A Sugar-Free Week

This week I have committed to not eat any (or minimal amounts) of sugar. Of course, I eat fruit. But no junk food or sweets for me! I have found that other things contain sugar: bread and other dry snack foods like Goldfish. I have allowed them this week as a starter, but soon I hope to be able to kick the habit completely.

After the first day of doing it, I woke up with a HORRIBLE headache. I don't know if this was from withdrawals or not but it was not pleasant. And since then I find myself going to the kitchen and absentmindedly looking for junk when I need a snack. I'm an addict!

Yesterday we had pancakes for breakfast. I didn't even think about eating the syrup until I finished my short stack. Dang it! There goes my streak. But all I can do is forgive myself and move on. I also ate popcorn, which technically is not a sweet, but with all the butter we put on it, it's definitely junk! But I'm sorry, I can't let go of my popcorn just yet. I'm not at that level of self mastery.

I'm not sure how long I can keep this up though, as it's the holiday season. Next week I'm visiting the family and I'm sure there will be lots of holiday treats and eating out. But I will have to just deal with that as it comes. Wish me luck!

Blog Inspiration #3: "Animal Vegetable Miracle"

This whole diet idea started with a book recommended to me by a friend in Book Club. Over the summer, I finally read the book Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I haven't been the same ever since.

This book is about a family who decides to only eat local food grown within a 100-mile radius of their home. This book tells us that we should be eating less processed foods (i.e. canned goods, frozen dinners, fast food, even food at the grocery store) and going back to the basics: fresh food, food that is grown locally and not shipped all over the country and pumped with preservatives to have a longer shelf life (Twinkies!). The book said that anything between the meat aisle and the produce section should be avoided! 

I grew up on Cheerios, Goldfish, and Teddy Grams. Who knew they don't have much nutritional value?? They are labeled as a healthy snack for us when really they can be almost as bad as the foods labeled as "junk food."

I started telling some of my friends about my findings. Most people don't understand my zeal. I have heard things like "everything in moderation" or "I'm just eating like my parents and their parents eat." But are we really eating like our parents or their parents? Just 50 years ago, things like high fructose corn syrup didn't exist! Now it's in everything from bread to yogurt to canned vegetables, not to mention it makes up some of the packaging of some of those items, eek!

I have taken a lot from that book. It has inspired me to question what I am finding at the store. I even started buying my produce at the farmers market instead of the grocery store!

This book is your wake up call, the American diet is bad news.

Confessions: My Pantry

 

As I said before, I'm not yet where I want to be nutritionally. I am an average American stay-at-home mom. What do I eat? Here's a look into my pantry.

Some times I make homemade bread and I love to bake desserts! We eat about 80-90% of our meals at home (or pack food that came from home). We only go out to eat about once every other week. We ALWAYS buy popcorn when we see a movie (about once a week). On average I would say we MIGHT get one fruit and/or one vegetable serving a day.

Favorite Places to Buy Food:
-Wal-Mart
-Vons (local grocery store)
-Ralph's (local grocery store)
-Pasadena Farmers Market

-Trader Joe's (specialty grocery store)

Favorite Breakfasts:
-eggs and bacon
-pancakes
-waffles
-toast
-hash browns


Favorite Lunches:
-leftovers
-sandwiches
-Easy Mac (for Mariah)
-Chicken Nuggets (for Mariah)
-Chicken patty sandwiches (for me)
-nachos


Favorite Dinners:
-chili (like taco soup)
-chicken fried rice
-lasagne
-BBQ steak and potatoes
-BBQ pork chops with wild rice
-BBQ chicken
-spaghetti
-eggs and bacon
-pancakes
-the occasional casseroles
-roasts
-tacos

Favorite Veggies:
-broccoli
-green beans
-potatoes (a veggie right??)
-fresh salad (featuring cucumbers, green onions, radishes, romaine lettuce, carrots, all from the farmers market)

Favorite Fruits:
-apples
-grapes
-strawberries
-bananas (which I stopped buying because I couldn't find them at the farmers market).

Favorite Drinks:
-MILK - As a family, we go through 4 gallons a week: three non fat milk gallons for Brian and me and one whole milk gallon for Mariah.
-Juice - I drink 100% orange juice for breakfast, Mariah drinks 100% apple juice a few times a week at snack time
-Crystal Lite - I use these packets when I go out somewhere (like Disneyland or the movies) but am trying not to drink soda. They don't contain sugar, I'm not sure what they are, but they flavor my water and in turn help me drink more water.
-Water
-The occasional soda - less than one 12 oz can a week!

Current Weaknesses:
-chocolate covered M&Ms
-popcorn!

Fitness:
I MIGHT work out once a week. This week we have been going to Disneyland, which means a lot of extra walking. Plus I ran two miles on Tuesday. In the past I have done Hip Hop Abs, P90X, Zumba, Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, and other workout videos. I would love to work out at least three times a week.

Blog Inspiration #2: Chef Brad and the Word of Wisdom

**Disclaimer: I am Mormon. And though I am not intentionally trying to indoctrinate you with my beliefs, the topic of religion will come up. I will try my best to describe all the Mormon jargon for those of you who aren't LDS (Mormon). Please don't be offended by what I say. As I said, I am Mormon, this is my blog, and these are my beliefs. We aren't here to talk religion, but nutrition. But if you are curious about the Church, please email me or check out our website. Thanks**

For those of you who don't know, LDS people don't drink or smoke or all that jazz because of this Word of Wisdom, which is an inspired section in our scriptures that gives us guidelines for what to eat and drink.

A few months ago, we had a special guest come speak to us ladies of the Relief Society (the LDS church's group for women). His name is Chef Brad, an LDS chef and nutritionist, who is all about the grains! He recommends them for everyone ("to have a moving experience..."). His little workshop talked about their importance and the role of the Word of Wisdom in our lives. 

In his workshop, Chef Brad reiterated that the Word of Wisdom is a PRINCIPLE. And by definition, it has a personal application. In other words. the Word of Wisdom can mean different things to different people. Some Mormons don't drink caffeine, while others are vegetarians, and still others live on Diet Cokes and steaks. Some people are allergic to gluten, so eating that would be against their Word of Wisdom. The Word of Wisdom was designed as a general guideline so that we can interpret it individually.

And so we should govern our own diets, just as we should govern over other aspects of our lives.

Blog Inspiration #1: Andrea the Vegan

This blog has been inspired for me. For the past year, I have been led to this point by many people. One such is my friend Andrea, a newly proclaimed Vegan.

I met Andrea in the summer after my freshman year of college. We both went our separate ways after being roommates for a summer but later got in touch when we had babies around the same time. We walked together in the mall on frigid Utah winter mornings and shared our success (and failure) moments in our battle against losing the baby weight and getting healthy again (we both had post-baby problems, I'll share my own experiences soon). We both tried tricks to losing weight: Andrea, Nutrisystem, me P90X. They worked for a while but, at least for me, the problems still existed.

Flash forward a few years, I still follow her blog, even though both of us have moved away from Utah. A few months ago, she wrote that she was going Vegan (a bold move, I thought at the time). She even started a blog about her experiences. She gave up sugar, dairy, meat, and meat products. Four months into the diet change: she is so much healthier. She has lost a ton of weight (she was tiny before!), she has more energy and all those problems are remedying themselves. Maybe there is truth in this diet??

I have since started asking her questions, testing the waters of this diet and seeing if it's right for me. In theory, it sounds awesome, eating what the Good Lord gave us in the forms that He intended. But in practice, it's SO HARD! I have just been trying to be sugar free for the past couple days. It's not easy. Every so often, I find myself daydreaming about ice cream, candy, the works! Out of the blue, I just get a craving and I go in the kitchen in search of junk.

But I must be vigilant! I have to see if I can at least do this much. Cutting out sweets is my first step to a healthier lifestyle.

A Blog is Born

My name is Veronica. I am 24 years old. I graduated from BYU in 2008 and I now live in southern California. I am wife to a USC dental student and mom to a super cute 2 1/2 year old. I am Mormon, meaning I've already got a few things going for me as far as nutrition goes: I don't smoke, drink alcohol, drink coffee or tea, or do any drugs.

{But yes, I am suffering from the American diet}

**I did not get my degree in nutrition, nor am I a doctor in any way. I am a mom, searching for what is best for my family and me.**

With that said, this blog will be my medium to document my new dieting exploration.