5 things I learned by going without sugar for 5 days

A few days before Easter, after days of binging on Starburst Jellybeans, I started to feel very ... blah... I was dissatisfied with my body and uncomfortable in my skin. So I did something I swore I would never do. I decided to go off of sugar and refined carbs. My sister Karianne does it every so often and usually sheds a few pounds in the process, so I called her for emotional support almost daily. Mostly I just cut out refined flour and sugar, but I wasn't entirely strict about it. I ate potatoes at dinner and sprinkled craisins on my salad, and I even allowed myself a small piece of banana cream pie. I did it for 5 days. Even though it wasn't very long, I was surprised at what I learned during the process. 

1.) First of all, I learned that I can do it! I can actually stop eating so much junk food if I want to. Yay for me! It is amazing what we can accomplish when we set our minds to it.

2.) Second, I learned how often I eat out of boredom, or just as a distraction from other duties. I walk into the kitchen and end up eating crackers or chips or jellybeans or whatever else handy. When I made up my mind not to do it, I realized just how much I mindlessly eat. This reminds me of my goal for the year to live purposefully. What else do I do mindlessly and without purpose?

3.) Self-control begets self-control.  Becoming more aware of myself and my actions not only stopped me from eating junk food, it stopped me from doing lots of mindless things - like randomly checking facebook in the middle of the day, or yelling at my kids without thinking, or putting off the dishes for other meaningless tasks. By consciously controlling one aspect of my life, I was able to subconsciously control many other aspects more effectively. I feel like this concept could be studied more deeply and applied to many aspects of my life. It will be an interesting experiment.

4.) Cutting stuff out is hard! You have to replace it. Eating nuts, cheese and fresh fruit often curbed hunger when I found the munchies hitting.  Once again, this has such an interesting parallel in other areas of my life. Those negative thought patterns I've been trying to change? I can't just magically cut it out; I have to replace it with uplifting music, good conversation with friends, poetry and scriptures.

5.) The most important thing I learned is that I feel so much better when I am taking care of my body. I had more energy and felt happier as a person.

Saturday I spent the day eating junk food with the kids while watching General Conference. Even though I had a Spiritual Feast, I felt like my body was teaching me an important lesson. Our physical selves are so connected with our mental, emotional, and spiritual selves and there is great value in taking good care of these bodies that God has given to us.