Have you ever heard about the 30 Day No Sugar Challenge? The challenge is not to consume any kind of sugar/sweetener for 1 month. However that is not quite enough for me personally. I’m going to kick it up a level as well. Not only am I going to get rid of sweetener for the 1 month, I’m also cutting out some other things. And by other things I am talking about a lot of my favorites.

The reason why am I carrying this out? I want to find out how my body reacts once i get rid of a thing that we all know isn’t good for us. I mean come on. Sugar isn’t healthy or needed for optimal health and wellness. Don’t get me wrong though. I really like chocolate, soft serve ice cream, candies as well as other sweet things. But I understand that they’re unhealthy for me and I commonly feel like crap once i consume them. Therefore , if I cut all of them out for 30 days I ought to look significantly better. At the least that’s the plan.

Besides sugar/sweeteners I am also planning to stop eating any of these: Grains, Legumes, Dairy products, Alcohol and Processed Foods. I know just what you are pondering: “Holy crap! What is there remaining to eat?!?” The answer to that is a lot! I’m going to actually eat genuine, excellent meals. Grass fed meats, wild caught sea food, pastured chickens and eggs. A lot of vegetables and some fruits. Good fats such as olive and coconut oils. I love all that stuff anyway so I know I will not lose interest or starve to death.

I know that it appears somewhat intense but it is only for thirty days. What’s the worst that can happen? I possibly could go insane I suppose. I could possibly have sugar/carb withdrawals and go off the deep end. I possibly could waste away to a hundred and fifty pounds. But I highly question that any of that will happen. I do anticipate that for the first two weeks or so I will feel cranky, fatigued and generally moody (I bet my spouse thinks that I happen to be carrying this out challenge for about the last a couple of years!). But from then on I bet I’ll feel just fine.

The point of doing this is to find out how my body acts to no “bad foods” for 30 days. It isn’t that long a time to get rid of those foods but I truly do believe that it’s long enough to determine results. So I’ll keep you posted. This should be entertaining.

Our new president elect is hoping to put a new stimulus package together shortly after he takes office. His team is already working on a new economic plan. There are hoping to send out another round of stimulus checks to Americans as well as many tax breaks, and many other changes that will help those on unemployment. It will also provide some assistance to those looking to cash in on some of their retirement savings.

Stimulus Checks

Barack Obama has proposed a new tax credit. This new credit could allow for up to $1,000.00 per family to help ease income taxes. This will kind of work like a stimulus check but will need to be facilitated through employers. The employer will be required to not charge income tax for the first $8,100.00 of an employeeʼs wages.

Retirement Accounts

Another section of the economic plan would include a break for individuals looking to cash out some of their retirement savings early. Obama is hoping to allow those having financial troubles be allowed to access some of their retirement savings without penalty. The plan would allow for up to a $10,000.00 withdraw without penalty at any time during 2009. These withdrawals would still be subject to state and federal taxes.

Income Tax

We could see a large tax rate decrease for the middle class. This would be able to happen with the proposed tax increase for those who earn more than$250,000.00 annually. The new tax rate for those with high income could be as much 36%-39%.

TurboTax Online has the answers to all of your stimulus payment questions.