back to sugar - one week later

Well it's been one week and I haven't had a single taste of sugar substitutes. No Splenda, no Equal, no sucralose, no aspartame.

Here's what I have to report:

It is nothing short of amazing how much better I feel. I'm now more energetic, I can focus better (both mentally and visually), I have more color in my skin, I'm more alert and I feel great.

I've realized a few things:

All sugar substitutes are bad. Nothing I have done per my diet in the past has had such a profound impact as giving up "diet" stuff altogether.

The only reason I gained weight in the first place is because I WAS LAZY. It had almost nothing to do with what I was consuming. Now that I've increased my treadmill regimen I can definitely see the difference - even with sugar - in only a week's time.

My body needs sugar. No, not pounds and pounds of it (obviously), but to not have any is bad. My body reacted badly to no sugar. Synthetic sugar is not the answer.

As obvious as this sounds, exercise is the answer. There is absolutely no diet solution that exists that will ever replace good old fashioned exercise, period.