And so it begins (again)

This is a place where I intend to document, journal, and share my journey as I embark on the challenge of living a sugar-free lifestyle for the year of 2013.

In the fall of2006, I began having a chronic problem with my left knee. I had taken up road-racing in the spring and shortly after completing my first half-marathon I started to feel a horrible pain around my patella tendon. I have spent years trying to figure out exactly what is wrong and am unfortunately still looking for the answer. But this blog isn't about my knee. This is about a discovery I made while searching for answers to my knee problem.

I am addicted to sugar.

I am talking about real addiction. The kind that makes you feel pathetic when you tell people how powerful your cravings are. Right this very minute I have a friend who is dropping off a holiday present and I am imagining it being a baked good that I can eat. Through lots of reading and three attempts to live sugar-free, I have discovered that I truly have two different qualities of life: one when I'm eating sugar, one when I'm not. Over the past few months I have been searching for myself a bit. I recently had my second baby and am a college educated stay-at-home mom. I live far from my roots and my husband is taken away from the home a lot through his work and school. With my only company being a 2 1/2 year old and a 7 month old I spend a lot of time in my head. And lately there is a LOT going on in there. I'd love to use this blog to sort some of it out, but in summary I can tell you that all roads lead to being sugar-free.

I know to many this seems ludicrous. Probably impossible to some. And I know how difficult it is going to be. I've tried three times, I've done all the research. But it's time to take my life in my own hands and not care about what others think. So I decided to keep this blog through my journey. The longest I have gone sugar-free is about 5 months. I plan to do it for 12 and then see if I can slowly introduce some natural sugars back into my system. Maybe a year is all my body needs to heal, maybe it needs 5 years, maybe more. I'm about to find out.

January 1st is right around the corner. I am equal parts excited and terrified. Let the journey begin!