This past month we did our very very best to go without any artificial or processed sweeteners of any kind... in anything. Oh man was it a learning experience.
Going into this experiment I felt like I didn't eat too much sugar to begin with so I wasn't anticipating it would be too hard. I figured we would have to switch out a couple items, cut out the desserts and we would be good to go. Boy was I ever wrong. Escaping the grasp of sugar is not so easily done. Lesson learned!
1 - Sugar is in everything.
Guys I'm talking: bacon, mayonnaise, cereal, salsa, crackers, salad dressing. It's everywhere! In grocery items I never would have anticipated.
2 - Convenience foods are called convenient for a reason.
Life is busy with two little ones and I never realized how often I just grab a granola bar as I'm running out the door. So because these foods were no longer an option, I was often hungry as I ran from one errand to the next. I had all sorts of big plans to make homemade sugar-free snacks and have them all prepackaged and ready to go at a moments notice... but it just never happened.
3 - Going anti-sugar is antisocial.
It didn't take long to realize that you have to assume sugar is in just about everything and when you don't have an ingredient label staring you in the face, it's easy to not even think about what you're eating. There were multiple times we would go out to eat with friends or enjoy a nice family meal at my mom's house and halfway through dinner I would suddenly realize.. oh this definitely has added sugar.
In the end, although we have no plans of cutting out sugar for good, we do plan on redefining the role sugar has in our food and home. Plus, as an added bonus, we found some pretty yummy refined sugar-free recipes along the way.
Now please excuse me while I go prep our sugar-filled chocolate cookie dough for tomorrow. Happy Halloween... almost!
