Happy Motivation Monday!  I hope you all had a great weekend.  I traveled to Fredricksburg, TX for a friend’s wedding (see my 7 Tips to Enjoy a Healthy Wedding Weekend post from yesterday here!).  Now, I’m about to hit the road for another 4-day traveling work week, but wanted to invite you to join me on a challenge: for 5 days this week, I’m going to work on limiting my added sugars.  Will you join in?

For me, this challenge does NOT mean eliminating sugar all together, nor does it mean cutting back on fruit or other sources of naturally occurring sugars.  It simply means thinking a bit more about the sugar content in the foods I’m choosing.  Here are a few things I’m going to do:

• Watch added sugars in drinks I’m consuming (I do this anyway, but it’s a good reminder that 30% of the added sugar in Americans’ diets comes from beverages)
• Choose snacks without much added sugar, like nuts instead of trail mix with sweetened fruit, energy bars with a low sugar content, or raw fruits and veggies.
• Limit consumption of sweetened breads, baked goods, or packaged products as much as possible.
• Focus on adding in protein wherever possible, which studies have shown to limit sugar cravings.
• Of course I’ll still be enjoying some type of dessert (remember my confession?), but I’ll choose a small piece of lower-sugar dark chocolate, some fruit, or maybe even some herbal tea.  Dessert, for me, is when the addictive properties of sugar really make themselves known – if I’m working into the wee hours of the night (which happens more often that I’d like to admit), I’ll often munch away on sweet snacks and feel like I “need” more to keep me going.  This week, I’m going to try to keep any after dinner snacking as healthy as possible, and only snack when I’m hungry.(source)

It sounds much simpler than it will be, I’m sure, but I’ll do my best!  5 days is a short amount of time, and I’m curious to see if I notice any benefits.  I’m guessing I’ll have more energy, get better rest, and have fewer sugar cravings by the end of the week.  I’d also love to do a more in-depth post on how sugar impacts our bodies if you’re interested.

Now … for the winner of my anniversary giveaway!  We had 233 comments, so thank you so much for your enthusiasm and great suggestions! (I had to download the comments in a separate file because I can’t quite figure out how to get my comments numbered on the blog.  Hopefully I’ll get that soon!).  The random number function in Excel selected number 125, so the winner is Kathleen!  Congratulations!  I’ll email you for details on how to get your free month of Barre3 online classes, Oakley prize pack, and iTunes gift card!

So tell me in the comments… will you join me for the 5-day added sugar challenge?  What do you think is the sneakiest source of added sugars in your diet?