A week without sugar

This has been a long time overdue.

Cookies are my weakness (I just can’t say no!) and sugary cereals are my all-time comfort food.

Britton and I do not keep cookies or sugary cereals in the house since we’re both pretty health conscious. However, last time we got groceries, Nature’s Path Optimum Cranberry Ginger cereal was on SUPER sale. I used to eat this cereal back when I first went vegan and it was called Optimum zen. When we saw the sale price, both of us did something we never do – we ignored the food label, and threw three boxes into our cart.

With ingredients like dried cranberries, quinoa, oat bran, and ginger ; this cereal has a lot of potential.

still having not checked the nutrition label, I got home from school last night, already exhausted from a long day, and poured myself a HUGE bowl of this cereal to satisfy my hunger monster. About an hour later, I was so exhausted that I could hardly keep my eyes open! I layed down for what ended up being a long nap. When I woke up, I still did not feel refreshed. This is not normal for me. I spent the entire evening feeling exhausted and depressed. I could not believe the change in my mood. The smallest things set me off. My future mother in law sent me a picture of the gorgeous dress she is wearing to my wedding – and I immediately felt fat and like I was going to be outshined at my own wedding. (which obviously, is completely rediculous!)

I ran to check the ingredients list of the cereal I ate, sure enough, second ingredient is sugar. When I eyed the nutritional information, my jaw dropped.

In 3/4 cups of this cereal, there are a healthy 8 grams of fiber, and a healthy 2.5 grams of fat (no saturated fat or trans fat!) and a whopping 13 grams of SUGAR. In 3/4 cup!!! Frosted Flakes has less sugar than this, coming in at a whopping  12 grams of sugar per 3/4 cup. I easily had two servings in my huge bowl. I consumed 26 grams of sugar in one sitting. No freaking wonder I felt so miserable.

today I decided that enough was enough. I am not a big consumer of sugar, generally, but in the past few months I have noticed that the amount of sugary foods I eat and crave is creeping up! a handful of swedish berries after lunch, some vegan cookies from starbucks…

I am in serious need of a detox. To squash my sugar cravings, improve my health, mood and energy levels, I am cutting out refined sugar for one whole week.

Stay tuned as I blog about what I ate, how I feel and how I manage to squash cravings. Will I be successful?? I hope so.

Wish me luck!

How I stay energized for 12 hour shifts.

I worked a 12er today (to make up for some missed hours when I was sick) and let me tell you, it was HARD. I am officially at 44 hours worked this week and I go back for another 12 tomorrow.

When I know I’m going to be working 12s, I try to avoid sugar as much as possible. Sugar always makes me crash and I end up exhausted by mid-morning. I try to eat lots of fiber and fruits and veggies and a high-protein lunch. I get my energy from whole grains and fruit like banana.

For example, today I had 1/2 cup of All-Bran, 1/2 banana, 1tbsp chia seeds, and unsweetened soymilk (for breakfast), I snacked on an orange and a handful of cinnamon hearts a client offered me (I loooooooove cinnamon hearts!). I had leftover quinoa stuffed peppers and some steamed kale for lunch, snacked on a pear, and had a huge garden salad with balsamic dressing and a black bean burrito for dinner. for “dessert” I had my leftover 1/2 banana with peanut butter. Mmmmm mmmmm… And of course, Caffeine. The wonder drug. I drank two big mugs of maple green tea (OMG SO GOOD!).

So there it is! How I stay energized for 12 hour shifts!

I still get home and feel exhausted, and my knees hurt from being on my feet all day.I also had a huge craving for some hot cocoa but I’m too lazy to make it, so I ate a few squares of dark chocolate instead! And now, here I am enjoying some chips. Whatevs. The 12-hour shift is over. Don’t judge.

I was also tres happy today when I looked outside at 7pm and realized it wasn’t fully dark!! The days are noticeably longer, my friends! Soon it will be spring!! Clearly, my winter boycott is working. Tonight, I’m going to pretend my bedroom is sweltering hot and bust out the fan.

You know, just to get into the spirit of summer. I also won’t let Britton cuddle with me because I’m “too sweaty” then I’m going to spend my weekend sitting on the couch and sucking back cold brewskis and burping the alphabet.
Aaaahhhhh summer…. so close I can taste it.

Well, my WiFi (or as my mom says “Wee Fee”) keeps cutting out and I’m about to throw this fahking thing out the window! TIME FOR BED!!!

Stay tuned for a post on how I’m going to try to stay “fit for free”