Day 26

How is everyone doing on their 30 day challenge? I've actually done far better than expected and lost 4 lbs. Though, I must make a confession...I hate this part. Today has been a super BUSY day. I have had something going on every minute of the day and I'm babysitting so on the way home from ballet we picked up Papa Murphy's Pizza. I picked up a Veggie Pizza in hopes that it would be less likely to be laden with sugar. I sat down with the girls had 2 pieces and then reluctantly researched the ingredients. Of course, the crust has some sugar as does the sauce. Sad! I've done so well! But it won't stop me from continuing on for 4 more days. Don't hate me because I'm human. *sniff sniff*

My Little Thinkers...

This is what they came up with after Emma was banned from the pool for getting her clothes wet and changing too many times.
This

Did you know...?

When I mow my lawn I end up walking 2.61 miles? Neither did I. My ipod tells me it's true and that I can burn 355 Calories doing so, but it doesn't take into account that I own a "push" mower and I'm SURE I'm burning more than that. AND today I got to enjoy a 13.6 mile bike ride all by myself this morning!! It was a beautiful morning as I rode along the river!

Happy Bday, Babe! A week ago...

Israel loves German Chocolate cake and I only think of making it around his bday. Maggie helped me this year and insisted that he would really like it in the shape of a ghost. I relented.
He was willing to share his bday cake and ice cream with Maggie's little neighbor friends. A week later he got his present...we went to see Star Trek on the big screen. SO GOOD!! I am NOT a Trekkie and seriously, go see it. I don't care who you are..you'll like it.

Good Advice

Thanks for the good advice ladies. I haven't tried them out yet, but after thinking it over it might be best to just leave it off the blog altogether and next time it happens I'll just speak up. If she's that forward then maybe she'll be more responsive than I've been anticipating. Wish me luck!

Sanity Update

I have to say "Thanks!!" to those who are continuing to encourage me on my crazy experiment (no sugar or sugar additive/substitutes for 30 days). I can hardly believe I've made it this far. I thought for sure my family was going to kick me out last week from all my complaining about sore shins and no chocolate to soothe my pain. Not to mention my nasty attitude about just about everything. Sugar Detox is REAL!!! I am convinced of this. I'm also convinced that it is possible to X it out of your diet, but not easy nor fun. I'm also pretty sure I will never do this again, but I said I was going to do it and by golly you better believe I'll follow it through to the end!! I have 14 days left and my headaches are gone and fresh fruit tastes sweeter everyday. In case you're curious as to what I'm eating here are a few of my favorites right now.

• fresh fruit of all varieties
• LOTS of peppers
• Fresh/Frozen Fruit Smoothies (excellent when the fam is torturing me by eating PB Cup Ice Cream in front of me)
• Chips & Salsa BABY!!!
• Most of my meals are from scratch anyway so I haven't had to change too much other than finding new alternatives to certain seasonings. I can even make homemade veggie pizza!! Hmmm...maybe my 30 days challenge should have included NO SECONDS!!
• Breakfast has been my most difficult challenge. I'm pretty much alternating veggie omelets, Shredded Wheat & Bran Squares (so needs strawberries on top or it tastes like I'm eating straw!!), Cream O Wheat or Oatmeal. All good indeed, but tiresome after 16 days of rotation.

I do feel different. I feel as though by denying myself of the sugar, it is losing it's power over me. Two weeks ago it was AGONIZING to just KNOW there were things in the house that could be so yummy for me to eat and I was missing out. But now I know it's there but the desire for it has diminished some. I still have to have Iz leave the room with his big bag of Doritos at times, but I'm beginning to trust myself again. And all in all, I call that progress.

Ahhhh...Sugar, Sugar...

Here's what I'm learning & enduring as I'm living this crazy challenge I made for myself (that, frankly, I'm regretting today).

* One week down with 1 ignorant moment at Wendy's
* I made it through baking 3 batches of yummy chocolate cookie dough without even a lick!
* I even have avoided disaster with a 16" cookie in my kitchen since Sunday afternoon (though I am constantly aware of it & trying to spend lots of time downstairs)
* I'm not eating processed sugar, but I found I'm overcompensating by eating more natural sugar than I should.
* Sugar withdrawals are real and cause headaches and crankiness. I assume much like an addiction to nicotine or alcohol.
* I question myself everyday if I can hold out until June 3rd.....

Mother's Day Bliss!

Israel got a smokin' deal on these flowers! 25! Yeah, he was pretty proud of himself. He walks in, sets them down in front of me and says, Count 'em!! Such a goof, but I LOVE them! and him.
I woke up Sunday morning refreshed! All meetings aside from church were canceled and I got 8-9 hours of SLEEP!! ahhh...it's beautiful... My family promptly brought me breakfast in bed; veggie omelet, assorted fruit and orange juice (israel scoured the grocery store for a kind that had NO added sugar or additives). They also shared a card with me and a crown! (Thanks for the post last year, Laura, that's totally where he got the idea and I LOVED it!) I was "Queen Mommy" for the day and everything I said went, despite Israel being sicker than a dog. What a guy!
The girls tolerated me as we did a photo shoot before church. I knew after church wouldn't work, since they are always tired, hungry and cranky afterwards.

*Maggie took this picture! Not bad, huh?*

Yeah...it's tough to get them to focus!After church, Maggie helped unload the dishwasher (thank you primary coupon) and Israel made me Grilled Salmon and Roasted Red Potatoes. mmmm.....my favorite! He even mixed up his own seasoning since our seasoning salt has "dextrose" in it! He is my sweetheart! He's helping me stay on track with this goal. He'd earned a Big Cookie (16" big) for passing off the articles of faith and he was very supportive by not flaunting it about the house and tempting me with it. Heck, Saturday was bad enough when I had to endure baking 3...yes, 3! full batches of cookies for Primary.
I'm so grateful for my wonderful little family!! They truly bring such happiness in my life and I don't know what I'd do without them.

Shin Splints Gone Bad`

If you looked at by Nike+ widget lately she's totally slacking off and playing paddle ball. Here's why: While in Iowa I began developing shin splints and I did just what I shouldn't - I continued to through the pain for a few weeks after my race. I came to realize after a run that ended in tears I had done something worse. I did some research and I mostly likelt have developed stress fractures on the shin bones. Which are commonly developed from.. you guessed it! running through the pain. Essentially, the muscles next to the shin bone become fatigued and rely on the bone to absorb the impact thus creating a fracture. It takes 6-8 weeks of NO impact training!!! Thus, I'm revisiting bike training and will try to start swim training next week to hopefully get me in shape enough to continue running when my healing time has finished. FYI- this TOTALLY sucks and I'm not happy about it at all, but I'm trying to keep working toward my goal of a 1/2 marathon despite the setback.

True Resoursefullness

I love having creative kids! Israel and I were busy cleaning out the garage on Saturday in preparation for our new door to come on Monday. Meanwhile the the kids were making the most of their unsupervised time. Fishing at the end of our driveway from the van's backseat!!

So So Sad

25 Names for Sugar

Sugar (in one form or another) is added to more food products than you can imagine. There are also a large number of "variants" of sugar - depending on the kind of processing that has occurred.

Here is a list to get you started in identifying sugars. I'm sure you can come up with many more names for sugar.

1. Brown sugar
2. Corn syrup
3. Demerara Sugar
4. Dextrose
5. Free Flowing Brown Sugars
6. Fructose
7. Galactose
8. Glucose
9. High Fructose Corn Syrup
10. Honey
11. Invert Sugar
12. Lactose
13. Malt
14. Maltodextrin
15. Maltose
16. Maple syrup
17. Molasses
18. Muscovado or Barbados Sugar
19. Panocha
20. Powdered or confectioner's sugar
21. Rice Syrup
22. Sucrose
23. Sugar (granulated)
24. Treacle
25. Turbinado sugar

How SAD!

Oh, the Irony...

Last night I scoured my recipe books, cupboards and frig to find any kind of meal that didn't have ingredients containing processed sugars or sugar additives. I was lucky enough to come across a Mexican casserole that took almost 2 hours to prepare. I thought OH! goody! I've got this disposable pan here that will make the clean up so EASY! Well, 2 hours later and 10 min before Israel has to be at work I did this.....
Oh, the irony! 3/4 of our dinner ended up on the stove door and the floor. Our pup, Hannah had a fine meal from the floor, the trash gobbled up the remains from the door and the girls and I went to Wendy's. Don't worry, I ate grilled chicken over a green salad sans dressing. Yeah, I thought I had avoided disaster (which mostly I did). Though upon further research on my meal on wendy's nutrition page I discovered that the seasoning on the chicken contains dextrose (sugar) and the bacon contained sugar AND brown sugar. Lame...it's a learning process I guess.

Give It Up!

Jenny McCarthy is heading off this 30 day "Give it up before Summer" campaign. She's giving up sugar for 30 days and asking anyone to join her, whether it be sugar or lying or gossiping whatever has a hold on you for 30 days. (Thanks Corina for the heads up, I don't get to watch daytime tv anymore.)
http://www.oprah.com/bi/jenny-mccarthy/blogs/Night-One-NO-sugar-NO-eating-past-7pm.html

Anyway, I am a SUGAR-ADDICT!! I cannot leave it alone! It's in everything and I've been curious about giving it up before. Ya know.. just to experiment on how it would effect me for good or bad. And I'm going to attempt to be courageous in this!
breathe..breathe...I am giving...breathe..up...sugar...breathe...for 30 days...whew.

That was tough to say how the crap am I going to do this for 30 days?!? Here's my consolation. It's 30days not a commitment for life. I've already had sugar today, but I'm starting this moment or I know I won't start at all! And clarification...naturally occurring sugar found in whole foods that are in their natural state..ie. apples, bananas, etc are O.K. but cakes and cookies and high fructose corn syrup types of additives are off limits for the next 30 days. SCARY!!

Join me! Comment on what you'd be willing to give up (doesn't have to be sugar) and lets support eachother in kicking something that plagues us!

Wacky Widgets!

So I was just looking at my blog and noticed that my new Nike+ running widget has an odd wardrobe malfunction! When my mini-runner is jumping hurdles it's doing it without a SHIRT or undershirt!! Just so you know....you won't be catching me doing that anytime in this life. LOL

Second Chance Prom

Israel took me to 2nd Chance Prom this year and we had a great time dancing the night away! We got all dolled up and he even brought me flowers. Thank goodness it wasn't a corsage. No need for poky flowers. This picture was taken by our babysitter and isn't very flattering to me, but doesn't Israel look HOT? I think he looks so good in a suit and when he's doing really nice things for me. LOL

Spring Planting

We don't dare put anything in the ground until Memorial Day around these chilly parts, but it was really fun for the girls to top off our FHM (Family Home Morning - Iz works nights) on Faith, with planting some yummy peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, pumpkins, and fun mini pumpkins. I love how totally facinated they were by this.

Imagine...

what you could do with a brand new mattress pad. I had no idea it could be so entertaining.