No Sweets November

I remember in college there was a fad among the guys -- and even some brave girls -- to take on the challenge of "No Shave November".  The goal was to get through the entire month without shaving.  The point?  Well, it's a college trend -- there's not really a point except to may allow guys to be lazy (or to keep girls on "the hunt" away -- if you were a junior or senior at Messiah college).

Anyway, I've decided to take that challenge and change it a bit.  Instead of going without shaving for a month (my husband would not approve of this and I honestly wouldn't either), I've decided to give up sweets.  The point?  Boost my weight loss before I come home for Christmas and pig out on all the American food I've been craving.

Last week, when I hoped on the scale, I realized that I've lost 10 pounds since moving to Japan.  That was really exciting to see -- especially since, before I came to Japan, I've done nothing but gain weight since the day of my wedding.  I thought my pants had gotten a bit loose -- it was awesome to see I was right! 10 pounds in 9 months might not sound like a lot, but it's from doing nothing more than eating Japanese food, walking/biking to most destinations, and playing with my kids everyday for 20 minutes (which is some days a lot of running around and some days not, depending on the game).  I thought that if I could lose 10 pounds by not putting much effort into it, then if I gave up sweets and did stomach crunches every night, maybe that would help me lose even more weight.  The exception I am allowing myself is Starbucks (which I get once a week when we go to the metro station on our way to church) and the half-sugar-half-fake-sugar in my coffee in the morning.

I hope I'm able to stick with it.  I'll face the challenge right away, since tomorrow is "Fun Food Friday" in the office, and the food always gets put on my desk (in the name of tradition).  At least there is one other girl in the office on a no-sugar diet for her wedding in December.  Maybe we can commiserate...

PS  Don't be too impressed; I have no doubt that those 10 pounds will reappear in the 2 weeks while I am in the States, pigging out on the food I've missed like Buffalo Chicken Pizza, wings from Quaker Steak & Lube, burritos from Moes, and everything from Cheesecake Factory and Olive Garden.....Mmmmm....December can't come soon enough!