Sugar Free Challenge Days 10 - 13

This is a few days worth of journaling about my journey but I am publishing all at once. It is specified in bold which day each log is written.

Written Friday:

Yesterday was day 10 of my challenge. That means I am about one-third of the way done. Things have definitely gotten easier with this challenge.

Every Thursday, I like to go to the Farmer’s market and pick up a few of my staples for the week like the kale I use for my green smoothies and salads. I also like to pick up exotic fruits that may not be available at the grocery store.

I bought some cherimoya yesterday from my favorite fruit stand. It is a less common fruit but I think it is wonderful tasting. It is white and creamy on the inside and had lots of dark seeds that look almost like shiny beans. They are pretty expensive so I had to learn to cut it open at the right time. If it is firm. It is not ready. It needs to have some give to it when you press on it.

Fruit is a great way to fulfill those cravings for something sweet. 

I also bought a couple bags of guavas. Guavas are some thing we either love or hate in this family. Laura, Aubrey, and I love them. Lee, Kayla, and John hate them. I am not sure about Gregory yet but I have a feeling he will be on the pro-guava side. even with the few of us that love them we tear through a bunch of them in a short amount of time. I think we ate over 20 in two days. 

I wanted to get a picture of them but we ate through them too fast.

I am a light sleeper so it is often difficult to get enough sleep through the night with 5 kids and a dog in the house. Unsurprisingly, I am often tired in the early evening. Yesterday, I took a nap with my sweet baby boy during the afternoon. I have a love/hate relationship with naps. I hate slowing down and the time it takes out of my day to take a nap. but  I love that making sure I am well rested staves off a lot of cravings and helps me be less grumpy. 

Written Saturday: 

Friday was day 11. This challenge is definitely getting easier. I went to an appointment with optometrist and made a trip to Costco. I usually go to Costco early on Tuesdays. During this time they usually have no samples.  I think it is because I go when they just opened but I like it that way because I am able to get in and out easily. This place was full of samples. It really packed out the store and congested it as people waited in line. I knew many of the samples had sugar so rather than try to weed out what I could or could not eat I avoided all the samples, and therefore, lines altogether.

Written Sunday:

Saturday was day 12. I went to the grocery store. I usually don't shop for my mother in law so I avoid the aisles with things like cookies and candy. But my husband Lee wasn't feeling well so I found myself down those very aisles. She wanted some Lemon Oreo Cookies and, even though I have enjoyed those in the past, I didn't find myself craving those. I did, however, crave Fig Newtons. But maybe that is because I still have been eating dried fruit? Well, obviously, they have sugar as well as the dried fruit so they are off limits. And with that being clear it was not much of a struggle in my mind. I have found it pivotal to have a clear line for me what is okay and what is off limits. When I was practicing "moderation" with sweets it was a constant grey area - a negotiation with myself about what is acceptable.  How much is too much? Is one cookie ok? Two, three . . . seven? I didn't know. I would keep pushing the "one more" until I felt sick. Having clear cut rules throws all the negotiation out the window.

My son Gregory's birthday is coming up on the 18th. I know we will be having some kind of cake or cupcakes but my mind is made up that I will be sticking to this no sugar thing. Maybe, if I am not feeling lazy, I will look for a sugar free cake recipe to try as a substitute. I am sure I will survive either way. 

This morning or Monday:

Yesterday, was Sunday and day 13. Unfortunately, my husband has not been feeling well. His back has been hurting him a lot. He didn't join us for church.

I found myself feeling a bit overwhelmed yesterday. I made myself 3 salads. I like to make a few at a time as a mini meal prep. I used to make a weeks worth but sometimes things like chopped onions aren't doing well after a week so I prefer to just do 3 or 4 days at a time.

One of my salads:

I noticed something interesting yesterday. When I was eating my salad the tomatoes tasted very sweet. I am not sure if it is because they were particularly good tomatoes - that is possible, but, tomatoes are something I usually put in my salad just because they "should" be in it. Not because I particularly enjoy them. That is why it was weird that I found them very sweet and flavorful. I think it is because I haven't been eating the added sugar. My taste buds are adjusting to be able to pick up on the sweetness in the tomatoes. A sweetness I never realized was there before.