I have got to lay off the sugar.
I've been improving on my intake- far less runs are being made to Cub Foods for their sinfully rich (and overly processed) and tasty brownies- but I'm not the best at it yet. Take for example, Starbucks new mini doughnuts. The double chocolate doughnuts are fantastic- and quite addictive. For the last few weeks, they have been my little "sugar rush" a few times a week.
Here's what happens when I eat them, or any other sugary treats.
The yeast in my body starts to grow and get out of control. Not kidding you, I can feel the "dampness" level in my body increase dramatically. I start to get mucousy in the my throat almost immediately, and then it travels to my nasal cavities. I've also noticed that I sometimes get really thirsty afterwards- I think my body's attempt to help my kidney flush everything out (which is probably not a good sign, btw).
So, I need to stop allowing myself these "treats," right? Easier said then done. I told myself today that when I went to Starbucks for my Tuesday afternoon snack (I eat lunch at noon and don't get home to eat dinner until 8:45pm on Tuesdays so a snack is a necessity) I would not get a "treat" unless they had the double chocolate doughnuts, and if not, I was out of luck. Totally ignored my rule upon going through the drive-through. They were out of the doughnuts, but I decided to try the double chocolate cookies instead. Doh!
New rule. I need to bring my own healthy snack to work on Tuesdays so I don't go to Starbucks and give in to temptation. The drug of sugar, salt, and fat is way too strong for me.
Sometimes I wonder how I managed to detox my diet and way of life so much almost two years ago. But then I look back, and I had non-stop heartburn, nightly gallbladder pain, was severely lacking in sleep, and had ongoing anxiety attacks. A diet change was a walk in the park compared to what I had been dealing with on a daily basis for a good year before that.
Here I sit, mildly sick from all the food I ate today (I literally ate and grazed from the time I got to work at 1 until I left at 8:30- not good) in addition to the supplement I took to take the strain off my gallbladder/digestive system, and I think to myself "I could change my diet again if it meant not feeling sick like this." Yet, tomorrow I will wake up and feel fine and probably not have any nausea, digestive issues, or any other things that make me feel uncomfortable. It's just not as easy as it was two years ago when I was feeling sickly 100% of the time.
I've got to take baby steps at cutting the sugar back out. I've taken the first baby step of reducing/eliminating after dinner trips for brownies. Now, I need to cut out the sugary mid-afternoon snacks. Next, I need to limit all sugar intake to only those found in nature: fruit, honey, maple syrup.
Funny enough, I just got my latest Clean Eating Magazine in the mail today and it had a little article about how we consume too much sugar in the US. According to them, we consume 22tsps of added sugar a day (355 calories). Their recommendation to cut down to your 5-9tsps a day of sugar- eat 3 servings of fresh fruit daily to satisfy your sweet tooth. Fruit is coming in season- this should be easy to do!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
A Promise Kept
Well, I promised a friend (hi, Renee!) I would make a long overdue post this week. Tonight feels like a good night to write some stuff down.
First, let's get some news out of the way. Yesterday my husband's grandmother passed away. Although it wasn't expected, it certainly wasn't unexpected either. For the past three years we thought she wasn't going to make from holiday to holiday, but, despite her ailing health, she did time and time again. To say that she was a fighter would be an understatement, and her long battle to keep going until the very end is a testament to that. So with great love I would like to memorialize Marcella with this post, if even for a minute. Her fighting attitude taught me a lot about perservance in the short time I knew her. I am blessed to have had a connection with her.
Hard to follow that up with the mundane details of my life, but alas we must move on. I think perseverance would be a good way to sum up the last few months of my blogging absence. There was a stupid amount of drama, a lot of learning lessons for myself, and a lot of growing up that was done in the last few months. Somehow, the planets are aligning for me though despite the recent chaos and everything seems to be settling in to place.
I recently decided to start a jewelry making business. With the urging of my awesome boss, she helped me remember that I have a talent and that I should put it to use by making some extra money doing it. The business, in it's flegling days is off to good start. Sold quite a few pieces and am getting a pretty decent response from people. I'm learning a lot about owning a business, and it's a lot more work than one would think! Hence, my lack of presence on the blogosphere lately. I've done hours upon hours of jewelry crafting the last month! If you want to check out my stuff you can find me at my website or on Facebook.
Health is on the upswing this last week, though I was having some issues the last few weeks. I would like to say that Aloe Vera juice is a miracle worker (relieved some serious IBS symptoms I had been having for two weeks) and my new favorite food for upset tummy is a sweet potato. Weird, I know. On Sunday I was sick of my stomach hurting all day and the never-ending IBS after I ate, so I took a look in my You Are What You Eat Book and it suggested Aloe Vera juice for IBS, and sweet potatoes for the liver. Holy crap (pun intended), it worked! The Aloe Vera juice got the IBS to stop, and my stomach has stopped hurting since I ate the sweet potato.
Kicking myself, however, for not taking a picture of my latest kitchen creation: Asparagus and Fennel soup with ginger and leeks. To say that it's like a warm fleece blanket wrapping around you is the best descriptor I can come up with. I created the soup to help heal my liver and gallbladder, while settling my tummy. All four of those ingredients help both the stomach and liver, and I was so happy the soup came out so wonderful. Plus, everything was in season, and there is nothing better than in season vegetables!
Ok, I promise I will get back to blogging more regularly. Not just for my few readers, but for myself as well. It's nice to have a place to get your thoughts out, and I know I would have benefited from that the last few months.
First, let's get some news out of the way. Yesterday my husband's grandmother passed away. Although it wasn't expected, it certainly wasn't unexpected either. For the past three years we thought she wasn't going to make from holiday to holiday, but, despite her ailing health, she did time and time again. To say that she was a fighter would be an understatement, and her long battle to keep going until the very end is a testament to that. So with great love I would like to memorialize Marcella with this post, if even for a minute. Her fighting attitude taught me a lot about perservance in the short time I knew her. I am blessed to have had a connection with her.
Hard to follow that up with the mundane details of my life, but alas we must move on. I think perseverance would be a good way to sum up the last few months of my blogging absence. There was a stupid amount of drama, a lot of learning lessons for myself, and a lot of growing up that was done in the last few months. Somehow, the planets are aligning for me though despite the recent chaos and everything seems to be settling in to place.
I recently decided to start a jewelry making business. With the urging of my awesome boss, she helped me remember that I have a talent and that I should put it to use by making some extra money doing it. The business, in it's flegling days is off to good start. Sold quite a few pieces and am getting a pretty decent response from people. I'm learning a lot about owning a business, and it's a lot more work than one would think! Hence, my lack of presence on the blogosphere lately. I've done hours upon hours of jewelry crafting the last month! If you want to check out my stuff you can find me at my website or on Facebook.
Health is on the upswing this last week, though I was having some issues the last few weeks. I would like to say that Aloe Vera juice is a miracle worker (relieved some serious IBS symptoms I had been having for two weeks) and my new favorite food for upset tummy is a sweet potato. Weird, I know. On Sunday I was sick of my stomach hurting all day and the never-ending IBS after I ate, so I took a look in my You Are What You Eat Book and it suggested Aloe Vera juice for IBS, and sweet potatoes for the liver. Holy crap (pun intended), it worked! The Aloe Vera juice got the IBS to stop, and my stomach has stopped hurting since I ate the sweet potato.
Kicking myself, however, for not taking a picture of my latest kitchen creation: Asparagus and Fennel soup with ginger and leeks. To say that it's like a warm fleece blanket wrapping around you is the best descriptor I can come up with. I created the soup to help heal my liver and gallbladder, while settling my tummy. All four of those ingredients help both the stomach and liver, and I was so happy the soup came out so wonderful. Plus, everything was in season, and there is nothing better than in season vegetables!
Ok, I promise I will get back to blogging more regularly. Not just for my few readers, but for myself as well. It's nice to have a place to get your thoughts out, and I know I would have benefited from that the last few months.
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