It’s that time of year again where I try and give up some of the things that I, for one reason or another, have let back into my life. At the beginning of 2009 I read The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson and I went Primal. I gave up everything man made and lived by the mantra, if man made it, I wont eat it. I gave up coffee, soda, and anything else that contained artificial sweeteners ( I have to have creamer with my coffee). I felt and looked great. I was getting cut and felt I was on the road to finally having some abs. Then one day, I was very tired and felt I needed a hit of caffeine. I poured a cup of Joe, and became addicted to coffee once again. With the coffee came flavored waters and then diet soda creeped back into my life. I was once again became addicted to coffee in the morning and Diet Mountain Dew in the afternoon.  I also let back into my life cheese and sour cream. Mainly on my trips to Chipotle for my burrito bowl.

Everything else about my primal existence remained the same. I still ate low carb high fat and my exercise and workout routines remained great. However I noticed that the cut look that I once had, started to fade. I was going in the opposite direction that I had hoped to be going.

Taking a long hard look back, the big change in my life was the reintroduction of artificial sweeteners in the coffee creamers, waters, and sodas, juices, etc.  I truly believe that even though they are “calorie” free, they can still lead to weight gain. I feel I am living proof of that.

So now I am on a mission to wipe those things back out of my life.  It’s back to water for me. Pure, simple water.

A few other things I am going to try to reduce and/or eliminate: nuts, nut butters, nut flours, cheese, and sour cream.

In a few weeks I will let everyone know if my progress has started to go back in the direction that I had hoped it would.