My friend Retha made a good point when she said she did a 30 day sugar challenge and she liked that because she didn't have to feel like she was going the rest of her life without sugar. Then it hit me, the reason I am able to keep up the fight with Soocralena is because instead of looking at refined sugar like something I cannot have, I look at it like something I don't want. I have basically told myself that I can have it whenever I want it, but chose not to. Still it is even more than that. I think about what it means to eat it, (insulin spikes, cravings, head aches, fatigue, etc…) and then I think about all the other delicious choices out there.
I have adopted a mostly vegan lifestyle. I cannot claim I am vegan as sometimes there are foods I wish to indulge in that go against vegan rules. Even that is becoming rare. What's happening? I swore I was never going to be vegetarian, and now I am leaning toward vegan?! Oh, but it is so fun! There are so many delicious foods to make, and it is like unlocking a puzzle to find fixes for misses. I made a promise to myself that I wasn't going to get strung out on pretend meat, so instead of buying the processed frozen mock stuff, I am forced to make raw fresh food, and I LOVE IT!
Squirell!! Okay, we were talking about sugar. It has been almost two weeks since I had that wonderfully horrible sugar crash. The first week I was exhausted and had refined bread and pasta cravings. This week my cravings were more toward any kind of bread or grain I could get my hands on. I tried not to give into it too much, but also didn't want to go flying the other way feeling deprived. I realize eating too many grains no matter what type of nutritional lifestyle you are living is not healthy, however if I need a little extra to get me through my sugar cravings…so be it. I also struggled with head aches this week. My energy is returning, however my menstrual cycle has begun, so that always drags me down a bit. Since we are on the subject, I was so curious to see how this cycle would play out with the recent change.
Usually I am super anxious and grouchy about 4 days before I start. The day before is always the worst, I always do something that I am apologizing for…always. If I am not apologizing, I am freaking out about the shambles my house is in. I also manage to get emotional and cry over anything. This time the side effects of PMS were toned down. I still had a little worry about my house, but decided it wasn't going to consume me, and I did not have to apologize to anyone! Well, not for anything terrible anyway. The number one thing that was great was that I didn't make my usual purchase of Hostess Pies, or give myself an excuse to eat 3 bowls of sugary cereal in the middle of the afternoon, or drag the family out for frozen yogurt. Last night I got the biggest craving for corn chips, and you know what? I ate them, and you know what else? I truly enjoyed every crunchy bite.
When I tell people what I am doing, the reaction is always the same. They say "Oh, well, I don't think I could give up sugar." I instantly think that they think I expect them to. I get nervous like they are not going to want to be my friend if they think that is what I want. So I say, "Well, this is just something I am doing because I have so many issues with it, of course if you wanted to, it would be good, but if you aren't a binger like I was…." You get the idea. My response is lame. Still not sure how I should react, or what I should say, or if I shouldn't say anything at all. It's kind of like when you tell people you run half marathons.
Well, Sunday will begin another week. Hopefully I will have some yummy dessert suggestions in my next post. Until then, please share with me any thoughts. Are you trying to cut back on refined sugar, or worse, quit it? I want to know.
Jolene
I have adopted a mostly vegan lifestyle. I cannot claim I am vegan as sometimes there are foods I wish to indulge in that go against vegan rules. Even that is becoming rare. What's happening? I swore I was never going to be vegetarian, and now I am leaning toward vegan?! Oh, but it is so fun! There are so many delicious foods to make, and it is like unlocking a puzzle to find fixes for misses. I made a promise to myself that I wasn't going to get strung out on pretend meat, so instead of buying the processed frozen mock stuff, I am forced to make raw fresh food, and I LOVE IT!
Squirell!! Okay, we were talking about sugar. It has been almost two weeks since I had that wonderfully horrible sugar crash. The first week I was exhausted and had refined bread and pasta cravings. This week my cravings were more toward any kind of bread or grain I could get my hands on. I tried not to give into it too much, but also didn't want to go flying the other way feeling deprived. I realize eating too many grains no matter what type of nutritional lifestyle you are living is not healthy, however if I need a little extra to get me through my sugar cravings…so be it. I also struggled with head aches this week. My energy is returning, however my menstrual cycle has begun, so that always drags me down a bit. Since we are on the subject, I was so curious to see how this cycle would play out with the recent change.
Usually I am super anxious and grouchy about 4 days before I start. The day before is always the worst, I always do something that I am apologizing for…always. If I am not apologizing, I am freaking out about the shambles my house is in. I also manage to get emotional and cry over anything. This time the side effects of PMS were toned down. I still had a little worry about my house, but decided it wasn't going to consume me, and I did not have to apologize to anyone! Well, not for anything terrible anyway. The number one thing that was great was that I didn't make my usual purchase of Hostess Pies, or give myself an excuse to eat 3 bowls of sugary cereal in the middle of the afternoon, or drag the family out for frozen yogurt. Last night I got the biggest craving for corn chips, and you know what? I ate them, and you know what else? I truly enjoyed every crunchy bite.
When I tell people what I am doing, the reaction is always the same. They say "Oh, well, I don't think I could give up sugar." I instantly think that they think I expect them to. I get nervous like they are not going to want to be my friend if they think that is what I want. So I say, "Well, this is just something I am doing because I have so many issues with it, of course if you wanted to, it would be good, but if you aren't a binger like I was…." You get the idea. My response is lame. Still not sure how I should react, or what I should say, or if I shouldn't say anything at all. It's kind of like when you tell people you run half marathons.
Well, Sunday will begin another week. Hopefully I will have some yummy dessert suggestions in my next post. Until then, please share with me any thoughts. Are you trying to cut back on refined sugar, or worse, quit it? I want to know.
Jolene
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