I made it. I had no desserts or processed sugar for a whole month. I wasn’t insane about it. I’m sure there was some sugar in salad dressings that came on a salad when I went out to eat (but I asked to see ingredients and shunned anything with highfructose corn syrup). For five weeks I didn’t have any dessert or sweet snacks–no exceptions. Every other week I cut our carbs entirely.

The hardest week was the last one, but I only found going without carbs to be difficult. Right now, I honestly feel like I could give up dessert for another month. I just don’t want to, but I’m not craving it the way I expected to. That shocked me.

Overall, I was disappointed to discover that I didn’t have that much energy. I thought I’d feel more energetic. I lost a couple pounds, but that, I think, is more in relation to the reduced carbs and when I start eating them again, I think that will adjust itself.

What I did notice was a new appreciation for foods. I ate fruit in […]

Okay, so if you’ve been reading this blog, you know in 2008 I went a month without soap and a month without shampoo (the later which resulted in my ceasing the use of shampoo to this day).

I’d like to continue these little self challenges and experiments in 2009. If you have any suggestions of something I could try to go without for a month, I’m interested in hearing them.

For February I’m going without dessert for a month. So far so good. It actually hasn’t been that hard, which is surprising because when ever you know you can’t have something you tend to want it more. Technically, I started the last week in January, so it really will be a full month, but admittedly I opted to go without dessert in February because it is the shortest month.

When I was a little girl my maternal great-grandma used to offer us Fig Newtons when we visited her. She only let us eat two Fig Newtons and was apparently a woman of great will power when it came to her diet. I have never been good at eating only two cookies. […]