Thursday, February 26, 2015

Celebrating family birthdays and the hidden sugar problem


There are so many things that I want to share today.  It might skip around a bit, but just stay with me. 

13 years ago today I became a mom.  Our son was born on my husband’s 30th birthday.  It was a spectacular present for Joe, but we cut it really close.  With 13 minutes to spare on the 26th of February, I popped out the cutest, squishiest, most inquisitive boy in the world.  I know I’m totally partial, but all parents are.  I would have felt like a failure if I didn’t get the bugger out on Joe’s birthday.  So, in planning for today, I made some conscious decisions.   I went to the market last night to find a dessert for the boys.  I can’t tell you why I felt the need to buy them a real dessert.  I really don’t know why.  Do I feel like I’m depriving them of things?  Do I feel guilty because they only have healthy choices at home.  Do I feel like they deserve a food reward for doing so well over the past 5 weeks?  I can’t answer these questions.  But, what I do know is, I felt a bit ashamed for buying it.  I felt like a hypocrite.  There was definitely the good girl on one shoulder whispering in my ear “Buy some fresh fruit and Cool Whip, they will be happy with that.”  Then there was the naughty girl on the other shoulder whispering, “They deserve it.  Come on, it’s their birthday.  They have to have cake on their birthday.  How can you celebrate their birthday without cake?”  In the end, I bought the cake.  It was a single layer 7 inch round chocolate and peanut butter creation.  I did not plan on eating it myself, and for the record, I did not eat it.  But, Joe and the kids each had a piece.  Ben was excited and happy.  Joe thought we were going to have a fruit bowl.  However, he still enjoyed his slice.  The girls were very happy to have some cake too.  We left the remaining cake at the restaurant, so it didn’t come home.  I must sound like a nut.  I don’t want to deprive my kids or my husband, but at the same time, I feel just as guilty about giving them a food that may as well be a bottle of arsenic.  There is not one redeeming quality about desserts and I feel bad if I serve it to my family because it’s just that bad for you.  I’m not losing sleep over it.  It’s all fine and good, but I just wanted to share my struggle.  (The kids enjoyed their pieces, but they all agreed it was too sweet.  Joe didn’t even finish his piece; he said it was way too sweet for him.)

We celebrated their birthdays at our favorite Thai restaurant.  My kids love Pad Thai and since it’s made with rice noodles, it can be fully gluten free if you ask them to make it without the soy sauce.  It’s a safe food if you are gluten sensitive.  Joe and I split a plate of beef Pad Thai, and I ordered it gluten-free and egg-free.  The servings are enormous and 1 plate for the two of us is more than plenty.  The girls split a GF shrimp Pad Thai and Bennett got his own order of GF shrimp Pad Thai.  We enjoyed our dinner and I brought the leftover cake up to the owner.  I told him we didn’t want to take it home.  He said he had been eyeing it since we sat down J.  Too funny!  Anyhow, I told him we had gone sugar free, gluten free about 6 weeks ago.  I told him we knew Pad Thai would be perfect because it is GF.  But, then I asked him about the flavoring.  He said the main ingredients are tamarind and sugar L.  I knew it was too good to be true.  This explains why I have a pain in my right side.  I feel like someone punched me on the side of my stomach, below my ribs.  It’s painful to bend over or move much.   And it hurts to take a deep breath in.  It’s 3 hours after we ate and this pain came on about 2 hours ago and has grown steadily worse.  This is another one of those inflammation symptoms caused by sugar that I had a lot before going SF.  It’s back with a vengeance tonight. 

On an entirely different note, I have some statistics to share.  When I decided to start the family on this GF, SF, DF plan, I explained to the kids that it was all about health.  It was about making our bodies feel better and making our brains happier.  It had nothing to do with a number on a scale.  My girls use to weigh themselves frequently.  I told them we would only weigh them once a month.  I weighed them the first time on this plan on February 4th in the morning when they got up.  I recorded their weight.  We had a snow day today and it was my weigh-in day.  I weigh myself weekly on Thursdays.  Maggie saw me pull out the scale and asked if she could be weighed today.  It’s close enough to the end of the month, so I told her to get on.  This kid lost 8 pounds in 3 weeks!  Molly weighed herself and she lost 9 pounds in 3 weeks!  I was shocked, but at the same time not that surprised.  They are eating like champs.  They LOVE picking out their own fruits and veggies.  They LOVE eating fresh fish, nuts, eggs, chicken, turkey, venison and beef.  They LOVE making new recipes.  But, as hard as I try to focus on the health benefits of eating this way, Maggie said, “I can’t wait to buy all those cute little clothes.  I don’t ever fit in the cute little clothes and now I can.”  This is the girl who is obsessed with shoes and dresses and all things girly girly.  I don’t know where she came from.  Poor kid has the least fashion-sensed mom in the world. 

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7 a.m. wake-up.  Weigh-in day.  Today’s weight is 214.8!  For a total of 13.8 lbs in 6 weeks.

9 a.m. breakfast:  ½ cup egg beaters, 1 slice cheese, 1 tbsp salsa, 1 cup almond milk, 1 orange

9:30 a.m.:  workout:  30 minutes of Total Body by 21 Day Fix

11:30:  snack:  1 serving veggie sticks

1:30 lunch:  salad, ¾ cup chicken, ¼ cup raisins, 1 tbsp sunflower seeds, 1 cup quinoa

6:30 dinner:  ½ plate of beef Pad Thai.  I’m thinking it was no more than 2 cups that I ate.  

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