I got home and had a massive sugar crash. I had to lie down for 20 minutes until it passed.

The sneaky sugar-laden culprit!

The fact that it only took a few sips of a syrupy-sweet margarita to send me crashing is actually somewhat good news. It usually takes way more sugar and carbs than that, because of my high tolerance for sweet things, earned over many, many years of indulging my sweet tooth.
So I think it means that that amount of sugar was a real shock to my system, giving me room to assume that I've done a pretty good job ridding my body of the toxin in the first place!

I wish I could say I could physically feel the difference from all this careful attention to my added-sugar consumption, but I still have children waking me up at night (Clair's been sick; Cary had a bad dream) so I'm still tired in the morning. I don't think I've lost a pound (my friend Jeanne says she GAINED 2 lbs. since starting this challenge. What the hail?) and I still have to actively fight the urge for something sweet afer I eat meals.

But fight I do, and aside from those two transgressions, I have not given in! Not a Valentine's Day chocolate was consumed, or even a post-lunch Hershey's Kiss. So I might not physically feel different, yet, but I do feel emotionally better about myself. I feel like I'm starting, ever-so-slowly, to take control of my sugar habit, my body and my health. And that makes me feel like a winner!