32 Weeks and Living Without Sugar

Not getting any better with my photography skills!

(Nor my cleaning skills....it wouldn't hurt me to clean the kid's bathroom!)

32 weeks feels like such a milestone. Every day feeling this baby move is such

a gift. I'm doing all I can do on my end for this little one.

Letting go and trusting in Him now, takes such grace.....

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I am thinking....

about sugar and how everyone struggles with it, not just me.

A couple of new moms on blogs I read are working hard to get rid of gluten in hopes of comforting fussy newborns. There are so many gluten-free products out there to substitute with, but they are still processed carbohydrates. They will still turn to sugar in your body and you will still gain weight and feel tired and miserable. There will still be a ton of sugar in your breastmilk. (sigh)

The gluten-free way of eating is EVERYWHERE right now. And food companies are latching on to it big time! There is a gluten-free version for almost everything. As people are learning about it, companies are moving very quicly to get their own information out there! Food is a huge business!

So, let's look at a popular choice.  Chocolate Chex is gluten free. Because of nutritional information coming to people from General Mills, most people will think they are eating something healthy because this is gluten-free.

Duh.

There are 26 grams of carbohydrates in 3/4 of a cup. How many people eat just 3/4 Cup in a breakfast cereal bowl?

 I think that would be like eating just one potato chip and thinking that was going to satisfy!

But, let's just say, for fun, that 3/4 C was all someone ate. They would be consuming about 7 tsp of sugar just for that one small bowl of cereal. If you measure out what 7 tsps of sugar actually lookes like, you will be amazed. (picture 7 sugar cubes.....would you put 7 sugar cubes into a bowl and eat it if you were trying to loose weight?) And, if you top it off with juice, fruit, & toast, you would then have consumed more sugar than your body needs for the entire day. And that is just breakfast. There is NO WAY you could go through the day and not crave sweets.

Gettting rid of sugar is tough. It's a daily battle for me and I need constant support. I find it through inbox mail, tons of reading,  and podcasts. It's so easy to plug my mp3 into my computer, right click on the download link, and save to my Coby. I listen to books on tape or podcasts when I am cooking dinner for my family, folding laundry, cleaning, etc.

This goes along with veggie full fat cream cheese or

a homemade sour cream/mayo dip

And, veggies used to be a minimal part of my diet before this!

Planning snacks and meals is a large part of my life now. If I don't have pre-cooked protein (chicken, beef, grass-fed organic liver (because of my low iron), fish, egg salad, hard-boiled eggs, deviled eggs, bean salads, etc. ready to go in the fridge, I will undoubtedly go for a fast carb fix! I will start craving.

Mason Jar Meal ideas have been extremely helpful!

The key for me is having something I can grab fast!

 

I drink Tea all day long. It's amazing how much it curbs a craving.

I use a loose leaf from the Bulk Herb Store w/ nettle, alfalfa, and rasperry leaf.

I hated it at first, but stuck with it and now, I actually enjoy it!

When I'm on the go, I use tea bags.

 

I cannot touch sugar and I know it. Right now, my daughter is extracting honey from one of her hives. I can't even tell you how good the room smells that her extracter is in! I know that if I were to taste even a bit of it, I would just want more. I know from experience that it will take a month for me to get back on track if I consume sugar or processed carbs.

The only sweetener I allow myself is liquid Stevia.

It does not raise blood sugar.

Sugar Detox is real. It has been process for me and I did not start out cold turkey. Having delt with this now, I do not think I would have made it if I had tried to totally cut all sugar all at once. It's been a learning process.

This was the yogurt I went to when I first decided to cut sugar from my diet.

I thought I was doing great!

Wow! 6 tsps of sugar in less than a cup! I also topped it off with homemade

granola. If I were to eat this now, it would take me a month to get back on track. My body would

crave more sweets for a month and I would struggle!!!!

This was the only "treat" I allowed myself though, and it wasn't long before I went to total no sugar.

But, again, It's been a process.



I wish I had known about the 21 Day Sugar Detox. I think the process would have been easier!

If you are interested,

Here's a link for a shopping list and meals to get started.
Here's another for 10 tips on choosing which foods to eat.

Breakfast has been the most difficult transition for me. I've had to change my way of thinking about the whole meal. It's not a cereal, pancake, sweet meal of the day sort of thing anymore! (I love this article.) There is NO cereal that is good for you. NONE. If I had to pick one thing to allow my kids, it would be steel-cut oats and that's it. Breakfast around here now consists of some sort of egg dish, protien, and veggies in various forms. A favorite treat is yams in the waffle iron! (Grate yams, mix w/ egg, and waffle them!)

(kind of like this......but using yams instead, since they provide a lower carb/sugar count)
It's amazing what I can put into a waffle iron and my kids will eat just because they like the texture!

I have these guides taped inside my cubboards. They were so helpful starting out.

My diet combines Karen Hurd's teachings with Paleo except no sugars and no processed carbs.

I do eat carbs, but they come from wild rice, quinoa, brown rice, occasional fresh ground hard red spring wheat, veggies, & apples or berries

My "treats" are an occasional apple or berry parfait consisting of whole cream whipped w/ stevia and blueberries/blackberries in between.

And, it's yum. Because I haven't eaten sugar for so long and now fruit tastes

like God intended it to taste for us! Really, you will be amazed at what an apple tastes like

when you've not eaten man-made sweets!

I hope this is helpful to those finding my blog. I think we tend to feel like

we don't have enough will-power or that our bodies are just going to be out of shape as we

have children and age.

Really, I think we've all just had really bad nutritional information from sources that seek to make a lot of money from our cravings.

Think about it? How much money do I contribute to General Mills eating this way?

$0.00

I look at all of the corn and soybean fields around me and just shake my head. They are all being grown to feed our sugar addictions....and there is a lot of money to be made there.