Hello, Sugar!

Nope.

Didn't do it.

Attempt #1 at the Sugar Detox was a fail. At least in terms of completing it. I made it 8 glorious days before I got concerned that I was doing something wrong.

I was feeling okay, not like I was starving myself. However, I was definitely missing out on "something."

I started feeling weak and lethargic. I could barely lift easy weights at the gym. I had heard that I might go through a short workout slump, but when it got to about my fifth workout and things were not getting better, I got concerned. I have worked way too hard at the gym to start losing muscle mass.

So I gradually added those carbs back in.

Am I right back to where I started? No. Believe it or not, I did learn a lot. For instance, how crazy dependent I am on sugar. How it ends up in practically everything I eat. I learned that vegetables and protein can be a meal. I learned more about what it feels like to be truly hungry versus bored or anxious. I learned that WOW a Gala apple can seriously taste like candy.

This past week, my meals have been mostly vegetables, instead of mostly carbs. I am working on key concepts like balance and fuel, as opposed to emotional eating. For me, eating better has been about planning and some extra work in the kitchen. Being prepared makes a big difference.

This is not the end of me trying new eating plans. I enjoy learning about nutrition far too much for that! However, if I do anything close to this plan again, I will not wait so long before eating a banana or two. My enthusiasm to try something new sometimes escalates into too much too soon. This leads to frustration.

I of course have to end this post with a new recipe I found! I have been enjoying coconut milk as a healthy fat, and this Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding has the perfect level of sweetness.

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21 Days...WHAT?!

So I decided to do a 21-day sugar detox.

No, this isn't going to turn into a food blog. Although, I do happen to write about food a lot. What kind of blog is this, anyway? Hm.

I decided to do it because it's a limited amount of time and I thought it would be good for me. I won't be eating like this forever. I'm hoping to learn what I can do without. I can do anything for 21 days. Or, we'll see, I suppose.

Hello, my name is Laura. I have a problem with sugar. And overeating things with sugar.

Even my spinach salads have to include dried fruit. And though I try to make healthy choices, I sabotage myself due to a lack of self-control. One piece of dark chocolate turns into a cookie. That cookie multiples into a few (ahem) more. Then it seems like a good idea to eat frosted mini-wheats for dinner (but it's with soy milk!).

So I'm on day 3. I didn't purchase the book, but I did read about a lot of other people's experiences online. I'm following the basic plan as closely as I can, including no simple carbs, dairy, or fruit as well as obvious sugary products like cookies.

So spinach, not oatmeal. Almond milk, not cheese. Fish, not my beloved Ezekiel bread. The original plan does exclude some things I have chosen not to, such as black beans and natural peanut butter. Both are organic and do not include sugar.

It is pretty close to Paleo, except for the whole "no fruit" thing. I will be adding fruit in after 21 days, in case anyone was wondering. Here is another helpful resource I found that was just a smidge less restrictive than the original plan.

I know I am only a few days in, but I'm feeling pretty good. Certainly nothing close to some of the nightmarish accounts I found online. I am enjoying a good variety of foods, such as tuna, mashed cauliflower, spaghetti squash, chicken, carrots, salsa, hummus, & eggs. Knowing myself, I have to mix it up and not try to eat 2 salads every day. I am also cooking a lot of veggies, since raw veggies tend to make me mean.

So why am I posting this on my blog? Partly because it helps me be accountable. Partly because someone may find it interesting or helpful. Partly because it's my blog, and, well....

Wish me luck! Especially as 3 days without ice cream is kind of a record for me.

And happy season premiere of The Biggest Loser! I am loving the new shortened episode format. I realize that show is not perfect (or always accurate...), but I sort of love it.

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Reading Blogs & Eating Oatmeal. At Times Simultaneously.

I'm trying to eat healthy.

This isn't necessarily a New Year's resolution. I just want to be mindful of what I'm putting in my mouth. (For more on me and nutrition, click here)

So I've been chowing down on fruits and vegetables. I've been drinking lots of water. I've been avoiding processed foods and sugars.

I've also been experimenting in the kitchen.

Some new blogs have been extremely helpful to me during this time. It's very cool to read about women like me who are working to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

My current favorites are:

Carrots 'N Cake

Kath Eats Real Food 

The Great Fitness Experiment

Lots of recipes, pictures, workout tips, and advice. Unlike some of the wacky food or exercise writers out there, these three ladies are down-to-earth.

I've been inspired to try new things at the gym and eat new foods (flaxseed, anyone?) because of these blogs.

I've been making some really rockin' awesome food recently, so I thought I'd share just one recipe today so this blog post isn't a million paragraphs. I do like short paragraphs, in case you haven't noticed.

This muffin recipe is one I found on the blog Chocolate-Covered Katie. She has some, um, interesting recipes on there. She's into making healthy versions of desserts. Some are pretty out there. However, her chocolate chip cookie dough dip with chickpeas isn't bad. I actually like it, but it does not taste like cookie dough. I know my cookie dough.

So here's the muffin recipe! I modified it a bit, so check out Katie's original recipe if you want.

In a big bowl, stir together:
2 1/2 cups mashed banana (extra soft and ripe for best flavor)
2 2/3 cups water
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tsp vanilla extract

I know it looks gross. It's wet banana mush!

Now stir in:
5 cups rolled oats
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Now throw in whatever you think would taste good with oatmeal! Dried fruit, chocolate chips, nuts, etc. For my batch, I used raisins, shredded coconut, walnuts, ground flax, and wheat germ.

Now pour the oatmeal into muffin tins (with liners if you want, or just spray the tins) and bake at 380 degrees for about 20 minutes.This makes a lot, so Katie recommends freezing them. I stuck some in my freezer and have been snacking on the rest all week.

Warning: if you don't like cooked oatmeal, don't make these muffins! Basically they're like mini bowls of oatmeal in muffin form. I happen to be in love with oatmeal, so these were perfect.

Let me know if you try them and what you think! Have a great weekend.

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A New Year's Revelation

Another year gone. Yipes. I know it's cliche, but it's true: the older you get the more time flies.

When I was little, days and weeks and months stretched out like I had all the time in the world! I wanted time to pass faster. I wanted to be older. So I could do more things. I wanted to be sixteen, because thanks to Sound of Music I believed it would be the most romantic year of my life. (It wasn't. It was just awkward.)

But now? Zoom! Goodbye, 2012! Hello, 2013!

I have the usual New Year's resolutions. I'm planning on doing some in-depth Bible study with the help of commentaries. I want to make better eating choices. Keep up with the gym, especially strength training. Do well in my classwork.

But there is one last resolution that I've got to be HARD-CORE about:

No more self-diagnosing myself online.

I wouldn't necessarily call myself a hypochondriac, but thanks to the help of Dr. Internet, I've experienced those moments of panic.

I need to do myself a favor and stop googling alleged issues. All I get to see is someone with similar symptoms ask a question on Yahoo Answers and receive feedback from any old crazy with a computer. Someone who can't even spell cancer correctly probably isn't qualified to provide any real answers. Just sayin'.

The internet is helpful for many things, but sometimes the overabundance of information can hurt you rather than help you. I'm sure our doctors would rather we skip the online diagnosing and obsessing and instead go straight to them. Of course, if you're just looking for some general information to point you in the right direction, just use common sense and only check out the reputable sites. (This is an excerpt from the pep talk I gave myself last week....)

Oh, and here's another tip. Stay away from Google Images if you're typing any body or medical-related terms.

You can thank me later.

Smoooooooooooooth

So, I'm really into smoothies right now.

I tried to get into smoothies a couple months ago, but they are hard to get down when a person is already cold. I can't barely feel my hands in this stinkin' March weather. Oh well, might as well numb my mouth, too...

Smoothies are an excellent way to eat a lot of fruit. All at once. Without having to chew much. Not that I have trouble chewing or anything. It's just fun to sip smoothies. And mine are usually so thick it's like eating healthy ice cream.

Smoothies are handy too if you have fruit that doesn't taste the best. Like peaches that are hard on one side and mushy on the other. Or strawberries you picked that are a little small and not too sweet.

Just blend it all up, baby.

Here are the fruits (so far) that I've tried in a smoothie. In various combinations:

bananas
strawberries
grapes
peaches
avacados
blueberries

I'll splash a little milk or plain yogurt in there, but I don't add anything else. All natural.

Here's my hot tip: freeze all your fruit. Or at least some of it. I hate blending up ice cubes 'cause they're so hard and difficult. Also they water down a smoothie. If you use frozen fruit, you eliminate these problems. Easier to blend and not watery.

Yum! Sometimes I feel like I use my blender several times a day. It's a pain to wash, but worth it. I've also been using it to blend frozen banana chunks into a kind of ice cream (seriously, it works and is amazing) and to make hummus.

If you don't use your blender that often, I say bring it out and give it a try! You may make a delicious discovery.

Food, Glorious Food

So, I'm kind of into nutrition.

I mean, I've always been a pretty big fan of food. The difference is now I'm learning to replace some pretty pathetic eating habits with some super awesome ones.

This is definitely a journey for me, if you'll allow me to be cliche. (You won't? Tough. This is an inspirational blog post and I get at least one cliche. Possibly two.) There are a lot of ideas out there about nutrition, and it can be daunting working through them. No matter what the food issue (vegetarian? sweetener? carbs? raw milk?), there are always people on both sides, vehemently disagreeing.

I find the subject of food and eating today fascinating. Especially since so many of us are doing it so horribly wrong. Obesity is sort of the elephant in the room. It's obvious, but lots of people avoid it. But really, what are we doing to our bodies? What "foods" are we eating today that our great-grandparents wouldn't even recognize? In a few more years down the road, where will we be?

I've been reading a lot about nutrition over the past few years, and I've changed a lot of my habits. I've added WAY more fruits and vegetables. I've tried my hardest to cut out "foods" with crazy-long lists of unpronounceable ingredients which have ridiculously long shelf lives. I've added foods like plain greek yogurt, black beans, brown rice, and avacados. I try to eat more natural foods, foods that haven't been tweaked by scientists to make them more addictive. I cut out all soda (even diet, which I've been drinking for the last few years). I read food labels and scorn high fructose corn syrup (which is in more than you think!).

There's still a lot I don't know. And I slip up all the time. But I generally feel better about the way I'm fueling my body. I love to eat. Sometimes too much. But with the joy of eating should come the recognition that not all food is created equal. The choices I make do matter. And it's exciting to try new things!

I've read a few books on food, thanks to my awesome public library. Here are some that I've found the most helpful:

Eat This Not That by David Zinczenko (various editions)
As a visual learner, I was drawn in by all the pictures! Everything is laid out and compared on these pages. My favorite is the supermarket guide, where everything from brands of condiments to types of bread is evaluated. And for extra shock value, the drink guide will wow you with its visuals of how much sugar is in certain drinks. For instance, a pile of cookies or scoops of ice cream sitting next to something from Starbucks. Lots of practical advice for everyday grocery shopping or even eating out.

The End of Overeating by David Kessler
Forever changed the way I'll think about food. The descriptions of food manufacturers manipulating ingredients to satisfy our appetites for salt, sugar, and fat were sobering. I felt like my eyes were opened to how desperate our situation as consumers is.

Food Rules: An Eater's Manual by Michael Pollan
Nice short, concise book basically summarizing his more in-depth book, In Defense of Food. Pollan's basic concept is - Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. This book is easy to understand and apply.

The Skinny Rules by Bob Harper
Yes, Bob Harper of Biggest Loser fame! I was pleasantly surprised by this book, since there are so many celebrity-endorsed "diet" books that seem so impossible. I really admire his knowledge. Some of his rules include "Drink a large glass of water before every meal" and "Make one day a week meatless."

I believe that many people mindlessly consume food every day without thinking of where it came from or what it's doing to them. Your body is the one thing you keep for your whole earthly life; invest in it. Make one small change at a time, and see how you feel. My shopping has suddenly gotten simpler and cheaper, as I stick to the outside aisles and buy fresh ingredients.

And I feel pretty awesome about myself, too.