No sugar added

I decided Monday night that it was time to eliminate sugar from my diet. I've done well yesterday and today, but I've also realized that I can't eliminate sugar entirely. It's in a lot of food. For example, even the Kashi cereal I've fallen in love with has sugar in it.

So I'm amending my effort to seriously cutting back on sugar. I'm giving up the pieces of chocolate candy I'd become accustomed to eating every afternoon at work. No more slushies at the movies. And definitely no cake and ice cream (well, except my birthday is next week and I might have to have cake that day).

If I seriously want a sugary snack, I'm sticking with Weight Watchers popsicles and ice cream cups. One treat a day seems reasonable and I think it will keep me from feeling deprived.

I'm cutting back on sugar because I've discovered in the past year that it truly does affect my mood. Plus, the more I eat of it, the more I want to eat of it. Yesterday was a struggle, but today was easier. Generally, I planned my fruit snacks better today so I think that helped.

I'm also proud that I walked 3 miles tonight. After walking 5 miles Saturday and 5 miles Sunday, I had to take a break Monday. Then it was raining Tuesday, so I didn't walk. The weather was threatening when I got home from work today, so I figured that was one more day that I wouldn't do it. I went ahead and put on my pajamas and ate dinner.

But then the sky cleared. And I actually changed clothes and headed outside. I started out thinking I would only make it three laps around my neighborhood, which equals 1.8 miles. But once I was out there, I felt determined to complete the 3 miles.

Honestly, I feel like crap. Lots of aches and pains for some reason. But mentally I definitely feel a sense of accomplishment. So far, I've walked 13 miles total this week. I don't know if I'll reach my 15-mile goal by Friday because the weather is supposed to be bad tomorrow. But at least I didn't just give up.

Finally, I'm hopeful about Friday's weigh-in. The scale has not been my friend so far this week. But I know I'm eating much better than I was and exercising more. I have to trust that the scale will catch up eventually. The best part is that I'm on week three of feeling like I'm back on track. And that makes me happy.