Sugar Me Sweet

In the past several months, I've been very good about cutting a few things out of my diet. No sodas, which is a gigantic accomplishment considering my undying love a devotion to Coke-a-Cola. I gave up white bread for whole-grain wheat bread. I traded in my bagels for English muffins. Goodbye to the snack cakes and hello to my good friend fruit. I eat more leafy greens and vegetables, lots of fish and less and less fried stuff.

Why? Because somewhere between turning 25 and the fast approaching 3-0, my body began to shift. It began to process things differently. It began to punish me for eating all the things I ate before. I missed the days of chomping down double cheeseburgers and having girls ask, "What's your secret, how do you stay so thin?" The glory days of eating total junk and my body never revealing a consequence.

Knowing the glory days had passed, I quickly decided that I didn't want to be air-lifted from my house one day. I wanted to establish some healthy eating habits that I could feel good about.

But there's one thing I tried giving up and simply couldn't. Sugar in my morning coffee. For me, there's no acceptable, tasteful substitution. In tea, it's no big deal, but there's something familiar and perfect about coffee with a scoop of sugar.

My most recent attempt to ditch sugar (I'm sorry, I really do love you), was Truvia — "natures perfect sweetness." Marketing folks: you're wrong about that one. Hopeful about the zero-calorie sweetener, I ripped open a packet and dumped it into my cup. Stir. Sip. Try not to spit. This is the battery acid of sugar substitutes.

Yes, as a society we're becoming more health conscious. Natural being the latest buzzword. But, do we not have taste buds? My new philosophy: I'll give up what I can, but I'm keeping my morning scoop of sugar.