Failed Miserably Today

Yes, that's right, four days into my detox I have already failed miserably. Today was play date at one of my dear friends. Before I decided to change my diet, this meant letting the kids destroy her house while I got to spend the whole day snacking and enjoying actual adult conversation. Today wasn't any different with the exception of how conscious I was of what I was eating.

I quietly fretted over the pizza we ordered. I tried searching online to find out if there was any HFCS in any of its ingredients but was not able to find anything. This was so frustrating and it made me wonder about how people with food allergies must feel when they are trying to find out if they can eat something from a restaurant. Finally I decided to eat the pizza because it smelled so good and I felt so hungry. It tasted just the same :) Since I was already on a roll, I decided to eat some ice cream as well. I told myself it was okay because they only used Corn syrup and not HFCS, lol.

Some people would think that this means that I wrecked my detox, but I don't. I took something else away from it. I realized, that if I am going to be committed to this way of eating, that I will have to do things totally differently. I will need to do research before I go to a restaurant to see what I can eat, I will need to bring my own snacks and lunches when I go to people's houses, and I will also just have to remember that our society does not eat this way and accept that sometimes I won't get to have the food I want, sometimes.

I hope that people don't feel like they can't invite me places now. I still want to go out with the girls for girls night out, or come to your house and sit for play date. I also don't want people to feel like they have to go entirely out of their way to accommodate my style of eating (although, if anyone wants to eat the way I do, I will gladly help them do some shopping, lol). Things are still the same :) I still enjoy food, and I still enjoy eating it!!

Here's to hoping day 5 is better.

Week 1 of my Detox

This is technically day 3 of my sugar detox. Week one calls for me to get rid of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). I thought to myself: This'll be a breeze. I don't eat anything with HFCS anyway........uh I was wrong. EVERYTHING has HFCS in it!! It seems that if it is in a box or bag of some sort, there is probably going to be some amount of it in there. I already made a mistake by eating some Ritz crackers.

When I started looking at all of the food products (I can't even call it food anymore) in my kitchen, I was shocked at how many items had it hidden in its ingredients list. Even "healthy" foods contain this cheap sweetening agent. You think you would be safe with something like Yogurt or your kids lunchable! This just makes me feel so angry. You might think to your self "But it's only a little, how much can it really hurt?" well in my previous post I shared with you that the average American adult consumes about 22 teaspoons (almost a 1/2 cup) of sugar daily!! These hidden sugar traps are one of the main reasons for that! I found a good list of products that contain HFCS just so you can get a visual (and remember this list doesn't even contain it all).

So today is the first day that I have noticed some cravings. It is kind of a strange feeling. I never really realized that I was craving sugar until I put myself on a detox and told myself I couldn't have it! I found myself snacking A LOT today and even though my stomach felt full, I just kept feeling the vague feeling that I still needed more food, to which I obliged.

I had an omelet with blue cheese, fresh spinach, mushrooms, and red onions, topped with salsa for breakfast; ate a couple apple peanutbutter "sandwhich" slices; drank two cups of coffee with raw sugar ( I am still allowed natural sugars right now) and milk in it; ate some spinach nuggets; and last but not least my sun dried tomato, spinach, and feta bake.... I guess when I write it all out, it really isn't that much, but it felt like I was eating all day. One thing that I need to figure out is portion sizes and how much I should be eating.

I can tell that this is just the upswing to my cravings that I am going to have. It is so odd at how your body reacts to an addiction. I really hope that my mood doesn't get too nasty, it is something that I am going to consciously keep an eye on. To all my friends and family, I am apologizing now for any shortness I may have with you!! I promise it will not last forever and I will continually work to keep it in check. That is so I have it in writing ;)

I am going to leave you with a photo of the destructiveness of pop on your body. I am more leaving this for me, so that I can remember why I am doing this. It looks like death comes in a sweet and delicious disguise!!

This is the beginning

I love food. Who doesn't? I love to make it, and I love to eat it...these two things together can be deadly. I get to cook for a family of 5, including myself. This means that there are a lot of tastes and palates to consider. Being a mom of three, a wife, student of many things, and having to consider a plethora of different cravings in a day, I find that I have become a slave to convenience processed foods. They are just so damn convenient! But there has always been a part of me that hates that convenience.

Quite often we hear about how the US is the fattest country in the developed world. I like to think it's because it has gotten to be too convenient for us to shovel foods into our mouths. Not only are we cramming our faces full of food, the food we are eating is becoming less recognizable. The ingredients list on packaged foods have more foreign words to us than recognizable ingredients. (Check out, if you dare, all of the different additives in the FDA's Food Additive List) It is these created additives that I have a problem with.

Not only is it a normal habit for us to consume fake foods, but we are also addicted to sugar. Really sit and think about it. How many items in the day are you eating that has sugar in it? The average adult American consumes 22 teaspoons of sugar (almost 1/2 of a cup), and the average teenager American eats 34 teaspoons!!!! Man oh man, that's a lot of sugar. There are so many excellent and scientific resources out there that will tell you the dangers of eating too much sugar (Including this one by Dr. Lustig, or the abridged version) so I don't think that I need to list them all. Needless to say, we need to stop consuming so much sugar!!!

This is where I have decided to start, in my real foods journey. I am starting on an 8 week sugar detox plan. Each week, I will drop another form from my diet with the end result being the eradication of sugar from my life! I really appreciated these words from Kristen over at Food Renegade:

In Japan, it’s called kaizen. It’s a strategy for making change based on tiny, continuous improvements. And, they mean tiny. Want to build a habit of exercise? A kaizen practitioner would recommend you start by marching in place for one minute a day.

The point is to make changes in small, but effective increments. You start with where you’re at, and you look to see what you can change. You make it your goal to change that one thing.

Then, you give yourself grace. Lots of grace. Grace to break every other Real Food rule. You work on your one thing — and only that — until it’s habitual.

Every diet adjustment, even the most simple, takes time. It may be two, three, or even four weeks before you’re comfortable in your new eating habits — before they “fit” like an old pair of boots. But it will happen. And, once it does you can evaluate where you’re at and make another small change.

Now I am not saying that I won't eat a piece of cake at your birthday party, or that I will not indulge in the occasional ice cream cone with the girls, but that I am taking the steps to being healthier and teaching my girls about being healthier. I always say that I like to lead by example, and this is me doing it!