I’ll miss you most of all, Sugar

Despite generally being a morning person I wake up every morning with no energy. By about 10:30 am I still have no energy so I go on to my second or third cup of tea. Around two in the afternoon I’ll have a little surge of mental clarity that signals my Optimal Concentration Time in which it’s wise not to disturb me because that’s when I’ll get my best work done. Usually I’m ready to collapse into bed by 9 pm.

I don’t think life should be this way, especially for someone in her 20s! It’s definitely time for a change. Let’s lift our hands in the air and welcome Lent 2012, y’all!

I’m curious to discover whether or not my general malaise is caused by the glucose rollercoaster my body rides every day thanks to my not so sweet sweet tooth. I’ve not put it to the test but I’m 99 percent sure I have no chocolate limits and that no amount of ice cream would be too much. Not that I live like that, but I am not terribly disciplined with sugar at all and I think my body hates me for it. So for the next 46 days, I’m giving my pancreas a rest. Good job little guy, you earned it!

After the slight absurdity of my Lent 2011 attempt to live at the poverty level, with just $1.25 to eat each day, I wanted to do something a little more realistic this year. (To clarify, it was a jolly good idea actually but I did not plan it properly at all, and a task like that takes a lot of planning.)

As well as just generally feeling a bit perkier, I hope to use this time to train my brain to prefer natural sweetness, of fruit for example. So I’m not giving up all sugar ever, just unnatural, unnecessary, processed sugars and candy. While this is certainly more realistic than last year’s project, the fact that sugar is hiding in everything man made is frustrating, including soups, pasta sauces, and even bread. No wonder I’m addicted.

I said my final farewell to sugar yesterday with two Pop Tarts and have now been sugar-free for over 24 hours – go me!

Sorry, dentists of the world.

What are y’all giving up for Lent, if anything? Let’s keep each other strong!