Today I am unsweetening my diet to be more emotionally level.

Sugar influences emotional highs and lows. Sugar can be the ultimate comfort and, about it without it, visit this site I am left to deal with my emotions in other ways. This is both good and a cost to giving it up. It is good because I don’t need to be a slave to moderating my emotions with sugar (which is essentially an addiction response); I will be freer and have the opportunity to be more in control of how I feel. It can be challenging, disease though, as it is hard to do this sometimes and sugar is much easier.

Today, I don’t think I am so much feeling the effects of sugar lows (though, this is probably part of it), as I am feeling more emotionally on edge and needing to constantly catch myself, as my thoughts move to what I can eat that would be soothing. This is never the exact thought – it is more about what would really taste good right now – but I know better that it is getting away from my frustration or boredom that I aspire to. Sitting with and through emotions is not always easy! It has been an OK third day, though.
Mission:  To lower sugar intake for 30 days to “unsweeten” my tastebuds and holistic self so that I can continue to eat less sugar at a stable rate going onward.

Items that motivated and inspired me to do this:
Research Article that discussed the importance of reducing sugar intake:

Lastly, cure
artificial sweeteners, site precisely because they are sweet, unhealthy
encourage sugar craving and sugar dependence. Repeated exposure trains flavor preference [54]. A strong correlation exists between a person’s customary intake of a flavor and his preferred intensity for that flavor. Systematic reduction of dietary salt [55] or fat [56] without any flavorful substitution over the course of several weeks led to a preference for lower levels of those nutrients in the research subjects. In light of these findings, a similar approach might be used to reduce sugar intake. Unsweetening the world’s diet [15] may be the key to reversing the obesity epidemic.
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2892765/)

A TED Talk that inspired me to take on a short term change project:
Matt Cutts TED Talk on Try Something New for 30 Days

Coaching Tools to Support My Challenge:

• Decisional Balance: to address ambivalence and create list of motivators
  • Choose one motivator each day

• 10 daily questions: answer daily questions to check in on progress and “keep honest” on plan
• Daily food journal: to increase awareness and mindfulness of food intake
• Pre and Post Naturopathic Doctor consult
• Public Commitment:  post updates on progress and methods on blog, Facebook and Twitter

I will explain more about these inspirations and tools as the month goes on.