I feel better. Is that weird?

When J and I started our Lenten diet this year, it was no big deal. We had given up the same things last year: refined sugar, refined flour, red meat, and caffeine. Sounds like a lot? Yeah, it was rough last year. But this year wasn't so bad. I didn't miss the sugars or white bread as much as I thought I would, but I was really looking forward to Lent being over. Or so I thought.

Easter Sunday came, I grabbed a Chai Latte from Starbucks as a morning treat, and went to church. So far, no big deal. Then our friends had an Easter potluck, replete with glazed ham and chocolate fondue. Ok, I can handle that. And then I got home, and the boxes of candy called my name. I indulged - why not? I wasn't on our Lent diet any more - and then it happened. I crashed! All throughout this past week, I have allowed myself to eat sugar whenever I pleased, and my body has not like me for it! I literally felt bloated and sluggish all week - pretty darn terrible given how on top of the world I had felt the week before. I even seemed to gain a few of my lost pounds back!

What I did not experience last year, and what shocked me about it this year, was a complete change in my actual taste for sugar. For me - a lifelong sweet tooth - the ability and realization that my body (and therefore my self) no longer gets much pleasure from eating sugary things as I thought. There must have come some moment of mental switch in the last 40 days, realizing that I did not mentally need sugar, nor did I physically need it either, and that was it. This has been such a freeing feeling too, to not want or crave things that are ultimately bad for me. I feel better without sugar. Is that weird?

Starting today, I am back to the no refined sugar, no refined flour, with a little leeway built in for those occasions when I want a bite or two of something sweet. But this is a decision that is an obvious choice now because I have found out how good and strong and alert I can feel, and I don't want to give that feeling up for a box of jelly beans. It's just not worth it!