Tag Archives: sugar

Nov 16 2014
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Health, Uncategorized

Sweating it Out

yoga silouette

One word:  Y  O  G  A

This morning, as I did my final stretch, sweat dripping from my nose, my chin, my elbows, I was filled with gratitude. Gratitude for my body–limitations and all, gratitude that I made it– that I showed up, gratitude for my breath and my mind, gratitude for doing something good for myself. I signed up for a month. I’m hoping to go three times a week.

Don’t get me wrong.  I still hate it. It’s hard, it’s hot. See that little white space underneath the arm of the silhouette? That doesn’t exist for full-figured gals like me. It’ll be a long time before my forehead kisses my knee. Yet I feel so good afterwards.  And it makes so much sense to me…stretching and elongating my muscles. I have no idea how many calories I’m burning in the 90 minutes. It doesn’t really matter. I’m moving, stretching, twisting, and for now, I’m showing up.

Made some homemade chicken noodle soup (with gluten-free noodles!). Still eating clean.  I breezed through Halloween without so much as a single M&M. It was easy. I had no desire.  And I’m convinced if I did have an M&M, I would have been tempted, perhaps beyond my control, to eat more. Such is the poison of sugar.

Hit a milestone last week: 1/3 of the way to my goal at 194 lbs.  I’m probably losing some ground, but I’m staying the course.

Namaste.

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Oct 12 2014
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Health, Temptation, Weight Loss

Time

One day at a time

One thing is for sure, time marches on.
Being a nostalgic, too-attached person, this fact can make me a bit weepy. But in reality, I view it as a wonderful thing. And it’s especially great news for weight loss. One day turns into another, into another, into a week, two weeks, a month, and before you know it a year is gone, and hopefully as well, a bunch of weight to go with it!

That’s what I’ve been thinking about lately. As you know, my goal is to be under 150 lbs. by the time I turn 50 next July.  I’ve pretty much settled into this wholesome way of eating now. Even the gluten-free part is a piece of cake (lol). The sugar and flour are out of my house, I visit our local farm two or three times a week, and I’m a label reader. Better yet, I hardly ever have cravings! I have no desire to eat any other way. And so, if I can keep it up, the weight will continue to drop, and time will march on. In some twisted way, I am looking forward to my birthday like as if it’s my due date!

Being a teacher, a “year” is really a condensed, carefully plotted and planned ten months. There are always these smaller increments of time we are marching towards–first day of school, back-to-school night, Halloween, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, February break, April vacation, Memorial Day, last day of school, SUMMER! It’s a whirlwind. And this year, I am so much looking forward to a healthier, more vibrant ME as I transform myself over the course of this school year.

But the season of sugar is fast-approaching. What is your plan for staying healthy throughout the onslaught of temptation over the next few months? I for one, plan to keep the candy out. I want to make a plan with my son for Halloween. I’m thinking something along the lines of paying him cash for candy. I won’t be getting any trick-or-treaters as we live on a street where the houses are few and far between, so no pressure there. Thanksgiving will be much more tempting for me. I figure it’s prudent to have a plan and it’s time to start thinking about it. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Have a great Columbus Day weekend.
I think I’ll put on a pot of soup this beautiful Autumn Sunday.

 

 

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Jul 01 2014
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Uncategorized

All Calories are not Created Equal

Can you imagine consuming a thousand calories of chips in a day?  How about broccoli?

1,000 calories of chips • 1,000 calories of broccoli
Vastly different metabolic processes take place in your body as a result of which 1,000 calorie serving you consume.  And apparently, those differing metabolic processes have everything to do with obesity.

It’s all about sugar.  And whether we know it or not, we’re addicted to it.
This part isn’t really new news to me.  Being a chubby family, I rarely bring overtly sugar-ridden food into the house.  Cookies, soda, candy, Fruit Loops… oh no, we don’t do that.  Instead, cereal bars, Crystal Light, pretzels, diet soda, you know, healthier foods fill my cart.  What a joke.  Well folks, the sugar haze I’ve been in is starting to clear, and I am beginning to see the light.  Sugar (in all of its refined forms) is poison to me.  Over the years, I’ve done best on low carb diets. Whenever I did Atkins, the fat melted off of me.  It’s as if I’m allergic to carbs.

It occurs to me that each time I diet it’s like an addict going to rehab.  I learn the truth about the foods I eat, figure out a plan, and follow it–follow it until I don’t, and I return to my old eating ways. I’d really like it if I could find my way to a healthier life.  I think it’s time to kick sugar out of the house once and for all.

If you want to read more about this, I have only just begun to explore Dr. Hyman’s site.  Check it out here.  And have you seen the new documentary, Fed Up?  I’d love to know what you think. It looks really interesting.  I can’t seem to find a theater close to me, or anywhere online to see it.  I suppose I’ll have to wait until it’s released on dvd.

Finally, even though I registered zero pounds lost yesterday, my boy lost 5lbs!
Exercise and whole foods.  That’s it.

Be well.

 

 

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