Sweeeeeet!! It's over.

So it's now December 3 and I'm just getting around to writing about the end of my No Sweets Challenge which ended three days ago. Truth is I was on a two day sugar rush and then crashed and am just now getting back on my feet. Just kidding.

The challenge started out rough, really rough. I think that was a result of the caffeine more than the sugar, which I think I started drinking with tea. But after the first week, it went really smooth and I didn't have any problems. I actually liked it!

I did not however write much about it... or anything else for that matter. It's almost like without sweets in my life, my life's just not as sweet.

I did do stuff. I even thought stuff. I could have written about a lot. I kept meaning to film all the candy we still have in the apartment... I bunch of fun-sized MilkyWays, a couple of fun-sized Butterfingers, a full sized Snickers, a bag of peanut M&M's, and some other stuff - all leftover handouts from Jane at work... a bunch of the Milky Ways are now gone though.

And it didn't take much before I ate too much. Three Hershey kisses was enough for me at midnight on Friday. I had a Coke yesterday and had to share it with Tiff because I couldn't finish it. I no doubt will fall back into the sugar-filled diet I've grown accustom to, especially as I'm about to head off to Jamaica - I'm getting married! - but for now I'll hold off on the sweets. Thank you very much.

As far as ratings go... I did okay. I slipped up once. I had some soda and a small piece of cake... it had been looking at me for hours, just begging to be eaten. Unlike the vegetarian challenge however, I do feel the difference in my body and will probably think about it each time I eat too much sweet stuff. So I'll say a 23 out of 30. Again, it's not too bad.

Pumpkin Pie

This sweets thing is becoming as easy as pumpkin pie. This weekend I baked a pumpkin pie as part of a pre-Thanksgiving feast. Not eating it was made easier by the fact that my time making it was spent silently cursing it and its precious crust. I now understand why they sell pie crust in the store.

I also only made one pie while I followed a recipe for two. I know for a fact that I didn't halve one of the ingredients, and I saw after the fact that the recipe for just one pie is not exactly half of everything for two. So I'm pretty sure it tasted awful. This made it easier not to eat, but I was cooking it for my soon-to-be in-law's, so instead I worried about it. I wouldn't want to make everybody sick just before joining the family. Plus, the turkey caused enough headache for the day.

In the end, one piece of pie was eaten to rave reviews. As good as pumpkin pie is and as much as it is a vital piece of Thanksgiving, in my head at least, you don't really need it. There is so much other good food - turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes - that even for a true pumpkin pie lover, it's just extra goodness. It's like the cherry on top.

I did eat something sweet though. I'm not free from sin. Tiff made a dessert as well. I'm not sure what they were called but they were slow-cooked apples covered in brown sugar. I had never had them before and they smelled delicious, so I thought I should at least try them... and the recipe suggests serving it with whipped cream, so I had to get the full effect.

Diet Pepsi

I mentioned I drink soda. I feel like I'm bucking the system a bit, not to mention a native-Atlantan traitor, as my soft drink of choice is Diet Pepsi. I like how it tastes. I like how it fizzes in my mouth. For a long time, I was getting 2-liter bottles, but then I switched to cans a few months ago, just to make sure nothing was going flat.

I enjoy Diet Pepsi.

Diet Pepsi uses artificial sweeteners and therefor has no sugars in it. It is however sweet, but I wildly stated that I would not drink soda. Thus, one of the harder parts of this is that I said goodbye to Diet Pepsi.

And said hello to Turkey Hill's 100% Diet Green Tea. It contains no sugars or artificial sweeteners. Ideally, I would be replacing soda with water, but sometimes water needs a little pizazz. That's when I reach for a tall glass of Turkey Hill's 100% Diet Green Tea. It turns out the tea has the aspartame, the same stuff that people at Pepsi it in Diet Pepsi to make it Diet. But green tea is suppose to be healthy, right?

Admission: at a 75th birthday party, there were drinks abound... I had a taste of Diet Pepsi. I did not like how it tasted. My soda temptation is more or less gone. As long as I'm pounding down the Turkey Hill's 100% Diet Green Tea.

Sweets, Please

This time last week, nearing the end of a moderately successful vegetarian month, I looked forward to my sacrifice of sweets. I was confident that if I could eat all the meatless foods with as little trouble as I ran into, then I could do anything. Oh, how I was wrong. Giving up sweets is so incredibly more difficult. It feels much more like a sacrifice.

The thing about sweets is they satisfy you without filling you up. Whereas you look to meat for a meal, sweets are just a treat. A very, very good treat. And you look to a sweet treat when you're bored, or you've already had dinner but you just need something else... a little sweet treat.

Tiff and I did not have any plans this weekend, which was nice, but something was missing. I eat my fair share of sweets, but I don't think it's a tremendous amount. The fact that this sacrifice is so difficult is surprising to say the least. 25 more days before I can gorge myself in chocolate.

No Sweets - 1 Month

As I mentioned the vegetarian challenge was never very nutrition focused. Towards the end, and as Halloween approached, my daily meat intake was replaced by a daily sweet intake. I've always loved sweets, candy and cake and cookies and ice cream and doughnuts... who doesn't?

Lately - well, for the past few years, I haven't held back either. I want a doughnut, I go next door to Shoppers, home of the Colossal Doughnuts. I want some candy, I go next door to Wal-Mart, where you can get a pack of Twixes for a $1. I want some ice cream, maybe a milkshake, isn't that what made McDonald's so popular? And cookies and cake, that's what Tiff's for... gettin' in the kitchen and bakin' me whatever I want. Whenever I want.

And cutting whatever it is into little bite-sized pieces and feeding it to me as I recline in front of the tv. The rest of the time she fans me with incense as I sip a colorful drink with a bright umbrella in it..

Anyways, here's November's challenge. No Sweets - 1 Month. This includes any sugary dominated thing. Desserts or sugary snacks, so no Pop-Tarts, which I have access to at work every day and are delicious and easy.

Also, and here's the kicker, no soda. I don't drink much soda so this shouldn't be too bad. I usually drink one can a day, so I don't think I need the caffeine or anything, but we'll see how I do. It's going to be a watery November for me.

Wish me luck.