Dear Bread and Sugar,

After a long and complicated relationship, the time has come where I have to break up with you. It’s not you, it’s me. Well, actually, it is you. You don’t bring out the best in me. While I appreciate your commitment to giving me every calorie, gram of sugar and carb in your power, it has just become too much. I feel suffocated. Our love is no longer healthy. It has become obsessive and counter-productive.

So, I have decided to see other people, like vegetables, fruit, lean proteins and healthy fats. They are better at fulfilling my emotional needs and they just “get me.” They support my goals and they believe in my long-term vision.

I will be forever grateful for your frosting, chocolate chip cookies, ice cream, cake, candy and even what you try to hide in my dressings and condiments. However, the time has come where we must say goodbye. I know we split up for a month last June, but I need a break. I hope you understand, and I also hope you will consider going for a run in the New Year. Wishing you the very best.

Love, Jesica

Yes, enough is enough. After a holiday season filled with more treats and desserts than I care own up to, I’m making a clean break. I’m eating a bread and sugar free diet for the entire month of January so I can refocus on feeling healthy, strong and in control of my food choices. The same rules apply as the week-long “break-up” I did in June: No food that includes sugar or any form of sugar (or sugar substitutes) and no bread. Fruit is fine, as are other grains such as brown rice, quinoa, etc. When I did my week-long break-up with bread and sugar earlier in 2014, I slept better and got fewer headaches. I will post after the end of January to let you know how I feel as a result of my month-long sabbatical with these sugary villains. When it comes to food, I believe that everything should be consumed in moderation, with a focus on vegetables, fruits, lean protein and healthy fats, but I just need a healthy kick-start after all the treats I’ve consumed during the past 2 months.

Want to join me? Post below and consume a bread and sugar free diet for a month. You can follow me on the following social media channels to share your daily/weekly success with thoughts and photos. If you have a blog, consider posting about it there, too.

Here’s to a more balanced relationship with bread and sugar in 2015.

Are you in for the bread and sugar free diet in January? What are your favorite snacks and/or “desserts” that are alternatives to bread and sugar products?