Kicking another habit

I'm making a determined effort to cut right back on my sugar intake as part of my transition to eat better.

Now when we go out for dinner, I try to avoid pop and other sugary drinks and stick with water. I've reduced the amount of sugar I put in my tea and coffee. I'm trying to wean myself down to one teaspoon per beverage. It's hard - I used to put five. I'm not joking. If I could get my hands on some unrefined natural sugar cane crystals, that would be good too, as I've heard it's better than refined sugar. Can anyone back that statement up for me?

I'm noticing a few dessert items sold in the store are being made with Splenda now. One of my favourites is the Cozy Shack rice pudding with Splenda. It's in a smaller container and is less than 100 calories. I tried it and can't tell the difference.

Years ago, you would have caught me snacking at night on chips, cookies, ice cream and the like. Although I still indulge on ice cream once in a while - come on, how can you have apple crumble without vanilla ice cream? Seriously. But for night-time snacking, I now concentrate on fresh fruit, or frozen field berries thawed and mixed with a little yogurt.

I actually roll my eyes and shake my head (no) now when Darlene reaches for a bag of chips in the store. I would've smiled five years ago.