It is now Day two of Lent, which means day two of no sugar substitutes for me. No splenda in my coffee, no diet soda, not even the “natural” truvia sweetener.
For Lent this year I really wanted to give up something that I knew I’d crave on a daily basis, since the purpose is to deny of fast from something that you feel you “need”.
I go through a lot of splenda….it’s bad, like I put it in my coffee, my tea, my yogurt, and sometimes even my milk (unsweetened almond milk). Sugar (or sugar flavored things), are sooooo addicting. What’s bad about artificial sweeteners for me is that I have no incentive to cut down, because adding another pack of splenda doesn’t add any calories, so why not add it? Then I get so accustomed to the taste that nothing sweet satisfies me unless it is ultra sweet.
When I went to Europe nearly three years ago, I consumed only real sugar when I was out there, which means I only added a little to my coffee and that was about it. Ironically, when I was in Europe and only eating “real” foods, I lost 5-7 pounds during the month I was out there. Also, when I first came back, I couldn’t even stand the taste diet soda or splenda in my coffee….it tasted too sickeningly sweet. Of course, after I was back here for a couple of weeks I became accustomed to ultra sweet taste of things fairly quickly.
How did day one go? Actually not that bad! I’ve noticed that the foods/drinks I normally would consume with artificial sweetener in it I consume much slower and consume a smaller volume of when I don’t add the addicting splenda to it. This goes along with studies that have shown that people (or animals) who consume fake sugar actually weigh more and eat more than those who don’t. Now, I’m not doing this with the primary goal to lose weight, but the point is that sweet flavored things are addicting, and I feel I need to cut that addiction, especially when all that fake stuff can’t be too good for you.
Of course, just because I’m giving up artificial sweetener doesn’t mean I’m giving up my daily chocolate need:
Every day at work I have a few chocolate malt balls and chocolate covered peanuts to go with my coffee. Anyone who has ever worked with me knows this is an essential part of my diet ; )
If you practice Lent, what are you giving up? What’s the one thing that you would find the hardest to give up?
The hardest thing for me would be coffee. I’ve tried several times and failed miserably, so I know to not even try ; )
I’ve given up sweets in general because I tend to seek them out when I’m feeling down and I need to replace that desire with a more constructive approach to my happiness…and I’m trying to let go of anger especially over things I can’t control. It’s just a bunch of little things that I think add up and distract me from “real” happiness and contentment.
What a great thing to focus on and give up. It’s so easy to excessively worry and focus on things we can’t control, and definitely adds up!
Are you giving up stevia too? It’s all natural but still adds that extra sweet taste. Just curious!
I had to give up all added sugar and artificial sweeteners except for honey, molasses, and maple syrup when I was going through my food allergy elimination diet and I noticed that real foods started to taste sweet to me. I was actually satisfied having fruit for dessert! Of course, now that I can have sugar again my taste buds have adjusted back to wanting something super sweet but it’s nice knowing I could always cut it out and be okay.
I decided to cut out all sweet flavored things except for real sugar, including stevia, because when I use real sugar, I’m not tempted to put excessive amounts of sugar in because of the empty calories. I think if I used stevia, I would have no incentive to limit how much I use, and it would defeat the purpose of breaking my “sweet” addiction.