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!

4 comments:

  1. June Challenge Suggestions:
    Brian McComas (country, specifically his debut, self-titled album)
    Florence & The Machine (if you haven't heard her already, powerful vocalist, Brit indie pop - albums "Lungs" and "Ceremonials")
    Mary Chapin Carpenter (esp. "Why Walk When You Can Fly", folk)
    Bix Beiderbecke - the QC jazz legend
    Bobaflex cover of "Sound of Silence" (some of their other stuff may be too harsh, hard rock)
    Eric Church, "Springsteen" on album Chief (country)
    Gaelic Storm (Celtic Rock)
    Max Richter - album "Recomposed" (variations of Vivaldi's Four Seasons)
    Sarah Brightman (operatic pop)
    the Puppini Sisters (50s girls trio w/ modern twist)
    VAST - "Visual Audio Sensory Theater"
    Bobbi McFerrin & Yo Yo Ma - "Hush" (acapella+ cello)
    Deadmau5 - "4x4=12" (electronica/dance)
    Let me know if you listen to any of these!

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  2. Of Monsters and Men, The Head and the Heart, The XX, Two Door Cinema Club, Passion Pit, Macklemore, Balmorhea, Yann Tiersen, Zoe Keating, Explosions in the Sky, The Bad Plus, Matt Pond PA, Bastille, The Cars, .38 Special, Cloud Cult

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  3. In the middle of the month of absention from sugar, I was convinced I would never try it..... but now seeing your positive comments, I think I might try it. However as Calvin (from Bill Waterson's Calvin and Hobbes comic strip) says, "I'm a dessertarian" as opposed to a vegetarian.

    For this month's challenge, it will take more than 4 minutes, but if you have not listened to Aaron Copeland's Appalachian Spring, you would expand your horizons to do so.

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  4. I found a new band that I enjoy - Bastille. My favorite songs are "Pompeii" and "Laura Palmer."

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