Some great blogs...

So it's Day 13 of no sugar. I haven't written because I have nothing new to say. Just the same ol', same ol' feeling of WONDERFULNESS!! ;^)

I found this list of blogs. They are sugar-free, gluten-free and/or dairy-free related.

www.mastersinpublichealth.net/top-15-sugar-free-blogs-because-youre-sweet-enough/

It's so nice to know that there are like-minded people out there!!!

Happy Monday, World!!!!!!!!!!!!

~Kari

Day 9 in the books...

Went to a nearby amusement park yesterday (Adventureland), which I went to every year when I was a kid. My husband and I took our kids a couple years ago. And then yesterday we took them again, and upon leaving I realized that for the first time in my life, I didn't eat any sugar at Adventureland!!! This is huge for me. It really is.

Went to the pool with the kids and some friends of ours today, and everyone (except for me!) got a sugary treat from the concession stand. I did buy a bag of popcorn, and it was yummy. :)

I feel so calm. I feel so peaceful. I can live this way.

I. Can. Live. This. Way.

It may be different from how 99.9% of other Americans are living, but I can do it. Why wouldn't I? First of all, I believe God has more in store for me, and sugar is a gigantic hurdle that I haven't been able to get over in order to get to the next part of His plan. Second of all, I feel so wonderful physically & emotionally when sugar is outta here.

I will be working on my next goal. My first (kinda) goal was to go a week with no sugar. I have some other goals I want to reach, so I'll be putting those in writing in the next couple days.

I know, I know...you can't wait. You're on the edge of your seat. What could her goals possibly be? She's already achieved SO much in the last nine days!! LOL!!! I love that no one reads these, and I'm writing as if they do. I'll look back some day and LOVE this post. Specifically, I will love this paragraph of this post. I crack me up.

Peace out, World!!
:)

The Long Haul

Geared up for Day 7 of no sugar today!! Feeling fantastic!!

FYI, I'll probably repeat myself in these posts because I can't remember if I've posted it or just told a friend in person, so just skip over anything you already know. ;)

I've noticed that since giving up sugar, I don't crave the other stuff. Other stuff, meaning: bread, fast food, salty food, etc. I didn't expect that to happen.

Here is my recent revelation (Although, it's been revealed to me before. This time, however, I'm choosing to say it out loud and write it here to my zero readers so it will hopefully make a lasting impression on me.). Here it is:

I cannot eat sugar.

Okay, so obviously I've said that before. But I need to further explain (to myself) that I cannot just have "that one piece of Halloween candy" this year. I cannot just have "that one piece of pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving." I cannot just have "that one Christmas cookie" (let alone participate in a cookie exchange this year!). I cannot just have "that one piece of birthday cake." Get it? Do you get it, Kari?? I got it.

It was hard to say this aloud to my husband the other night. It's like it made it real and that I have to be done with my addiction now. I like sugar. I like the taste of things with sugar in them. However, I hate how these things make me feel, act and look.

Therefore, I have to be in this for the long haul. I am in this for the long haul. There. I said it. If I reach for as much as a little chocolate chip, I know I'm going to spiral.

Fair warning. Don't do it, Kari!!!

Okay, I'll stop talking to myself now.

Day 5

So I'm heading into day 5 (July 31) of no sugar.

I. Feel. Awesome.

I don't even know what else to say. I just feel so energetic, hopeful, happy, etc, etc, etc!!

I did eat a protein bar yesterday that contained some sugar. Some may say, "Well, then you're not sugar free!" It is what it is. This is my journey, and I'm going to listen to my body and do my best to do what's best for it.

I have a phrase I've been using, and that is "blatant sugar." My dictionary defines 'blatant" as: "completely obvious, especially in a crass, offensive manner." Ha! I love it. Sugar is extremely offensive to me! My body is constantly on the defense when I'm ingesting loads of blatant sugar.

In my little mind, my definition of blatant sugar is sugar includes foods like cake, ice cream, candy bars, candy, etc. Those are the types of foods that have me coming back for more and more and more, and those are the types of foods I am avoiding. A protein bar that has a little bit of sugar doesn't make me want more. For someone else, however, it may, so everyone has to know their own body well in order to make that decision.

Some observations thus far:

1. My craving for sugar is so little, if even there at all. My family went out for ice cream last night, and I had NO desire! Nada.

2. My cravings for other foods are diminished. I don't crave breads as much. I don't crave fast food.

3. My stomach has shrunk! It's not flat by ANY means, but I felt a noticable difference this morning while laying in bed. Then I measured, and I've lost a couple inches already. I'm sure it's water retention/bloating. Whatever it was, it's gone, and I'll take it!

Loving this journey so far.

Letting Go Can Hurt...

...like, physically hurt.

So I'm being a tad dramatic, but this is day 2 of no sugar (July 28), and I'm feeling some effects. Namely, I've had a headache today, and I feel pretty tired. I feel like I could go to bed right now, and it's 5:00 p.m.!

I think part of the problem is that I'm probably not eating enough calories. I need to figure this healthy thing out. ;) I'm so used to getting soooo many calories from sugary foods that I feel a tad lost, even though I know what's good for me and what's not. Part of it is that I need to stock my kitchen a little better.

I am so happy that I've gotten through. I would usually stop my headache with something cakey and frosting-y. Little Debbie Zebra Cake comes to mind. Swiss Cake Roll, anyone? Anyway, even though I've felt sort of yucky today, it's nothing compared to the bloated, completely stuffed, utterly disappointed and defeated feeling I have felt even as recently as Tuesday of this week! Yuck.
So I'm keeping on. I'll need to get more creative with what I eat, try new recipes, perhaps. But for now, I just need to get the sugar out of my system. Yes, that is what I need to do.

:)

Bye-bye, Sugar!!

I actually posted this and the next two posts on my homeschooling blog (which I also neglect!), but then I remembered I had THIS blog that may be a more appropriate spot for a subject such as this. So I'm going to copy & paste these next few posts here. :)

Started a challenge with a friend today (July 27), giving up sugar. I think we're just starting with a week of no sugar. A week is doable in my mind. I just feel the need to write my observations, mainly for myself, but if anyone else gets something out of this, GREAT!!!

So it's 5:00 p.m., and I feel great. I haven't craved anything all day...nothing! Let me back up a bit and explain (very briefly) how ADDICTED to sugar I am. For those of you who don't believe sugar is addictive, please do some research. It is an addictive substance, scientifically proven. Heck, even before it was scientifcially proven, it was proven through my personal experience.

Anyhooooo, I grew up eating TONS of sugar. My friends & I would go get our 4/$1 candy bars and eat them all...like, four candy bars EACH! :/ I ate junk all of the time. Fast forward to adulthood, and I'm the lady who goes to a gas station and gets a candy bar or two, eats them and is heading to the next gas station WHILE she's eating them, only to get more. Only a couple people who are very close to me know I do this. It's so embarrassing.

I've given up sugar before. I believe the longest time I've done it is for two months. Then I would believe that I had beaten the addiction, and I'd fool myself into believing that I could have just one bite or just one piece. Then the downhill spiral begins. And it's not pretty. Trust me, people.

So I have a wonderful friend who nonchalantly said last night, "I'll do no sugar with you if you want."

There's something about doing it with someone else that helps me. Partly because I don't feel like I'm the only person in the universe who is trying to live without sugar. People really don't like to hear it when I go off of sugar. "Well, you can't give it up forever." "Come on, you've got to LIVE!" "Everything in moderation." Blah, blah, blah, blah, BLAH!!

First of all, I CAN give it up forever. Now, if I were to tell a friend that I was thinking of giving up water forever, then I would agree that I can't give it up forever. Unless I wanted to meet my Maker sooner rather than later.

Secondly, yes, they are correct, I DO need to live. But I'll tell you what, living in the grips of a sugar addiction is not living. It's dying. It's living miserably. It's missing out on so many things, too many to list here. Sounds dramatic, I know, but...yeah.

And to the last comment, believe me, I have tried moderation. I've tried very hard to do moderation, and I don't do it well. This is the same reason I gave up all alcohol almost six years ago. I never stopped at just one beer or just one glass of wine. Excess was my game.

So I'm finally ready to admit that I CAN'T DO SUGAR IN MODERATION.

Will it be difficult at times? I'm certain of it. Will I just shrivel up and die if I never eat a piece of wedding cake or birthday cake again? I'm certain I won't. Will I leave a wedding or birthday party with my head held high and my stomach feeling clean and happy? Most certainly.

Anyway, I'm feeling great on this day one. Awake, alert, not sluggish like I normally do. Hopeful.

Yay. :D

There is a Season

Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven."

I've often heard of different stages of our lives be called "seasons." I've even referred to the many different seasons I've encountered. The interesting thing I've realized lately is that I usually don't realize the season I'm in until I'm well into it or it's almost over.

That brings me into the season I'm currently in. It hit me a few weeks ago that I don't have a baby or toddler or a really dependent child anymore. My kids are 8 1/2 and almost 6. Wow. I'm quick, huh? Haven't had a toddler for a while. I think I was in such a fog for so long that I didn't know who I was, where I was, what I was doing, where I was going.

I really think the baby/toddler stage was not a good one for me. Please don't misunderstand. I have loved my kids more than life itself since day 1. I have loved many different stages of their lives, and each one seemed more precious than the previous. But it was hard for me. I'm sure it's hard for everyone, but it sure seemed like everyone else had it waaay more together than I did. I struggled. I was in la-la land much of the time, just trying to rise above sleep deprivation and the constant needs of my children. Their needs frustrated me. Sounds selfish, huh?

I think I was selfish to an extent, but I also think my state of mind was due to immaturity, both emotional and spiritual immaturity. I didn't know how to care for these sweetie pies the way they needed to be cared for. I would do so many things differently if I had the chance to go back. Then again, I realize that I am who I am and my kids are who they are because of the way our lives have played out up to this point.

I now truly feel present in my own life. When it hit me the other day that my kids are getting more independent, I breathed a sigh of relief and thought, "Wow! I can breathe!" I mean that literally too! I used to have anxiety to the point I couldn't get a deep breath. Oh, I was overwhelmed. I attribute a lot of that to lack of sleep with baby, toddler and a wacky work schedule that required me at times to get up in the middle of the night to work.

So I look back on those tough years knowing that I have tough years ahead as well. I am relieved to be done with those baby/toddler years, yet I am sad it's gone so quickly. I would like to have been more present for my kids in years past.

However, I know that there is "a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance," (Ecc. 3:4), and I certainly intend to laugh and dance more in this season and in the seasons to come. I want to be an example of grace and stability for my children. I want them to see Jesus in me. I want to them to learn to laugh and dance in the presence of God and His blessings, and I want them to learn to laugh and dance in the midst of tribulation.

God is so good to me.