Well it has been a while. I was getting over a cold last week and skipped a couple days of classes & just did cardio, & by Friday my energy & stamina were back! I made especially sure to skip Wednesday's class with the mean instructor. Ok, she's really not mean, I actually really like how she explains everything and goes through things slowly so you really get the pilates effect. I just really don't like to be singled out in front of a whole class, but so far no more of that! Then this week little girl has been sick so today was my 1st day back at the gym for this week, it was nice to get out of the house (other than just playing outside) & I'm sure it was nice for her to go & play w/the kids, mom gets boring after a while!
I feel like my other goals are just kind of floating around in my head right now, getting nowhere. You know that feeling when you have so much to think about & process that it's just too much? That's kind of how I feel, like I don't have enough time or capacity or something to deal with them all at once. I started a sugar free white flour free diet last week (I'm on day 11!) so honestly that has been taking up a lot of my focus finding, buying, & cooking healthy foods.
No, I'm not doing it to lose weight. I would never in a million years have the self control to eat this healthy just to lose weight. I am trying to rule out some health issues so adjusting my diet is the first step to figuring it out, being the most natural. Some of the info I found on sugar in our diets that totally shocked me! I have a major sweet tooth so trust me, this was not what I wanted to hear.
I have always heard doctors, etc. (like on Dr. Oz or The Doctors-I never watch that show because they make you so damn paranoid about everything in the world but I have caught a snippet here & there) say not to eat any foods w/sugar as one of the 1st 3 ingredients. But come to find out, even the "healthy" cereals like cheerios have it, tomato sauces, pizza crusts, and I guess I just never thought (or wanted to think) about how much sugar is really in things like jelly and peanut butter, even pre-packaged flavored oatmeal. So if you're like me by the time you eat all that sugar in all the "healthy" foods you're eating, plus the things you know have sugar, you've had a ton of sugar! I had no idea how to go about it, but now that I have a reason to, I've found some pretty good resources to help out.
Refined sugars include: brown sugar, "raw" sugar, honey, maple syrup, sucrose, fructose... I always thought honey was not really a sugar so it was okay lol. I knew when you eat sugar, it has no nutrional value, but I didn't know that it can actually deplete your body of other nutrients that your body and brain need to be balanced. I didn't know that cancer patients are asked to forgo sugar & white flour (it "feeds" the cancer) until my uncle had cancer and started the diet.
Eating too much sugar, with not enough nutrient rich foods, can cause many vitamin and nutrient deficiencies because sugar uses your vitamin B, calcium and magnesium to be digested. Nutrient deficiencies can affect your adrenal glands which produce hormones and can contribute to an amino acid imbalance which affects your mood. You know how they say a "sugar high"...
I am totally not trying to talk anyone into giving up sugar but I have to share this info as I am so grateful I came across it. But I figure you really have nothing to lose by doing it & it's worth a shot if you're having symptoms of moodiness, think you might have a hormone imbalance (thyroid, etc-some people have said just changing their diet balanced it back out so they didn't have to take meds), or just feeling tired & kind of crappy. I definitely have my times where I crave soda and sweets, but it's kind of like I've found with money: the less I have of it, the less I want/crave. Ok I mean I don't want to be poor, but it seems like the more you have, the more you want & want & want. Right now what I want most is a happy healthy family, not the material things. Though I will say, eating healthy is very expensive too!
I'm learning as I go & my idea of what is "healthy" is so different now from what it was just a month ago. I know it probably sounds like I'm turning into some total flower child or something with all of this & it is a huge life change but I'm still the girl that loves to watch my Gossip Girl, freaks out at a spider, and could spend my life savings shopping online :) I hope this helps somebody that reads it in some way. I'll post some recipes I've made that are actually good & sugar free in case anyone is searching.
This is what I've found that I can eat so far:
Whole grain oatmeal (not the instant kind)
Fresh fruits and veggies
Fresh salsa
Baked organic blue tortilla chips
Ezekial sugar free bread & english muffins (in the freezer section-the seedy/grainy texture was weird at first but getting used to it)
Some tomato sauces that don't add sugar or make your own
Unsweetened yogurt
Stevia (natural sweetener with no calories)
Meat (chicken, meatloaf, ground meat...)
Nut crackers (almond thins, etc)
Sugar free "natural" peanut butter
Lots of casseroles that I used to make, some edited a bit
Gluten free or whole wheat pastas
Gluten free or whole wheat tortillas (tacos, wraps, enchiladas)
Gluten free pancakes w/sugar free syrup (splurge on the weekend-trying not to have too much of the "chemical" sugar
Crystal lite type drinks in moderation
Milk
Eggs, omelletes, egg sandwiches, etc.
Cottage cheese
Sour cream
Sugar free all beef hot dogs (Hebrew)
Brown Rice
Fish
I'm sure there is more, but that's what I can think of that I've been eating the most off the top of my head...
Here is where I got a lot of my info, recipes, approved foods, etc over the past few weeks
The Good Mood Diet
No Salt, No Sugar, No Salt Cookbook
Sugar Busters! Quick & Easy Cookbook
And, some I haven't read but may be useful: The Mood Cure; The Sugar Addict's Total Recovery Program; Dr. Gott's No Flour No Sugar Diet
100daysofrealfood.com Just came across this blog by chance after someone posted about it on a friend's fb status, great site!
Thewayup.com Explains the connection between sugar, nutrients, amino acids and your physical health & mood-at 1st the site looks a little weird but it has some very good info!
http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/sugar.htm
http://lifehacker.com/5809331/what-sugar-actually-does-to-your-brain-and-body
http://www.livestrong.com/article/442191-does-sugar-deplete-the-body-of-b-vitamins/
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