Ok, sorry about complaining about my sugar dilemma last week. I guess I never realized how much sugar is in certain fruit. Well, I am no longer discouraged and I changed my smoothie recipe a little so it doesn't have quite as much sugar. I found fruit that has less sugar than the fruit I was using, I switched to using water instead of milk, and I add more greens. The smoothie isn't as sweet and creamy but Madison will still drink the smoothie and I feel better about my sugar consumption.
Also, I wanted to share a little tip. Maybe everyone already does this but I recently started focusing on always tightening my stomach muscles. I read this tip in an article that listed little things we can do to burn calories. Tightening your stomach muscles not only helps you burn calories but it improves your posture and can help with lower back pains. I feel like I haven't tightened my stomach muscles since before Madison was born so this is challenging for me right now. Anyway, this tip is helping me so I decided to share with everyone else.
Happy Friday everyone!
Erin -- Sorry I keep thinking I need to respond but lots of stuff going on this time of year. Way to go to cut out more sugar. Okay here is my thinking on the whole thing. I like the principle of line upon line . . . a little at a time . . . I've come to really embrace that . . . so what I have done is started to change my diet in small steps. I have a friend that told me to start with going "all brown" that means whole wheat bread, bagels, etc and brown rice. Then when you have that down introduce vegetarian cooking. Start cooking one vegetarian meal a week. Then keep progressing.
ReplyDeleteI have tried to cut out sugar because chocolate is a HUGE weakness for me. But I had to do something about that sweet tooth. I started eating prunes, craisins, dates and nuts. Whenever I had the munchies I ate those . . . oh, and homemade granola. I didn't limit myself to a certain amount. I just ate a handful whenever. I figured it was better than chocolate or chips and it seems to have helped because I have lost weight.
Also I don't try to deny myself. I know I would never last on a super strict diet. And I am making dessert for bishop's youth firesides and all the entertaining we do and I do make yummy desserts for all of that. I DO limit myself, however. Instead of three or four cookies I will eat one (maybe two) . . . and I take the time to really savor it because I know I can't go back for more. I did indulge on Halloween with several chocolate bars but it is back to business this week.
I might be doing it all wrong but it is working for me and I think that is what you have to do -- figure out what works for you and will keep you moving forward toward a more healthy future.
I, too, have been wanting to respond. I think both of you have a pretty good handle on it. None of us are going to be perfect, but both of you have some great suggestions. Sugar is such a huge issue because it's way too easy to eat way too much. It's in almost everything! It adds way too many calories to our intake while giving us no nutritional value. Except fruit. We do get nutritional value from that. If we're gonna eat sugar, that's the best way to eat it. So, like you said, Erin, just make wise fruit choices. None need to be off-limits but we just need to monitor serving size.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I use with my smoothies that still keeps them delicious and creamy: Almond Milk!!! It is AWESOME! The unsweetened original and unsweetened vanilla are only 40 calories (skim milk has 90!) and 0 sugars. Yup, no sugar, but it's still creamy and delicious. I also love the unsweetened coconut/almond mixture - still only 45 calories. My favorite is the Blue Diamond Almond Breeze but I've used Silk and even Fresh and Easy store brand which are both fine too. For the lowest calories and sugars make sure you get unsweetened. I like vanilla best for smoothies and to pour on my homemade granola, cereal and oatmeal but I'll use the original as a subsitute for regular milk in most of my recipes too.
Keep it going, ladies! You're both doing great!