Please excuse my absence. I'm in the midst of the final push to get my new house in live-able condition, which means many nights of putting the kiddos to bed then doing extra projects. That had been the time I was blogging.
But, I have not forgotten nor steered away from the Sugar Sweet Challenge! My hardest day was yesterday, the Starbucks scone day. 17 grams of sugar in that carbohydrate square, which meant for the rest of the day I had to be super up-tight about my food intake. You want the truth? After all the healthy eating I've been doing that Starbucks scone wasn't even that good. I NEVER thought I would say that, EVER. I love pretty much all westernized flavors of scones with a good coffee.
My body responds so much quicker when I have a crappy food day. Then I feel stuck between wanting to eat loads of empty carbs and sugar because it's on my mind and I'm feeling yucky, but what I consumed is WHY I feel yucky in the first place.
Okay, so it's still a struggle when I'm really hungry and on the go. Let's talk about some healthy treat options. I've learned to pack snacks for myself and the kids whenever we run errands. Hungry kids are cranky kids and who wants to be in the store with grumpy kiddos? Not fun...
Here are some snacks I make sure to pack:
1. Apples
2. Almonds (for fat and protein)
3. Little cheese wheels from Laughing Cow. (these are packaged in wax which the kids love to open)
4. Little mandarine oranges. (if I have enough time I pre-peel these)
5. Homemade Larabars
YES - HOMEMADE LARABARS
They were so easy to make as long as you have a food processor. I don't so I tried the blender. No, big mistake. I ended up having to cup the dates up by hand.
Recipe:
1 cup nuts ( I used 3/4 cashews and 1/4 almonds) processed in the food processor
2 cups pitted dates processed after the nuts because it will leave the blade sticky
2 heaping tbsp of peanut butter
Mix together in a big bowl and place on plastic wrap. Roll into a rectangle (I used a large knife to crisp up the sides), wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Remove and cut into single serving rectangles. I individually wrapped these then placed them in a ziploc bag. I think they'll be good for a week, but ours lasted only 3 days and the kids LOVE them.
Friday, January 24, 2014
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Turning the Corner :)
Yesterday morning I was scrambling some eggs at the stove while whistling a little tune and I suddenly realized...
I FEEL GREAT!!!!
Like, totally - completely - amazing - kind of great. And I knew, I had finally turned the corner of my sugar detox.
Thank goodness because the weekend was bad. So bad that you know those little donuts in the white bags? They come in 2 flavors, chocolate or powdered sugar. I saw those while in the grocery store over the weekend and had the overwhelming urge to rip open the bag, sit down right in the aisle and polish off the whole thing. Gross.... Talk about a processed food that is terrible for you...
So it took 5 days for my body to finally reset itself. The best part was that I didn't have to completely deny myself sugar or even sweet foods. If fresh fruit didn't satisfy my craving and I drank a glass of water I would simply have a square of 70% dark chocolate (3g of sugar) or half of a Larabar where the sugar comes from unprocessed/uncooked dates.
Now I can look at cookies, candies, sweets, etc and NOT have the overwhelming urge to inhale them instantly. It's more like "Hmmm, okay..." and I continue on my way.
I was also able to tighten my belt another notch. I haven't lost any weight, nor am I trying. That is simply how much sugar bloats my tummy. Usually I'm binging on sugar every 2-3 days so my body never has a chance to truly "de-bloat".
So for those of you actually reading this (which I hope you are enjoying). Keep it up! Your feedback is part of my motivation to stick this out until the end of the month!
P.S. There are some Sugar Sweet Challengers who are looking for healthy granola bar recipes. If you come across any please post to our facebook page. Thank you!
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