Yes, my So Meaty post from this morning was an April Fool’s joke. Did I actually food anyone?? And now the internet is playing jokes on me since this post has 20 different fonts/sizes. Boo.
In January I announced that I would make 2010 my Healthiest Year by making a new health related change each month…
In January I did Meatless Mondays and then changed it to Mexican Meatless Mondays!
February I tried to stop eating after dinner.
In March I decided to keep working on my efforts to stop eating after dinner. Hey, it’s a hard habit to break!
My April Challenge is:
Stop eating artificial sweeteners and added sugars
I have a really really bad Diet soda problem right now. Bad as in, last week I bought a 2 liter of Diet Coke and it was gone that same day. Ouch.
nataliedee.com
So, my April Challenge is to stop eating/drinking artificial sweeteners and also to avoid foods/drinks with added sugar. I am not eliminating all sugar from my diet, but want to make an effort to eat foods with less sugar.
Now that I can’t have Diet Coke what will I drink? Water, Coffee or Tea with some seltzer thrown in for good measure 
Celestial Seasonings sent me a package of tea just in time for my new challenge! So far the Mandarin Orange one is my favorite.
The company has offered to send a RER reader a great Natural Wellness kit too!
The Celestial Seasonings Natural Wellness Kit (worth $60) includes:
- Four wellness teas to ease symptoms associated with the cold and flu including Sleepy time Extra, Echinacea Complete Care and Tummy Mint
– Two green teas to support a healthy immune system year round – Authentic Green Tea and Honey Lemon Ginseng Green Tea
– Mug, soothing lip balm, honey sticks and Celestial Seasonings Sleepy time Bear and the book “Herbs for Health and Happiness” by Celestial Seasonings founder Mo Siegel and Nancy Burke
To Enter, Leave a Comment on this post.Anything you want to say is cool with me
The contest ends Thursday 1/1/2010 at midnight PST. I will pick a winner at tomorrow breakfast post.
Good Luck!!!
In other news, my protein shake this morning was delicious, but left me wanting more. So, I made a packet of multi-grain cereal and it hit the spot!
Mid-morning I ate an orange (no pic because my hands were sticky from said orange).
And lunch was mas huevos! What is my deal with eggs these last two days?
I made a massive salad with spinach, mushrooms, carrots, hummus, chickpeas and a hard-boiled egg with S&P. So good.
I had a mix of crackers and rice crisps on the side too 
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Artificial sweeteners are tough to ditch at first but 2 weeks later youll be fine. You can do it! And if you need to, Zevia is amaaazin
Yeah, but Zevia is mucho dinero or I’d be all over that!
oooh! I love C’s seasonings! went to their factory in CO in january!!! wanna win!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hmm no diet coke for me. Now if it was Coke Zero….that’d be different. (Just kidding, sorta). I try to limit myself to one (ok sometimes two) splendas a day and one stevia packet when I have oats. I know I should give it up like you, but I am just not ready and I don’t know if I ever will be….my sweet tooth knows no bounds, unfortunately…
If you’re only eating a few packets a day I don’t think it’s a big deal. But, I was causing major damage!
Good luck!! Diet coke is a tough one for sure
Woo-hoo for a tea giveaway! And I like your idea of new healthy changes each month… I think I might give it a try!
Those look like very interesting teas! Artificial sweeteners are my downfall
Giving up soda was one of the hardest things I’ve done. I used to carry around one of those big 52oz mugs from 7/11 full of Diet Coke, and I would drink two of them a day, every day, for a few years.
But you can do it! And you’ll feel so much better.
When I need a break from water, I like the berry flavored seltzer water from TJ’s. It’s slightly sweet and fizzy. Perfect!
For some reason the seltzer at my TJ’s is weird to me. But, I used to like it?
Oh diet coke, a downfall of mine for sure
Good luck!
I have been obsessing over eggs the last week too. Though some of mine, may have been chocolate! Maybe its because Easter is on Sunday?
Ha, I love chocolate eggs even more!
ohhh tea give away!
I love Celestial Seasonings!
But I feel your pain with Diet Coke….I’m still trying to break that habit!
I love tea, definitely my favorite caffeinated beverage. I know you are still hating on MD but its where I’m from and I’ve lived all over the state, outside of DC, Columbia, Baltimore and a rural town so I’ve seen it all and really it has a bright side, I promise. Right now I am living in MA and need a boat.
I gave up Diet Coke a couple of years ago. Now I drink iced tea all day and add Splenda. I know – that’s not such a good swap.
I have the same problem with soda vs. water. If there is anything else to drink besides water, I will drink it! Good luck on your April goals!!
Also, the mandarin orange is so, so good!! How nice of CS!
I love Celestial Seasonings teas! What an awesome give away! Tea before bed is my favorite night time treat!
nice giveaway! love those teas!
I was really confused on your last post! I got the joke before you said it, though.
I adore tea! I go on binges with it, but I’ve been doing really well on ridding myself of soda – and I’ve only had one every few weeks. Tea is a great substitute.
I have a really hard time with diet sodas. They’re just so delicious. But I find whenever I try to quit drinking them after I get past the first week it’s so much easier. But that first week of no diet soda sucks so much. I seriously fiend the stuff. Good luck with your April goals!! I am not willing to give up splenda but I have managed to significantly reduce my usage (I was using like 15+ packs a day!! eek).
I love, love, love TEA! So this giveaway is right up my alley. I would also like to say that I love your sense of humor…reading your blog always makes me chuckle
I admire your strength to admit your weaknesses on the blog and I think you are doing a great job trying to eat healthier! Keep up the good work 
I think this goal is a great one and I wish you lots of luck with it. Hopefully having some tasty tea flavors will help!
Ooh, those teas look great! Hopefully they will take the sting out of quitting diet coke — as I sip from a fresh can myself this very moment, I definitely know how hard it is to do without this stuff!
You COMPLETELY had me fooled with the Atkins thing! I was so disappointed — I had just found IE and your blog, and then you were going to bale on me! LOL, hilarious!
I recently just gave up soda as well, the diet soda was really getting me. I also gave up coffee. I feel so much better now!
Awesome competition
I love tea!
I’ve made the switch to Green Tea in the mornings. I used to be a religious DC drinker as well.
I love tea! I prefer it hot though, so for cold drinks I stick to water.
Sprite Zero seems to be my downfall lately…
I recently had to cut out artificial sweetners due to an injury. Tea has been my saviour! I love David’s Tea – http://www.davidstea.com/. It’s all loose leaf and absolutely delicious. My favourite is Forever Nuts (although Super Chocolate is a close second). David’s is only in Canada these days, but they do ship internationally. That said, let me know if you’re interested and I’ll send you a few flavours to try!
Once you kick artificial sweeteners, you’ll never want them again! You go girl ♥ I really love herbal teas and drink them all day, especially in the winter.
Love tea! I’m trying to stay away from the diet sodas we well.
I love this month’s challenge. I decided to give up diet coke for lent (major fail BTW) but I have cut back a ton. Now I have one-two glasses of it a week over 2 medium sized glasses (or cans) a day! I’m slowly trying to completely get it out of my life…it’s been difficult.
I’d love to win that tea! YUM!
I have tried to kick the soda habit so many times but I keep coming back. Good for you though and good luck! I absolutely love hot tea, it’s all I drink during the winter.
Good luck kicking the diet coke habit!
I am with you, I try to eliminate artificial sweeteners from my diet. WOW, your lunch looks so good and healthy.
mmm i love tea!
haha yes I agree eating after dinner is a touchy subject for me too.. it’s just so hard! nice challenges every month though.. mm suger
Ooh, just in time! My office just moved to a new location, and I’m devastated that we no longer have free green tea!
Good luck! I’ve been trying to limit/cut out artificial sugar too. Diet soda was never my thing but I have a weakness for splenda… I put it in my coffee, yogurt, oatmeal, ect. You name it and I probably thought it tasted better with splenda. I’m now down to one packet a day which is a HUGE improvement. I love tea and drink about 3 cups a day!
My boyf is from england so we drink SOOOO much tea. Just turning the kettle on everytime you go in the kitchen is like having a snack. It is often how i replace after dinner snacking! Good luck and send some tea my way yo!
I need to break the diet coke addiction as well. Good luck on your goal for the month!
I drink alot of iced tea, celestial seasonings is my favorite, I love all the different flavors especially for the summer, they are so refreshing.
I drink way too much diet soda too. Having tea for an afternoon boost would be a great replacement!
I am an avid tea drinker and would love to try these new ones out!
I liked your Aprils Fools joke..it was a good one
Good luck giving up artificial sweeteners! I should definitely work harder on reducing my consumption of them.
That tea would be a great replacement.
hi! I am trying to cut sugars out of my diet, too, and these teas would be perfect to help me along! :o) good luck!
Yayyy for the giveaway! I love tea
hahahah i love natalie dee! and nope you didnt fool me!
I love, love, love CS teas! I drink them all the time! Good luck with your new challenge Monica!
Good luck giving up Diet coke! I used to drink it all the time because I swore it just made me feel better (less tired,less cranky, got rid of headaches…). I gave up artificial sweeteners for awhile and I swore that it wouldn’t make a difference and that in the end I’d just go back to diet coke because it made me feel good. I was so incredibly wrong.. now on the rare occassion I do have a diet soda I usually end up feeling like crap.
I am trying to rid my diet of Splenda…. I only put it in my 1 morning cup of coffee a day… but do I really need it? Probably not.
Love the blog! Love Diet Coke too,
but if I win the awesome teas, maybe I’ll give it up right with you! 
I used to have the diet soda problem too. Try switching to sparkling water with flavor! Trader Joe’s has sparkling water with lime or lemon. MMMM! And winning tea would be cool too.
I have a Diet Coke addiction. I am now only letting myself drink a can if I drink an entire water bottle first. I sure am well hydrated because of this!
Oooo… all those teas sound yummy! I heart your blog, by the way… you really make it interesting. There are about 10 other food/fitness blogs I followed and 5 of them are basically identical to each other, so I unsubscribed to a few! (But not yours obviously!) I would much prefer to read about someone with a Diet Coke addiction than read a whole post about the guilt some perfect food blogger has about “splurging” on half a bite of a brownie. Keep on keepin’ it real!
Love your blog, fairly new reader, love Diet Pepsi, but try to keep it to one a day
although not always successful. I would love to try new teas though!! When does the contest end though? It says 1/1/2010?
Good for you! Trying to ditch a soda habit is really hard!!! I have one too! I use a BPA free water bottle (the big one) and try to drink tons of water, and when I get bored with plain water i have some with Emergen-C, or some fresh lime, or some flavored green tea!! Love Celestial Seasonings!! Would love to win! Good luck with your new health change for April!
I am trying to eliminate diet soda from my life too, even though I love it so…
that picture of the diet coke funnel? yup that’s me…or rather it would be if the funnel had been an iv haha!
I looooove that diet coke bong!
Hilarious! Artificial sweetener is a hard habit to kick! I’m working on it myself.
Diet soda is a hard one to quit (I really like coke zero). It’s the only way I can avoid the pounds of sugar in the real stuff. It’s not on my list of healthy things I’m trying to do yet.
I’ve been trying to win these tea giveaways forever!
Ahhh I won’t give up
And you actually did “food” me too. I’m pretty gullible.
I <3 chickpeas in salad.
Also, do want the tea!!! I just bought some Celestial Seasonings Green Tea that was pretty darn good. I like the design of their boxes. Random.
you almost had me with the meat post! hehe but quitting diet coke is hard – it truly is addictive! good luck & i hope i win some tea!!
I love tea!!! and I used to have a DC addiction to! You can do it!
Calories shouldn’t count if something tastes good, only if it tastes awful.
Love green tea…try the decaf with added white tea…really good!
Yay for giveaways! Let me just tell you…there was a time in my life not too long ago where I would easily drink three or four 44oz. fountain diet cokes like the kind you can get at 7/11 for .99 cents. I love fountain soda…I would wake up, head to a gas station before class (was in college at the time) and fuel up with a 44 oz. before eating or drinking anything else. Sometimes I would drink up to 5 of these things a day! I was addicted to say the least…now I’m a coffee junkie…and vodka. Um, it’s 5 o’clock somewhere, right?
love your blog, I’ve been a reader for months. You’re one of my favs!
I love me some Celestial Seasonings! Definitely my favorite brand of tea.
I too am trying to cut down on artificial sweeteners. Luckily I already cut soda out awhile ago, but I use too much sweet n’ low/splenda. Bah.
I do love me some Diet Coke! But tea is great to drink at night! Definitely curbs cravings!
Awesome giveaway!
And I love your goals of the month….its so great to see a blogger i can really relate to 100% just putting it all out there! You go girl!
I don’t have a soda problem but I do love tea! I drink lots of tea – no coffee.
Once in a while though, there is nothing like a fountain coke – yummmm…
Your lunch looks awesome. I used to be into the Diet Coke but honestly I stopped awhile ago and truly don’t miss it. Zevia’s pretty good for once in awhile, although it’s not cheap.
good luck on quitting the artificial sweeteners! i havent had soda in about 4 months, and when i had a sip recently it tasted pretty awful…i guess my taste buds adapted! and the mandarin tea sounds delightful!
Good luck! I gave up sodas awhile ago but still will crave a diet coke every once in a while… hmmm kinda craving one now actually!
your salad looks so good! yum!
Way to go on getting rid of the artificial sweeteners. I stopped drinking as much soda during the week and now when I decide to drink one, I don’t even love the taste as much as I remembered. Plus, I really think you start to taste the artficialness after stopping it for a while. Fill yourself up with water and tea, good luck!
I love your goal this month. I can really relate, but I just can’t do that … yet. Good luck!!!
Ive been drinking so much diet soda lately! I need to get a hold on that!
for years i’ve been saying i need to give up diet soda cold turkey and haven’t done it. i drink more than i care to admit. i’m thinkin’ i’ll jump on the april no-soda bandwagon with you. hopefully i’ll win some tea to help me along!
Great challenge idea for April! Best of luck sticking to it
Good goal! I like zevia and steaz right now; they’re drinks made with stevia, so not really artificial. I drink a lot of tea so would love to win this!
Diet soda was hard, but giving it up for a month really helped. I’ve gotten to the point where it tastes GROSS to me! If I drink any soda, I drink the real stuff which is still rare but you get the point.
I love seltzer and juice!
I have followed blogs like yours for about a year now. I love reading all of the information. I actually relate to a lot of the items that you feature on your blog. I would love the tea package. I am a total tea junkie. I have cut out the artificial sweeteners and my skin looks so much better for it.
The Diet Coke bong cracked me up…I have two vices, and one of them is Diet Coke! The other…tanning bed!
Splenda is like crack, I cannot drink coffee without…. I tried to give it up, but I think I may need to give coffee up instead.
Nothing like funneling a little diet coke…. LOL
Awesome tea giveaway!
Good luck on your goal! You can do it! Splenda is my crack and crack is whack!!! I’ve cut back from 3 per cup of coffee (don’t ask me how many cups!), to now one per cup. Getting somewhere…slowly!
I love Celestial Seasonings. I got to visit their factory in Boulder, Colorado a few summers ago. What an interesting experience!
I have been trying my best to give up artificial sweeteners too. I find now whenever I do have them, I crave more sugar! More reason to stay away!
I love celestial seasonings tea! So yummy!
Good luck with giving up the sweetners. I don’t have a problem with soda but between my coffee, my yogurt (yoplait with sweetners) fake crystal lite, sugar-free coffee syrup. I even put it in my celestial seasonings tea. Yikes! I think I need to start drinking water.
Love your blog btw.
Yeah you fooled me; I don’t know I figured you were testing out diets to lose weight, so I believed it.
I love tea, pilates, Pitbull’s music, and beautiful spring weather.
No artificial sweeteners? May the force be with you—can’t wait to read more about it.
I love tea! and I love your blog!
I love your blog Monica! Your humor is great, and I can really relate to you. I am really trying to stop mindless eating and intentionally eating way too much without thinking about it. Thanks for the support!
I stopped my diet soda addiction cold turkey last September after my brother made some comment about it being my “5th soda of the day”. Gross exaggeration but it really made me wake up to how much fake crap I was pumping into my body on a daily basis. Tea has become my new drink of choice
I almost spit out the water I was drinking when I saw the diet coke bong. Sadly, I can relate. Working on getting down to two caffeinated beverages/diet cokes a day. Then hopefully one, and maybe none someday (i.e., whenever I get knocked up with our first kid…hehe).
Hi Monica!!! Your April’s fools joke really fooled me.. I read your blogs every day all day! My hubby Jeremy secretly reads them too behind my back but then denies ever doing it. (he likes your blogs too) we even discussed your April Fool’s blog this morning. We were both like “WTF is she thinking?????” Haha it was hilarious! I love tea!! I also need to stop drinking diet coke. Pick me. Pick me!
Diet coke is like crack. I gave it up for about 3 weeks, then had one can and I was hooked again.
Your trick fooled me too! How I trusted anything today is a mystery.
Man that is alot of diet coke! I <3 diet coke!
I LOVE tea!!
Ohh, so cool giveaway
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Sugar–the regular kind–is my downfall! I have been trying to be conscious of my intake, but it’s difficult since I’m also determined not rely on artificial sweeteners. Oh, the fine line between non-deprivation and non-overindulgence…
OMG…seriously dude. I didn’t comment yesterday because I was about to go off. I was sitting at my computer all “SERIOUSLY??!! ATKINS?? RED MEAT?? DIET?? IS SHE OUT OF HER MIND??!!” LOL. That’s hilarious. I’m a total nimrod.