This very sweet life

Here are some things I do that have helped me along the way to get and stay healthy. Some may seem obvious..but they are all true! 

  

I thrive on routine.. So along with my ‘egg cups’ I talked about in my last post, I also prep all my lunches for the week on the weekends.  I find healthy soup and chili recipes online, in cook books or just come up with ideas on my own.. Also I put together my salads. Same idea here as my breakfasts…I mix it up a lot with lots and lots of vegetables and lean proteins!  I hate the feeling of rushing around in the morning and not knowing what I am going to bring to work for lunch. This way I have healthy meals I can grab quickly and without all the preservatives you find in those supposedly ‘healthy’ frozen meals. 

  
When you get to point where you are really, really hungry…you tend to eat whatever you can get your hands on.. Which isn’t always a healthy option, and often is not.  I always have healthy snacks with me in case I get hungry.  Some good options are raw nuts or trail mix, dried or fresh fruit, dried vegetable chips, beef jerky, or canned/pouched tuna. Always be prepared! You won’t see me out and about without one of those things in my purse! 

  
So often we are eating out of boredom, or because of cravings.  We all know the health benefits of drinking lots of water, but it also will trigger our brain to stop thinking we need food when we really don’t. 

  
We’ve all heard that artificial sweeteners have been known to cause cancer.. But it’s also making you fat!  Your brain thinks it’s getting sugar and it’s only feeding your cravings..not allowing you to break the cycle of sugar addiction. Also it messes with your insulin levels (just like sugar, maybe worse) which causes your body to store fat.  I stopped eating/drinking those nasty chemicals long before I gave up sugar and felt so much better, even then! 

That’s all for today! Keep the questions coming and I will try to answer them here..thanks for all the support everyone! The response so far has been amazing! 😘

A FAQ post: 

A question I get asked often is: ‘what do you eat for breakfast?’ And since anybody that knows me well are tired of hearing about them..I’ll tell you guys!  I’ve affectionately named them ‘egg cups’ but hundreds of websites have different variations and names for them.. They are part of my meal prep every weekend.. It takes everything in me to get out of the house to be at work on time every morning and I have zero extra time to spare.. These keep in the refrigerator all week and heat up in less than a minute.   They are no mess, I literally eat them as I’m driving to work!  Here is the weekend routine:

    
    
Possibilities are endless here…anything you could imagine in an omlette would be great in these, because these are really just mini omlettes. Some of my personal favs are turkey bacon and onions, spinach and feta with red bell pepper and onion, chicken sausage with bell pepper and onion, spinach with mushroom and onion, ground turkey sausage with onion and bell pepper.. But essentially ANY combo will work depending on your taste preferences….so bring on the lean proteins and veggies!  These are an amazing source of protein to start your day and 2 of them keeps me full for hours.  You’re welcome 😉

Keep the questions coming! I’ll feature them on FAQ post soon! 

 

  

My health journey so far has been just that.. A journey. The way I eat now was not the way I ate when I started. It takes one step at a time to achieve lasting results.. The bottom line is…sugar is addictive.
 Studies have shown that the effects it has on the brain is similar to that of cocaine’s effects…SCARY! Countless studies aren’t the only proof of sugar addiction, but I saw it in my own life and I continue to see it in the lives of others around me. A couple months before I made the decision to give up sugar, I was at a friends house for dinner and I had brought dessert (my favorite part of the meal 😉) and I was quite proud of this particular dessert. I noticed my friend wasn’t having any of my dessert and I was bummed out, so I tried to pressure her to have some (sorry 😬looking back that wasn’t cool of me) but she said something that stuck with me…something so simple, and seemingly obvious, yet so profound that it became a lightbulb 💡moment for me. She said ‘no thanks, if I have some…I will just want more.’ That was it, her willpower and matter of fact statement planted a seed and became the best decision I have ever made for my health and well being. 

  When you eat sugar, you just want more sugar, and then you eat more sugar..it’s an addictive cycle. So I challenge you to STOP THE CYCLE. A couple months after that evening at my friend’s house, I decided I was DONE being controlled by sugar and it was time for me to take control of my health, and what I put in my body..

My intention was for 30 days..and then take it from there, but I felt so good not eating sugar, that I just kept going! It led to making other better food decisions as well (as an example, I started craving breads and other carbs a lot less) but I won’t get ahead of myself, we will talk more about that later. My challenge for you now, is take the leap… Commit to 30 days of NO SUGAR! At this point, I didn’t completely give up bread and other foods that contain some sugar, I focused on desserts, pastries etc, foods that taste sweet.  

I’m not going to lie… It will be hard, but you’ll survive. You will have cravings, eat fruit or drink tea. You’ll probably be cranky, deal with it. After 30 days you will feel SO.MUCH.BETTER. Take it from me. I did it…and I’m NEVER looking back. 

 
 This sweet life: My journey to becoming 
sugar free
   This was me, 2 years ago, May 2013.. I was 210 lbs and a size 16.
I put on a happy face…but I was miserable. The circumstances of life were quite literally weighing on me, I was stressed out and everything was out of my control…So, not even realizing it, I turned to food for my comfort…I didn’t even know what I was doing, I was just in survival mode. I knew I was overweight, and I was extremely unhappy about the way I looked and the way I felt.. My body didn’t feel right and so I knew I had to make a change…

 In July, 2 months after this photo was taken, I still had a lot ahead of me to deal with, personally, but I made the decision to change one very important thing…I was going to stop eating SUGAR…

This is the point in the conversation when most people look at me like I have three heads.. They tell me ‘no, you don’t understand, I could NEVER give up sugar’  

…But I do understand…more than they know. Because, I was addicted to sugar. It would start in the morning with the creamer in my coffee and it would end most nights with some sort of sweet treat on the couch after the kids went to bed…with way too much in between. I usually would eat a meal, not caring too much about it, thinking about what I was going to have for dessert…and most of the time, hiding how much of it I was eating, because I was embarrassed. So, yes, I do understand.. It sounds crazy, and its hard..but it is so, so worth it. 

I’m going to go through my journey to health here and hope that you will join me..

I have lost 70 lbs and 5 sizes…and have never felt better…

I am not a nutritionist nor do I have a background in fitness and I will never claim any of those things… I do not eat perfectly and I’m sure I could be doing better…but that’s not what this page is about…this is just what has worked for me so far, and my hope to inspire others to make a change to better themselves.. Everyone is different and life is all about trial and error… so please, only positive and encouraging comments 🙂