We made it 30.9 days without sugar + Challenge #10: New Music

The first sweet things to hit our mouths after an entire month!

Well it's finally June and that means the hardest challenge for us yet is over! At the time I wrote this post, it had been 2.5 days since sugar had re-entered my life and I had eaten something sweet for a total of six meals/desserts! Even though that sounds excessive, I assure you that I actually had even more opportunities for eating sweets than I indulged in during those 60 hours. It is truly amazing when you pay attention and realize how much sugar is in our diet in America!

The good news is that Justin and I both would say, without a doubt, we are changed as a result of going without a sweet experience for the last month. These are the ways we noticed our lives have been enhanced as a result of our temporary sugar fast:

• I now have much stronger self-control in this area and I plan on abstaining from eating sugary foods and desserts sometimes. Before this month I didn't ever care enough that it was bad for me to not eat something sweet if it was around. It wasn't even a debate in my mind, I just ate it because I always thought the experience of eating it would outweigh the unhealthiness. Now that I have experienced being satisfied without eating sugar, it's more of a debate whether eating it is a good idea. Sometimes it will be. Sometimes it won't. And I actually recognize that now.
• My digestion improved- I'll be vague in my language here because I don't want to be all T.M.I. on you, but I became much more regular as the month went on.
• I lost weight! 5 lbs to be exact! And my tummy fat leftover from pregnancy virtually melted off me. (Score.)
• Our sugar cravings went away. We enjoyed non-sugary foods more and became satisfied without eating sweets. At the end of the month when we finally ate dessert to break the fast, it was actually much less exciting than we anticipated because we had learned to be content without it.
• I now have an increased awareness of the amount of sugar in my diet and have a stronger desire to limit my sugar intake sometimes.

30 Day Challenge #10:
Our June challenge is expanding our musical horizons and listening to a new band/artist every day. Because pretty much for the last two years we have listened to the music already in our iTunes library and top 40 radio. Not that that's terrible, we just recognize that there's so much more out there we would really enjoy, it just takes a little effort to discover it. So let us know if you have any suggestions for good music to try!