My last post was on January 6th and so much has changed!
We completed our 7 day sugar detox and I am happy to report that it was a wonderful educational experience and was WAY easier than I thought it would be - probably because I knew it was only for 7 days! We learned so much about hidden sugars, natural sugars, sugar replacements/artificial sweeteners, how the body processes sugars, and tools to kill cravings.
We started a new nutrition focused style of eating on January 14th and we have been really enjoying it, and haven't had any trouble sticking to it! Our sugar cleanse definitely helped set us up for success, and we haven't felt deprived at all! We are focusing on making good food choices rather than counting calories - mindful eating helps us find balance and our goals keep us focused and on track.
Don't get me wrong - we haven't been living in a fairytale land where we have had perfect nutrition and exercise! We have gone out for dinners and lunches, thrown back some beers with friends, and even had ice cream birthday cake! The difference is that we are being more mindful of what we are eating when we go out to eat - we are applying what we learned in our sugar detox and trying to meet our nutrition goals each day, so it helps keep us focused. Some of the changes are that we skip the bun on the burger, choose lean meats where possible - limit the sweet sauces and over the top cheese, and go lighter on the sides (fries, rice, pasta, etc.) and choose more complex carbs like veggies, sweet potatoes, brown rice/quinoa, etc. I try to avoid ordering drinks that are heavy on the sugar (juices, soda, syrups) and unless it is a special occasion, I probably won't indulge in dessert - but if I do...that's okay too - each day is about making choices and me being in control!
I have come to terms with the fact that I do not LOVE salads, especially not the healthy ones! LOL
In the past I have tried to follow nutrition plans that are heavy on the salads and I always ended up failing in the end as salads were always a bit underwhelming and left me wishing I could eat other stuff. Don't get me wrong, there are some yummy salads out there, and in the summer I tend to feel like eating salads more frequently - but my body much prefers eating cooked vegetables and food made with love - I just can't eat baked chicken and salad every day!
So what have we been doing differently...
1. EXPERIMENTING Eating lots of roasted and steamed veggies - we are trying new things each week now that our pallets seem to be finding most vegetables super sweet. New combinations, new seasonings, getting creative with making old favourites with vegetables instead of their usual ingredients (e.g. cauliflower pizza "bread" that is basically cauliflower and cheese and egg. ) Some veggies are also pretty high in sugar, so we count those ones as carbs (e.g carrots, yams, sweet potatoes, corn, peas, and tomatoe sauce)
2. SUBSTITUTING! Trying new recipes for incorporating more fruits and veggies into baking and other traditional meals (e.g. meatloaf with hidden veggies in it, mashed yams and cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes, baking with carrots, bananas, avocado, zucchini, and apples, using honey or maple syrup as sweeteners or cutting the sugar in recipes or experimenting with sugar alternatives like Splenda, Stevia, etc., using oats, coconut flour or other gluten free flours instead of white flour.)
3. CARBS! Eating more complex carbohydrates instead of simple carbs - things like sweet potatoes, yams, beans, lentils, brown rice, quinoa, whole grains, and oats vs. white rice, potatoes, regular pasta, white flour based things like breads, sauces. The reason for this is that complex carbohydrates break down much slower in your body and don't cause insulin spikes (sugar highs) like simple carbs do...so they also help your body stay full longer! Also, eating a protein (e.g. meat, yogurt, cottage cheese) or healthy fat (e,g avocados, almonds, cheese, natural peanut butter, almond milk) with your fruits/veggies/carbs helps your body slow down the processing of the sugars and stabilizes your insulin levels so you don't yo-yo up and down and keep helps keep you feeling full longer.
4. HYDRATION!!! We need to drink half of our body weight in ounces of water per day (e.g. if you weigh 180 lbs, you should drink 90 ounces of water each day!). And being properly hydrated takes weeks to achieve...so consistently drinking this much is required to maintain hydration. Most people walk around hydrated and don't realize that it is contributing to their feeling tired, getting headaches, having food cravings, muscle cramps, poor sleeps, etc. so if you learn anything from reading this - it is that you need to drink more water...and when you think you have drunken enough - drink more!
5. EXERCISE! I started out with a goal of 5 minutes per day, building up to 20 minutes per day, and after 3 days of gradual increases, I was able to reach my goal of sustaining high intensity exercise for 20 minutes a day! I have been doing this 6 days a week for two weeks now and even though I am not always feeling motivated to get it done, I figure it is only 20 minutes and I spend way more time than that sitting on my ass playing with my phone...so 20 minutes of doing something that is beneficial to my health and makes me feel proud when its done, so it is totally worth the effort! Every step you take, every move you make - its better than doing nothing...so don't beat yourself up if you don't think you can do much to start with. Start with 1 minute or 3, or 5 and build at your own pace, even if it is stretching or marching in place - its better than doing nothing!!! Try doing squats or marching in place while cooking or waiting for the microwave, whatever. Just move your body!
I will post a few recipes that I have tried - Ive been sharing them with my new Facebook Accountability group, but realized I wasn't sharing them with everyone, so I will share some of the things I've been trying!
