Day 24

And thus, it endeth.

Tonight, I broke my streak.  I ate sugar.  In the form of ice cream.  A not small amount of ice cream.

And how do I feel?

Really good.

But Sophie, you say, why does defeat feel good?  Why aren't you riddled with guilt at the thought that you couldn't go a measly 30 days without eating sugar?  You cracked!  Don't you care?

Well, think of it this way:

Right now, I'm at Day 24. The last time I posted anything was Day 9, and Day 9's post wasn't even about the struggle of my daily routine.  That says something.  It says that after the first 5 days, cutting sugar out of my life wasn't all that hard.  It didn't take enormous amounts of willpower, and I didn't have to throw out all of the sugar in my house lest I be tempted.  In fact, there is still copious amounts of chocolate on the counter, and (more) ice cream in the fridge.

And right now, I'm not dying to eat it all simply because I had some.  And I know that I'm not going to wake up tomorrow morning and suddenly have french toast with maple syrup for breakfast, a cookie for lunch, and cupcakes for dinner.

The fact of the matter is, I feel good because I won.  I am no longer addicted to sugar.  I am no longer craving diet cokes, or cokes at all for that matter, even when I ride.  I eat real food, all day, everyday.  I am once again in control of my diet.

Even tonight's transgression isn't truly all painted black.  Story: I went out for what was intended to be an 80 miler with 2 Bonk Breakers (I ran out of PB/J and BBs are about the closest thing you can get), and the intention of stopping for a banana at a gas station in the last 15 miles.  When a double flat ended the ride 63 miles in, I returned home in the car of a savior friend only to realize that it was 5:30, and all I had eaten the whole ride was 1 Bonk Breaker.

6:00 comes, and I get some sushi at Whole Foods for dinner, and afterwards I'm still hungry.  I mean, HUNGRY.

So I decided to think about what I had in the house (soy crisps, chicken salad, hummas, shrimp, etc) and eat the first thing my body wanted.   Turns out that thing was ice cream.

And now I feel much better.

Bottom line:  I'm looking at food, all food, as fuel.  And sugar is fuel.  In fact, sugar is such a potent fuel that it has to be treated with nuclear reactor care.  Eat it when you NEED it.

This experiment has allowed me to see and live that fact.

Does this mean I will gorge on cookies and brownies every time I ride bikes?  No.  I enjoyed my PB/J routine, and will keep at it.  Will I never allow myself to enjoy a treat?  You're funny.  Apple Pie a la Mode is still next on the Sugar menu this Thursday and I will accept it with a huge, "YES PLEASE!"

But until then, I can also truly and happily say, "No Thanks" to everything else.