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Congratulations, we DID it!  Eight weeks of progressively eliminating sugar from your diet is no small feat!  Whether you held strong the entire time, or slipped up a time or two, give yourself a pat on the back.  Even if you completely fell off the wagon, we applaud your effort, and hope you at least gained:

• Awareness of where and how you consume sugar,
• Knowledge of the harmful effects sugar can have on your body,
• Understanding of which sugar sources are less damaging or even beneficial, and
• Some guidelines for minimizing your overall sugar intake.

So now that the challenge is over, where do we go from here?

Well, for starters, do NOT go crazy eating every sugary product you can think of!  Hopefully with the knowledge you’ve gained over the last 8 weeks, you wouldn’t do that anyway.  But if you are thinking about it, keep in mind that you have eliminated (or minimized) sugar in your diet for nearly 2 months.  Flooding it now with a huge influx would only wreak havoc on your system.  Just imagine the headache, upset stomach, and impending crash!

Do allow yourself one or two of those little indulgences you’ve been missing so desperately.  Our goal is to achieve an overall better quality of life, and sometimes that means indulging a bit!  You may find, though, that those little indulgences just don’t taste as good as you recall.  Even if they are just as delectable, remember, everything in moderation.

Complete elimination of all sugar from your diet is not reasonable, or necessarily even healthful.  Given sugar’s negative side effects, though, we do hope to minimize the amount of sugar we consume.  We also know not all foods (food products) containing sugar are equal.  Some are much more nutritionally dense than others.  We strive to choose those foods that provide nutrients our bodies need to function properly, in addition to whatever sugar content they may have.

What about the Finale and those prizes?

Saturday April 5th will be our big finale celebration.  We will have two Grinds, at 9:30 and 10:30, open to members only.  All members are welcome, but if you participated in the challenge, this is a bonus workout for the week!  Each class will be capped at 50 attendees, so sign-up early (at the front desk in the gym).  In addition to a great workout, we’ll provide snacks and refreshments, compliant to the rules of the Sugar Freedom challenge, of course!

After the 10:30 class, we will draw 2 Grand Prize winners.  All members who participated throughout the entire 8 weeks, even if you did not successfully meet each week’s challenge, will be entered to win.  Record your name on the Sign-In sheet at the gym.  Our 8 weekly winners are not eligible to win again…sorry girls!