Not a moment too soon, just post-Easter, is my week of limiting sugar from The Great American Detox Diet. After how crappy and tired I felt last night after consuming my body weight in attractive pastel candies, I couldn't be more thrilled about this.
In reading the chapter to get ready for the big day, I learned quite a bit about sugar that I didn't know. I mean, I always knew that my body felt sluggish after a large amount of sugar, but learning about the whole process of your body making insulin and then not being able to keep the balance was really interesting. It makes me sad that so many people in the U.S. are keeping themselves on this scary cycle of sugar highs and lows that are just wrecking their bodies. No wonder Type 2 diabetes is on the rise, especially in the younger population! That adult disease isn't just for the over-30 crowd anymore!
I also finally learned why High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is bad for you. I mean, I've always heard that it's bad but didn't know why. Turns out it gets stored directly as fat when it goes into your body, unlike regular sugars that are used as energy first. Also, HFCS doesn't trigger the "I'm full" feeling that we all should have, so it's actually tricking us into eating more of those nasty things. Shun!
I was amazed by how many other names for sugar appear on food labels. No wonder we eat it all the time without knowing! I even noticed that florida crystals aren't even on this list, and I'm sure others are missing. Plus, the artificial sweeteners: aspartame, xylitol, saccahrin...we're awash in empty calories!
So I woke up, all strident and ready to go! I'd already kicked most of the sugary stuff out of the cabinets and was feeling all empowered. Until I realized that I really hadn't thought through breakfast. I usually eat instant oats, but those have artifical sweeteners. The Honey Nut Cheerios are sugary as well. I didn't have time to make steel cut oats. So, after I stood there for a couple of minutes, I decided to make an English muffin with some natural peanut butter. I was thinking the combination of the protein and carbs would get me through the day, and while there is some sugar in the English muffin, I do like them and anyway need to finish the package. Down they went. I even made my morning tea latte without the vanilla syrup and could definitely get used to that in the future.
I took my lunch with me (leftover halibut and pasta with veggies) but Carol the lunch lady had my favorite salad today: Strawberry Spinach. Damn the siren call of that salad! I ended up ordering it, but realized that the dressing probably had sugar in it. There really wasn't any good alternative, so I lessened the impact of the sugar by just dipping my fork into the dressing before each forkful. That worked well and I felt cool.
Dinner was easy (see below) and my book group without knowing my sugarfreeness assembled a delcious dinner that had little to no sugar involved. I did have a pint of beer, which does contain sugars, but overall I avoided refined sugars for the most part today. I think the main thing is changing my mindset that stress = sugar or that sugar = treat. That's going to be the harder work.
Incidentally, I learned that 1 teaspoon of sugar is about 4.2 grams. That's quite a lot when you start looking at the labels! By the end of breakfast, for example, I'd already had a teaspoon and a half, and that was eating something that was reasonably healthy. Just imagine what a Pop Tart would have been!
Tonight for dinner I made a delicious Veggie Loaf with mashed sweet potatoes and a green salad on the side. I was very pleasantly surpised with the Veggie Loaf, which comes from Alex Jamieson's book. It was pretty labor-intensive but enjoyable to make and the flavor was great. Even Jeremy the meat-eater said it was great. Lauren the picky toddler of course refused to eat it, but it's a process, right? The mashed sweet potatoes (with just a bit of flaxseed oil, maple syrup, and chili powder) were divine! I think I could get to liking this.
Oh, and I'm still drinking water. I think I need a bigger bottle at work, as the trips to refill are pretty distracting. At least it's a healthy distraction!
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