Well, even with two snow days from work, I still didn't find the time to blog every day about the sugar free challenge this week.
I must admit, there were three days (less than half!) that I ate a few Hersey's kisses. Bad, I know. But I think being snowed in with 9+ inches of snow makes one want to snuggle up in flannel snowflake pajama pants, fuzzy pink slippers, Stargate SG-1 on DVD, and a little bit of chocolate.
Things I learned this week without refined sugars...
Once I got over the initial cravings, headaches, and fatigue, it wasn't so bad. In fact, I had some major energy bursts and focused work time.
My appetite decreased. I would guess that this is because I was eating more healthy fats that filled me up quicker and were overall more satisfying to my hunger. Example: Tonight, I made potato soup and polish sausage with cheddar on top (like my Mom makes). It looked so good, but I could barely eat a few bites before feeling full. Oh well, potato soup for lunch tomorrow at work! Yum! Plus, I've been craving liquids (no soda for me!). The only caffeine I've been drinking is unsweetened iced tea. Trying to modef keep it that way. I think it has just enough caffeine to give me a little boost without all the crazy HFCS. The other weird craving has been cheese! I have been eating lots of cheese. I hope to maybe decrease this a little, but for this week's challenge, I thought that cheese was a better choice than a large coke from McDonald's. Yes? Yes.
I saved a lot of money. Yes, hard earned cash money. Not only did I give up sugar, but this meant no eating out because, let's be honest, sugar is in most fast food and I don't have an ingredient list to look at when I go to the Olive Garden. Looking at my bank account, I spent more money at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Greenwood Farms, US Wellness Meats, and Dierberg's, but I saved money in the long run from eating out. I ate a lot out of my freezer and I need to stock up again on homemade soups and meals that I make ahead of time and freeze (beef barley soup, potato soup, spaghetti sauce, beef stew, chicken and quinoa soup).
I'm definitely going to stay conscious of what I'm eating and if refined sugar can be avoided. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do for family birthdays and the cake dilemma or eating at my parent's house, but I suppose I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
An unexpected thing that happened this week was that I was also free of refined flour - without even really trying! I have been eating sprouted bread for a while instead of regular whole wheat bread, but the eating out thing kept refined flour in my tummy. Well, it was out this week. I have some sprouted flour (wheat, spelt, and rye) and I'd like to start baking my own bread...mainly because buying the sprouted bread from the store is uber expensive, and the bread isn't very soft - more stiff and crunchy. I'm still searching for a great sprouted flour homemade bread recipe to use with my new Pampered Chef loaf stone.
If I can go sugar free for a week, so can you! Try it out!
No comments:
Post a Comment