Update

So it's been two weeks since I've started watching my refined-sugar intake. I'm happy to report that I'm feeling better than I have in a long time. Most notably:

1- I sleep at night. When I go to bed, I fall asleep in 10-15 minutes and I don't get up until the morning. (Although once or twice I woke up with a cough and went to get a drink of water. Sometimes the A/C or ceiling fan will dry my throat out and cause me to cough.) The last several mornings I've been waking up before the alarm, too.

2- As a corollary to the above, I feel more comfortable in the bed. My hips, knees, ankles, elbows, and shoulders all seem to hurt a lot less. I can actually lay on my side and rest my knees against each other without feeling like I just hammered into an invisible bruise. I feel more comfortable sitting on the couch or in the recliner.

3- Swelling in my hands and fatigue in my limbs is also less noticeable. I get less tired during the day or from doing every-day tasks (like unloading the dishwasher).

4- I've been eating something for breakfast every morning, always within an hour of waking, and at least 11 out of the 14 mornings I was actually hungry.

5- Not eating the sugar has caused me to make better choices overall with food. So I haven't been over-indulging. I have had a few minor cravings (which I think are actually more like impulses than actual cravings) but usually, a drink of water or tea kicks that in the butt. I'd also like to mention that I honestly don't feel deprived either. I recall in the past when I've tried to get back on the weight-loss wagon that I would adopt this sort-of martyr persona. Maybe it's because my primary goal isn't weight loss and I am feeling better already, but I don't feel like some kind of freak who "can't eat like a normal person."

6- My skin, which never really had a "problem," per se, looks and feels better. My face definitely feels smoother and I have way fewer weird dry patches. I feel like my skin looks brighter. I also have a little brown spot on my right cheek. It's been there for at least 7 years. At first, it was about the size of a corn flake and very light. I did have a dermatologist look at it and it's Melasma, which is fairly common among women who have taken any hormone-related drugs, including birth control. It's gotten a lot smaller (more like a rice crispie), but also more concentrated in color in recent years. I swear on my yarn stash that it seems to be smaller and less concentrated than it was 2 weeks ago.

7- My general mood has improved, despite some rather stressful occurrences in my life at the moment (i.e., my crazy, red-neck, next-door neighbors and having an employee resign from her job in the middle of a huge project). I feel less likely to despair and whine about things that used to cause me great agitation.

8- My pants are looser and my bra feels just a little less squeezey around my upper torso. I didn't put myself on the scale when I started, but I would venture a guess that I've lost somewhere around 5-6 pounds.

9- The night sweating has, indeed, stopped. I have also nearly completely recovered from the flu/cold symptoms I had last week. I have been a little sneezey but I do think that is a real allergy issue that I have (thanks, Delaware).

All in all, I feel better and feeling better is super encouraging to want to keep moving forward. Granted, I'm not perfect. And I'm sure there's something I'm eating that probably isn't great for me. (Picked beets? Anyone know if this is a bad food to consume? I had a slice of pizza for lunch, too.) But at least it's not cookies or cupcakes or Butterfingers.