I had to give it up, or should I say at least scale back. And finally, I did!!

I usually drink 3 - 16 oz mugs of tea a day. I don't drink coffee at all, never did. Anyway, so when I started my journey, I got into tea. I find it a GREAT filler upper of my tummy and it's very soothing and stress relieving. In fact, it's very often the last think I eat (drink) at night. It's my signal that my food allotment is up for the day. BUT - I always have had each mug with about 3 tsps of Splenda in it. And that's on top of the other items I eat with Splenda in it. I know, I know. There are lots of folks around here who won't (& literally can't) use any artificial sweeteners whatsoever and I commend you all, but I'm just not one of them. But anyway, it was definitely time *for me* to cut back. But I was dreading it.

I figured I could get used to anything - hopefully - maybe - G-d willing. So I gave it a go on Monday and within a few sips I was fine. Just fine. IT was fine. It was good. And I enjoyed it.

My favorite tea is Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice. It is VERY tasty.

I'm very proud of myself and feel great about it. I feel like I've just taken yet another step in the right direction (I know, I'm very dramatic). Of course there's still room for improvement, but that's okay. More room for improvement, means more things to learn and more growth. In fact, I hope to never stop learning and growing.

Anyone else trying to "change something"? "Improve" upon something? Anyone else learn or grow lately????

Good going, this an issue I also struggle with so I know how hard it is.
So in your honor one less splenda in all my stuff.. I can do it....

Why did you have to give up the tea? Just curious....

I'm also an artificial sweetener person....I'm trying to cut back, though!

My recent attempted improvements come in the form of me stopping the snacking...it's been DAYS now without any unplanned, mid-afternoon chocolate attacks (only ONE slip up)...so far, so good!

Edit: Nevermind...I see you're giving up SPLENDA....not TEA. Duh, Mindi...

Congrats!!!

What does the Bengal Spice tea taste like? I would love to try a new one.
I gave up any kind of sweetner in my tea/beverages the summer I turned 15. It took me the entire summer to learn to like iced tea without sweetner. Altho that was in 1975 and it was instant tea.. Bleckie.

Oh, RR..so glad for you! This is wonderful. Just wonderful.

I also use sweetners--Splenda or Equal. I know I need to cut back. I am a HUGE coffee drinker. I drink probably 6-8 cups daily--sweetner and almond milk in every cup!

Thanks for the encouragement. Maybe I will attempt to scale back.

I gave up artificially sweeteners about 6 weeks ago, and I can tell a difference. I hope you can feel one too as you continue!

On a side note, I have a local tea shop that make Gummy Bear tea. It's a fruit flavored tea, and I find the steeping gummy bears (yes, the tea has gummy bears in it) gives off enough sugar to sweeten my tea.

Also, if you want a little more natural sweet, try honey.

Congratulations - sometimes those are harder habits to change than the big ones. I gave up a six-pack of diet Coke a day habit over a year ago. I think I've had 3 or 4 since. (I'm very much an all or nothing person). Unfortunately, I replaced it with Crystal Lite. So now I get in my water consumption, but I have to kick the Crystal Lite. Oh well - one step in the right direction.

I gave up artificially sweeteners about 6 weeks ago, and I can tell a difference. I hope you can feel one too as you continue!

Tell the differance in what?

That is great Robin! I drink coffee and tea a lot... I use one tbsp of flavored creamer and one tsp of raw sugar in my coffee, 1 tsp of raw sugar in tea (sometimes a little stevia instead of sugar in the work tea) and I consider that serious progress. I used to just pour out of the bottle on the creamer and probably used 6 TBSP, I also used 12-15 tsps of sugar, or sometimes 12 little packs of sugar. Tough to cut back on something you have done for so long! I've actually been moving to 1/2 tsp sugar and 1/2 tbsp creamer lately but have slipped on it. I'm going to give it a try again tonight!

It tastes like - GOOD. Try it!! It contains cinnamon, chicory, carob, vanilla, ginger, cardamom, black pepper, cloves and nutmeg. Give it a go. Good stuff!

I was also wondering, what kind of difference have you noticed. I'm so curious! I certainly didn't scale down because of any ill effects whatsoever. I feel GREAT, my weight loss and now maintenance is also, well, GREAT. I was concerned with the possible unknown long term effects. That was the only reason behind my decision. Nothing that was currently occurring.

And I've no interest in adding in sugar or honey. Not for me. I know for some going the "natural" way is their choice, and that's fine, but I would rather do without then have to add in sugar (or honey). I'm a bit afraid of it, shall we say? And gummy bears? Nu-uh.

Wow Shannon, you've certainly downsized as well! Great going.

Hey RR,
Way to ditch the fake sweeteners, your innards will thank you!!!! I banned splenda & all artificial sweeteners COLD TURKEY about 1.5 years ago & it was the best thing I could have done! No more mystery stomach pains and no more coated tongue!

I'm also a tea lover and my hands down favorite is Bigelow Carmel Vanilla, it's heavenly without anything added, I look forward to it EVERYMORNING & my cupboards are stocked with 12 boxes of the stuff. I've tried umpteen brands and nothing NOTHING quite tastes as good as this one does to me. They used to have a Bigelow Cherry Vanilla tea also, but they discontinued that sucker years ago and I miss it!!!

A few years ago I ditched sweet n low/splenda as part of my tea drinking habits. I will admit that I did it gradually so every time I had tea (hot or cold), I reduced the amount of sweetener. Eventually I stopped using it and now I couldn't imagine those things with a sweetener in them.

RR...where do you buy Bengal Spice Tea? It sound wonderful.

Oooh, Bengal Spice sounds yummy. I drink loose tea, is Bengal Spice in bags already? I'll have to look for it!

I'm sitting here right this minute drinking a pot of tea, actually. My absolute favorite is a mix from a local tearoom that is called Bucaneer--black tea, vanilla, chocolate, and a touch of coconut. I use 2 sugar cubes per mug as well as a creamer (8 ounces) of milk over the whole pot. I've been thinking I should try halving my sugar. Maybe I'll give that a go.

Thanks for the nudge, RR!

Robin - it was seriously an adjustment on the coffee, let me tell you! I used to joke that I drank cream and sugar with a splash of coffee for color... now it is almost the other way around! I find I actually like the coffee flavor!

I get looseleaf tea from Harney & Son's. My current favorites are Green Hot Cinnamon & Hot Cinnamon Spice. Love them! They come in tea bags, too.