day 21
i've been too busy for the computer for a while, so a lot of thoughts and progress updates have been put on hold.
i've been sugar-, honey-, juice- and refined wheat-free for three weeks. i'm not nearly as hypoglycemic as i was before i started (can now function well enough in the morning to get my own breakfast downstairs instead of making gluzd bring me breakfast in bed); i've lost weight; i'm not craving sugar; i still need to eat every couple of hours; i'm learning to plan carb+protein meals and snacks for the day ahead, even when going for an extended outdoor day.
1. cookies.
a. lev and sugar-free living: after reading about the crazy raw-foods lady who won't feed her 8 or 10 year old kid anything but salads and sends him to grandmothers and vending machines to satiate his hunger, i thought seriously about what my sugar-free and generally healthy-shmelthy eating means for lev. poor little lev hears a lot about why we won't buy "this bad candy" or "that bad ice cream", but my promises to give him "good candy and good ice cream" never seem to materialize. all he knows is that he is not allowed what all the other kids are eating. that sucks, he's a little kid! if i'm on a crazy no-honey regiment it doesn't mean that he isn't allowed to touch anything sweet. and i can do a lot better than letting him beg other kids for animal crackers and cheerios.
b. plans: learn to bake honey-sweetened cookies and other desserts. pack homemade treats for lev every time he goes out into a social situation where other kids will be eating shit - he'll still want the shit that they're eating, but at least he will also have a good treat made with sprouted whole-wheat flour, real butter, pastured eggs, and honey. get incredibly good at making no-sugar desserts (i've found recipes for cookies, pies, candy, fudge, pudding, ice cream, etc.) and always bring a few huge ones to family gatherings where in the past i have always binged on shitty store-bought desserts - that way i won't feel "deprived" of this crap, and other people will feel loved to get homemade desserts.
c. first attempt: i actually really suck at baking. tried to make a batch of honey-sweetened sprouted whole-wheat cookies for lev, and fucked up in the most hilarious ways. the first half of the batch got nearly-burnt, and the second got a heaping handful of cream of tartar instead of arrowroot powder. oops. will persevere, though perhaps will use less expensive butter and flour for the next few attempts.
2. berries.
a. i always feel very guilty about eating store-bought berries. if they're not organic, i worry about feeding my kids pesticides through my milk; if they're organic i freak out about the price and the carbon footprint of organic raspberries from argentina. all in all, i end up simply not buying them.
b. the problem is that i still crave berries and other exotic fruits, and my cravings usually find an outlet in mango-flavoured ice cream and chocolate-raspberry bars. which i am sure are not organic, were flown in from somewhere very far, etc etc, and also have tons of various poisons and sugar added.
c. obviously my body is actually craving the nutrients and vitamins in fruit and berries, and self-righteously walking away from the produce section and heading for the bakery department is clearly not the right solution. way back when people ate real food and didn't shop in supermarket, they didn't just quit eating berries in fall and winter - they preserved them using traditional methods while the fruit was in season, and then continued to eat them later. these people obviously knew what they were doing.
d. therefore! since it is now september and officially too late to preserve in-season local fruits and berries (for the most part), i am going to suck it up and buy organic argentinian blueberries from the supermarket this winter. next summer, however, i am going to budget for buying extra berries at the farmers market, and preserve them for the following season. will have to research preserveation methods that do not use sugar.
3. i've lost 7 pounds in the last 3 weeks, while not cutting back calories at all (or at least not consciously thinking about calories - i have been trying to eat a lot more vegetables with my meals and as snacks). i've always known that eating sugar is what makes me gain weight, now we have literal proof. if the trend continues, in another 3 weeks i will weigh as much as i did before the second pregnancy.
4. other plans: crepes, pancakes, pasta and bread
since this isn't some temporary sugar-free diet, i need to learn to cook good carbs for myself; otherwise i will just end up "giving in" because i feel so deprived. essene sells insanely expensive sprouted-whole-wheat flour. i intend to learn how to make pancakes, spaghetti, and bread from it. i like eating these things, i can't spend the rest of my life feeling like "oh, poor me, not allowed bread, boo-hoo".
5. restaurant
went out to a french restaurant with gluzd and my dad last night. the restaurant served: little bready things and a bread basket before the appetizers, little croutons with the escargot, my favourite dish came with a sugary sauce, there was toasted bread with the cheese plate, and a complementary plate of chocolates which we didn't order came with the check. i spent a couple minutes feeling like "boohoo, poor me, everyone is eating bread but i can't", but i got over it; asked the kitchen to bring me the dish without the sauce; asked my dad to return the chocolates plate after he'd eaten his portion (gluzd doesn't like sweets, and i needed lev not to even see chocolate at 8:30 at night). oh, and i was all set to be upset by the dessert menu, but then i thought "why do i want creme brulee made with ultrapasteurized cream from cows treated with rBGH?" and that calmed me down.
6. very expensive chocolate
a similar line of thought last week, upon spying a box of very pretty and very cheap chocolates at my parents' house - why do i want this burnt sugar and soy-filled chocolate?? sweets really shouldn't cost $6 for a box big enough for 10 people. once this no-sugar-whatsoever period is over, i will treat myself to fucking expensive chocolate just a few times a year. very expensive chocolate.
i've been sugar-, honey-, juice- and refined wheat-free for three weeks. i'm not nearly as hypoglycemic as i was before i started (can now function well enough in the morning to get my own breakfast downstairs instead of making gluzd bring me breakfast in bed); i've lost weight; i'm not craving sugar; i still need to eat every couple of hours; i'm learning to plan carb+protein meals and snacks for the day ahead, even when going for an extended outdoor day.
1. cookies.
a. lev and sugar-free living: after reading about the crazy raw-foods lady who won't feed her 8 or 10 year old kid anything but salads and sends him to grandmothers and vending machines to satiate his hunger, i thought seriously about what my sugar-free and generally healthy-shmelthy eating means for lev. poor little lev hears a lot about why we won't buy "this bad candy" or "that bad ice cream", but my promises to give him "good candy and good ice cream" never seem to materialize. all he knows is that he is not allowed what all the other kids are eating. that sucks, he's a little kid! if i'm on a crazy no-honey regiment it doesn't mean that he isn't allowed to touch anything sweet. and i can do a lot better than letting him beg other kids for animal crackers and cheerios.
b. plans: learn to bake honey-sweetened cookies and other desserts. pack homemade treats for lev every time he goes out into a social situation where other kids will be eating shit - he'll still want the shit that they're eating, but at least he will also have a good treat made with sprouted whole-wheat flour, real butter, pastured eggs, and honey. get incredibly good at making no-sugar desserts (i've found recipes for cookies, pies, candy, fudge, pudding, ice cream, etc.) and always bring a few huge ones to family gatherings where in the past i have always binged on shitty store-bought desserts - that way i won't feel "deprived" of this crap, and other people will feel loved to get homemade desserts.
c. first attempt: i actually really suck at baking. tried to make a batch of honey-sweetened sprouted whole-wheat cookies for lev, and fucked up in the most hilarious ways. the first half of the batch got nearly-burnt, and the second got a heaping handful of cream of tartar instead of arrowroot powder. oops. will persevere, though perhaps will use less expensive butter and flour for the next few attempts.
2. berries.
a. i always feel very guilty about eating store-bought berries. if they're not organic, i worry about feeding my kids pesticides through my milk; if they're organic i freak out about the price and the carbon footprint of organic raspberries from argentina. all in all, i end up simply not buying them.
b. the problem is that i still crave berries and other exotic fruits, and my cravings usually find an outlet in mango-flavoured ice cream and chocolate-raspberry bars. which i am sure are not organic, were flown in from somewhere very far, etc etc, and also have tons of various poisons and sugar added.
c. obviously my body is actually craving the nutrients and vitamins in fruit and berries, and self-righteously walking away from the produce section and heading for the bakery department is clearly not the right solution. way back when people ate real food and didn't shop in supermarket, they didn't just quit eating berries in fall and winter - they preserved them using traditional methods while the fruit was in season, and then continued to eat them later. these people obviously knew what they were doing.
d. therefore! since it is now september and officially too late to preserve in-season local fruits and berries (for the most part), i am going to suck it up and buy organic argentinian blueberries from the supermarket this winter. next summer, however, i am going to budget for buying extra berries at the farmers market, and preserve them for the following season. will have to research preserveation methods that do not use sugar.
3. i've lost 7 pounds in the last 3 weeks, while not cutting back calories at all (or at least not consciously thinking about calories - i have been trying to eat a lot more vegetables with my meals and as snacks). i've always known that eating sugar is what makes me gain weight, now we have literal proof. if the trend continues, in another 3 weeks i will weigh as much as i did before the second pregnancy.
4. other plans: crepes, pancakes, pasta and bread
since this isn't some temporary sugar-free diet, i need to learn to cook good carbs for myself; otherwise i will just end up "giving in" because i feel so deprived. essene sells insanely expensive sprouted-whole-wheat flour. i intend to learn how to make pancakes, spaghetti, and bread from it. i like eating these things, i can't spend the rest of my life feeling like "oh, poor me, not allowed bread, boo-hoo".
5. restaurant
went out to a french restaurant with gluzd and my dad last night. the restaurant served: little bready things and a bread basket before the appetizers, little croutons with the escargot, my favourite dish came with a sugary sauce, there was toasted bread with the cheese plate, and a complementary plate of chocolates which we didn't order came with the check. i spent a couple minutes feeling like "boohoo, poor me, everyone is eating bread but i can't", but i got over it; asked the kitchen to bring me the dish without the sauce; asked my dad to return the chocolates plate after he'd eaten his portion (gluzd doesn't like sweets, and i needed lev not to even see chocolate at 8:30 at night). oh, and i was all set to be upset by the dessert menu, but then i thought "why do i want creme brulee made with ultrapasteurized cream from cows treated with rBGH?" and that calmed me down.
6. very expensive chocolate
a similar line of thought last week, upon spying a box of very pretty and very cheap chocolates at my parents' house - why do i want this burnt sugar and soy-filled chocolate?? sweets really shouldn't cost $6 for a box big enough for 10 people. once this no-sugar-whatsoever period is over, i will treat myself to fucking expensive chocolate just a few times a year. very expensive chocolate.